[Update #2]: Valorant's new animal-focused Agent Skye is looking to be an absolute powerhouse!

[Update]: Valorant is getting a chilly and zipline focused new map this October 13th - the Icebox.

Much like Counter-Strike's AWP, the Operator in Valorant is by far the deadliest and most game-changing weapon. However, while in Counter-Strike all players have access to multiple sources of disruption in order to make the AWP fair, in Valorant there's only a couple of characters that have flashes or smokes, which often leaves the Operator user uncontested for large portions of the match.

Thankfully, its reign of terror may have finally come to an end! The freshly launched Update 1.09 has not only increased the Operator's price from 4500 to 5000, but it has also decreased its scoped movement speed, made it more inaccurate directly after moving, as well as slowed down its fire rate. While each individual nerf is fairly small, combined they should make it so it's possible to push a skilled Operator user without watching your entire team drop like flies.

The update has also made weapons a bit more inaccurate after jumping, as well as brought in a couple of changes to some of the Agents. The alternate fire of Jett's ultimate has been nerfed in order to make it less potent in close quarters, Viper has been buffed yet again in the hopes of making her relevant, while Reyna's ultimate fire rate bonus has been reduced from 25% to 15% in order to prevent the (admittedly hilarious) SMG/LMG mow-down.

You can find all of the details, as well as the reasoning behind each change, over at the Valorant website. Enjoy, and here's to hoping the Operator is now a lot more fun to play against!