Who’s Planting the Spike: Valorant Riot Games introduces new Agent 22: Gekko
All Agent 22 Information Known So Far
The new agent 22, codenamed: ‘Gekko’, has been revealed by Riot. Announced as a Riot at the start of the year, 3 agents are planned for 2023. The first one, ‘Gekko’, will be an initiator. The second and third are unnamed at the moment, with the second revealed to be another sentinel.
‘Gekko’ was played for the first time live on the 4th of Mar, at the VCT LOCK//IN Grand Finals opening ceremony showmatch. He was played by the two team captains, “tarik” and “FRTTT”. According to the Riot developers, ‘Gekko’ is meant to ‘bring their own eclectic way to deal with situations, new ways to check corners, get onto locations, and plant the Spike.’
‘Gekko’ creates a new subset of Initiator, one that is exclusive from the two presets already present, that being ‘Flash Initiators’ and ‘Info Initiators’. The former includes the agents: KAYO, Breach, and Skye. The latter includes Fade and Sova. Moreover, with his ‘Wingman’, he offers a new method of area clearing and Spike planting/defusing.
Gekko Agent Abilities
Passive:
All of ‘Gekko’s’ abilities will revert into a dormant globule after expiring. Interacting with the globules will recover the charge after a short cooldown. Thrash can only be interacted with once to recover the charge.
Ability 1: Mosh Pit
Essentially a grenade, pressing once equips Mosh. Fire to toss Mosh forwards, Alt fire to underhand toss. Upon landing Mosh will duplicate across a large area and then explode after a short delay.
Ability 2: Wingman
The already infamous new buddy for ‘Gekko’, players can equip Wingman before firing to seek enemies. Wingman will unleash a concussive blast at the first enemy he sees. Alt firing when targeting a Spike site or planted Spike will have Wingman begin planting/defusing the spike. ‘Gekko’ must have the Spike in inventory in order to send out Wingman for the plant.
Ability 3: Dizzy
Dizzy merges the benefits of a Sova drone with a flash. After equipping Dizzy, ‘Gekko’ can be fired to sent forward through the air. Upon reaching a preset distance, Dizzy will charge and then unleash plasma blasts at any enemies in line of sight. Any enemy hit will be blinded.
Ultimate: Thrash
After equipping Thrash, ‘Gekko’ links into Thrash’s mind and can steer her. Activate her to lunge forward and explode, detaining any enemies in a small area.
Early Strategies and Thoughts on Gekko’s Team Role
‘Gekko’ would pair well with Harbor’s “Cove”, allowing for cleaner site takes/retakes by freeing up the normally occupied planter/defuser to also cover and take duels. Moreover, ‘Wingman’ could allow ‘Gekko’ to always turn the tide in a 1vX, by covering his ‘defuser’ and turning the impossible into somewhat possible.
Moreover, the long-ranged nature of the majority of his abilities, including his ultimate, will make him an extremely powerful support Initiator and post-plant threat. With a Mosh Pit, Dizzy, and Thrash, he has immense delay potential as well, and could potentially serve well as a site anchor on defense, much like Breach or KAYO.
Lastly, lineups for Dizzy could allow strong clearance on large space maps such as Split, Pearl, and Fracture, where the bombsites are large and fairly open spaced.
Gekko will be released on 7th Mar as part of Valorant Episode 6 Act 2.
Image credit: Gekko Art Design/ Valorant Riot Games