VALORANT Agent Tier List for 2022
We have combed through the data and created the ultimate Valorant agents tier list for 2022, so you know exactly who to play to climb the ranks! Before we dive into the top of our tier list, we want to clarify that our list is oriented towards teamplay and using comms during your Valorant ranked games.
Some of the agents on the list may be stronger than it shows by their placement, but this list is not based on the agent's strength when a player has mastered them. This Valorant agents tier list has agents ranked by combining the most consistently impactful abilities, the likelihood they can be taken out of the meta, and their skill requirement. This method has an overview of the best agents across skill levels and isn't skewed by the impressive one-tricks out there!
S-TIER AGENTS
With that out of the way, let's start with our top picks for this year. This is the S tier where you should nearly always want to pick these agents in your games. Especially if you are familiar with their mechanics, combos, and the overall playstyle needed to execute on the agent, these should basically be your instalocks.
Jett
First in our S tier is an agent that has always seen play ever since the beta, and for a good reason. She has a kit built with skill expression first in mind, and it's easy to see why. That agent is Jett. Despite her being an agent meant for skill expression, her general principles are rudimentary; they just require a learning curve to gain the comfort needed to perform at par. Her kit is perfectly balanced between damage and utility and can be incredibly useful on both attack and defense on every map in Valorant to date.
Some maps may have better alternatives like Bind and Fracture, but Jett can undoubtedly see her place in those maps with the right person controlling her. As a duelist, she has the mobility to take advantage of enemies that are caught out of position even slightly and get away with it. We have all seen the montage clips where a Jett with an Operator quickly peaks for a kill and Tailwinds back to safety as if she was never even there! Combining her potency in that effect with a Sentinel to gather the information beforehand can make this style of play almost unfair, but that's a benefit of proper communication and teamwork that you need to have to win games.
To learn more take a look at our Jett Guide
Skye
Skye is an agent that has so much control over the flow of the round in the right hands. Skye's abilities provide extensive utility ranging from heals to scouting to flashing and nearsighting enemies. These abilities should not be taken lightly because of how powerful they can be. When playing Skye, it's critical to be the voice of reason or at least, a voice in our comms to strategies and make plays around you.
Honestly, communicating effectively will probably be your most significant obstacle for playing Skye at a high caliber. Unlike Jett, which can be more of a micro-focused player's agent of choice, Skye is a macro-focused player's ideal option. While you won't be the flashiest player or really have any montage moments, Skye is the crux of the team regardless of the other agents drafted and fits perfectly into the S tier for the Valorant agents tier list for this year.
To learn more take a look at our Skye Guide
Viper
Viper is considerably more challenging to play to the same level as the other two agents on this list, but her presence in the meta can't be understated. Playing Viper to a high degree is a tricky balance of macro-knowledge and resource management with her Fuel. As a result, she certainly requires a time commitment to get the hang of, and we don't advise picking her lightly.
You should have a firm understanding of Viper's playstyle and preferences to approach scenarios on both attack and defense with respect to the map you play her on. Ideally, you'd also know how to use her abilities with specific other agents on the map you're picking her as well. But, with great power comes great responsibility, and Viper has A LOT of power.
Being the best controller right now, she has tools that most agents can only dream of, and when players patiently wait to use them at the right time, it can nearly guarantee a round win. Of course, there are also the specific interactions that Viper players need to know, like her lineups for Poison Cloud and Toxic Screen that will make a world of difference. All in all, she's an incredible agent that is worth the time invested but will undoubtedly require the time to invest!
To learn more take a look at our Viper Guide
A-TIER AGENTS
Astra
Moving onto the A tier, we'll start with a Controller that is very close to Jett's level but has a bit too many quirks to make it into the S tier. That agent is Astra. Ever since her reveal, many players could see her potential as an agent with 400IQ plays. As it turns out, these players were right, and Astra is an outstanding choice for complex and pre-planned strategies of execution that have basically no counterplay. Of course, the inherent problem is that the whole agent's concept relies heavily on communicating well with teammates to develop bright ideas.
Astra's astral form is complicated to use well in the heat of the moment, so it'll require newer players to really think ahead of time to place her stars in valuable positions. Of course, mastering Astra's dividing playstyle will be well worth the effort, and after a commitment of likely 100 or more games, Astra is easily an S-tier pick. Obviously, that's a lot to ask of players who want to play her, but she is the highest rated agent of the highest difficulty level for a reason!
To learn more take a look at our Astra Guide
Chamber
Next on the list is Chamber. Chamber is a unique agent for his Headhunter and Tour de Force abilities, making economy rounds very reliable. He also has enough utility that he can act as a Sentinel when he uses his Rendezvous and Trademark correctly. Enough so, that Chamber actually is classified as a Sentinel. Perhaps, Chamber's entire concept is to just be a one-man army where he can provide the utility of a sentinel while also packing the punch needed to secure the round! Either way, his vast array of abilities makes him a valuable pickup that proves helpful in more cases than not!
To learn more take a look at our Chamber Guide
Sova
Sova is one of those agents you either love or hate for one simple reason. People that pick him seem to be either amazing or terrible. Either way, his abilities are precious in nearly every situation. Sova can zone or clear key areas, scout out positions and around corners, and even just set up a play for the site with a few tricks. He requires a lot of attention to the map to get good use out of his arrows for lineups and extensive knowledge of orientation to get the most benefit. Unfortunately, that doesn't exactly come naturally to many players, making him incredibly difficult to play.
To learn more take a look at our Sova Guide
Reyna
Reyna is arguably the agent most hyper-focused on one key aspect of the game: crosshair placement. Of course, Chamber relies on this for his Trademark and Tour de Force to be useful, but nearly all of Reyna's kit depends on her getting kills to have use. Her only ability that can be used without a kill involved is her Leer. Leer is an excellent entry tool, but considering it's the best thing she can provide her team, and there are other abilities in the game that offer similar effects, Reyna players need to have a good shot. As long as the Reyna player has a good shot, the map is her playground, and she can tear through the entire team with relative ease!
To learn more take a look at our Reyna Guide
Sage
Sage is the epitome of a solid pick that your teammates can never complain about. There's no harm done as long as you're providing value to them with heals and effective use of her Resurrection. Sage also balances zone controlling with team utility, making her an excellent option on every map!
To learn more take a look at our Sage Guide
Neon
Neon, to round out the A tier. Although she's still new, her kit has a lot of potential to really lead the charge in battle. Neon is a great entry-fragger duelist that provides a well-rounded kit to provide a good mix of utility, damage, and crowd-controlling effects.
To learn more take a look at our Neon Guide
B-TIER AGENTS
Breach
The B tier should be considered the agents you can undoubtedly play if you enjoy them but should probably be kept as a pocket pick for specific maps. First on the list is Breach. Breach is a great initiator that can lead the charge with good comms but is honestly just not as good in the diverse scenarios you can encounter in Valorant compared with the other initiators.
To learn more take a look at our Breach Guide
Omen
After Breach, we have Omen. Omen is currently in the same situation. He has a kit designed to be helpful in several scenarios, but just not enough to make it worth picking up to climb the ranks this year when there are better alternatives.
To learn more take a look at our Omen Guide
Raze
On the other hand, Raze is a great duellist that just deals a ton of damage. If you are an excellent Raze player, she is a perfect choice on maps like Bind, Fracture, and Split but is quickly overshadowed by her classmates in the other maps.
To learn more take a look at our Raze Guide
Cypher
Cypher is, of course, great for lurking and playing around with gathering intel and mind-gaming; however, his trips are easily found by a Sova drone or Skye Trailblazer. He also doesnt provide info at long distances and behind walls like the Sova recon and the Skye flash, due to this he finds his place in the B-tier.
To learn more take a look at our Cypher Guide
Killjoy
Finally, Killjoy's turrent is great for gathering info, distracting and slowing down enemies and her ultimate is very strong to clear site on attacker side or defend sites on defender. It can even be used to detain all enemies inside a bomb site while retaking, for example on Ascent or Fracture.
The downside of Killjoy's gatherin abilities is that they need to be within a certain range from her, otherwise they will deactivate and will not detect the enemies presence.
To learn more take a look at our Killjoy Guide
C-TIER AGENTS
KAY/O
Moving onto the C Tier, we can preface these agents as worse alternatives to others listed above them while simultaneously not having any specific map where they excel. With the arguable exception of KAY/O on Haven. Here, he is an ideal Initiator considering there are three sites to deal with and his short-ranged area-of-effect abilities work pretty well.
To learn more take a look at our KAY/O Guide
Phoenix
Phoenix's simple design and easy learning curve has helped him be one of the agents most picked by new player, but when it comes to highe level of gameplay there are just better alternatives now. His fire wall is very hard to use and the damage it deals to enemies is mostly negligible. His flash duration is very low, only 1.1 second while Skye's flash is almost double 2.0 seconds.
To learn more take a look at our Phoenix Guide
Brimstone
Brimstone also finds himself in the C tier. While brimstone's molly is strong to stops rushes and to delay bomb defuses his smokes have a very short range compared to Omen and Astra and don't damage enemies like Viper.
This has led many players to believe the early days of Valorant creation just weren't as future-proof as they could have been.
To learn more take a look at our Brimstone Guide
YORU-TIER
Last, and certainly least, is Yoru. Yoru deserves a whole tier to himself that we can call the Yoru tier. Yoru is intended to be an aggressive trickster that can always weasel his way out of a sticky situation. The biggest problem with this design is that it inherently should be focused on a more 'lone-wolf' style of gameplay like a lurker. Instead, he is designed to be an entry duelist that requires a high degree of skill that is nearly impossible without a premade team and strategy well versed in Yoru's capabilities.
To learn more take a look at our Yoru Guide
Overall, there are a lot of great agents out there that are worth picking up and sinking dozens of hours into if you want to climb the ranks. Make sure to take the time to consider this Valorant agents tier list and what you need out of your agent pool to pick the suitable agents for you. With hard work and a bit of luck, you'll be at your dream rank in no time!
