Currently, there are four types of Agent classes in VALORANT. Among them, Duelists are considered as the most fierce, aggressive & agile of them all.
Due to their nature, abilities & outlook, Duelist agents are responsible for clearing ways for the rest of the team. In the typical FPS dictionary, this task is generally known as “Entry-Fragging.” Riot’s decision to make a whole separate class of Entry Fraggers has proven to be a wise move. While Pros are first to recognize the potential of a Duelist agent, casual players are not always lagging behind. VALORANT’s in-game classification of agents can assist anyone in picking the right agent for themselves.
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Picking the perfect Duelist in 2021 can be a hassle since VALORANT’s core playstyle is constantly shifting in a new direction. Riot has a systematic way of changing how the game should be played & with every Patch, and the developers make sure that some aspects of the game don’t stay static for too long. Thus, players are forced to adapt to new techniques and strategies. Similarly, choosing the right Duelist agent depends on multiple factors that strongly relate to the existing metas. To help you out with such decisions, we have developed a Tier-list of Duelist agents.
VALORANT Best Duelist Tier List
- S-Tier (Best): Jett, Reyna
- A-Tier (Good): Raze
- B-Tier (Average): Phoenix
- C-Tier: (Poor): Yoru
S-Tier
Jett
Jett is, without any doubt, VALORANT’s poster-girl who also happens to be a timeless duelist. Any player who prefers aggression over strategy should pick Jett without any doubt. Jett is an easy-to-learn agent too, and it doesn’t take long for anyone to get a good grip on Jett since her abilities are pretty basic.
Jett’s Tailwind & Updraft allows her to move, shoot & dodge at will. Upon mastering these abilities, it’s possible to become untouchable with the Operator. Almost every major VALORANT team has one dedicated Jett to fill the essential role of the Operator. With these said, Jett will always be a reliable, easy & effective agent to pick unless Riot decides otherwise.
Reyna
Reyna’s biggest strength is her ability to frag & evade. No wonder why Reyna is the default choice for many Tier-1 players. Although sometimes during last year, Reyna’s relevancy did drop a little due to the presence of a heavy ability-centric meta, but her pick-rate in major tournaments has been decent since the release of Kay/O.
Reyna’s abilities include Leer, Devour & Dismiss. Leer is a flash that can be deployed through walls or doors, and it gives Reyna easy access to crucial choke points. Fitting Reyna in any agent composition is extremely easy. Additionally, Reyna’s presence is similar across all ranked in VALORANT.
A-Tier
Raze
Raze’s ability to deliver unexpected blows in critical situations is one of the reasons why she is a popular pick among the Pros. With abilities like Boom Bot & Paint Shells, Raze can easily clear critical choke points all by herself. Similar to Jett, Raze’s primary ability is speed.
She can gain incredible momentum in no time by using her Blast Packs. Although it’s not an easy ability to use, thus, dry-runs are required before performing these Satchles jumps in-game. Even though she is insanely packed with destructive abilities, her pick rates aren’t consistent in Tier-1 tournaments due to the ever-changing meta.
Additionally, in big maps like Breeze or Bind, Raze’s abilities aren’t that much useful. In contrast, she shines in maps like Split, Fracture, or Ascent regardless of the meta.
Neon
Neon is the latest addition to VALORANT’s lineup of Duelist agents. Her ability is geared towards speed & agility. Neon’s abilities like High Gear & Fast Lane are meant to be deployed in unison to achieve a maximum advantage over the enemy. While Fast Lane creates a temporary safe zone, High Gear provides the necessary speed to sneak past enemies.
However, Neon’s ultimate ability, “Overdrive” might disappoint many players as it’s sometimes unreliable & difficult to control. Although professional players should be able to find out her potential sooner or later. In the meantime, Neon is actually the first agent to throw any competition to Jett as they both have abilities focused around speed & time.
B-Tier
Pheonix
Due to the ongoing meta being way too focused on Initiator & Controller agents, Phoenix’s presence on high-tier tournaments is now lower than ever. Another reason for such a low pick rate could be the fact that Reyna can effortlessly exceed all of Phoenix’s abilities.
Phoenix might have a powerful ultimate, but that’s not enough to fit him in any serious agent composition. Except for the Run It Back ability, his Curveballs, Blaze & Hot Hands aren’t good enough to create impact in the current season. During VALORANT’s infancy, Phoenix used to be a must-pick agent for teams like TSM or T1, but things have changed a lot recently.
C-Tier
Yoru
Yoru was supposed to bring back a plethora of changes to VALORANT’s lineup of 4 Duelists, but the saga of disappointment continues to this Episode. Initially, Yoru’s abilities seemed game-changing, considering that he would be able to teleport like Yoru, flash like Breach and disappear like Jett, but all of them proved way too weak for any meta.
Even though Riot will deploy a massive buff for Yoru at the beginning of next year, people are still skeptical about its impact. For now, Yoru is generally avoided by players from all tiers & classes due to his subpar abilities. Abilities such as Gatecrash, Blindside, Fakeout, or Dimensional Drift aren’t useful in most cases. If Riot actually holds onto their plan to buff Yoru, we might see a change in his pick-rate starting early next year.
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With VALORANT Champions Tour is now over, Riot can fully focus on reshaping some aspects of the game. Riot has already presented a detailed plan for next year’s Champions Tour. Leaving that aside, VALORANT’s lineup of Duelist agents is not perfect since Yoru & Phoenix are in dire need of improvements. Choosing an agent is a difficult task since it’s obvious that you’ll have to invest a huge amount of time to actually learn & improve on a particular agent. So it’s best to try out all agents and come up with a conclusion later.
