“This should be simple enough. I flush them out. You finish them.” This statement from Tejo perfectly encompasses our newest Initiator-class Agent, the well-dressed man of action.

Hailing from Colombia, Tejo will undoubtedly shake up the gameplay with his unique kit that flushes out enemies using a top-down approach. Tejo will require you to think proactively and strategically–analyzing the situation mid-round and using his abilities to help clear the way for your team.

Tejo’s abilities, which revolve around flushing out enemies, consist of 3 outputs: information gathering, damage, and concuss effects:

• Stealth Drone: Throw and possess a stealthed drone that, upon activation, creates a small sonar pulse at its location.
• Guided Salvo: Pull up a map to target one or more missiles towards a location. Upon reaching their location, the missiles explode twice, pushing enemies off of angles.
• Special Delivery: Toss a grenade that bounces once (sticks to players immediately), sticks, then winds up and explodes. Explosion concusses.
• Armageddon: Cast a wave of explosions, forcing enemies to move in the direction of your choosing.

The perfect teammates for Tejo will be those who can quickly follow up on the space he creates. Let’s take a closer look at how that’s done.

Stealth Drone

Whether your team is attacking and attempting to take a site or defending and playing retake, having a drone can be extremely impactful. Especially on maps where there are a lot of corners to clear, it allows your team to take space safely or be prepared to fight for that space. Since drones are great pieces of utility, the enemy team is often prepared to shoot down whatever you’re using to take space. Tejo’s Stealth Drone is unique in that it’s invisible at long range, giving you more time to grab information about where the enemy team could be.

“Drones typically give a lot of baseline value of information gathering, but we wanted to give this drone a little spin where the information is secondary, and the effect of suppressing an enemy is why you take this drone over others,” Game Designer Ryan Cousart tells us.

Guided Salvo

When we asked the devs, “Why rockets?”, Cousart smiles and says, “Because rockets are sweet.”

In addition to rockets being sweet, they made sense thematically for what the devs were trying to accomplish.

“When you start putting things like a map targeter or world placements on Agents, you force people to think about the game more proactively and more strategically. We wanted something to lead your team in and show you the effect of telling your team, ‘Hey something is going to happen.’ We could’ve used anything but we landed on rockets for these reasons,” Cousart adds.

Tejo’s abilities, which revolve around flushing out enemies, consist of 3 outputs: information gathering, damage, and concuss effects. “There’s a lot to consider and be careful about when deciding the output of an ability. Damage as an output is a lot more permanent than a concuss or a flash. It’s worthwhile to explore though and I think we’ve landed in a pretty good spot but that’s one we’ll need to keep a really sharp eye,” states Cousart.

Special Delivery

“With how naturally ‘guns down’ his other abilities are, Tejo really needed something that was just simple to understand and simple to cast but still captured that feeling of being explosive but directed. I wanted Special Delivery to be a quick, like, ‘Let’s fight’ button”, states Cousart.

Unlike the other abilities where Tejo needs time to set up the play, Special Delivery allows him to initiate a fight quickly in the moment. Whether or not an enemy is there for the concuss, using the ability there will give them the confidence they need to take that space. One thing is for certain – even if players can use the ability quickly, we won’t be surprised when players are making fancy lineups to get that perfect angle to land on that perfect circle.

Armageddon

“Tejo’s rockets are really only valuable if you’re following up on the pressure that’s created. But the sweet spot is when you fire your rockets and you force people to move and then while they’re moving, you’re able to capitalize on them having to reposition. Tejo would be great with another Agent that can go in very fast, like Neon, who can capitalize on the distance he casts his abilities from,” notes Character Producer, John Goscicki.

Tejo’s ult, Armageddon, is something enemies will need to be aware of round-to-round. Watch that scoreboard and check how many ult points he’s away from being able to use it, since it can heavily impact the flow of a round. The wave of explosions will force enemies to move in a direction of Tejo’s choosing or at least have players moving further back, since the site will be difficult to hold. This will give his team the perfect opportunity to follow up and take control of the space he just created.

Everyone can play Tejo but those with strategic game sense can make this new Agent really shine. All of Valorant’s Agents are unlocked for Game Pass members, so step up to the challenge and learn to use him to your advantage before everyone else.

In the words of Tejo, “We can stand around all day talking about killing them… or we just do it.” So what are you waiting for?

VALORANT

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VALORANT is a character-based 5v5 tactical shooter set on the global stage. Outwit, outplay, and outshine your competition with tactical abilities, precise gunplay, and adaptive teamwork.

DEFY THE LIMITS
Blend your style and experience on a global, competitive stage. You have 13 rounds to attack and defend your side using sharp gunplay and tactical abilities. And, with one life per-round, you’ll need to think faster than your opponent if you want to survive. Take on foes across Competitive and Unranked modes as well as Deathmatch and Spike Rush.

CREATIVITY IS YOUR GREATEST WEAPON
More than guns and bullets, you’ll choose an Agent armed with adaptive, swift, and lethal abilities that create opportunities to let your gunplay shine. No two Agents play alike, just as no two highlight reels will look the same.

FIGHT AROUND THE WORLD
Each map is a playground to showcase your creative thinking. Purpose-built for team strategies, spectacular plays, and clutch moments. Make the play others will imitate for years to come.