VALORANT Masters Santiago will be the first VCT tournament that will feature the recent Harbor buffs introduced in patch 12.02.
Ahead of the event’s kick-off tomorrow on February 28th, Esports Insider asked attending in-game leaders (IGLs) Ayaz ‘nAts’ Akhmetshin, Jacob ‘valyn’ Batio and Ethan ‘Ethan’ Arnold how they view the agent’s strength in the meta.
“I have high expectations on teams trying the new Harbor in this tournament,” shared Team Liquid’s nAts during the pre-event press conference.
“I mean, we will see how it will be. Not many teams like to do the changes, but I think the new Harbor is the best from what it was before, and the abilities are very interesting to work around. I think some teams will definitely pull it out because I think it’s good.”
Since its release in October 2022, Harbor has suffered due to its niche controller abilities, often outclassed by main smokers such as Omen and the most popular secondary controller, Viper.
Although Riot Games introduced a major Harbor rework in November last year, the agent’s pick rate across the VCT changed little. However, the recent patch 12.02 introduced significant improvements to Harbor’s utility, including a longer duration for his Cove, along with increasing the size of his High Tide.
Like nAts, G2 Esports’ IGL valyn seemed confident that Harbor would be picked by some teams during the upcoming Masters event.
“I feel like a Habor is pretty good right now. I think people don’t realise the potential he has. There’s a lot of hidden, niche stuff about him that makes him a bit OP in my opinion,” commented the triple VCT Americas 2025 champion.
“So, I won’t be surprised if a lot of people pull him out, including these guys on my right [points towards PRX players and chuckles]. We’re just preparing for anyone to pull out Harbor. He seems pretty good.”
Both G2 and Paper Rex have shown flexibility in their team compositions at VCT Kickoff, meaning a potential Harbor pick wouldn’t be uncanny for these innovative teams.
Not All Players Agree
Despite Harbor receiving praise from nAts and valyn, not all players at Masters Santiago believe the agent is viable in pro play.
“We haven’t played against a Harbor in any practices, so I think people have collectively probably decided he’s worse now than he was before,” argued NRG’s Ethan. “But I’m not sure. I think he’s in a weird spot right now.”
Interestingly, Ethan and his team were known to be Harbor believers prior to the agent’s rework. The reigning VALORANT Champions used to weave the agent into its double-controller team composition on Abyss, even choosing the niche pick during the Champions 2025 Grand Final versus Fnatic.
Whether Ethan or his fellow IGLs have the correct read on the latest Harbor buffs, will soon be revealed on the VCT stage in Chile. Masters Santiago will run from February 28th until March 3rd, featuring twelve teams from across the globe and a $1m (~£741,674) prize pool.
Fans can tune into the opening matches tomorrow at 5 PM BST via the official Twitch and YouTube broadcasts.
