Riot's Valorant lead agent John Goskicki was absolutely right when he called Gekko an "eclectic" agent with cool "friends." Agent 22 plays like clockwork, delivers well-timed jokes, is a great sidekick, and a ruthless hero when he wants to be. Finally, after weeks of waiting, a new agent has arrived in the game, and it looks promising.
I firmly believe that he will follow in the footsteps of Chamber, however, becoming a pest to the developers. Valorant 22 agent kills unarmed, has his own team and does not spare mercenaries. Valorant's latest initiator is broken and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets an instant nerf after release; you heard it here first.
Valorant agent 22 is an initiator with a quirky style and a team of cute plush animals. According to the developers, he has similarities with Kay/O, but Gekko looks like the brainchild of Viper-Killjoy. Decide for yourself!
He has Moshpit, Wingman, Dizzy and a powerful ultimate called Thrash. His set is pretty balanced, except for Moshpit and Wingman, aka "Lil bro".
Gekko plays just fine. Nothing too powerful until he gets his Moshpit at full stack. I tested the agent on an exclusive gaming test, getting into a fast-paced game where everyone screamed into their microphones. So when Sage threw her Slow Orb at me, I didn't pay much attention to the incoming green orb. The next moment I realized that my teammate and I were dead, without a shot being fired.
Gekko's Moshpit does what no one else can. It's like Valorant's Avada Kedavra: you'll instantly die in a puddle of slime. Enemies within range take 100 damage and must quickly leave the puddle or they're done. Combined with Sage's Slow Orb or Astra's Gravity Well, the Moshpit becomes even more deadly, capable of taking down entire enemy teams.
And that's before we even talk about the star of the show: Wingman, lovingly known as Lil Bro. Wingman will cause Gekko to most likely receive an instant stat reduction. Aside from an unintentional cuteness mechanic that will convince enemies not to kill him, Wingman is capable of all-out carnage. From stunning enemies to gathering information to throwing a spike, there's nothing Lil Bro can't do.
Wingman's interaction with the spike is not limited to landing and disarming. Here are a few scenarios where Wingman is unfairly strong:
- Gekko gets a free teammate to distract him and put him in a one-on-one situation.
- If the wingman gets knocked down, Gekko will still have the advantage of new information.
- While Wingman defuses weapons, Gekko can pick up dropped weapons all over the map, giving him an economic benefit.
- Paired with Harbor's Cove, Wingman becomes invincible, turning into the perfect spike carrier.
- With Wingman, defenders will have to fight five attackers to stop Spike's activation.
These are just a few situations that I observed during my short playing time. Only time will tell the extent of Wingman's potential danger.
Finally, let's not forget that in Valorant, Gekko can use his Dizzy (flash) about six or seven times in one round. No other Valorant character can do this. The reusability potential of all its tools is incredible, which is also good news.
Gekko departs from the typical form of the initiator. Like Sage, Gekko's toolbox is indispensable, so he could be the next main agent in Valorant, especially at lower ranks. While higher ranked players usually focus on Spike-related strategies, Wingman can still get some playtime on some maps like Haven and Pearl.
At first glance, it seems that Riot will end up with Chamber 2.0, an agent that simply cannot be balanced. But rest assured, this is good news for Sage mains who are tired of wearing the spike.
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