Waylay Leads the Charge: How DRX’s Waylay/Yoru Comps Dominate Champions Paris

Introduction

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One of the best things about VALORANT esports is the different comps and strategies teams try. From picking the least meta-friendly agents to trying out comps that you wouldn’t even think about in Ranked, pro teams are quite creative, and that makes for entertaining esports.

For instance, double duelists were not common in VCT. A lot of teams opted for a single duelist along with a flex duelist role (other roles that can act or have abilities similar to Duelists, like Clove). However, DRX decided to break that taboo and tried a strategy that kind of blew away the competition.

That’s what we will be covering in this story. How DRX’s insane Waylay and Neon/Yoru comp had other teams scratching their heads.

Waylay And Yoru Incite Chaos – The Core Strategy

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Immediately after release, Waylay hadn’t seen much play in the professional scene, as teams found her kit wasn’t as suitable as the other duelists’. In Stage 2 across the four regions, Waylay was picked less than 10% of the time, and no EMEA teams even picked her once. And then, at Champs, her pick rate was 26%, which is significantly higher than her pick rate in Stage 2.

Most teams at Champs used her as the singular duelist, but DRX incorporated Yoru and Neon alongside her.

DRX used Waylay as the primary entry and Yoru/Neon as the secondary entry behind her. Waylay alongside initiator utility would use lightspeed to get info inside the site and refract back, while the Yoru simultaneously gatecrashed inside and cleanly takes the site. 

Waylay’s abilities helped her enter the sites cleanly and proficiently, while her teammates could follow up on her distraction and get the necessary trades and eliminations on the enemy team. This strategic synergy allowed the team to gain a significant advantage, as the enemy was often left scrambling to respond. With precise coordination and timing, they consistently secured control of key areas, setting the stage for a potential victory in the round.

In short, the strategy was simple: Waylay dashes inside key areas and gets information and instantly refracts back. During this chaos, Yoru teleports in while the team rushes behind. This simple strategy won them many rounds and even games.

Major Rounds

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Here are the highlight rounds that showcase the true strength of this simple strategy.

Attack Pistol – ABYSS

The explosive DRX comp showcased its technicality and innovation in DRX’s first match at Champions against Team Liquid. As soon as the game went live, DRX wasted no time and executed a perfect set play that left TL scrambling for rotations and map space.

DRX instantly takes B main space and sets up their site execution with 4 players. The Omen uses a smoke for the heaven peek, while the Sova uses a recon dart to get info inside the site. 

As the Waylay activates, refracts, and uses lightspeed to dash in, the Omen uses paranoia to give Waylay the best chance to get a pick.  The defenders are left scrambling to escape this onslaught of utilities and get off-site, except for Jett.

After the Waylay spots the Cypher, she refracts back to B main as the Yoru blindsides and gatecrashes inside to keep the space the Waylay created for the team. The Omen and Sova also move together and enter the site, and trade any teammate that got eliminated and secure the site for a successful post-plant where DRX defends the defensive retake and wins the pistol.

Watch: DRX Vs TL – Abyss

Attack Bonus – ABYSS

Winning the first two rounds is important if you want to win a game, but to sweep the enemy fully, the bonus round is extremely significant. In the bonus round, you are at a disadvantage, as you have inferior weapons compared to your enemies, who have a full buy. 

The only way to win a bonus round is to secure a site quickly, without any casualties, and trade with each other.

In the same match against TL, DRX flaunts a perfect strategy to secure the round. 

Similar to the pistol round, Omen and Sova use their signature abilities on the right side of the site to stop any defenders from flooding in. The Waylay dashes in from the left while the Yoru moves in towards the right.  A flawless execution that leaves the defenders no choice but to wait for their teammates and try to retake 5v5.

Naturally, defending this retake is harder as you have less utility and weaker weapons, but with the help of incredible teamwork, cohesion, and trades, DRX managed to secure the round, although not all their players survived.

Brilliant strategies and disruptive and explosive gameplay like this are what made DRX crowd favorites in Paris.

Attack Yoru Ult – CORRODE

Further into their miracle run at Champs, DRX displayed one of the best ultimate combo plays in the entire tournament against the eventual Champs winners, NRG.

As the round starts, Yoru ults in to get info on which characters are inside the site, while the team waits out the KAY/O knife to deny any information to the enemy team.  After the knife scans and the enemy is given false info, the rest of DRX moves up, and Waylay activates Refract and dashes in where Yoru has spotted enemy players.

Sova then darts to keep the enemies at bay in A link while Waylay uses saturate on the two players in elbow. This ability slows down the enemy agents, allowing for Yoru to exit his ult and get both players. Waylay then refracts back to main after using saturate, and the rest of the team moves in, taking the site flawlessly.

These creative strategies helped DRX become the third-best team in the world. This unpredictability and explosiveness made DRX into crowd favorites at a tournament where the biggest teams and fanbases were present.

Watch: DRX Vs NRG – Corrode

Why You Should Learn From DRX

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DRX truly showcased that you can make any unorthodox comp work with enough confidence. 

This weird comp basically threw off the enemy team, which is why their strategy worked so well. The idea in and of itself was as basic as it gets. Send Waylay to heavily contested spots because she has a get-out-of-jail-free card. With the information she gets, the team then decides on whether to push for control or not. If yes, then send Yoru in with the TP, bypassing any sentinel utility. While the enemy team is focused on hunting Yoru, the rest of the team pushes in.

What DRX’s comp teaches you is that you don’t need to stick to the meta comps to win. Sometimes, absurd ideas with enough confidence can even shackle the pros.