5 reasons why Cypher continues to be Valorant's least-picked Sentinel

In the current Valorant meta, Cypher has fallen behind other Sentinel Agents and desperately needs a buff. His pick rate has gradually gone down since the nerfs have taken away his ability to impact rounds after dying.

When Cypher was nerfed, Killjoy received major buffs, filling the void among Sentinel Agents and becoming the players' first pick in the process.

Valorant fans have been asking for Cypher buffs for quite a while now. His pick rate has consistently been low for most of last year. Codename Gumshoe's utility isn’t as effective as other Sentinel Agents, which has caused him to fall out of favor.

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The reasons behind Cypher’s low pick rate in Valorant

Cypher’s recon utility is too easy to predict and destroy, due to which players need to switch up their placement every round. With Cypher's limited defensive capabilities, players more or less have to dedicate their traps to a single site.

However, the Agent is incredibly powerful in the right hands. As players climb up the ranks, they can expect to see more outplays from Cypher.

Having a Cypher in the team composition may help players hold down sites, but there are better alternatives for this in the current meta as well. Here are a few reasons why Cypher has become one of the least picked Agents in Valorant.

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1) Retaking a site is hard

Cypher's abilities such as Spycam and Cyber Cage are not useful when trying to retake a site, as the team may already have dedicated a few utilities towards the defensive setup.

This does not give Cypher a lot of room to work as part of a team. Other Sentinels have more nuanced abilities which help them retake a site much more effectively.

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2) Requires a lot of game sense

Cypher's pick rate has been low among players in the Diamond rank. Players need a lot of game sense and patience to pull off a proper clutch with Cypher.

His utilities are tough to handle in the heat of the battle, and lower elo players may have a hard time with it. Agents such as Killjoy have abilities that are much easier to pull off.

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3) Stealth-based gameplay

Cypher players also need to be sneaky and stealthy while playing the Agent, as going in all guns blazing isn't an option. Though he may be a Sentinel, it is critical that opponents do not hear Cypher push.

Cypher does not have the ability to cancel out a quick peek, and that makes him dependent on other teammates. Being stealthy rarely helps when a round is down to the last seconds and the locations of players are known.

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4) Better alternatives

Cypher has fallen behind in the current Sentinel meta due to a variety of reasons. Agents like Killjoy, Chamber, and Sage have abilities that outweigh the usefulness of Cypher in Valorant.

Most Agents are quite useful across the game, but Cypher clutches can only be pulled off on certain maps. For example, Killjoy can deploy her kits effectively across all maps, Cypher falls off in this department

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5) Ultimate needs a downed enemy

A major issue that fans have with Cypher is his Ultimate, which is one of the least effective Ultimates in the game. In order for Cypher's Ultimate to work, the downed enemy should be within the player's reach. Plus, the Ultimate only reveals the location of the enemy for a blip of a second.

This makes using the ability quite difficult, as players can only use it under certain circumstances.

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Despite these reasons, Cypher continues to get picked quite regularly in the higher elos of Valorant and in competitive pro matches. Riot should take a hard look at Cypher and his abilities and consider buffing them, hopefully by the next patch, as his popularity is far below that of other Sentinels in the current meta.