As soon as the Official Valorant Updates account unveiled the new Reaver Butterfly Knife with its different colors, the gaming community started to chat about it instantly, and even might have debated or argued about it. The Reaver 3.0 collection, which in turn made players argue over its design, animation, and value, has been the greatly-discussed cosmetic item that has brought forth the topic of taste and the possible divisions of buyers around the Premium skins of Valorant. The responses of the players are indeed reflecting the players’ mentality for judging and evaluating such controversial cosmetic content in the most popular tactical shooter.
The official account of Valorant teased with a new video that featured the brand-new Reaver battle axe in all colors – black and red, white and blue, purple,.you get the idea. However, one would think that a new Reaver skin, one of the most iconic lines in the game, would get universal hype. Not at all! The replies are a total warzone.
First of all, the user groups consist of people who are staunch supporters of the new butterfly knife, aka the designer Rahul Mishra. He simply says “Got it 🔥 and Reaver Butterfly go brrr” which captures the whole mood, honestly. A player nicknamed ‘L’ wrote in Portuguese “eu vou comprar essa” – I will buy this one.And another who is jocular knL joyboy22 said he would “vou tirar dinheiro do cu, mas vou comprar” which, uh, translates to a very determined statement about sourcing funds from a certain place to make the purchase happen. So the dedication is real for some people! Tswana Boy just said, “They are all awesome,” a simple and positive vibe.
If you, however, scroll down you will come across the criticism which is flowing faster than a Jett dash. A large number of players have shifted their focus to the inspect animation. One such user ‘Michelin-Star Ending’ with no hesitation asks, “what the fuck is this animation man?” Another, Dark, agrees saying “yeah the animation is strange lol.” The most common complaint appears to be that it is simply using the old, basic butterfly knife animation instead of getting a unique, fancy new one for a premium Reaver item. Royal Bengal Bilai terms it as “Useless. Too fast animation.” And flofypotato just cries, “Not the old ahhh inspect 😔 which perfectly captures the disappointment.
Then the design itself comes into question. Pigeoninahat asks, “L skin why does only the blade have reaver vibes” suggesting the handle doesn’t match the iconic theme. Others think it looks “strange” and can’t find a reason to buy it. One user, Josee, really lays it out: “It’s just more reused assets and animations from different skins, plus the blade feels really stubby, not to mention the default butterfly inspect animation when they could’ve had a new inspect animation.” That’s a detailed critique right there! Some are less verbose, like uefy who simply calls it a “dogshit ass bundle.” Harsh.
It’s not all hate though! Some players had a change of heart, for example ‘davi’ who replied to someone else saying “retiro o que eu disse essa faca ta muito bonita” – I take back what I said, this knife is very beautiful. So opinions are shifting in real-time!
And speaking of the big questions, when and how much? A user named Grok, popping up in the replies, gives some leaked intel, suggesting a release around January 22-23, 2026 (which feels forever away, but that’s datamining for you) and an individual knife price of 4,350 Valorant Points. That’s the standard top-tier knife price, so no surprise there, but it’s always the first thing players wanna know. Another user, xCastr0oo, throws some shade at the pace, saying “valorant desspendeu a fazer faca do dia pra noite, o pacote anterior tava divino” – basically accusing Riot of rushing out knives overnight and saying the previous bundle was divine. The comparison game is strong.
It’s a classic Valorant-community moment. A new skin drops, and it instantly becomes a litmus test for taste. Some players see the Reaver branding and are instantly sold, ready to throw down whatever it costs. Others scrutinize every pixel and animation frame, feeling like a legendary skin line deserves legendary, new effects. This split reaction shows that Riot’s skin team is constantly walking a tightrope between honoring popular aesthetics and innovating enough to justify the price tag. In the end, the players vote with their wallets, especially on platforms like PlayStation and Xbox.
