Phantom or Vandal? Riot Devs Finally Confirm Which Is "Better"

We all love clutching rounds with one of the two most popular: the Vandal or the Phantom, with both accruing very passionate fanbases throughout the years. Now, Riot Games has pulled the stats sheet to showcase which gun is better.

For many years we've known the big differences between the two iconic rifles in Valorant. For one, the Phantom doesn't have gun traces, it has damage falloff and an easier spray control. The Vandal can one-shot headshot you at any distance, is harder to control, and has fewer bullets in the magazine.

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Is The Phantom Better Than The Vandal?

In their data drop, Riot Games broke down what makes the Phantom better than the Vandal and vice versa. We'll quickly go over each point.

Phantom dominates close quarters

Unsurprisingly so, the Phantom dominates close-quarters encounters due to its tighter spray, with the rifle netting 22% of its kills on the 10-15m range compared to 19.4% from the Vandal.

Better multi-kill potential with the Phantom

Thanks to its better spray, the Phantom is the better option to make smoother spray transitions and earn multi-kills. It's not impossible with the Vandal, but you'll need more practice to achieve it.

Phantom is king in close quarters, but Vandal dominate longer engagements

The Phantom clears in engagements between 0-15 meters, however, as things get farther and farther, the Vandal reigns supreme.

The Vandal is always deadly

Finally, the last big tidbit of information is: what happens when a Phantom player hits a non-lethal headshot?

As you all know, the Phantom has damage falloff, and it turns out in 11% of the cases, the Vandal user has reversed the situation and won the duel, with another 10% designated as non-resolved, meaning a third party resolved the issue.

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