As 2025 gets underway, one of Riot Games’ big titles is getting a bit of a shake-up.
Tejo is the latest agent being added to Valorant, Riot’s 5v5 free-to-play competitive shooter. With new abilities that focus on map domination through slow-moving but deadly ordnance, Tejo is a big threat to any players that aren’t quick on their feet.
I recently had the chance to briefly go hands-on with Tejo, as well as experiencing what it’s like to be on the receiving end of his kit for a few matches. Overall, he’s an extremely fun addition to the game, and I strongly suspect he’ll be seriously reshuffling previously-favored team compositions for the year.
Move or die, Agents
While most of his abilities are of the pyrotechnic kind, Tejo is also equipped with a stealth drone that’s perfect for getting intel at the start of a round, enabling your team to quickly locate any enemies bearing down on your location or hiding around a corner.
Meanwhile, his bouncing sticky grenade and Guided Salvo abilities remain dangerous all throughout a round. The latter is particularly nasty to deal with, as the wide damage radius means it’s extremely easy to get hemmed-in if you aren’t being careful.
Across several matches, this ability killed me and my teammates numerous times, and while it takes a moment to actually use, the damage output is well worth it. Even this early on I’ve seen some really clever plays using the Guided Salvo that determined the course of the round, and I’m curious what other clever ways players will find to utilize it.
Tejo’s Ultimate ability, Armageddon, continues this destructive trend, calling down a rolling barrage across a portion of the map. The slow-motion of the bombing run is fairly easy to escape if I ran to the side, but whenever I was unlucky enough to get caught in the middle of a narrow street, death was almost certain. Even if players are fast enough to escape, I can see this Ultimate being perfect for denying critical pathways, buying teammates precious seconds when planting or disarming a spike.
I’m also pretty curious to see how different team compositions will be able to counter Tejo’s abilities. A few matches is hardly enough insight to judge a full season, but no matter what, it’s clear the next few months should prove interesting for Valorant, whether you’re a casual player or deep in the competitive scene.
Fortunately, you don’t have to wait. You can check Tejo out for yourself now that’s he’s been added into Valorant. You can pay to unlock him with Valorant Points, but it’s important to remember that like all Agents, he’s instantly available to play day one for anyone that’s subscribed to Xbox Game Pass.
Valorant is currently available as a free-to-play game on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5. The console versions feature cross-play.
