How to use Cypher to counter Valorant’s ‘broken’ Viper boost

Viper’s “rocket ride” boost strat has been all the range in Valorant of late, but this handy Cypher trick allows you to perfectly counter those annoying rushes from Jett or Raze.

Following Riot’s 0.50 patch, a nifty Viper trick surfaced, which saw the toxic Controller Agent propel the likes of Jett and Raze across areas of the map by using her Toxic Screen gas emitters.

Of course, this exploit was met with a sense of distaste, as players struggled to counter enemies being flung towards them within the blink of an eye — essentially rendering map control useless.

But lo and behold, one savvy Cypher main has found the perfect way to counter the fast rushes (providing you can anticipate where the enemy will attempt to hightail it to).

• Read more: Ultimate Valorant settings guide for the best performance

A Redditor under the alias ‘Jadziarai’ aptly demonstrated how to prevent the rush at C-Long on Haven with the perfect use of Cypher’s Trapwire.

As shown in the clip, the player places the Trapwire much higher, to account for the added height Jett gets when the emitters launch her towards the Reactor Site.

Since enemies are tethered to the covert tripwire, she is immediately stopped in her tracks and highlighted — making it easy for the Cypher to swoop in and pick up the kill.

• Read more: How to use the Vandal: Valorant weapon guide

The only other Agent in the game that can come close to stopping the exploit is Sage, but if the Jett combines her Updraft Ability with Viper’s emitters, it will catapult her much higher than the healer’s barrier.

As it stands, the community remains torn as to whether Riot should patch Viper’s ability to do this. On the one hand, it is extremely difficult to counter for the rest of the Agent pool and is most likely not intended to be used in such a way…

Yet on the other hand, some believe that is a clever use of the game’s mechanics (such as the previous Omen teleport exploit on Bind). Only time will tell if Riot decides to rectify Viper’s ability to do this, but in the meantime, ensure you have a Cypher handy.