Valorant Agents Tier List

In this Valorant Agent Tier List 2026, we have broken down the current Valorant meta agents for Season 26 Act 1. Currently, there are 28 agents in Valorant, and each agent comes with their unique set of tools, which can alter gameplay. We’ll show the most powerful Agents and also cover the best Valorant Agents for beginners. In addition, we rank all the Agents by difficulty, as Valorant, being one of the most famous first-person shooters today, allows you to synergize the abilities of your character with other skills in your team and win cooperatively.

Valorant Agents Tier List Key Takeaways:

• Best Agents in Valorant 2026 Act 1 — overview of the current meta and which Agents perform best this season.
• Valorant Best Agents for Each Map — recommended team comps and top Agents for every map in the pool.
• Valorant Agents Ranked by Role — breakdown of the strongest Duelists, Controllers, Sentinels, and Initiators.
• Best Agents in Valorant for Beginners — easy-to-learn Agents that are strong picks for new players.
• Valorant Tier List —  full ranking from S+ to D tier with detailed explanations for each Agent. The current strongest picks are Clove and Sage at the very top.
• How to Unlock New Agents in Valorant — guide on how Agent contracts work and how to activate them.
• Fastest Way to Unlock New Agents in Valorant — best methods like Xbox Game Pass and Spike Rush grind.

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Best Agents in Valorant 2026

Since agents and their abilities are integral parts of Valorant, it doesn’t matter whether you are new to Valorant or already an expert. You must be aware of which agents are better and why. Valorant Season 2026 Act 1 has made some significant changes. As a matter of fact, there are 28 agents in Valorant. So, here’s the Valorant Agent Tier List, which can be used to choose the best agent.

Season 26 Act 1 has reshaped the ranked environment. Based on win rate and match volume, the current Valorant best agents are:

• Clove — highest win rate (~54.9%);
• Sage — strong impact and consistency;
• Phoenix — reliable self-sustain Duelist;
• Neon — explosive tempo control;
• Sova — still one of the strongest information agents.

Even with the strongest Valorant best agents in Season 26 Act 1, climbing ranked consistently still depends on decision-making, positioning, and proper utility timing. If you want to reach Higher Ranks faster, playing alongside experienced high-Elo players can help refine your executions, map control, and round management without the usual trial-and-error grind.

Valorant Best Agents for Each Map

Choosing the Right Agent in Valorant Season 26 Act 1: It’s not just about choosing the agent based on their overall ranking. The current Valorant meta agents play very differently depending on map layouts, entry points, and post-plant situations. That’s why a proper Valorant agent tier list is necessary, especially when it comes to each map. Below is the updated Valorant agent tier list for each map based on Season 26 Act 1 win rates, pick rates, and ranked impact:

Some top Valorant agents dominate wide-open maps with long sightlines, while others thrive on tight choke points and fast retakes. If you want to pick the real Valorant best agents for your lobby, you need to adjust to the map pool.

Valorant Agents Ranked by Role

Clove is officially a Controller, but in the current Valorant meta, she often plays like an aggressive flex pick. Her self-heal and revive mechanic allows her to take early fights, making her one of the most self-sufficient Valorant meta agents in Season 26 Act 1. Valorant S26 Act 1 shows a clear pattern: self-sufficient Agents and flexible Controllers dominate ranked:

Best Valorant Agents for Beginners

If you’re just starting in Season 26 Act 1, you won’t be trying to pull off flashy plays. What you want are stable, forgiving agents that allow you to learn positioning, crosshair placement, and timing mechanics without overcomplicating them. Here are the best Valorant agents for beginners in the current meta:

• Brimstone;
• Clove;
• Gekko;
• Killjoy;
• Phoenix;
• Sage;

These picks remain some of the safest Valorant best agents for new players because their abilities are clear, impactful, and easy to understand.

• Brimstone is still the best controller agent for beginners. His smokes are easy to deploy, molly is good at denying, and his ultimate can win you a round without needing to coordinate with your team.
• Clove is an excellent agent in the 2026 Valorant meta because she remains useful even after dying. Her smokes can still be deployed after death, which is great for beginners who are still learning.
• Phoenix is an excellent agent to learn aggressive gameplay in a safe environment. He can heal himself, allowing you to engage in fights without losing the round for your team.
• Gekko is an excellent agent to learn about objective gameplay. Wingman, on the other hand, can plant or defuse the spike, allowing you to learn about gunfights while still contributing to your team.
• Killjoy and Sage are perfect agents to learn Valorant with, especially if you’re a beginner who likes to play at a slower pace.

If you’re new to Valorant and want to improve faster, structured guidance can make a huge difference. Working with an Experienced Coach helps you understand positioning, utility timing, and decision-making much earlier than learning everything through trial and error. Even a few focused sessions can accelerate your progress in Season 26 Act 1.

Valorant S+-Tier Agents

In the current Valorant meta, which is Season 26 Act 1, S+-Tier Agents are the ones defining ranked play. Essentially, S+-Tier Agents are the most consistent Valorant best agents, meaning they have a high win rate, round impact, and map flexibility. Currently, Valorant S+-Tier agents are:

• Clove:
• Sage.

Clove

Clove is an aggressive Controller, and she packs a lot more than just smokes. She can place smokes even when she is dead, making her useful throughout a round. She can snowball fights in ranked matches due to her ability to gain temporary health from eliminations. If she has her ultimate, she can even revive when she is dead, although she must get a kill to stay alive.

Sage

Sage is still one of the most consistent Sentinels in the current Valorant meta. She can completely stall a push or get a post-plant situation with her Barrier Orb, especially on smaller maps. The heal can keep her teammates in fights, and her Resurrection can turn fights around immediately.

Valorant S-Tier Agents

S-Tier Agents in Valorant’s current meta are slightly below S+, which makes them some of the best and most consistent agents in Valorant’s ranked matches. These top Valorant agents can work well on many different maps and can be used in most team compositions.

Phoenix

Phoenix continues to be one of the most self-sufficient Duelists in Season 26 Act 1. His curveball flashes are simple to use and effective in close fights, while his fire abilities allow him to heal and control tight spaces. His ultimate gives him a safe entry option, which makes him a strong pick for ranked.

Neon

Neon thrives in fast-paced matches and aggressive compositions. Her mobility lets her take space quickly and pressure defenders before they can reposition. High Gear allows explosive entries, and her ultimate can overwhelm unprepared teams during executes.

Sova

Sova remains one of the strongest Initiators in the 2026 Valorant meta. His Recon Bolt and Owl Drone provide consistent information, which is crucial for executes and retakes. He can clear angles safely and set up teammates before they enter a site. His ultimate, Hunter’s Fury, is still one of the best tools for post-plant denial and long-range pressure.

Valorant A-Tier Agents

A-tier Agents are those who just missed out on a higher rank but still boast strong viability, keeping them near the top of the tier list. Players who might struggle with S-tier Agents can climb the ranks effectively using our A-tier selections.

Fade

Fade uses terror to her advantage, marking enemies with a dark mist that tracks them. Her Prowler can nearsight enemies that it touches, her knot can hold enemies in place and deafen them, and she can emit a wave of nightmare energy that decays any foe that it touches.

Killjoy

She uses Nanoswarm and Alarmbots, distracting and debuffing enemies, whilst her turret and lockdown device enable her to effectively close off certain lanes.

Raze

One of the fastest characters in the game. Also, her ultimate is a missile launcher that can destroy a full pack of enemies, pushing you or while you are pushing them.

Vyse

Vyse is a Sentinel built for area denial and slowing down aggressive pushes. Her Shear trap blocks entries and forces Duelists to reposition. Razorvine and Arc Rose help control space, but her ultimate, Steel Garden, is the real highlight — it disables enemy weapons and can completely shut down a push.

Reyna

Reyna is clearly the best Agent for solo frags since she has very powerful flash, heal, and rate of fire buff.

Skye

Skye uses her various trinkets to trigger various effects, summoning Seekers, a hawk, and a Tasmanian tiger to deal drastic damage to a targeted enemy. This is probably one of the best Agents for clearing sights. Flashing, healing your team will be absolutely irreplaceable.

Valorant B-Tier Agents

B-Tier Agents may perform well in some situations, but overall, they are underpowered compared to others and don’t fit the game meta. Even if you prefer off-meta or B-Tier picks, climbing ranked in Season 26 Act 1 is still possible with the right coordination and game plan. Many players team up with High-Rank Teammates to improve consistency, clean up decision-making, and push through difficult rank brackets faster — especially when playing non-meta Agents.

Jett

Jett’s daggers can sail through the air at incredible speeds, and they rarely miss their target. This character is available from the start, and we highly recommend it to any player because of its versatility and strength.

Chamber

Chamber is an excellent all-rounder. With the ability to place scanning traps, summon a heavy pistol, create a teleportation anchor, and the deadliest sniper rifle in the game, Chamber is the strongest Agent you can rely on to keep the enemy on their toes.

Cypher

Cypher can place trapwires and cages across the map to ensnare unsuspecting opponents. His darts and spycams let him survey the battlefield better than most others, and can even scan for living enemies through the corpses of those he’s slain.

Deadlock

Deadlock functions as an exceptional teammate through her defensive potential, yet requires team communication to reach her full effectiveness. Deadlock’s most powerful ability is Sonic Sensor because it detects enemies and disorients opponents in the same area.  Also, these two abilities specifically make Deadlock effective: Annihilation allows you to pull enemies toward your position, and Barrier Mesh enables you to trap opponents when you place it correctly.

Brimstone

He is a good smoker in a match, controlling the line of sight, which can significantly support his team and give them an edge.

Valorant C-Tier Agents

C-tier Agents face difficulties when facing most Valorant Agents, yet you can utilise them on particular maps or scenarios. But the time you’ll need to learn their valuable abilities makes these Agents less effective than others and therefore not worth the investment.

Gekko

Gekko’s main feature is his basic skill Wingman, which allows you to defuse or plant the Spike, and this is good for creating ambushes. Highly recommend this Agent for anyone to unlock first.

Viper

With huge AOE/CC potential, Viper is a formidable opponent to those trying to seize an area of the map from her.

Iso

Duelist Iso, with his unique set of abilities, including the ability to gain invincibility and build barriers, is a solid choice of Agents. These abilities, combined with his amazing ability to transport opponents into an interdimensional arena like in the popular anime Jujutsu Kaisen, make him a difficult opponent, especially in one-on-one battles.

Yoru

Yoru can create rifts in reality and create mirror images of yourself, or even become entirely invisible to the enemy for a brief time. This level of espionage makes him a potent weapon in any scenario.

Veto

Veto is a Sentinel-Initiator hybrid focused on vision denial and space control. His utility slows pushes, and strengthens site holds or retakes. He requires coordination, but in structured setups, he can be very disruptive.

Tejo

Tejo demonstrates exceptional performance as an Initiator through his ability to handle difficult corners and separate opponents from their teammates. Tejo’s weakness of no flash abilities can be compensated through Breach or KAY/O double Initiator play, or by using him alone with Yoru on the team.

Waylay

Waylay is the eighth Duelist in Valorant, added in Season 2025, Act 2. The first Agent from Thailand, Waylay seems to be a good addition to any team as a space-taking Duelist, helping their team to keep sight and defeat enemies.

Valorant D-Tier Agents

D-tier Agents are considered the weakest Agents in Season 2026, Act 1, and you should avoid them.

Breach

This guy has too much control over opponents, and it makes him one of the best characters for making frags and clearing sights solo.

Astra

Astra has the power to call on the cosmic forces of the universe and activate stars on the battlefield that have a number of different effects to choose from. Versatile and, more importantly, deadly, astrology and the zodiacs have never seemed more terrifying.

KAY/O

KAY/O can throw powerful flash and explosive grenades, as well as a suppression blade with a delayed explosive timer. His Ultimate enables him to overload with energy and emit pulses in a radius that suppresses enemies caught in its waves.

Harbor

Harbor can use the waves to create defensive spheres or walls of water to protect or block its enemies. He can also summon geysers of high-powered water from the ground that can easily disorient or even wash away opponents completely.

Omen

Omen uses teleport around the map and to nearby objects, which helps him a lot with positioning. Also, he has flash and smokes that can help during clearing sight well.

How to Unlock New Agents in Valorant

After you log in to the game for the first time, you will see that you have a frugal list of available Agents, these are:

• Brimstone
• Jett
• Phoenix
• Sage
• Sova

Every other Agent is being unlocked by completing 5 tiers of Agent contracts. You can activate it by clicking the “Activate” button on the Agent you want to unlock.

Fastest Way to Unlock New Agents in Valorant

If you want to unlock new Agents faster in Season 26 Act 1, there are two main methods players use:

• XBOX Game Pass Method.
• Spike Rush Method.

After you have chosen the character you want to play for, you might face the main difficulty: you need lots of XP to unlock this character. But don’t be afraid, we are ready to help you with it. You can get any Valorant Contracts Agent unlocked and contract accomplishment in no time.

XBOX Game Pass Method

1. Purchase XBOX Game Pass.
2. Link your Microsoft account with your Riot account.
3. Enjoy a 20% XP bonus and all Agents unlocked.

But! This feature expires when Game Pass expires, so if you don’t want to pay Microsoft every month, we know another way of getting all the Agents in the game.

Spike Rush Method

This is not much more complicated, but much more rewarding. You need to play non-stop Spike Rush matches, practice your skills during them, and earn XP. You will be amazed at how fast you level up with it. Spike Rush is the only mode where it doesn’t matter – you lose or win, because you’ll earn the same amount of XP.

Valorant Agents FAQ

Below you’ll find answers to the most common questions about Valorant Agents in Season 26 Act 1. This section covers the current Valorant meta agents, the strongest picks in ranked, and general information about unlocking and choosing the right Agent in 2026.

Who Is the Best Agent in Valorant?

Clove currently holds the highest win rate in ranked, followed closely by Sage and Phoenix. These are considered the strongest Valorant meta agents right now.

How Many Agents in Valorant?

There are currently 28 Agents available in Valorant as of Season 26 Act 1.

What Are the Best Valorant Agents for Ranked?

Clove, Sage, Phoenix, and Neon are among the top Valorant agents for climbing due to their high impact and consistency.

What Is the Easiest Agent to Play in Valorant?

Brimstone and Sage are generally considered the easiest Agents for beginners because their abilities are straightforward and forgiving.

Which Controller Is Best in Valorant?

Clove is the strongest Controller in Season 26 Act 1 thanks to her post-death smokes and revive mechanic.

Which Duelist Is Strongest in Valorant?

Phoenix and Neon are currently the most effective Duelists in ranked play.

Who Is the Best Initiator in Valorant?

Sova remains the top Initiator due to his reliable information gathering and strong post-plant ultimate.

What Is the Best Valorant Agent for Each Map?

The best picks depend on the map layout. For example, Sova excels on Ascent, while Viper remains strong on Breeze.

When Is New Valorant Agent Coming Out?

Riot typically releases a new Agent during Episode updates. The most recently released Agent is Veto, who joined the roster on October 7, 2025. Based on Riot’s usual development cycle, the next Valorant Agent is expected sometime later in 2026, although no official date has been confirmed yet.

How Do You Unlock All Agents in Valorant Faster?

You can unlock Agents through contract progression, Xbox Game Pass access, or by farming XP efficiently in Spike Rush.

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The Valorant meta continues to evolve each Act, but understanding the current Valorant best agents gives you a serious advantage in ranked. Season 26 Act 1 offers multiple viable picks — as long as you choose according to map and team composition.