"I think they cooked": TenZ and other Valorant pros react to patch 11.08 update

The announcement of the Valorant patch 11.08 update took many by surprise, including fans and pros alike. The community remains split in two sections, with one half enjoying the greater emphasis on gunplay and the other criticising the nerf to many Agent abilities. Professional players and content creators also weighed in, with Tyson 'TenZ' Ngo applauding the changes during a Twitch stream on October 13, 2025, saying:

"I think they cooked."

TenZ also pointed out that you can no longer spam utility to get an advantage in the game. Instead, players are forced to use it more cautiously and conserve it for when needed because many major signature abilities have received a cooldown of 60 seconds.

Popular Omen-main, Flexninja also weighed in, calling the update a step in the correct direction. In his response to the official Valorant X post, the content creator wrote:

"i do believe all of these changes are a step in the right direction to make Valorant less toxic to play."

Fnatic's IGL, Boaster, also dropped in on the conversation around the longer cooldowns on utility. He poked fun at how the slower recharge of abilities will make Fnatic an even slower team than before, even though the EMEA giant is known for an extremely slow style of gameplay:

"You thought we were slow before? I’m going to be planting on 4 seconds left."

Some players were negatively affected by the nerfs, especially creators who focused on mastering a single Agent, such as Yoru or Cypher. Envy's one-trick Yoru-main Eggster responded to the nerfs with the following X post:

"Bro these nerfs r so crazy, they pretty much made me homeless what am I gonna do bro."

For those not in the know, the Valorant patch 11.08 changes nerf Yoru's ultimate so that he can no longer use any of his abilities except for the Gatecrash while in his Dimensional Drift. A different sound cue will also play when he fakes his teleport. This significantly changes the way he can be played in-game.

Cypher main @acrethedog also responded to the Cypher nerfs, noting that many of his setup guides will now become ineffective due to the plethora of changes made to the Sentinel's kit.

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Valorant patch 11.08 main objectives

Valorant patch 11.08 notes were released on October 14, 2025 (Image via Riot Games)

The new Valorant patch 11.08 notes clearly state that the aim is to make the game more focused on its identity as a tactical shooter. Therefore, changes in rifles such as the Vandal and the Phantom reflect this trait rather evidently.

On the other hand, nerfing abilities makes players more cautious about using them. Longer cooldowns, uniform debuffs, and a greater focus on getting value out of every utility use are clear. In this way, the new patch looks to bring balance between gunplay and abilities.

In other words, moving forward, Riot Games' FPS title will focus more on aiming and shooting than before. Abilities still exist to create unique opportunities. However, spamming them will no longer be a viable way to win rounds.

Edited by Abu Amjad Khan