COUNTER-STRUCK

Huddled alone in a corner near bomb site A, I knew I didn’t have a chance of sneaking in and planting the package strapped to my back. The defense had just wiped out the other four members of my team, and they knew the bomb was close. They’d be waiting to dome me as soon as I stepped around a corner. So instead I activated my ult, an ability I’d been charging up for half a dozen rounds. After a tense, vulnerable few seconds, I teleported clear across the map to bomb site B and armed the bomb, adrenaline pumping at the thought of pulling off a 1v4 upset.

“Unloseable!” says League of Legends shoutcaster David ‘Phreak’ Turley, who was helping my team of journalists learn the basics of Valorant, Riot’s new competitive shooter. Unloseable for him, maybe. It was meant to be encouraging, but unfortunately Turley underestimated my ability to choke under pressure. The defence raced to my bomb site and I fumbled my other remaining abilities, throwing down smoke clouds that blinded me as much as they did them. Instead of hiding to scare off an attempted disarm, I went in—and down—guns blazing. They had just enough time to defuse my unloseable victory.

I’m still mad I blew my chance at glory, but the thrill of that moment has stuck with me. It showed how dramatically can alter a match, and made me think ‘OK, maybe Riot has something here’. Because at first, I wasn’t so sure. Hero abilities allow for clever strategies and exciting upsets, but look past them, and Riot Games has fundamentally spent the last five years building .