The team captain of 100 Thieves’ Valorant roster, Spencer “Hiko” Martin, has just revealed his personal Valorant agent tier list for professional play after Riot’s 1.07 and 1.08 patches once again shifted the competitive meta.
Hiko had some interesting takes. He considers certain agents top picks, while deeming others as not ideal at the pro level despite them having a lot of potential. He even went as far as calling one particular agent “so skill-less.”
D-tier
Viper
Hiko started his tier list from the bottom, placing Viper in the D-tier. No one has found a way to make her work in competitive play, but the retired CS:GO pro says he doesn’t think Viper is that terrible. “In theory, she is good, but her Viper’s Pit ultimate puts her and her team at a disadvantage,” said Hiko.
C-tier
Sage
He then talked about Sage, who received significant nerfs that dropped her all the way to C-tier. Hiko believes her Barrier Wall nerf has weakened her ability to stall pushes, and she can no longer be used as a counter against fast pushes into spike sites.
Her heal-over-time, on the other hand, has been prolonged, which caused teams to drop her from their agent composition. Hiko surmised, “I don’t think we’ll see any Sage picks. I just think there are better agents right now.”
Reyna
Hiko firmly believes that Reyna isn’t good, claiming that the triple-duelist strategy is the equivalent of “taking the easy route.” He explained that Reyna is literally skill-less. “There is no thought behind her, you need to get kills [to be useful], and she is the worst duelist [in the game],” said Hiko.
He continued, “Teams that run Reyna put their heavy fraggers like Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo and Adil ‘ScreaM’ Benrlitom on her, but they could have more of an impact on a different duelist. Outside of those two players, she is not good.”
B-tier
Brimstone
Brimstone is an agent that has fallen out of the current competitive meta. As a smoke agent, Brimstone is inferior to Omen. Hiko doesn’t think Brim is bad, but he has no movement abilities compared to his counterpart, Omen.
Killjoy
Hiko’s evaluation of Killjoy is well-documented, which is why he’s decided to call her Cringejoy. He believes Killjoy has her place in the current meta, but a lot of players have figured her out already. And having Sova and Raze as hard counters to Killjoy at the pro level has dropped her value in the competitive agent composition.
Raze
Raze was listed under B-tier because of the recent nerf to her Blast Pack ability. Her value has dropped because she is only being played in Bind and Split now.
And, since Sage is no longer being picked in tournaments, teams can’t use the Slow Orb and Paint Shell combo, which was one of the main reasons why teams had Raze in their agent composition.
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A-tier
Phoenix
Hiko noticed teams are utilizing Phoenix, which is why “he is really really good right now.” The current meta revolves around playing more duelists, and Phoenix is the perfect agent for the team’s top fragger. Hiko also believes that Phoenix is effective in all maps. Since his Run-it-back ultimate only takes six charges, teams could abuse it to earn crucial round wins.
Breach
Hiko is really high on Breach right now. His ultimate is particularly difficult to dodge, and his utility is ideal at the pro level. Alongside his ultimate, he has three flashes, and is a hard counter against Jett players who are using the Operator.
Sova
Hiko thinks Sova is S-tier on Ascent, Bind, and maybe even Haven. The only reason Hiko didn’t put Sova in S-tier is because he isn’t great on Split. Hiko explained, “because he isn’t S-tier in all of the maps, I’m placing him [under] A-tier.”
S-tier
Cypher
Hiko considers Cypher as one of the best agents in Valorant. He is picked in every single map. He also forces teams to utilize Sova or Raze to counter his Tripwires. His cages are good on attacks and on defense. Players can, likewise, use the camera to lurk.
Omen
Hiko explained that Omen was eclipsed by Brim early on. But, with the meta shifting to a faster pace, he believes Omen is now a necessary pick. According to Hiko, Omen is better in every situation compared to Brimstone. Omen is used as a spike site anchor, which means he could hold a site on his own. His smokes have a wider radius, and he can also teleport around them. The longer he stays alive, the more smokes he acquires in a round. His flash can be used at choke points too. Additionally, he can teleport to elevated spots to catch opponents off guard.
Jett
Hiko admitted he struggled to place Jett in S-tier, since he believes her agent abilities aren’t the best. But she is a top tier agent because of how the meta is working right now. He highly values her Tailwind ability, which boosts her aggressive and defensive capabilities. It also prevents her from being pressured from off angles. She can jump over smokes, and get away with Shotgun plays at close range. Her ultimate is, likewise, really good, since the damage doesn’t drop off at longer distances.
Hiko does believe that Jett won’t be in S-tier for long though, since Riot is planning an upcoming Operator nerf.
READ MORE: Valorant patch 1.08: Are we about to see a Guardian meta?
