ImperialHal Expresses Disapproval of Valkyrie Nerf in Apex Legends Competitive, Describing it as “Braindead”

TSM pro Philip ‘ImperialHal‘ Dosen referred to the nerf that was applied to Valkyrie’s Ultimate in Apex Legends competitive play as “braindead,” and he voiced his criticism of the change.

Ever since she made her way to Outlands, Valkyrie has established herself as one of the most powerful characters on the Apex Legends roster. This is especially true in competitive play, when the crowd control provided by the Winged Avenger’s Tactical, her tremendous mobility, and the unequaled rotations provided by her Ultimate are all quite useful. Because of this, she is now considered a top-tier pick in the ALGS. This is something that should see as no surprise. After observing this, Respawn made the decision to apply a nerf to Valkyrie in the form of an event called Spellbound Collection, which only affects professionals.

Because of this change, players are no longer able to employ emotes while they are in the air that were previously used to aid them avoid being shot at. ImperialHal is not pleased with the nerf and has called it “braindead.” He is concerned that it would make it too easy to fire adversaries that are rotating around the map.

ImperialHal Criticizes the Recently Valkyrie ALGS Nerf

The ALGS was directly impacted by a minor adjustment that was made to the tournament parameters by Respawn on January 10th. During competitive play, one of them stated that players were not allowed to show emotion when they were in the air. Although at first glance this may not appear to be noteworthy, it is in fact a covert nerf to Valkyrie. Professional players frequently employ emotes while rotating with her Ultimate ability to make it more difficult for enemies on the ground to shoot them.

Now that Skyward Dive has been changed, teams that use it will be far more vulnerable to enemy fire, and it may even be possible to beam adversaries directly out of the sky. ImperialHal, in response to the announcement on live, referred to the adjustment as “braindead” and predicted that it would lead to teams being “one-clipped out of the air” with little opportunity for counterplay.

The Discussion Begins at 0:25

After demonstrating to his audience that it is far simpler to land shots on opponents while they are in mid-air on LAN, Hal became persuaded that employing a Valk Ultimate in competitive play from this point forward is a surefire way to lose.

No matter what happens, we won’t know for sure whether or not this indirect nerf will result in a lower number of Winged Avengers in the ALGS unless we wait.