VALORANT Agent Tier List: Best Agents to Climb in Ranked

This tier list has been updated as of Patch 9.09

Riot Games’ tactical FPS in 2024 can be pretty overwhelming with its fairly large and diverse roster of agents, as well as the multitude of different abilities you find yourself exposed to as a new player. With so much to experience and master, tackling VALORANT raw can be a challenge. But fear not, we’re here to help!

This guide quickly ranks all 25 agents across the 4 different roles into a quick and easy tier list. We’ve prioritized both match viability (this one’s for all your eager ranked warriors out there), as well as effectiveness with respect to effort/skill needed to pilot said agent.

Writer’s Note: This guide and tier list were both constructed with players between Iron and Ascendant in mind. 

Explaining Our Tier List Ranking System

D - Weak and not recommended for ranking up.

C - Can be decent but you need to work to squeeze value.

B - Strong but usually comes with caveats or requires some skill to pilot.

A - Overall strong, delivers high value.

S - Best agents to start ranking up.

Ranking All VALORANT Agents to Climb in Ranked

D Tier 

Harbor

Harbor’s primary strength is his on-demand vision-denial. In some ways, he’s the ultimate controller, easily segmenting the map into quadrants with a flick of the mouse. However, much as I love Harbor and his witty one-liners, he does suffer from a massive weakness, that being his radius of effect.

Pros

• Bounty of options for vision-denial.

Cons

• Limited positioning.
• Location telegraphed.

Astra

To preface this, Astra has immense potential in the right hands. But she requires incredible spatial and map awareness, perhaps more so than any other controller aside from Viper. She does offer some strong points in ranked, but overall, she lags behind her other controller compatriots when it comes to easy value.

Pros

• Map-wide control.
• Excels at area influence.

Cons

• Coordination needed from teammates.
• Requires higher gamesense.

 

C Tier 

Deadlock

Overall, the changes to Deadlock were very welcome and have made a strong case for her place in the roster. Unfortunately, she suffers too heavily from the side swap as a result of her kit.

Pros

• Area-Lockdown specialist.

Con

• Suffers generally with finding value with her utility on Attack side.

Breach

Breach can be a powerful ally on the battlefield, but he also isn’t the easiest agent to pilot and utilize. He excels particularly well in coordinated play, specializing in setting up his duelists with suffocating utility to squeeze out opponents.

Pros

• Strong area-contester.
• Support Specialist.

Cons

• Coordination needed from teammates.
• Utility can be telegraphed.

Sage

Sage offers a relatively simple kit with a lot of safety behind it. Massive wall with multiple different uses, self-heal, and slow orbs to delay pushes. Despite that, her simplicity also betrays her. From a ranked standpoint, she isn't the best sentinel by any stretch.

She's not particularly strong at locking down sites. She can slow down pushes but that's about it. Sage can be a menace but she requires practice and creative thinking to truly find consistent value with her kit.

Pros

• Simple and strong kit.
• Viable on both Attack and Defense with several unique selling points.

Cons

• Requires practice.
• Base value of her kit is outshined by others in her role.

Chamber

There was a time when Chamber would have topped this tier list. Thankfully those days are behind us. These days, Chamber can still find incredible value with specific placings of his Rendezvous anchor, allowing him to hold one-off angles and find unconventional picks. Moreover, his kit offers immense value economically with both the Headhunter and Tour de Force.

Pros

• Strong at finding early 'picks'.
• Economical Boost.

Cons

• Takes Practice and Skill to make good use of his abilities.
• Other sentinels are better at defending sites.

Viper

A must-pick in pro-play, Viper is a particularly stale and challenging agent to play in ranked games. The static nature of her kit, with both her Toxic Screen and Poison Cloud force her to play an extremely conservative game most of the time.

Pros

• Area Denial Specialist
• Vision Denial Specialist

Cons

• Static Utility
• Requires Coordination to get good value

B Tier

Phoenix

Phoenix is what I like to describe as the ultimate workhorse. He delivers incredible value for very little investment, and his Curveball ability is not only the fastest flashes in the game, it’s one of the fastest to equip and very effective in close ranged duels.

Pros

• High consistent value
• Cheap ultimate
• Easy to pilot

Cons

• Extremely telegraphed
• Prefers close-ranged encounters

KAY/O

In many ways, KAY/O plays very similarly to Phoenix. Incredible value, low(ish) skill floor, high skill ceiling. However, in other ways, he is an improvement on Phoenix. Adaptable range on flashes, AOE ultimate, and utility suppression make KAY/O an easily dominant and flexible pick for a wide-range of maps.

Pros

• Very flexible, fits on most comps and maps.
• Easy to pilot.
• Can self-peel/set up for self.

Cons

• Flashes take some practice.
• Is better at setting up others, relies more on teammates for max value.

Yoru

A general rule I've lived by for VALORANT is that there are no mediocre Yorus. Either he feasts or he feeds. Yoru has earned a strong reputation for his high skill floor and difficulty in piloting. However, he is excellent at disruption and misinformation when in the hands of a skilled player.

Pros

• Excels at disruption and misinformation
• Unpredictable.

Cons

• Takes practice, difficult to master.

Skye

Skye is in an odd spot where she's not weak, but neither is she particularly strong. As far as initiators go, she's passable as a veritable jack of all trades, not really master of anything.

Pros

• Easily fills gaps and shores up weaknesses in team compositions
• Flexible, a true Swiss Army knife

Cons

• Other initiators each individually outshine her in their area of speciality.
• Predictable.

Sova

Sova is generally pretty strong on most maps and works well in setting up for his team. Where he lacks however, much like Breach but to a worse extent, is self-agency. Sova's utility excels better at middle to long-ranges and can easily be punished when up close.

Pros

• Excels at setting up team members
• Excels at info-gathering
• Excels at area-control

Cons

• Longer equip time
• Vulnerable when using utility
• High(er) skill floor

Brimstone

Good ol' Brimstone is a classic. The poster boy for Mr. Consistent. He has arguably the best smokes in the game (not hollow + longest lasting). Moreover, his utility is one of the fastest to equip and deploy. However, he suffers from other controllers just being able to better deny vision and areas.

Pros

• Fast utility deployment
• Longest-lasting smokes + full smokes
• Strong area-denial

Cons

• Limited positioning
• Very little self-peel

A Tier

Omen

Omen is a tasty challenge of an agent. On the one hand, he offers simple stability and value. However, he is best utilized when piloted with an aggressive playstyle -making full use of his Shrouded Step and From the Shadows to cause chaos and disinformation.

Pros

• Slippery and highly mobile.
• Versatile in many compositions.
• Excels at disruption.

Cons

• A tightrope of aggression needs to be treaded to get full value out of his kit.

Killjoy

Often promoted as the beginner's or lazy man's option of sentinel, Killjoy is a lockdown specialist that unfortunately puts down deep roots.

Pros

• Excels at area control and denial

Cons

• Requires setup time
• Low mobility

Fade

We put Fade pretty high on the list of initiators because of her flexibility and strong base kit. She excels at a wide-range of maps and generally her utility very easily finds value, even for the novice enjoyer.

Pros

• Simple, high-value kit
• Strong synergy with multiple other agents (flexible)

Cons

• Her impact tends to weaken the higher up the ranks you go. Need practice to squeeze max value at higher end.

Raze

In some ways, Raze is very similar to agents like Fade or Phoenix - she's hard to mess up. With 4 abilities capable of dealing damage, Raze is the queen of chip damage. The very essence of throwing everything and the kitchen sink at your opponents - something’s bound to hit.

Pros

• Potential to deal massive chip damage.
• Excels at space-making.

Cons

• Vulnerable when double satcheling.
• Satcheling requires practice.

Neon

She slides and kills you. Repeat. Since the change, Neon has become a very difficult agent for opponents to deal with generally. The one redeeming factor is that she takes a little getting used to.

Pros

• Movement abilities make her incredibly hard to hit.
• Excels at space-making.

Cons

• Predictable on Defense.
• Takes practice.

Gekko

Very much a one-man show, Gekko can stun, flash, plant, and clear out areas all by himself. Designed as the perfect solo queue initiator, Gekko tops our list in that role.

Pros

• Extremely flexible.
• Simple, high-value utility.
• Self-reliant.

Cons

• Vulnerable when retrieving utility.

Iso

Since his change in Patch 8.11, Iso has become a powerhouse in ranked with his oppressive Double Tap shield. A good Iso can frequently snowball a round with dominant aim and a replenishing safety shield.

Pros

• Excels at snowballing rounds (taking consecutive fights)
• Excels at isolating duels

Cons

• Low mobility.
• Double Tap can be exploited by more experienced opponents.

Reyna

Every smurf's starter kit includes Reyna in their arsenal. Easy to exploit, dominating in her snowball potential, difficult to punish. As of Patch 8.11, Reyna's Empress no longer has a time limit, making her a more consistent threat on the map.

Pros

• Excels at trading.
• Quick, hard to punish reposition after every kill.
• Simple kit with decent value.

Cons

• Limited Mobility.
• Extremely Skill Dependent.

Jett

Flashy and cool, Jett enjoyers enjoy playing this agent for a reason. Her Tailwind is still one of the best abilities in the game, useful for offense and defense, off-angle holding, or aggressive swings.

Pros

• Flexible on both Attack and Defense
• Excels at space-making.
• Has access to some of the most flexible movement abilities in the game.

Cons

• Takes practice.

S Tier 

Clove

Basically Reyna but you can hang back. Clove is incredibly flexible and viable on essentially every map in the pool currently. Moreover, between her Pick-Me-Up and Not Dead Yet abilities, Clove is very forgiving and offers a lot of room for error.

Pros

• Extremely forgiving.
• Simple, high-value kit.

Cons

• Playstyle is more suited for the more aggressive.

Cypher

Cypher's baseline value from his kit is simply the best among all the sentinels. With no range limitations, he can afford to lurk more aggressively and boldly on Attack. Meanwhile on Defense, he has some of the best and most creative options when it comes to holding his site.

Pros

• Extremely flexible.
• Simple, high-value kit.
• Excels at info-gathering.

Cons

• Base-level can be predictable, player creativity needed.

 

Summarized VALORANT Agent Tier List for Ranking Up Quickly

End of the day, as long as you are aware of both the weaknesses of your chosen agent as well as are comfortable with the playstyle and abilities of said agent, any agent can be utilized.

Climbing the ranks is something personal and unique for everyone. The only purpose we serve to deliver is to perhaps even slightly ease your journey to the top.

 

Check out Strafe Esports for all the latest VALORANT news. Also, stay tuned to Strafe YouTube for exclusive interviews, press conferences, and more.

Featured Image Credit: Exclusive to Strafe Esports

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