In this week’s Spike Drop we’re going to grade each of the changes coming to VALORANT in the monumental 9.10 update that was announced yesterday. Then, we look at the latest VCT transfer reports that’s going to be a real…game changer.

Speaking of Game Changers, congratulations to Shopify Rebellion on winning back-to-back championships!

VALORANT Patch 9.10 changes and grades

Patch 9.10 is one of the most drastic patches made to VALORANT in recent history, affecting the status of several of the game’s most prominent agents, adding a brand new shield, and changing some crucial details for weapons and smokes.

I’m gonna give into some of the biggest changes and grade them accordingly. If you disagree with a grade, please tell your parent or guardian and they can call me to set up a conference.

Phoenix is fun again

Riot finally remembered that Phoenix is a duelist, and his kit has been re-tooled and improved to reflect that.

• Phoenix now applies a heal-over-time to himself after touching Blaze wall or Hot Hands, meaning he doesn’t have to stand in it anymore.

• Curveball flash is now his signature. He gets a free one each round, and he can generate an additional charge after two kills.

• Blaze now travels through walls, like a Harbor wall.

A+ / Phoenix now feels like a strong duelist that can properly play aggressively, as a duelist should. The Blaze improvements lets him create more space for him and his teammates, and the healing changes to his flames no longer force him to hide in the fire waiting for his health to go up.

Omen one-way smokes eliminated

One of the neatest tricks that Omen players utilize is the ability to throw powerful one-way smokes using pieces of geometry. No other controller could do this with their smokes, because of how precise Omen can place them. Well, no more.

• Dark Cover will now always fall to level geometry where players can stand similar to other spherical smokes, meaning no more one-ways.

C / I get the reasoning behind this change, since there’s no ability or play that can effectively counter an Omen one-way, and VALORANT is built around the idea that every ability can be overcome in some way. It just feels lame to take away an aspect of play that caters to high level players.

Cypher’s Trap Wire nerfed

Cypher’s nerfs may seem small to the untrained eye, but they’re pretty substantial.

• Trap Wire now has a half-second windup before the player is revealed.

• Neural Theft ultimate now costs seven points instead of six.

B+ / Neural Theft is way too powerful to only cost six ultimate points, I like that change. And while I feel similarly about the Trap Wire changes as I do about the Omen smokes in regards to lowering the skill ceiling, I absolutely despite Trap Wire sometimes, so I’ll allow it.

Regen Shield added

A new shield type, the Regen Shield, now appears in the buy menu.

• Costs 650 credits.

• Absorbs 25 points of damage, then regenerates that shield from a pool of 50 points once the shield reaches zero.

• Pool can be refilled from the buy menu at the start of each round.

? / I feel like I need more time with the Regen Shield, but I can see situations where it can be useful. Obviously in a one-on-one duel, it pales in comparison to traditional half-shields or full shields. But in a scenario like a half-buy or save, where you’re running through enemy utility like molotovs, or a Sova shock dart, it could prove to be valuable. It also could be the go-to shield to buy after winning pistol round.

Quick grades for everything else in patch 9.10

• Sage: self heal increased to 50 hp, slow orb now works against agents that dash, Resurrection ultimate costs one point less.

  • A / Welcome back Battle-Sage.

• Deadlock: Annihilation ultimate now kills a caught opponent every time, even if they aren’t fully pulled into the end location before the timer expires.

  • C / Not a good or bad change, just makes sense.

• Running/walking firing inaccuracy: Walking and running inaccuracy for all rifles, all machine guns, the Classic, and the Ghost have all been increased.

  • A / Call me boring and old all you want, but the overpowered run-and-gun stuff had to be changed. Also the reduction in the power of the FREE Classic was overdue.

• Phantom buff: Damage fall-off improved

  • B+ / with the walking/running accuracy changes and the improvements to the Phantom range, the Vandal no longer dominates online ranked play. On the pro side, the Phantom should dominate LAN events.

Florescent makes history and raises her ceiling

When the dust settled at the Game Changers Championship, Shopify Rebellion emerged with their second straight title, without dropping a single map in the process. And at only 18 years old, Ava "florescent" Eugene has proven that at this moment, she is the best Game Changers player ever.

The goal for flor has always been competing against the best, and with nothing left to prove in GC, she turns her attention to the highest tier of VALORANT competition: the VCT international leagues. As reported by Alejandro “anonimotum” Gomis, flor has reached an agreement to play with EMEA Ascension winners Apeks in the VCT EMEA league next season.

In doing so, flor is making history by becoming the first Game Changers player to play in an international VCT league. There were hints throughout the GC Championship that flor would be looking to dive into tier one, and while many NA fans (including me) hoped for a possible teamup with yay and potter on Evil Geniuses, she is heading east to Europe.

As sad as I am to see flor not play in Americas, Apeks feels like a great destination for her. Like G2 and other Ascension teams, Apeks has to perform at the highest level in order to stay up in VCT, so for the team to pick her after tryouts sends a clear signal that they are going after the best players that give them a chance at winning.

Let’s also be real for a second. Europe, and in particular Germany, is considerably more welcoming to both transgender people and LGBTQ+ people than America is currently. And in case you haven’t been reading the news, America looks like it will be getting a lot less welcoming in just a matter of months. Combine that with the much lower cost of living in Berlin compared to Los Angeles, and you’ve got an easy choice to make when it comes to where you’re rather work and play.

But this will still be a challenge for flor, who’s jumping into a highly competitive, must-win environment against tier one competition, which she hasn’t played against before. But even though Game Changers might be losing its biggest star, it also means that the series has accomplished its mission.

Game Changers doesn’t exist just to give women and marginalized genders a completely separate ecosystem off to the side, and it’s also not meant to give its competitors a free pass into the VCT leagues. Its whole purpose is to grow talent and give players an environment to develop as players and as people, with the hope that someone can get to be good enough to earn a spot on a VCT team. And now we have one.

I’ll be out of town for most of next week for the Thanksgiving holiday so most likely no Spike Drop. But I’ll be back at the start of December and I’m looking forward to growing this thing even more in 2025! Also hire me!