Since his release in the recent Valorant update, Gekko has been quite the talk. Due to his flexibility in the game, there has been quite a shift in the ecosystem. As such he has become one of the most crucial members of the team. The question on many minds is why is this shift in the meta taking place in quite a rapid manner. The thing to keep in mind is that as an initiator Gekko does help provide a lot of information on the map. With there being quite the rotation in the meta currently, let’s delve into some possibilities of what the best team composition with Gekko could be.
Before we dive into Gekko, we will have to look back at the previous meta. When KAY/O was launched in Valorant, the post-plant meta came to an end. Teams realized that KAY/O was very similar to Phoenix, ability-wise. As such, we then saw the dominance of a triple initiator meta as well. This provided a lot of abilities for information gathering as well as map control. Mainly seen on maps such as Ascent as well as Icebox. Due to this many teams fielded a lineup consisting of Skye, KAY/O and Sova. Initiators in the past have been quite influential in the meta, with either having flashes or even heals having made Skye quite the pick on a map-like Bind.
But the nerf to characters like Chamber, Skye and Fade resulted in the triple initiator meta coming to an end on most maps. Currently, we have seen that a dual initiator meta is quite common with a character like Sova also having a higher pick rate on either map. We have seen that now with Gekko it would seem as though we are moving to a dual initiator meta but with two different initiator roles.
Gekko Is Going to Be The Primary Initiator
As stated above we are in line to see the ecosystem shift to two initiators with different roles in a team. In the sport of football/soccer, there is a term known as the transition of play. What this means is how the teams play after they lose the ball or receive it, i.e. from attack to defense. Now in Valorant, we know there are two major sides which are attack and defense. During each round, we have a similar transition before the plant and the post plant. Following the plant of the Spike, the attackers now play more passively and make sure that they can defend the Spike from being defused. With the introduction of Gekko in the game, the two phases of play are going to be more distinct.
Gekko has the ability of the Wingman. The main ability of the wingman is his ability to plant and defuse the spike. Normally, what this means is that while planting the Spike, the attackers have one less man who is active. As such resulting in the attackers for those few seconds playing one man down. Wingman as such will not allow this to take place. With him just needing to be directed where to plant this will result in there being five active members while he plants the spike down. Due to this, the transition from attack and defense would be even smoother than one would expect. Gekko can now cover the Wingman while he is planting and following the plant to recover him and hold an angle.
Though, what are the best Gekko agents combos?
Image via Riot GamesTaking the reference of transition of play, we would now keep Gekko as the primary initiator who plants the Spike and supports the team in the pre-plant. He also can be quite effective in the post-plant, but it would seem that it won’t be enough. As such the second initiator will come into play. Characters like Fade and Sova will be the ones who will be the most effective on the post-plant due to their Ultimates. In a swoop, they can stop the plant or even be able to get quite a bit of map control and delay the defuse of the Spike. Sova with his recon dart and Fade with the Haunt can also gain information about the plant site.
Best Agents to play with Gekko
At first, we will have our second initiator on the team. This could range from other characters based on their needs. Mainly one could see characters like Skye, Fade and KAY/O being paired up with Gekko. Skye and Kay/O can be used as primary flashes to allow Gekko to use his abilities without getting shot down. Fade could then use her haunt and prowler to push back enemies and allow the Wingman to plant with ease. Her Ultimate also will be able to deafen most characters who are caught, thus not allowing them to realize that the Spike has been planted.
Image via Riot GamesThe second piece of this puzzle with Gekko agents duo could be Harbor. We have seen that he is quite a low-picked agent, but these walls and smokes can be useful here. As the Wingman will be planting each round, we make sure that the smoke is there to cover the Wingman on the plant or even on the defuse when needed, as such, allowing another layer of protection for him. With the curved walls, Gekko can send flashes against the wall to catch the opponents off guard. The last two characters we will mostly see in this team composition would be Killjoy and Jett. Killjoy, here, will be able to make sure of defense and attack using the lockdown and therefore easily help the team move forward.
Jett can play on her own, this would indicate some form of freedom for the duelist to be able to play quite efficiently. She can focus on getting the entry kill and then gain map control simply to help her team out on the post plant. This, in turn, allows a smoother transition in play from pre-plant to post-plant. Another ideology could be using Brimstone to combine his ultimate with Gekko due to his ability to detain players who have been caught.
