Why Isn't Reyna Used in Valorant Competitive Esports?

When it comes to Valorant agents, by the numbers, Reyna is the best of the best. She's versatile and effective, with a self-supporting kit. However, when you look at the Valorant esports scene, there are very few teams that utilize her. Why is that? When it comes to Valorant competitive pro-play, why does Reyna get left behind?

Reyna's stats in Valorant

If you look at Tracker Network's Valorant Insights, Reyna's stats are frighteningly impressive. She has the highest pick rate (11.8%), K/D (1.15), and kill percentage (13.8%). Even her win rate is still the third highest (50.2%). When you look at the stats, it makes sense why she's considered an S-tier Valorant agent. But if she's so S-tier, how come other S-tier or even A-tier agents are used more often in Valorant competitive esports matches over her?

Reyna in ranked solo-queue

In Tracker Network's Valorant Insights, Reyna's stats are so high because she excels at being a solo-queue champion. What does that mean? If you are playing Valorant competitive by yourself and you know how to play Reyna well, there are few better agents to help you rank up. She works so well in this role because she has abilities to nearsight (Leer), self-heal (Devour), and increase damage and reloud (Empress), so she can be a self-reliant powerhouse. When you don't know if you can trust your team to pick up the slack (like in solo-queue), there's no better option than Reyna. That's why she's got the highest pick rate in Valorant, nearly double that of popular newcomer, Gekko.

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Reyna in Valorant competitive esports

Now, here's where all those great things about Reyna fall a little flat. If you need to be a one-woman army, she's perfect. But if you're part of a competitive Valorant team, Reyna doesn't really fit. She can do it all by herself, sure. She's a utilitarian Duelist liek that. However, Valorant competitive pro teams are normally made up of specialists. You'll want a Sage with bigger heals and bigger blocks, not just a Reyna who can only heal herself. You need a Duelist Jett or Raze who can cause more chaos and has more mobility to get out of rough situations, not a Reyna. While she is the best at doing many things at once,  she simply isn't the best agent for any singular category. That's why, when making pro competitive Valorant teams, Reyna tends to fall off. Pro players will simply choose agents who better specialize in support, initiation, or map manipulation abilities.

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If you're interested in playing more like the pros, check out Tracker Network's Valorant Leaderboard to learn about and try to emulate some of their playstyles. For example, G2 LFT OXY is currently the top player and is also Jett main.