Riot Games officially unveiled Veto, Valorant’s newest Sentinel and agent #28, during the grand finals of VALORANT Champions 2025 in Paris. Hailing from Senegal, Veto immediately drew attention for his unique design: a Sentinel who doesn’t just lock down sites defensively but also disrupts enemies aggressively, forcing them to play on his terms. Empowered by an unstoppable DNA mutation, Veto blends utility denial, teleportation, and regeneration, making him a hybrid of some of Valorant’s most iconic agents. His arrival comes at a pivotal moment, as sentinels continue to define how the tactical shooter’s meta evolves.
Ability 1: Chokehold (Q)
Veto’s Chokehold is a disruptive ability designed to trap enemies in place. When fired, the fragment creates a zone that holds opponents still, applying Deafened and Decayed debuffs to amplify their vulnerability. Unlike traditional traps such as Killjoy’s Alarmbot or Cypher’s Trapwire, Chokehold’s value comes not only from stalling pushes but also from opening space for counter-attacks. While enemies can destroy the trap, the debuffs force them into awkward engagements where gunfights favor Veto’s side. This is basically Deadlock’s GravNet combined with the effects of Fade’s Seize.
Ability 2: Crosscut (C)
His second ability, Crosscut, introduces a vortex mechanic that allows Veto to place a teleport point. While near the vortex and aiming at it, he can reactivate the ability to teleport, adding mobility not commonly associated with Sentinels. Importantly, the vortex can be reclaimed and redeployed during the buy phase, offering flexibility in how Veto controls the map. Much like Chamber’s Rendezvous in its prime, Crosscut provides positional advantage and escape routes, but its non-redeployable design means you need to be mindful of how you play, plus the fact that you need to look at it to teleport makes it different from Chamber’s Rendezvous.
Ability 3: Interceptor (E)
Perhaps Veto’s most defining ability is Interceptor. When deployed, the Interceptor acts as a hard counter to bouncing utility — whether it’s Raze’s Boom Bot, Jett’s Cloudbursts, Sage’s Wall, or even Gekko’s Wingman. Once activated, it destroys any relevant utility, forcing opponents to rethink their executions. While enemies can destroy the Interceptor, its presence pressures them to either waste resources or reroute attacks entirely. This makes Interceptor the cornerstone of Veto’s anti-utility identity, aligning him more closely with suppression tools from KAY/O but still distinct in its area-denial focus.
Ultimate: Evolution (X)
Finally, Evolution is Veto’s ultimate ability, and it sets him apart from every other Sentinel. Upon activation, Veto undergoes full mutation, gaining a combat stim, regeneration, and immunity to debuffs. This ultimate flips the script on how Sentinels are typically played: instead of anchoring passively, Veto can push forward aggressively, leading the charge with enhanced survivability. It’s a rare tool that blurs the line between Sentinel and Duelist, opening up compositions where he could slot flexibly depending on team strategy.
Sentinels in the Meta: A Historical Arc
To understand Veto’s potential impact, it’s important to look back at how Sentinels have shaped Valorant over the years. In early metas, Cypher and Killjoy dominated as the backbone of site defense, locking down choke points with information and utility. Chamber’s release in 2021 then disrupted everything, as his Rendezvous and Tour de Force redefined the role by combining oppressive mobility with one-shot kill potential. At his peak in 2022, Chamber reached near 80% pick rates across pro play, forcing Riot to nerf him repeatedly.
Deadlock’s release in 2023 was meant to diversify the Sentinel pool, but her abilities failed to make an impact in the competitive scene. Despite buffs, her pick rate at Champions 2025 sat at just 2.97%, the lowest among all Sentinels. In contrast, Cypher and Killjoy remained mainstays: Cypher accounted for 25.25% of picks, while Killjoy maintained a solid 7.43% presence. Vyse, the new controller-sentinel hybrid, quickly rose to prominence as well, with a 24.26% pick rate, signalling the demand for flexible agents who can both stall and create openings.
Meanwhile, Sage and Chamber held niche roles. Sage, once dominant in early Valorant, only appeared in 5.94% of games at Champions 2025, mostly for healing or wall utility in specific comps. Chamber, post-nerfs, hovered at 2.97%, far from his peak dominance.
Where Veto Fits In As the New VALORANT Agent
Veto’s toolkit sits at the crossroads of these histories. His Chokehold and Interceptor align him with classic Sentinel stall tactics, akin to Killjoy and Cypher. Yet, his Crosscut teleport echoes Chamber’s repositioning power, while Evolution mirrors elements of Duelists and Initiators by enabling aggression. This blend positions him not as a purely defensive Sentinel but as a versatile piece that can flex between anchoring and taking map control.
In pro play, Veto could emerge as the answer to utility-heavy executes that rely on layering abilities. His ability to nullify such tools with Interceptor may tilt the balance in maps where executes are normally overwhelming. Moreover, Evolution gives him late-round clutch potential similar to KAY/O’s Null/Cmd, allowing teams to swing momentum unexpectedly.
The Future of Sentinels with Veto
Valorant’s Sentinel meta has always evolved in dramatic swings — from Cypher’s consistency, to Chamber’s oppressive reign, to Tejos’s dominance pre-nerf. With pick rates at Champions 2025 showing Cypher and Vyse dominating the role, Riot clearly saw an opportunity to push Sentinels in a new direction. Veto, with his blend of anti-utility, teleportation, and aggressive ultimate, may be the agent that finally redefines how the role is played.
Launching October 7, 2025, Veto will give players at all levels a chance to experience the Sentinel role in a new way: not just defending, but dictating the pace of engagements. Whether he will dominate like Chamber or settle into a balanced niche remains to be seen, but one thing is certain — the Sentinel role has never looked more exciting.
