Three Close Matches as ARKHE and Guests Test Valorant’s New Agent Hash

INDEPENDENT — ARKHE, who streams as a demon lord, played three Valorant custom matches on Thursday built around Hash, the agent newly added to the game. A custom is a private match with hand-picked players. Okamoto Nagi and Genzuki Tojiro of Nijisanji were among the ten players, and each streamed the matches on their own channel as well. ARKHE’s broadcast ran about four hours.

Before the custom game, ARKHE tried Hash in the shooting range, where, he noted, a match can now be queued directly. He called the agent’s skills, which pull enemies and weapons toward the player, strong. In his first queued match afterward he ran into a cheating player. He said such play should not be tolerated and should be reported.

“I’m a great demon lord, after all. I’m used to it. There are plenty of heroes.” — ARKHE, after Okamoto Nagi introduced herself as a hero

The custom opened with introductions. ARKHE introduced himself as the demon lord. The organizer said the aim was to show viewers what makes Hash appealing, and admitted to inviting a lot of high-ranked players; one of them introduced himself as a former professional. Nagi then introduced herself as a high-school hero who had been transported to another world. ARKHE answered that heroes did not bother him, and chat noticed the awkward pairing right away. Genzuki said he had come to arrive with a smile and leave with one.

Teams were auto-balanced, with Hash in play on both sides. Players spent the early rounds working out what the skills did, among them picking up distant weapons and the spike and opening doors from afar. Afterward participants said all three matches had been tight and the teams well split.

ARKHE said Hash was fun but that he had not yet mastered it. The most enjoyable part, he said, was using its blink to open doors on the map Lotus. He added that he had mostly played Yoru until now but wanted to try other agents. Nagi, signing off on her own channel, said she had not fully worked out the agent but enjoyed its flying movement, and thanked the organizer, her teammates and her opponents.

ARKHE stayed on to queue alone with Hash, then answered Super Chat requests with impressions, including Frieza from Dragon Ball, before signing off in his demon-lord manner.