Best Agents in Valorant 2023

With 23 agents to choose from and a 24th on the way, it has never been a better time to pick up Valorant. There is an agent for anyone's playstyle. However, as per our mental health and elo are concerned, every agent has their own quirks when it comes to absolutely destroying my self-esteem.

This guide is not only going to show you what agents are considered "Good" or "Bad" but also where they are placed in the grander scheme of things. Moreover, we have also compiled some of the best tips that can take your playstyle just a little bit further because the higher you climb on the ranked ladder, the little goes an extremely long way.

This guide is made not only for casuals but for the self-proclaimed diamond sweats as well. We would like to preface the guide by saying that this guide obviously has come with biases, and a tier-list by two different people would never be the same.

Valorant Tier List: October 2023

To mitigate most of the inherent biases tier-lists have, we looked no further than at radiant players and what is being played at the peak of competition sprinkled in with a little bit of noob stomping. So without further ado, here is the tier list.

Valorant C-Tier Agents

Harbor

Harbor, the versatile Controller, possesses the ability to sculpt walls with a fluid-like grace. His (C) Cascade and (E) High Tide abilities decelerate foes passing through them, facilitating precise shot placement for you.

While Harbor's presence in professional play fluctuates, he faces challenges in establishing a strong position in solo queue. Nevertheless, it's possible to secure victories against teams unfamiliar with him by utilizing off-meta choices, as they have their merits.

Tips

Utilize Reckoning to halt a Spike plant or defusal, impede enemy advances, or displace defenders obstructing your progress. The substantial area of effect of Reckoning puts it in a league similar to Killjoy's Lockdown, as both Ultimate abilities can envelop an entire Spike site and create chaos for the opposing team.

In contrast to Brimstone's Orbital Strike or Sova's Hunter's Fury, Reckoning doesn't serve as a long-range tool and requires activation in close proximity to Harbor. It's crucial to be mindful that, like High Tide and Cascade, using Reckoning can also tip off the enemy to Harbor's presence.

Reyna

Although Reyna strikes fear into the heart of every silver, the imminent fear of any instalock Reyna being an immortal smurf carrying their girlfriend to Platinum. At the end of the day, Reyna is just a noob-stompy champion, and as you climb the ranks and plateau anywhere from Platinum onwards. She loses her novelty really quickly. Unless you feel like FPX Suygetsu on that particular day, we will avoid her since she doesn't really do anything for the team.

Tips

Make sure to throw your Leer as high up in the air as possible. This not only throws off your opponent's crosshair placement, but the leer is harder to shoot since it's all the way in the stratosphere.

There is an inherent delay when you cancel Reyna's dismiss. This delay is the reason why you can't shoot people immediately. A tip for when you're approaching a corner is to actually jump around the corner and, just at the apex of your jump, preemptively cancel your dismiss. This means that when you land, you already have your gun out. This usually nets me a couple of guaranteed kills per match.

Breach

Now we know what you're going to say. Breach is overpowered. I can't believe you put him in the C-Tier. Although we do agree to some extent with that statement, there is a huge caveat when it comes to playing Breach. Breach's utilities are just very mediocre. His flashes are easily dodgeable, his aftershock is, in a majority of cases, useless. There is one map that we would recommend him as a necessity, and that is fracture.

Tips

Save your aftershock for either post plant or for breaking utility. Especially for Killjoy ult on fracture. This tip will net you 3 rounds minimum per fracture game. Be sure to keep this in the back of your mind.

Breach flash is one of the easiest flashes to dodge in the game. My tip would be just like Reyna flash relatively high. Even though the flashes might not be on the screen of enemies, they still do get blinded with the added benefit of them not expecting where the flash is coming from.

Yoru

Before all, you Forsaken fanboys run out with your pitchforks and knives and try to dox us. We will say one thing: we don't regret it at all. Yoru is kinda like Shaco from League of Legends. A trickster at heart. The problem with tricksters is that people catch on really quickly, and you end up being a liability to your team.

Tips

Playing close angles against a Yoru has to be the most infuriating thing to go up against. Leave your gatecrash somewhere safe and hold angles that are normally one-and-done but can get a kill with a shotgun and leave with no repercussions. Make sure to abuse this mechanic to its fullest ability.

Phoenix

Your favorite Brit lands himself in the C-Tier. He's been through his fair share of underdog stories, and nothing's changed. Although his flashes are better, they aren't very versatile. This means you have to be on the very edge of a corner to set up an effective flash. Opponents will start to catch on very quickly.

Tips

When you're setting up for a flash, make sure you are as far away from the corner as possible. The further away, the less distance the flash is exposed to the enemy, making it harder for them to dodge it.

You can also try and flash high when you're exiting a smoke. This is an extremely unexpected flash and quite unexpected.

Valorant B-Tier Agents

Gekko

Gekko's performance has had its ups and downs since his debut, but currently, it seems like the Initiator has settled into a favorable position within the meta. 

With the support of his abilities, namely (C) Mosh Pit, (Q) Wingman, (E) Dizzy,

and (X) Thrash, skilled Gekko players can be highly effective. However, there are other Agents that demand less effort for potentially greater returns.

Tips

Gekko's kit is ideal for simulating sites on various maps within Valorant. By utilizing agents like Dizzy, Mosh, and Wingman in tandem, you can establish a formidable presence on one side of the map while your teammates cautiously approach the other site. 

You can also coordinate with a teammate playing as a Controller to deploy fake smoke, creating the illusion that your team is fully committing to that site.

Sage

Sage is a sentinel. Yes, a sentinel. Sage is a hybrid of sentinel, which is only attributed due to the Slow Orb. Nonetheless, there isn't any other agent that does what she does; the resurrection has the most Game-changing potential and should be used cautiously.

So all you Sage fans rejoice. You can simp till your heart's content. Sage is quite a linear agent. There aren't many ways to play her unless, of course, you are Grim, but the playstyle is quite situational. Hence she is the only agent with no tip section.

Tips

Remember to play around your wall and slow orbs, as they will help you slow down your enemies and create chaos in their ranks. But most importantly, never forget that you are a medic, so always play around your team.

Chamber

Chamber had quite the fall from grace. He went from being the most obnoxiously broken character to an average Joe. Pre 5.03 Chamber had the potential to 1v4 rounds just because of his tour de force. The tour de force's round-altering capabilities have been dialed down slightly, but he's still a formidable opponent, especially in clutch situations.

Tips

Chambers marksman pistol has an unbelievably quick pull-out time, meaning you can essentially shoot one bullet of your tour de force and switch back to your pistol and back to the sniper without compromising on DPS.

Deadlock

A Sentinel with the ability to quite literally take space, Deadlock's kit is great for preventing flanks and lurks, much in the same vein as Cypher's tripwires.

However, while operating as more of a lurking Sentinel, a Deadlock without her ult lacks some of the playmaking that Cypher does with his cages. Additionally, we feel that she pales in comparison to Killjoy right now, leading us to rate her below her classmates.

We can certainly see Deadlock working well in a double-Sentinel setup, similar to what we've seen from Harbor's double-Controller comps shortly after his arrival.

Tips

When playing as Deadlock, who is considered a Sentinel, it's essential to utilize her to secure and defend the sites. This entails strategically placing her Sonic Sensors to establish effective site setups. Your primary focus in these setups will be centered around these sensors, as the use of her other abilities will depend on the specific in-game circumstances.

To elaborate, you should position the Sonic Sensors at locations where you anticipate the opposing team will engage in movement around the site entrances. You should especially consider areas where an opponent like Jett might use her Dash ability or where foes are likely to begin aiming for duels and confrontations. This proactive placement of the sensors triggers them to activate in response to the noise generated by such actions.

KAY/O

Kay/O is the most underrated and underutilized agent in public lobbies. The utility he provides is quite unique in a sense; it provides vital information and disables enemies as well. This is extremely effective when paired with a duelist that has space closing capabilities ex. Jett and Neon.

Tips

When using your flashbang and peeking a corner, aim slightly behind, ALT fire, and peek immediately; this leaves the opponents with two options: Turn the flash so they can shoot you, or look at the flash directly and hope for a free kill. This is what 99% of Kay/O players should be doing since, without it, the Kay/O flash is incredibly easy to dodge.

Raze

The Venezuelan grenadier has a few aces up her sleeve. Raze is extremely powerful at clearing spots where people would normally sit in. Her kit makes her a pain to any Reyna playing A-Short on bind with a judge. We know it's tempting to Rambo onto the site and die with full ults, but her ults are extremely important in establishing safe site control.

Tips

When peeking at an angle, try to peek with a blast pack (Thanks Sinatraa!). This causes the opponents to be snatched up mid-air, meaning they can't get an accurate shot off.

Another blast pack tip is when trying to traverse the map with your satchel, look straight down when deploying the second. This enables your character to carry so much more momentum and takes you leaps and bounds further.

Cypher

Cypher's site locking capabilities might be the weakest of the sentinels' bunch because of the limitation of his tripwires. However, his Spycam is one of the most versatile pieces of utility in the game. You can leave B-site backup A in case there is a rush, all while keeping an eye out for a lurker. Lurkers plague Platinum+ lobbies; finding sneaky spots for the Spycam is crucial in playing a great Cypher.

Tips

To make sure that your tripwires are at the right height, crouch just about where you're placing the tripwires and align the blue line with your head. This makes sure that no one can crouch under or jump over your tripwire.

Using the Spycam to peek at an angle is also a niche but effective trip. This discombobulates the enemy into shooting the Spycam since they don't want to get revealed, all whilst you peek and get a free elimination.

A-Tier Valorant Agents

Skye

Skye's Blinding light is ubiquitously known as the most annoying flash. The virtually non-existent flash preparation time makes it such a powerful tool in your arsenal. Skye's Blinding light is extremely effective when she is on the back foot. 

A well-timed flash can turn an imminent death situation into a free kill. Knowing when to use them is a skill that separates the best from the average.

Tips

Pop-flashing close to a corner reduces the amount of time that the enemy can hear the flash cue. It follows the same principles that we've seen with Phoenix's flashes and Kay/O flashes, making the flashes virtually impossible to dodge.

Astra

Astra's utilities focused on controlling space anywhere on the map. It allows her to establish choke points and make it difficult for the opposing team to attack sites. A good Astra knows how to stop rushes before they even begin.

Astra excels in the hands of players that have exceptional map awareness. Although she is a shell of her former self, the variety of utility she provides is still useful on any map.

Tips

When using Cosmic Divide, you can select two points on the map. This makes a wall that perfectly joins the two points. This eliminates most of the guesswork involved when trying to prop up the wall and is much quicker as well.

Brimstone

Although Brimstone might be regarded as the most boring and easiest Valorant agent by quite a long shot, the sheer site presence he shows is second to none. The most powerful tool in his arsenal is the ability to deploy 3 clouds of smoke simultaneously.

He can also be a real post-plant nightmare since he can buy an ungodly amount of time for his team with his Incendiary and Orbital Strike.

Tips

While playing as Brimstone, try not to be the one who enters or clears sites. Instead, play for the post plant and make use of utilities to buy as much time as you can with your utilities.

Omen

Rejoice, death metal lovers; this one's for you. Omen is a fantastic lurk agent on the sole basis of how much map presence his kit affords. He can be anywhere and everywhere at the same time. Using this paranoia to your advantage is crucial to getting enemies to step out of position and netting you free map control and picks.

Tips

Using Omen's From The Shadows to grab the spike dropped by a teammate. Ex. Spike is dropped by A-Lobby whilst Omen is at C-site. Teleporting directly onto the spike and canceling picks up the spike without having to put yourself or your teammates in a precarious situation.

Viper

Viper is an extremely map-dependent controller. The one-size-fits-all mold that Omen, Astra, and Brimstone enjoy is what makes Viper unbelievably difficult to push onto the site with. The Toxic effect that her abilities possess makes even the most heinous instalock smurfing Reyna weary.

Tips

Placing your Poison Orb directly on top of the spike. This gives the enemies a false sense of security, thinking that they can stick to the defuse fully. After about 3 seconds, throw your Snakebite on the spike.

The opponents will be 1hp from the toxic effects of the Poison orb, and they will instantly die. Be warned not to let them defuse for too long since they can stick the defuse halfway.

Neon

Neon started off as a troll pick, much like Yorum, but with the popularization of run and gun play styles from the likes of FaZe BabyBay and PRX Forsaken. Understanding the strengths of Neon's Kit is paramount to playing her somewhat decently.

In our honest opinion, the plays you see in tournaments don't translate well into competitive lobbies. This makes her extremely hard to play, but the players who respect her limitations can wreak havoc on the server.

Tips

Side sliding is a great way to incorporate more mobility into Neon's kit. To initiate a side slide jump and on landing, hold a movement key and slide. The timing on this mechanic is very unforgiving, so make sure to get it down in the range before trying to break some ankles in competitive lobbies.

S-Tier Valorant Agents

Killjoy

An iconic name for an iconic character. Killjoy specializes in locking down sites with the unfathomable amount of crowd control she possesses. If you've ever thought that Cypher was the most AFK agent, think again.

Killjoy's kit is probably the most versatile of all sentinels landing her in the illustrious S-Tier. She can prevent pushes, prevent plants, play potplants, clear sites with her Lockdown, and peek off her Turret. She is by far the most useful sentinel and is one of the best 1v5 agents in the game.

Tips

Combining your Nanoswarm and Alarm Bot is a devastating combo. Setting up the combo at choke points such as A-short on Bind ensures that the enemy team won't haphazardly push. Netting your time on the clock. Enemies that don't respect the combo will be up for a rude awakening since the Vulnerable effect from the Alarmbot, and the damage from the Nanoswarm are too much to handle.

Jett

No matter how much they nerf her, the get-out-of-jail card that the Tailwind provides is second to none. Although she might've seen a plunge in pick rate, she is by far the most effective at clearing space.

Which is exactly what a duelist should do (Ehm Ehm Reyna mains). Opping on Jett is something that we are all accustomed to and should be abused at every chance we get. It hurts our souls to say this, but sadly the truth is the truth.

Tips

Finding Updraft spots to catch your opponents off guard is essential in playing a Jett that the opponent is deathly afraid of. Opping on top of boxes, trucks, or any terrain. It throws off crosshair placement and nets you a free kill (aim not included).

Sova

The undisputed king of Valorant. No agent provides as much value as Sova does to a team. His Recon Dart is second to none, his Owl Drone clears angles with no repercussions. Not only can you play him as primary support, but Sova does great when you play him as a self-sufficient fragger.

Sova in the hands of a capable player is a deadly combo. Clearing sites and preventing the loss of life whilst doing it. This is what makes Sova such a staple in the competitive scene.

Tips

Coupling Sova's Shock Dart with jump peeks allows you to get a little damage off to enemies whilst remaining relatively unharmed. The damage done by the Shock Dart can usually make a difference in a fight. Players underestimate the usefulness of the Shock Dart, and this is what separates players like SEN Sinatraa from the average Joe.

Fade

Fade's utility rivals that of Sova's. However, Sova still wins in terms of the variety of utility that is in his kit. Fade, however, provides a blind with her Prowler and a powerful zoning tool in the form of her Seize.

Combining her abilities unlocks Fade's potential and is devastating to even the most coordinated team (Ask Team Liquid).

Tips

Fade's haunt can be perched up anywhere, and I mean, anywhere. So, make use of rugged terrain to find new and on-the-go lineups for the Haunt. Reactivating the Haunt instantly drops the orb, which is how you can get the Haunt to sit where you want it to.

FAQs

What is the best way to learn a new Agent?

The best way to learn a new agent in Valorant has to be by hiring a professional coach from Eloking. After all, Eloking coaches have a reputation for being the best of the best, and by having a professional at the game guide you, it's very likely that you'll get some invaluable tips to learn whatever agent you want.

Who is the most popular agent in Valorant?

While popularity is subjective, the most famous agent in Valorant is either Jett or Viper. Sage and Phoenix are also very well known and are featured in many advertisements for the game.