Best agents to pair with Deadlock in VALORANT

Armed with influential hi-tech abilities and chilling voice lines to complement her potent powers, VALORANT’s fifth sentinel agent, Deadlock, is nothing less than unique and intimidating. But, despite her cold and cautious nature, she makes an excellent partner to multiple Protocol agents.

Deadlock’s kit, paired up with that of certain agents, can create potent plays, landing you some easy, satisfying frags. With her abilities being so dynamic, she can step into the battlefield aggressively to support her allies at the forefront, giving rise to potentially lethal combos for you to fling at your opponents. Adopt an optimal team composition with Deadlock, and you’ll decimate your enemies effortlessly. 

To help you find the perfect match for the cold Norwegian trap expert, I’ve listed some of the best characters to fight alongside her, in addition to key insights that I gathered from watching hours of Deadlock’s early access footage, where content creators decoded all things possible with her extraordinary kit.

The best agents to play with Deadlock in VALORANT

Raze

Raze is by far the best agent to pair with Deadlock. The Brazillian bomb wielder offers the highest damage infliction potential in the duelist class. When combined with Deadlock’s movement-blocking abilities and coordinated timing, Raze’s Paint Shells, Boom Bot, and Showstopper will surely decimate your enemies.   

Send out Deadlock’s GravNet and Raze’s Paint Shells (or Showstopper) to clear critical spaces where enemies usually hold. GravNet slows down enemies holding in the area and forces them to crouch, letting Raze’s colourful bomb do the rest. You can also use Deadlock’s Barrier Mesh to trap enemies into a corner and follow up with Raze’s grenade or ultimate on them—devastating.

Related: All abilities for Deadlock, VALORANT’s new wire-wielding sentinel agent

It’s worth noting that Deadlock can establish a rapport with any of the duelist agents, including Jett and Phoenix, all thanks to her versatile, aggression-fueling kit. Toss your net grenade to trap enemies and let Jett dash into the location to kill them. Like the Paint Shells-GravNet combo, you can combine Phoenix’s Hot Hands with the net as well. 

Gekko

Deadlock may not gel well with Gekko’s Wingman outside of the battlefield, but she is more than willing to fight alongside the adorable creature if Alpha Earth is at stake. In fact, Wingman can serve as an excellent distraction for Deadlock to be able to use her ultimate, Annihilation, effectively. Its concuss debuff slows down the enemy, making it difficult for them to dodge the ultimate.   

Gekko’s Dizzy can also be a great protective measure to combine with Deadlock’s GravNet. Since enemies caught within the GravNet can still shoot, it’s wise to use Dizzy to blind them before pushing in. Another trick is to combine Gekko’s Mosh Pit with her GravNet or Barrier Mesh to give your enemies a helpless end.

And if you detain an enemy with Gekko’s Thrash, but they are being protected by their allies, you can use Annihilation to reach into their territory and pull out the detained enemy without making yourself vulnerable. Of course, they will try breaking the cocoon, so you can swing out with your teammates to take advantage of the distraction.    

Brimstone

With the ability to deploy multiple smokes simultaneously and a lethal post-plant setup, Brimstone is one of the most versatile controllers in VALORANT. Having the veteran founder of Protocol on the team is a gift in itself, but he can also whip up some great strategies with our newest sentinel agent. 

Brimstone’s kit offers a couple of fatal deterrent abilities, which, when combined with Deadlock’s GravNet or Barrier Mesh, can yield multi-kills. If enemies get caught behind Deadlock’s Barrier Mesh or in GravNet, use Brimstone’s Incendiary or even Orbital Strike to fry them up.    

Breach

Breach is an annoying initiator, and that’s enough to explain why he can be an excellent partner to Deadlock. If you’re a fan of the “W Gaming” strategy, this pair-up will definitely break your enemies down. 

Fault Line and Rolling Thunder are great initiating abilities to support Deadlock’s Annihilation, blocking targets from escaping the deadly nano-wire pulse. Not to forget, combining Breach’s Aftershock and Deadlock’s GravNet is a death sentence for anyone caught in a corner. If you use Breach’s FlashPoint and Deadlock’s GravNet together, enemies caught in the sticky net cannot dodge the flash as effectively. 

Harbor

With ammo reserves for Phantom and Vandal being reduced in VALORANT’s Patch 6.11, players now have to choose between emptying their magazine on a barrier or taking a different route. Now, imagine having multiple agents with movement and bullet-blocking capabilities on the same team.

Related: Fans claim sneaky Riot change is forcing Deadlock to top of VALORANT’s meta  

With four small orbs or one central orb to break through, Deadlock’s Barrier Mesh is incredibly tough. It’s not a vision blocker ability, however. Combine it with Harbor’s Cove or High Tide, and the enemy team will have the hardest time passing through, potentially denying them critical space.

When taking the aggressive approach, use Harbor’s Reckoning and Deadlock’s GravNet to bind enemies down and prevent them from escaping to a safer place—a great combo for retakes or pre-plant scenes.     

Sage

If Barrier Mesh isn’t tough enough for you, Sage’s Barrier Orb can further boost it with 800 HP. For reference, Barrier Mesh’s minor orbs feature around 700 HP each, while its central orb boasts around 1,000 HP. Having to break through this setup with just 50 Vandal bullets in reserve (60 if Phantom) ain’t going to be anyone’s cup of tea.  

This can effectively deny space as enemies must empty their magazines to break through, thus forcing them to take a different route. You can also use Sage’s Slow Orb with Annihilation to prevent enemies from dodging the nanowire pulse.

Having two sentinels on a team isn’t a popular composition in high-ranked lobbies and esports. But if you do get to play such a composition, Sage can actually help Deadlock shine.    

Sova

Be it Sova’s Recon Bolt or Owl Drone, his intel-gathering prowess can save Deadlock a headache, eliminating the need to guess where she should deploy her abilities to get the most value. Considering his role in rescuing Deadlock, the synergy between them is inevitable anyway.

There are quite a few tricks you can pull off with a Sova-Deadlock combo. If GravNet catches an enemy and they get into an obscure position, Sova’s Shock Bolt can potentially seal the deal. Alternatively, you can simply unleash Hunter’s Fury upon those caught in the net.

You can also perform an ultimate combo with Hunter’s Fury and Annihilation by targeting a space and gathering intel on it. Time them in a way so that the former forces at least one of the enemies to run into the cocoon of death. Then again, such combos can be quite difficult to perform in ranked games.

Related: The best ability combos in VALORANT

As you may have noticed, Deadlock’s Sonic Sensor is a rather independent utility; combining it with other abilities may not yield an exceptional output. That being said, it’s definitely a good way to control flanks and can even be used in post-plant situations to discourage the Spike defuser.

While the list mentions the best agents you can pair with Agent 23, Deadlock’s flexible kit is a boon for creative players and one-tricks; there’s no ‘correct’ way to play her. So, feel free to experiment and find a partner agent that suits your style.