Valorant
The finals of the VCT Champions put a spotlight on upcoming changes in the game, with a new map, Sunset, shown during the show match before the finals. The major news for this upcoming update is that Breeze is back in the map rotation, with Fracture and Pearl being removed. The catch here is this Breeze isn’t the old Breeze, where we saw Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker frag out on Chamber. Instead, the map has seen multiple changes. Let's take a closer look at the changes and consider their implications for competitive play.
Breeze was removed from the competitive map pool for all professional events in Patch 6.0. As it’s also been gone from ranked for so long, it’s been left in the dust. Before being removed, Breeze was dominated by a duo controller meta; Astra and Viper were constant picks on the map, with some players testing out Harbor due to his high tide. Due to the placement of A Cave and B Window back then, Operators became quite a viable weapon on either site. In Mid Nest, you would see players pushing in with an Operator and teleporting away. The upcoming changes on the map have made an effort to ensure that the weapon meta turns out differently this time around.
Changes made around Mid Pillar
The first part of Breeze to see a major revamp is the middle of the map. This is a trend that Riot has used on all of their maps in Valorant to block a given path. In certain maps, there have been points where an attacker or defender has two paths to travel at a given point. For example, in the map Fracture, Dish used to have two entry paths. This would make it difficult for defenders to be able to hold an angle and provide an advantage to the attackers. Similarly, on Breeze, one path from Mid Pillar has been completely blocked off to enter from, with the walls being brought closer to the pillar and boxes being placed down. Due to this change, there is one path that players can now walk by. The interesting part about the new wall is the placement of the boxes. Due to the boxes, players can decide to scale up over the wall and by doing so, have an off angle into Mid Nest.
Image Credits: Riot GamesAs an attacker, this change has reduced the unpredictability at Mid Pillar. The addition is this wall provides a higher angle to hold as well. The space between the Mid Pillar and Mid Doors has been reduced thus any agent smoke hides that path from defenders. As a defender, the advantage now is you have a clear idea of where the enemies will walk and peek. Due to the addition of the wall, there’s an acute angle in the corner one can hold; if not checked it could be quite easy to kill multiple enemies at once. Smokes from agents such as Astra and Omen will be quite crucial on this part of the map.
Image Credits: Riot GamesChanges Made On B Site On Breeze
On B Site, the back of the site has seen significant changes. The broken wall has been replaced with a smaller wall with a box at the back. This box can be used to jump above onto the pillar to hold an angle for B main. The other major change to Breeze is the removal of the staircase. Instead, it’s been replaced with a wall similar to the one at the back of the site. After planting, a player can jump on the box, over the wall to the back of the site. B's back site now consists of a wall which will make it tougher for B defenders on the retake.
For attackers, not much has changed, so having a Viper on the wall parallel to the B Wall is ideal. Another option is using Harbor’s High Tide to cut the site in half, with the Harbor clove, making it easier to plant on B site. The addition of boxes on the back of the site provide additional cover, and the change could make Chamber a more viable pick. As a defender, there are quite a few new angles one can hold, but due to the stairs being removed, the angle into B main cannot be held.
A Site
A site's first major change is in A Hall to Metal Doors. This pathway has been completely blocked off, cutting off an entry onto A site. This change has turned the door near the defender’s spawn into mainly a defender-sided door. With A Hall now blocked off, it’s unlikely a player can hold that angle with an operator.
The second major change comes for Mid Doors on A site. The partially open door is now fully open. Boxes have also been added to this part of the map, reducing the space between Mid Pillar and Mid Doors drastically. Shop on A site has now become the sole entry path onto A site. Similar to the changes at the Mid Pillar, one path has been blocked off completely, preventing entry from A Cave during the attack. With various boxes being placed it will be interesting how many times we see teams attack A site.
Image Credits: Riot GamesFinally, the last change on A site are the shrimp and crab motifs on the pillars on A site. As an attacker, A site has lost the charm of having multiple angles to peek into. To push onto the site players will either have to go through Mid-Doors or A Shop (ideally, utilizing multiple flashes here, with either Breach or Skye.) As a defender, these changes have helped massively with an operator on A site. With an Astra or Viper to smoke entry on A site, things would be tough. There will likely also be an extra emphasis on Mid Doors now that it has become the ideal entry onto the site.
Only time will tell exactly how these changes will affect the meta on the new Breeze. We’re expecting to see double controller or initiator team compositions. There is even a slight potential for an increase in Raze picks, thanks to the addition of the new angles.
