Valorant players overjoyed as forgotten agent rejoins meta after years

Riot Games buffed two agents in Valorant patch 9.05, Astra and Chamber, and players are overjoyed that the Controller is coming back into the meta.

Astra has been in a poor state for over two years after Riot reduced the number of stars she could place to use her abilities from five to four. This nerf, along with other sweeping changes to her kit in March 2022’s patch 4.04, completely took the agent out of the meta.

She was consistently one of the least-picked agents in the cast and had one of the worst win rates post-nerf. At the professional level, Astra was chosen mainly as a secondary Controller on only a few maps.

With patch 9.05, Riot has given Astra a new lease on life by restoring her star count back to five. This is on top of some small buffs she received in a few patches leading up to this major change.

Valorant players are over the moon that Astra is back in the meta now with these changes, with even some pros rejoicing that the older agent is now viable.

“Astra meta is back!! I am so hyped for this,” HEROIC Valkyries player Lola ‘fluxxy’ Ainslie said on social media.

“WAS ASKING FOR IT FOR AGES. Playing Astra on every single map from now on, let’s go,” Valorant coach Daniel ‘ʏʌᴏᴛᴢɪN.’ Roczniak said.

Prior to her nerfs, Valorant almost revolved entirely around Astra’s abilities. She could stun, displace, and smoke off enemies from the safety of the backline, making post-plants a strong strategy even in ranked play.

“Astra mains we are so back,” one Valorant player said on social media.

Players will have to wait and see if Astra is once again able to compete among the best agents in the game. At the very least, the Controller should be back in the meta rotation and players should expect to see more Astras in their matches.