An artist andValorantfan recently uploaded their revamped version of Phoenix’s agent select animation. Known as theflame-wielding Duelistfrom the United Kingdom, Phoenix utilizes his flash and fire wall abilities against opponents, and also makes regular appearances inValorant’s cinematic trailers.
Phoenix was one of the first Agents releasedwhenValorantlaunched its closed beta in 2020, along with the likes of Viper, Brimstone, and Sage. Newer players are also able to pick Phoenix immediately as he’s a free-to-play Agent. However, with the ever-changing meta inValorant, the Duelist had seen lower pick rates as Riot Games added more Agents that pro and casual players deemed more viable in games. Despite that, he’s still a prominent figure in theValorantlore, and fans still seemed to love his swagger in cinematics.
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Over on Reddit,Valorantfan freshest_orange decided to showcase Phoenix’s fiery personality by creating an updated version of his agent select animation using Source Filmmaker. The 33-second clip showed Phoenix throwing and catching a fireball while fixing his jacket’s collar, with a crown floating on top of his head. When a player locks him, he powers up, giving him his signature flame-like aura, and snaps his fingers to conjure up his flash. Apart from the totally different animation, freshest_orange also revamped Phoenix’s graphics, so he looked more HD.
ManyValorantfans in the comments praised the creation, calling it “amazing” and telling the artist that Riot Games should hire them. There were also players who requested them to make an updated version ofViperand Brimstone’s agent select animations, which they said they were willing to pay the artist to do it for them. Meanwhile, some said they would want to see this type of animation inValorant 2if Riot ever decides to release one.
Although freshest_orange called Phoenix’s current agent select animation “outdated,” they clarified that it wasn’t meant to throw shade at Riot Games as they only wanted the Agent to have the same detailed animation as newer ones like Fade and Harbor. Although Riot has not done major changes to the Agents' looks and most of their animations, it did introduce a brand-newValorantuser interface in Patch 5.08. Plus, longtime Riot gamers would know that the developers would giveLeague of Legendschampions makeovers after a period of time, so they might giveAgents the same treatment in the future, especially withValorantcoming to other platforms.
