“New Harbor is the best”: VALORANT pros react to Harbor buffs at Masters Santiago

VALORANT Masters Santiago will be the first VCT tournament to include the latest Harbor buffs introduced in patch 12.02.

Before the start of the event tomorrow February 28, Esports Insider asked to visit the game leaders (IGLs) Ayaz’and Ats‘Akhmetshin, Jacob’valyn‘Batio and Ethan’Ethan‘ Arnold how they look at the power of the agent in the meta.

“I expect a lot from the teams that try the new Harbor in this tournament,” shared by Team Liquid’s nAts during the pre-event press conference.

“I mean, we’ll see how it goes. Not many teams like to make changes, but I think the new Harbor is better than before, and the skills are more interesting to work around. I think other teams will take it because I think it’s good.”

Since its release in October 2022, Harbor has suffered because of its niche controller capabilities, often losing to smokers like the Omen and the second most popular controller, the Viper.

Although Riot Games introduced the Harbor redesign in November of last year, the level of agent selection across the VCT changed little. However, the latest patch 12.02 introduced significant improvements to Harbor’s usage, including a longer duration for his Cove, and increasing the size of his High Tide.

Like nAts, G2 Esports’ IGL valyn they seemed confident that Harbor would be picked by other teams during the upcoming Masters event.

“I feel like Habor is really good right now. I think people don’t see the potential he has. There’s a lot of hidden, important things about him that make him a little OP in my opinion,” commented the three-time VCT Americas 2025 champion.

“So, I won’t be surprised if a lot of people take him out, including these guys on my right [points towards PRX players and chuckles]. We are preparing for anyone who will take out the Harbor. He seems very handsome.”

Both G2 and Paper Rex showed flexibility in their team building at the VCT Kickoff, meaning that Harbor’s potential pick would not be a surprise to these elite teams.

Despite Harbor receiving praise from nAts and valyn, not all Masters Santiago players believe the agent is effective in the pro game.

“We haven’t played Harbor in any of the practices, so I think people have probably decided he’s worse now than before,” argued NRG’s Ethan. “But I’m not sure. I think you’re in a weird place right now.”

It is interesting that Ethan and his team were known as believers in the port before the reactivation of the agent. The reigning VALORANT champions used to include an agent in the composition of the double control team in Abyss, until they chose to choose between the Champions 2025 Grand Final vs Fnatic.

Whether Ethan or his fellow IGLs learned the right thing from the recent Harbor buffs, will soon be revealed on the VCT stage in Chile. Masters Santiago will run from February 28 until March 3, with twelve teams from around the world and a prize pool of $1m (~£741,674).

Fans can tune in to tomorrow’s opening matches at 5 PM BST via the official Twitch and YouTube streams.