VALORANT's new music video teaches players how to play the game

With VALORANT's biggest tournament, VALORANT Champions 2021, around the corner, publisher Riot Games has released a music video to accompany the hype of the tournament.

Titled Die For You ft. Grabbitz, one would think that it is a video that furthers the lore of VALORANT’s universe.

However, if you read in between the very obvious lines of the video, it is actually telling VALORANT players on how to effectively play the game.

What happens in the video

The video starts off with Brimstone and Sage approaching Split’s B site entrance after an intense battle to defuse the Spike, with an enemy Chamber holding the entrance with a sniper rifle.

After entering the site, we see Brimstone clutching his sides, clearly taking some damage during the firefight they went through.

Out of nowhere, we see their team’s Phoenix barging in from the B site entrance, spotting a planted and ticking Spike that is about to explode.

In true Phoenix fashion, he uses his ultimate to run towards the Spike to defuse it without any considerable thought.

We then see the enemy Chamber firing at Phoenix, with Brimstone and Sage being aghast that their teammate is doing something rash.

The video then cuts to a few montages of each of the characters’ struggles, and the players behind these characters.

We see Brimstone being bogged down by the weight on his shoulders to keep his teammates safe, and feeling helpless that he is injured. He then learns to be okay with the fact that he cannot be the rock of the team all the time.

The next scene shows Phoenix holding an orb that represents his power and responsibility, only to see the power will be consuming and backfiring on him if he uses it all the time. He then hands this orb to the player that is controlling him.

The montage then switches to Sage, who attempts to heal the world around her, ultimately freezing her in an ice block. This possibly represents the fact that she feels entirely hopeless if she cannot heal her teammates. She then breaks out of the ice block to take control.

Afterwards, we head back to the ensuing battle at hand, with Phoenix getting hit by Chamber’s bullet and dying (don’t worry, he’s using his ultimate).

This angers Sage, and she charges in to battle with the Chamber and to attempt to defuse the Spike, but not before healing Brimstone for 60 health (sorry I just had to).

Chamber attempts to fire at Sage, but a wall of fire appears in front of her, just in time to throw his aim off.

It is revealed that the respawned Phoenix was the one using his abilities to help Sage. Phoenix throws the Spike diffuser to Sage, with both Brimstone and Phoenix charging in to help her while she defuses the Spike.

What VALORANT players can learn

You would think that this whole video is just another representation of VALORANT's lore, but it is actually very player-focused.

Brimstone has just sustained damage from the previous battle, he is possibly one bullet away from death. But even so, he feels like it is his duty to still get into the fight, even though it may be pointless because he is going to be taken out almost immediately if he goes out of cover.

This is very much akin to someone who thinks that he is responsible for a certain “role” in the game, even if he is in a precarious situation.

It's represented by the visual of Brimstone with the weight of the world on his shoulders (I love the Atlas imagery).

It is okay to let go at times. Remember, this is a team game. Come to terms with the fact that there will be four other players that are as responsible as you for winning the game. It is okay if you cannot fulfil your role due to the circumstances.

We also all know that Phoenix players (actually most Duelist players) tend to just run in head on and think it’s their job to kill the enemies and take charge.

They seem to forget that they are still in the position to support their teammates with their abilities, instead of always using them for a selfish head-on fight with the enemy.

This is shown in the imagery of Phoenix handing his “orb of power and responsibility” to the player controlling him, and raising a Blaze wall during the fight to prevent the Sage from being shot by Chamber.

The last imagery is perhaps the most powerful one, with Sage breaking out of being trapped and feeling hopeless because she couldn’t heal everything around her.

Many VALORANT players are too stuck in the character archetypes. While, yes, Sage is a healer, she is also able to cover for her teammates when things get dicey.

She is not only there to heal — she is also able to run in to site, and get the necessary work done if her teammates are in a terrible situation. If you're a Sage player, do not feel that you are only there to heal your teammates.

All the right spots

This video hits all the spots for a VALORANT player. It is beautifully animated, has bits of lore sprinkled into it, and still manages to send a message to the players on how the game can be played.

But man, whoever is controlling the enemy Chamber needs some aim training. (I’m joking, we all know it’s plot armour).

Riot has always been at the top of its game when it comes to animation and music, and this video is no different.

The fact that Riot was able to combine fitting music and in-game lore while informing the player on the few ways that they can play the game... just flexing its animation prowess at this point.

I can’t wait to see what else Riot has up its sleeve. Who knows, maybe it’s a VALORANT animated series, just like Arcane (which just got its season 2 on Netflix).

Dominic loves tech and games. When he is not busy being headshotted in VALORANT or watercooling anything he sees, he does some pro wrestling.

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