Riot claims these stats have finally settled the Phantom vs Vandal debate

For as long as anyone can remember (or at least seven months) man has debated which is the better gun: the Vandal or the Phantom?

There’s never been a definitive answer.

Until now.

Riot has just released end of year stats for the three deadliest guns in the game, and the Vandal has come out on top.

We're wrapping up 2020 with a look back at game stats.

We can finally settle the Phantom vs. Vandal debate! The Vandal beat out Phantom and Spectre as this year's deadliest weapon.

The longest game of 2020 lasted a whopping 58 rounds. pic.twitter.com/OUY9ZngnqZ
— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) December 28, 2020

According to Riot’s game stats log, the Vandal had an edge over the Phantom in terms of the “number of kills since launch.” Of course, this really just means that the Vandal is more popular than the Phantom, not that it’s objectively the better gun.

A possible reason why the Vandal beat out the Phantom could be because of the number of Valorant players who come from a CS:GO background. In CS:GO, the AK-47 is still considered the best assault rifle in the game. It is why CS:GO players choose to use the Vandal, Valorant’s AK-47 counterpart.

However, some pro players like Cloud9’s Tyson “TenZ” Ngo believe that the Phantom is the superior assault rifle because of its higher rate of fire and its tracer rounds being undetectable when shooting through smoke. If players spray through smoke using a Vandal, enemy agents have an easier time figuring out where the shots are coming from.

Reasons why the phantom is better than the vandal.
1. 1 hit headshot close range, 1 hit headshot if enemy buys light
2. higher dps close/mid range
3. easier to spray transfer than the vandal
4. more forgiving than vandal with missing shots
5. tracers cannot be seen through smokes
— TenZ / Tyson (C9) (@TenZ_CS) July 31, 2020

On the other hand, in terms of clicking on heads, the Vandal has the edge over the Phantom with its one-shot kill potential remaining consistent at any range even if opponents have full shields. The Phantom can only do this feat with targets within 15 meters.

They talk about mine too.. ???? @ScreaM_ pic.twitter.com/pT48boMVSE
— TSM Subroza ???????? (@Subroza) November 30, 2020

Most pro players also opt to use the Phantom in tournaments, which is why Riot decided to improve the Vandal in patch 1.07 last September. This unexpected buff also helped the Vandal improve its kill potential with its higher fire rate.

The third deadliest weapon, according to the global stat sheet, was the Spectre. It could be because of how pistol round wins in Valorant are so important. Players who choose to buy a Spectre after winning the pistol round often get rewarded with eco frags, which could explain why the weapon ranked so high on the list.

The post also included the longest game in Valorant history, which had 58 rounds total, lasted for an hour and 28 minutes, and was played on Ascent.