Clove is destroying my hard-earned VALORANT K/D ratio, but I can’t stop instalocking them

Almost every VALORANT player I come across these days is in love with Clove—and I understand every bit of the hype. Unfortunately, here’s the irony: Despite her playstyle favoring those who love to secure frags, I’ve found it incredibly difficult to maintain a positive K/D with her.

Thanks to her death-defying ultimate, Not Dead Yet, while you can definitely resurrect yourself in the tightest of situations, running around trying to get a damage assist or kill before the not-so-long timer expires is chaotic.

In most cases, I end up dying trying to survive Clove’s ultimate in VALORANT, adding to my death count. The result? Despite top fragging or having an excellent ACS in the game, my kills are somehow always lesser than the number of deaths. Oh my sweet, positive K/D ratio of 1.10, not you going down the drain.

Well, Sage’s Resurrection can technically do the same damage to your K/D, but it doesn’t come with a gun to your head—kill or damage someone, or you die. Well, that is if the Sage revives you safely.

While I can go on about Clove’s ultimate being a little too situational, we have to agree that Riot Games has done a pretty good job balancing them, keeping the VALORANT meta in mind. A buff to their ultimate may do just enough to break the balance. It’s just the nature of Not Dead Yet—you have to be very judicious with its use if you don’t want a negative K/D at the end of a match. 

Then again, Clove is meant to kill or be traded. If you save your ultimate to preserve your K/D, you would be harming your VALORANT teammates and possibly a round outcome. It’s a dilemma.

While it may take some time to get used to their kit’s situational side, playing Clove regularly should automatically help you understand her strengths and give you a sense of when to use her ultimate. Don’t just randomly hit X whenever Not Dead Yet sparkles on your screen. Give it a thought. 

I know the window to activate their ultimate is small and very tempting. And it’s probably why we, Clove mains, frequently have to deal with a negative K/D—it’s our fate. But let’s not make a fuss about it. After all, we have got the aggressive VALORANT controller of our dreams, something we have yearned for since 2020..\