Would you rather have a confident instalock duelist on your VALORANT<\/em> team or someone who fills in the role but knows the ins and outs of it? Shopify Rebellion’s Melanie \u201cmeL\u201d Capone believes being a duelist is more about confidence than technicality. <\/p>
\u201cDefinitely a confidence-based role\u2026\u201d meL told Dot Esports during an interview at the Red Bull Instalock, a VALORANT<\/a><\/em> tournament featuring a quirky “three instalock duelist” format that took place in April. <\/p>
![\""meL"](\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/meL-of-Shopify-Rebellion.jpg\")
VALORANT <\/em>players strongly disapprove of the instalock practice<\/a> in ranked games because it interferes with strategizing and makes it harder to choose an ideal team composition. But if a player instalocks an agent, it usually means they\u2019re confident. So, for duelists, it means they\u2019re much more likely to engage in head-on fights and secure space for the team.<\/p>
While the duelist role encourages the instalock trend, not all are good at what they pick, and some players lock agents just to troll. Also, everyone should get a fair chance at picking an agent of their choice. So, how do we balance it? MeL thinks a cascade agent pick system like in Apex Legends<\/em> should help balance the cons of instalocking and allow players to choose their favorite role. Riot Games seems to have been working on the feature, according to leaks<\/a>, but we don\u2019t know when it\u2019s coming.<\/p>
No discussion about VALORANT\u2019s<\/em> duelists in Episode Eight<\/a> would be complete without the mention of Clove, the latest controller agent<\/a> who\u2019s meant to be played as a pseudo-duelist. MeL believes Clove\u2019s kit isn\u2019t valuable enough to make a mark in pro play\u2014yet. \u201cI think some of their ability timers are under-tuned,\u201d she said, adding that her ultimate and overheal (Pick Me Up) need to be buffed before teams consider shaping their compositions around them. That said, she sees them becoming a popular agent in ranked. <\/p>
