Most important agents to have in a ranked VALORANT team composition

With VALORANT’s ranked mode headed to closed beta servers soon, people are already discussing which agents will be essential to choose for the best chance at victory.

There are 10 agents available in the game, and although all of them bring plenty of unique skills to the fight, some characters are built to help your team rack up wins on the competitive stage. Ranked success will depend on how well you can work with your allies and how helpful an agent’s abilities are in a team setting rather than a solo public game.

Here are some of the most important agents to have on your team when ranked drops.

Sage

This pick is a no-brainer. The amount of utility Sage brings for herself and her teammates makes her arguably the best agent in the game. She can heal her teammates to full, throw out slowing orbs and raise up barriers to slow enemy rushes, and bring a teammate back from the dead with her ultimate.

She’s the most important agent to have on your team whether you’re attacking or defending, ranked or not. If you don’t have Sage on your team in a ranked match, you’re just asking to take a loss.

Cypher

Even though his camera can’t hold a gun anymore, Cypher is still one of the best agents to have in any game mode. A well-positioned Spycam can provide any defending team with the information they need and can even be placed on highly elevated positions to see above any smoke and utility that the opposing team throws out.

He can hold sites with ease with his Cyber Cage’s blocking sightlines and his tripwires activating around the map to prevent any flanks. He might not be as strong on offense, but his defensive capabilities more than make up for it. His ultimate, Neural Theft, can also help a team clutch out a tense round by revealing enemy positions in the final moments.

Sova

Another agent that specializes in enemy movement tracking, Sova provides plenty of great utility. There always seems to be a safe and consistent place on every site that players are able to shoot Recon Bolts onto, which can instantly provide a team with valuable location information on the opposing team.

His Owl Drone can lead the charge into a bombsite to scout for enemies, while his Shock Dart can dish out some early damage to soften up the opposition while the rest of the team finishes them off. Meanwhile, his ultimate can zone out people with ease or finish off any targets that have been spotted out.

Brimstone

While the main focus of Sova and Cypher is to gather information, Brimstone’s job is to block information from getting to the enemy team. His Sky Smoke ability has become one of the best ways to help take a site or discourage a rush as a defender.

The smoke also blocks the pulse from Sova’s Recon Bolt, which furthers his usefulness in information prevention. Meanwhile, his ultimate is still one of the better ways to clear out known angles or to help defend a site by launching an Orbital Strike while the rest of his team rotates to help.

Breach

Breach can be good with a well-coordinated team. But if people aren’t on the same page, his abilities can be easily wasted in the blink of an eye. Players must also learn the layout of a map to bring out the full potential of his kit since most of his abilities travel through walls.

Fault Line, Aftershock, Flashpoint, and Rolling Thunder all require the rest of Breach’s team to push in and execute together since they displace and disorient the enemy. If you have a good team with strong communication, Breach has a ton of potential to become one of the best at breaking open a site. But timing and positioning are key if you want to be successful.