Here's proof that Valorant lets you outsmart rather than just outshoot
A Spy reborn
The more I play of Valorant, the more my respect for it increases. Riot are onto something good with their hybrid of CS:GO and Overwatch, and I'm not just saying that because of this video where I kill an entire enemy team by myself.
As I wind up doing in every class-based game, I've picked a character I like and now not playing them feels wrong. That character is Omen, and he is a sneaky teleporting bastard. The best kind.
These are, if you'll forgive some masturbatory horn-tooting, damn fine sneaks. I start by using Omen's ultimate ability, which is a teleport that lets me appear anywhere on the map. It takes a while and alerts everyone in a large radius of the destination, though, so I need to be careful. Or lucky.
No one hears me this time, allowing me to take down two defenders before they clock what's happened. Then I get a third, no doubt responding to their teammate's panicked (but woefully imprecise) cries about an Omen in their backline. That's when I teleport over to the other side of the room, knowing my two remaining opponents will have their crosshairs trained on where I was last. Sure enough, the fourth baddie bumbles straight into my sights.
I duck behind a wall, to reload and hide from my last opponent's player-revealing arrow. Then I fire my blinding ability through that wall, before creeping round the corner and teleporting directly behind him. I then knife him in his back, because I am a showboating cretin.
My delighted squeal at the end says more about Valorant than I can here. This is the closest I've ever felt to playing the Spy in Team Fortress 2, where success hangs on sneaky misdirection. Being quick on the draw is still ultimately more important than getting clever with abilities, but as I've already argued, abilities bring the game to life.
I am obviously chuffed to now have evidence.