Astra has been removed from the VALORANT competitive queue today while Riot Games addresses the exploit allowing players to sell her star in the first round. 

Patch 4.04 introduced several exciting updates, like significant changes to Icebox and the highly anticipated Yoru rework. Several other agents also received updates, including Astra, since players can now sell her star during the buy phase. But this also introduced an unforeseen issue allowing players to sell the star and purchase a Marshal in the first round. 

A Marshal can easily turn the tide of a round, especially against unarmored opponents who are also not expecting to face a rifle during the pistol round. This bug could be done in competitive matches, significantly impacting the mode’s competitive integrity. 

Using the bug was relatively easy since players just needed to sell their star before the round started, giving them just enough credits to buy a Marshal. This prevented them from buying any other abilities or armor, but it was a worthwhile trade-off. 

Riot is aware of the issue and has removed Astra from the competitive queue until it fixes the bug. The developers hope to get Astra back into the competitive playlist later today, but players won’t mind waiting as long as it means the annoying bug is resolved. 

Patch 4.04 made other controllers slightly more viable, so consider other options in the meantime.