When the skill level gets higher as you climb the ranks of competitive VALORANT, some agents emerge as more valuable than others. Whereas agents that are more viable to solo playmakers such as Reyna and Phoenix start to fall off, agents that provide more support to an overall composition become more viable.
Just a few weeks into Episode Six, a small handful of agents can clearly be sorted into the second category, and their pick rates improve overall as the ranks get higher.
Between Iron and Silver, Jett sits between fourth and sixth when it comes to most-picked agents in ranked VALORANT. But that increases to third in Gold, second in Platinum, and then she dominates Diamond, Ascendant, Immortal, and Radiant with the highest pick rate of any agent. It’s at the very highest rank of Radiant where she has her highest overall rating of any rank with 15.9 percent, according to Blitz.gg.
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Given how impactful Jett is to the top mechanical players, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. But the highest-ranked players have also figured out how to use Jett the best, as both an entry fragger and a space creator. Following drastic nerfs to Chamber, Jett has reclaimed the spot as the go-to agent for any opening fragger at higher ranks.
The Chamber nerfs also owe to Killjoy’s return to prominence. Killjoy sits around fifth and sixth between Iron and Diamond but climbs up to fourth in Ascendant before jumping up to second in Immortal and Radiant. The 5.12 and 6.0 updates increased the health of her devices and made them immune to allied damage, and her Nanoswarm can now affect enemy objects and utility.
Sova is also picked more as ranks increase: between eight and ninth from Iron to Platinum, seventh in Diamond and Ascendant, and fifth in Immortal and Radiant. Sova still has one of the best ability kits when it comes to post-plant scenarios, which is more valued at higher ranks.
Finally, Astra, who is one of the least picked agents from Iron to Diamond, is more of a “middle of the pack” selection in Immortal and Radiant. While the global range of her utility is impressive, her star usage requires a lot of high-level communication to be effective, and her ultimate can easily be misused by lower-ranked players.
