As an ever-evolving game, Valorant metas have shifted from patch to patch with their own ups and downs. Even now, with Episode 4 of Act 3 firmly in play, there can be cases made for any and all Agents, which only speaks to the fairly balanced state of the game. Then, there are three ways to look at the perspective of balance: Agents with their roles and abilities, the weapons, and the maps themselves.
There will always be discrepancies in ranks and pre-made versus random teammates that we must at least somewhat consider. Yet judging only from the standpoint of Valorant’s Agents and their roles, we can at least draw some conclusions on where they stand in the current meta, and how they can be utilized when you queue for a match.
S-Tier Agents
Chamber
The French Sentinel is currently king of the meta, as can be seen in both ranked and pro play. His ability to always have a deadly one-shot option with his Headhunter and Tour de Force ultimate, combined with reliable escape on command with Rendezvous makes him one of the best Operator wielders in the game. Also, add the flanking protection from his Trademark traps, and you have an Agent who can lock down a site by himself, doing it just as well as single-handedly spearheading an attack.
Jett
Former queen of Valorant, the Korean Duelist, has been on the receiving end of plenty of nerfs over the past several patch cycles. Still, with almost unparalleled vertical and horizontal mobility with Dash and Updraft and an uncanny assault potential, Jett remains one of the best Agents in the game despite the nerfs. She might lack team utility, but there are new aggressive play styles cropping up to compensate for that, and she’s still a force to be reckoned with, no matter if with the Operator or another rifle in hand. Meanwhile, her Blade Storm ultimate is still a fantastic weapon to use in eco rounds, letting her decimate enemies and steal their guns for her team.
Sova
The Russian Initiator is a versatile Agent on his own, but also the game’s best information gatherer. Played best around his team, Sova can use his Owl Drone, and Recon Bolts to exactly pinpoint where danger lurks for his team. Not to be outclassed, his ultimate is still one of the most powerful in the game when used correctly, and he has plenty of protection with his Shock Bolts. He requires teamwork and coordination, not to mention learning all of the Recon lineups, but when played by a skilled player, he’s an indispensable asset to his team.
Viper
Just barely making it into S-tier, we have the best Controller Agent in the game, Viper. With the current pace of the game, her ability to completely dictate the plant and post-plant situations with her abilities is second to none. She also fills the roles of smoker and waller for her team, with the use of her Poison Cloud and Toxic Screen abilities, while her ultimate Viper’s Pit represents the absolute pinnacle of site control in Valorant. Pair that up with some of the maps in which she is practically a mandatory pick, and you have an Agent who is well worth learning and mastering if you play the Controller class.
A-Tier
Sage
The top Agent of the A-tier is the main healer of the game, Sage, a Sentinel from China. Her utility in keeping her team alive is still her main strength, as well as the power of her ultimate, Resurrection, allowing her to swing a round in her team’s favor. Her Sentinel abilities, Barrier Orb and Slow Orb, still represent very strong options to lock down a site. Experienced Sage players will know the various creative lineups for her wall, allowing her to boost herself and others into strong positions and difficult angles.
Fade
The latest Agent on the Roster is the Turkish Initiator, Fade. She has skyrocketed into the meta upon release, providing the game with some unique options for assaulting enemy positions. Using fear as her weapon of choice, her abilities reflect that by creating “terror trails” that reveal enemy positions with her signature ability, Haunt. Her kit also features Prowler, a heat-seeking blind, and Seize, a trap-like hold and deafen effect. Her ultimate, Nightfall, can clear a site in a wave, while those caught in it become revealed, deafened, and their HP decays. All in all, Fade is an excellent Initiator pick able to fit almost any team comp.
Omen
Pulling the rug under Brimstone’s signature role, Omen is a Controller currently regarded as the best smoker in the game. With Dark Cover as his signature ability, he can set up long-lasting smokes that replenish every 30 seconds. His smokes allow him and his teammates to prowl inside them, while he also brings a situational blind with Paranoia. What sets him further apart from most other Controllers is his versatility that almost parallels some of the Duelists, mainly through his Shrouded Step limited teleport, and its much more impactful counterpart, From the Shadows, Omen’s ultimate ability, that lets him teleport anywhere on the map.
KAY/O
Valorant’s robotic Agent is an Initiator with a volatile relationship with the game’s meta. His abilities have been targeted with as many nerfs as there have been buffs, making him ebb and flow in prominence in both competitive and pro play. He is a strong Initiator choice, now that his Flash/Drive ability is one of the game’s strongest blinds. He also brings one of the few suppression abilities in the game with his signature ability Zero/Point, which can be pivotal in setting up engagements that catch enemies unawares. His ultimate, Null/CMD, gives him various combat buffs, suppresses enemies caught in its blast, and allows his teammates to revive him if he falls. In many ways, it’s a much stronger version of Phoenix’s ultimate, on an Agent who already provides a boatload of utility for his team.
Breach
Another Initiator on our list, the giant Swede, is only marginally outclassed by Initiators who preceded him above. His main drawbacks are the relative proximity he has to fire his abilities from, and a greater need for a team-oriented setup to play around them. In the hands of a skilled Breach player or a well-coordinated team, he can easily outperform other Initiators. He brings various initiation tools to the team, from a blind in Flashpoint, daze with his signature Fault Line, to his powerful ultimate Rolling Thunder, which can single-handedly enable a site take or retake with even the most basic team coordination.
Killjoy
As her name implies, this German Sentinel is able to stop an attempt at a site take right from the get-go. With all of her gadgets and abilities, she can halt an assault by herself and hold the site long enough for rotators to arrive in a timely fashion. The difficulty comes from the knowledge and creativity in her ability usage, and her somewhat limited use during the assault — mainly providing flank protection and immense post-plant security. Lockdown, Killjoy’s ultimate, is a powerful space denial tool that perfectly encapsulates her main role as diversion and delayer for her team.
B-Tier
Skye
Skye is a good example of an Agent that can get bogged down with possibly too much utility. The Australian Initiator brings a lot to the table but requires both preparation and mastery from the player to reach her full potential. She provides the only other healing option in the game, though with a caveat that she can’t heal herself. Her scouting potential is second only to Sova’s, but arguably requires more player skill to pull off properly. Her signature ability, Guiding Light, can be used both to scout and blind enemies and is the game’s go-to popflash. Finally, her ultimate, Seekers, is a somewhat lackluster heat-seeking, stoppable blind for up to three enemies. It can panic less disciplined opposition but is otherwise easily countered.
Brimstone
Controller hailing from the USA, Brimstone has been the primary designated smoker during the game’s earliest metas. As the game progressed, he has fallen by the wayside and has received recent buffs that have given rise to his use once more, even at pro levels. His kit is seen as too “mundane” compared to most other Controllers in the game’s current version, but there’s no arguing his ability to set up his team for success with his Sky Smoke signature ability. He brings decent utility with Stim Beacon and Incendiary for area denial. And his ultimate, Orbital Strike, is a great tool to clutch those last-second round wins.
Astra
Astra is, in many ways, a curious Agent compared to the rest of the roster. She’s a Controller who could easily be the best smoker in the game, but the peculiar way her abilities work and the high skill floor mean that most of the players outside of the higher ranks and pro play simply never utilize her full potential. More so than most other Agents, Astra’s playstyle revolves around communication and coordination with her team. In many ways, her gameplay has been compared to playing an RTS on a Valorant map, and with how her signature ability, Astral Form, works in relation to the rest of her kit, it’s easy to see why.
Raze
The explosive Brazillian Duelist brings a unique kit to the game. With one of the highest skill ceilings of all Duelists, she benefits from players’ practice and knowledge of their Agent, and that clearly shows in the game. You will quickly know if you’re facing a Raze novice or an expert by the way they utilize her abilities. She has the highest concentration of AoE abilities of any Agent, and her ultimate, Showstopper, has the potential to wipe out the enemy team in one blow. Her Boom Bot can double as a scouting tool. And everyone knows that Blast Pack is as much a displacement tool, as it is a movement utility for Raze herself. This makes her very much a high-risk, high-reward type of character, that can easily fit a higher tier in the hands of expert players.
Neon
The game’s most recent Duelist had a rocky start to her Valorant career. She had been deemed too underpowered from her introduction in Patch 4.0 and has taken a long time to find her place in the meta. Yet with some buffs, she has been seeing some pro-level utilization recently, with more and more players appreciating the Phillipina speedster. Neon brings a small measure of utility to her team with her Fast Lane walls and Relay Bolt concussive field abilities. However, the combination of her High Gear signature ability and Overdrive, her deadly tracking ultimate, is what makes her a dangerous foe to face on the map. But when used on her own, she might be just a bit too fast for her team to keep up, often leaving her team in one-man-down situations when zipping into a prepared position.
Cypher
Targeted by nerfs to his anti-flanking capabilities, the Moroccan Sentinel has slid down the tier lists, with his uses mostly situational and map-dependant. He still brings a lot of strong info-gathering utility to his team and is able to monitor a site on his own. However, outside his quasi-smoke, Cyber Cage, nearly every ability in his kit can be best described as situational, even including his ultimate, Neural Theft. Like most Sentinels, Cypher benefits from good team communication, making his kit that much less reliable in your average Valorant match.
C-Tier
Reyna
The Mexican Duelist occupies an awkward spot within her role. In many ways, her kit is a powerful one on paper. This becomes much more obvious when you witness a well-played Reyna that can snowball during a single match. However, it is important to note that she is a “win more” type of Agent, meaning that she thrives after getting kills — something other Duelists are simply better equipped to do. During a slow round, she only brings Leer, a strong but destructible quasi-flash. Meanwhile, to truly outperform her opponents through ability usage, Reyna needs access to her ultimate, Empress, to enhance her abilities and make herself a force to be reckoned with. The saving grace of her ultimate is that it’s in a cheaper category, with only 6 ultimate points needed to charge it.
Yoru
Having long been one of the weaker and more problematic Duelists, Yoru has been picking up playtime recently. Higher-tiered Yoru players have been making a case for him as an Operator user, citing the teleportation escape mechanism of his signature ability, Gatecrash. The main issue he faces is that he is mechanically more involved when compared to the benefits those mechanics provide, compared to another mechanical Agent such as Jett, for example. Experienced players can read Fakeout, and Blindside is only a situational flash ability. Simply put, though he has potential, Yoru is still a few steps away from being in a higher tier.
D-Tier
Phoenix
Bringing up the rear, Phoenix is a Duelist who’s been outpaced by the time and Agents that have come out since the game’s earlier versions. His kit is too simple and clucky when compared to other options. For example, his Blaze wall burns his allies, unlike other walls that have come out since. Same with his Hot Hands molly. Speaking of which, the mechanic of standing in the fire to heal leaves him vulnerable to attack. And on the same note, even his ultimate Run It Back can be easily baited and exploited to kill him for good in a round, contrary to its intended purpose. All in all, Phoenix is a prime subject for redesign or severe alterations to his existing kit in order to compete with the other Duelists.
Published: Jun 16, 2022 03:37 am