Valorant Champions 2023 weapon pick rates confirm one rifle still reigns supreme

Valorant Champions 2023 has seen every weapon available in the game used on the big stage. However, the pick rates for rifles showcased that one continues to dominate at the pro level.

Valorant Champions 2023 has concluded its group stage as eight teams from the field of 16 have fought their way to the playoffs. The pro showcase has seen almost every Agent in the game’s cast chosen and all weapons picked up.

This tournament has seen a slight falloff in the Frenzy meta. The automatic pistol was one of the more popular first-round purchases for most of the season, as it provided the most bang for your buck with decent long-range accuracy before recent patch changes.

However, at Valorant Champions, pros have been more inclined to stick with the Classic pistol and purchase abilities or pick up the Sheriff or Ghost in the first round. According to RIB.GG, the Frenzy was picked about 1.5% of the time in the group stage, while the Classic was picked 6% of the time.

The least used weapons so far in the tournament, to no one’s surprise, have been the Shorty and the Bucky. The budget shotguns are not pro’s first choice on save or half-buy rounds and are really more desperation purchases than anything else.

As for rifles, pros have continued a trend from VCT Masters Tokyo and are heavily favoring one of the main weapons over the other.

Valorant Champions 2023 weapon pick rates for rifles

The Vandal has been the most used rifle by far at this tournament, being picked in 73% of rounds played so far. The Phantom has only been picked in less than 30% of rounds played

The unsilenced rifle continues to show its dominance in pro usage rate as the gap between it and the Phantom continues to grow wider at the professional level. At VCT Masters Tokyo, the Vandal and Phantom pick rates were much closer with the former picked in 56% of rounds and the latter being picked in 44%.

This change could be attributed to recent changes to the amount of ammo both rifles have access to, bringing down the effectiveness of spraying which is what the Phantom is best at. Or potentially, pros have come to value the Vandal more, even in close-ranged maps, as one-shot headshots are valued more at the top level.

Fans will have to continue to watch the tournament to see if these trends continue during the playoff stage.