I have been playing this game for quite a bit, and yet these 2 weapons have been seen as the de-facto weapons here, but the Phantom have been dropping in pickrate. Despite this, the debate between them are ongoing, so i will put my definitive answer on this debate and predict on why the Phantom is slowly being outpicked by the Vandal (Sorry in advance if it is long)

**Stats**

The Vandal have 25 bullets in the mag, each doing 40 damage to the body and 160 damage to the head no matter the range. It has a 0.25 degree spread of the first shot accuracy (0.157 if scoped in), and fires at a rate of 9.75 rounds per second. Everything other stat is similar to the Phantom

The Phantom have 30 bullets in the mag, each doing 39, 35, or 31 damage to the body and 156, 140, or 124 to the head (for 0-15 meters, 15-30 meters, and 30-50 meters, respectively). It has a 0.2 degree spread of the first shot accuracy (0.11 if scoped in), and fires at a rate of 11 rounds per second. The Phantom also have a silencer, reducing the recoil when spraying, not showing tracers when firing, and not hearing the firing sound within 40+ meters unless it's being fired in your direction.

The Phantom itself have more bullets, more accurate first shot accuracy, a greater fire rate, no tracers, and no sound in certain scenarios.

The Vandal, however, have more damage and no drop-off.

**Scenarios**

>For taking mid and long range fights, the Vandal will outclass the Phantom. Despite having a more accurate first shot, the damage drop-off causes it to be overshadowed by the Vandal.*
>For spraying through smoke, the Phantom will beat the Vandal
>Likewise, spraying with the Vandal is not as effective with the recoil-reduced Phantom
>Practice-wise, due to the constant tapping that the Vandal have to rely on, the Vandal will help with more aim than the Phantom.

**These do not include shooting through walls, or enemies on an eco round. This also does not consider on the skill and position of the enemy, only if they shoot one bullet at the same time.*

Think of the Vandal acutally trying to vandalize an area, trying to deal as much damage as possible, though it isn't going to be at one spot but rather a large area. Also, think of a Phantom, denying information, and moves like the wind, but lacks actual strength.

Despite all of these benefits, the Phantom is slowly being outclassed by the Vandal. So, here could be some reasons...

**Why the Phantom is slowly "disappearing"**

1.) The Pro Scene, and the Growth of the Community
Everyone playing Valorant have grown and honed their skills from this game, like any other game, especially the pros. As more and more people learn the game and practice their accuracy, they will want to deal as much damage as possible (By the way, I may have stolen that part from a youtuber called Dittozkul, he also mentioned about this, which is why I began to type this). While the Phantom is more accurate with its first shot accuracy, having a weapon to kill any range would be a much more viable option compared to a 140 or 124.

2.) The meta itself
At this moment, Chamber (along with his operator) is in the center of the meta. This indirectly help the Vandal, as it is one of the few weapons that would be able to kill an op'er (like Chamber) if you hit your shot before the op'er does. This might be a small increase to the Vandal pickrate, eating up the pickrate of the Phantom

3.) Practice and getting used to it
I've mentioned before, but the vandal (with its reliance on tapping) is usually the better weapon to practice with aiming, and it could be a reason why Vandal is picked more. Since a lot of players tend to use it to practice, they would naturally get used to how the Vandal feels.

4.) The infamous -140
This is pretty self-explanatory. Since the Phantom does not kill at long or mid range with one bullet, it can be pretty frustrating to die dealing only 140 damage, knowing that the Vandal could've killed that person. The switch to the Vandal seems like a lot of players' reason behind this.

5.) Maps
Throughout the time (so far), a lot of maps are considered to be heavily Vandal-dominated, as the long range tends to amplify the Vandal's lack of damage drop-off. While there is some maps that have these close range parts, they tend to also have these long ranges as a combination. This is also with the removal of Split, one of the maps that tend to favor the Phantom over the Vandal. This hurts the Phantom a little bit more

6.) Skins (as mentioned from Dittozkul)
Skins do play a role into this decision making. Skins like Reaver, Prime, and RGX are usually top tier, and the first skins that you may think of getting. All of these skins were released by the Vandal first, with the Phantom coming as a 2.0 version, making the Vandal skins have a more iconic feel or look to it. While this could also be said with the Oni, Spectrum, or Ion Phantom, these are not usually the first skins a lot of players would think of when someone asks about iconic skins. This could be a reason why players might use the Vandal more; a more iconic look would lead to more purchases, and would get that weapon more to see the iconic skin and (potentially) pop off with it.

**Does the Phantom need a buff?**

No and Yes
Despite the Phantom "disappearing", it is still not bad. It's only due to us, they player base getting good. It is still simply balanced, so buffing it (especially too much) might throw everything off-course.
We could instead do some indirect buffs, like less long range maps or a change of the meta.

However, there was a suggestion that i heard (from Dittozkul, yes, i'll put the video below this) and really got me thinking. Every weapon, with the exception of shotguns and the phantom either have 2 different damages or deal the same damage no matter the range. So instead of having 3 different damages for the weapon, it could be 2 damages (1 from 0 to 20 or 25 meters and the other for 20 or 25+ meters) and could either drop the 140 damage or 124 damage. This could very well throw everything off-course, but after all, I am a Phantom main ofc.

Either way, what do you guys think?

Here's the video that i've been mentioning:

https://youtu.be/breOQkXtfNw