"They're taking every level of skill out of the game": Tarik lambasts Valorant's new update for smoke rework

During his latest Twitch broadcast, popular FPS streamer "Tarik" Celik expressed his frustration with the changes made to smoke mechanics in Valorant. As one of the biggest content creators on the platform, Tarik has been playing Riot Games' tactical shooter since launch. He is one of the biggest Counter-Strike players to have switched over to the title.

Tarik has now become one of the top Valorant players, having reached the Radiant #1 rank on multiple occasions and even getting invited to official events. However, when the patch notes for the game's 7.08 update were released, the Twitch star did not seem happy with many changes that had been introduced, especially with respect to the smoke reworks.

Tarik went off on Riot Games for a new mechanic, where there will be a visual cue for all smokes that will warn players that it is about to dissipate. He did not like it one bit and saw it as a reduction of skill-based gameplay opportunities:

"It tells you before it drops, I hate these people, I hate them so much. Oh my god, they're taking every level of skill out of the game and throwing it in the garbage."

The former CS: GO professional took the opportunity to prophesize other changes that would ruin Valorant for him, saying:

"The Judge is going to be buffed, the Op's going to be nerfed. I already foresee the future."

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"This is a terrible update": Tarik calls out Riot Games for new Valorant 7.08 update

Timestamp 0:39:57

Tarik is undoubtedly one of the biggest Valorant streamers on Twitch and elsewhere. Although he plays other titles on his channel, his primary game of choice has been Valorant (at least since its release). Considering this fact, fans believe his opinions carry a lot of weight.

In his latest broadcast, the streamer went off on Riot Games for the new Valorant update and called the studio out for making the shooter easier to play for casuals, whom he calls "average Twitch chatters." He directly called the latest 7.08 patch terrible and asked to speak with the person in charge of making the decisions:

"They are just making it friendlier for your average Twitch chatter, and I am not here to play with your average Twitch chatter! I am trying to play with the best, goddammit. This is a terrible update man, who's coming up with this sh*t! Let me talk to John Ryan, what the f*ck are we cooking?!?"

He also did not seem to like the name of Valorant's new Agent and repeated it multiple times in disapproval:

"New Valorant agent leak, ISO? Que eso? (What is that? in Spanish) ISO, que eso? It's pronounced ISO(eye-so)? Why the f*ck am I saying eso then? Que eso? ISO."

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Viewers react to the clip

Many Valorant fans have echoed Tarik's concern about the new update. Here are some general reactions to the clip of him dissing on the smokes in the game:

Viewers react to the clip (Image via Jett Shorts/YouTube)

As a former Counter-Strike player, Tarik has fully embraced streaming and risen to the very top echelons of the industry. Here is a direct head-to-head comparison between his 2022 performance on Twitch vs Shroud's.