Astra has been removed from the VALORANT competitive queue as Riot Games investigates the exploit that allows players to sell her star in the first round.
Patch 4.04 brought several exciting updates, including significant changes to Icebox and the long-awaited Yoru rework. Several other agents have also received updates, including Astra, who can now be sold during the buy phase. However, this introduced an unanticipated issue, allowing players to sell the star and buy a Marshal in the first round.
A Marshal can easily turn the tide of a round, particularly against unarmored opponents who are also unprepared to face a rifle during the pistol round. This bug could be exploited in competitive matches, jeopardizing the mode’s competitive integrity.
The bug was relatively simple to exploit because players only needed to sell their star before the round began, giving them just enough credits to purchase a Marshal. This precluded them from purchasing any additional abilities or armor, but it was a worthwhile trade-off.
Riot is aware of the problem and has removed Astra from the competitive queue until the bug is fixed. The developers hope to reintroduce Astra into the competitive playlist later today, but players won’t mind waiting as long as the vexing bug is fixed.
Other controllers are now slightly more viable thanks to Patch 4.04, so consider other options in the meantime.