Why Viper is the best VALORANT support agent on Sunset

As a Viper main since the day I began playing VALORANT ranked, her long history of nerfs isn’t easy to swallow. But despite so many trims, her potent, health-decaying utility set still stands strong as one of the best kits in the game. Her prowess as a support agent on the latest map, Sunset, is only proof of her raw potential. 

With its release in VALORANT’s Episode Seven, Act Two, Sunset has considerably stirred up the game’s map meta. It’s one of the most flexible maps, promoting a wide range of agent comp variations. 

But what stands out is that, unlike the past couple of map releases in VALORANT, Sunset is great for controller agents. It’s also one of the few maps in the current rotation where Viper is viable as a solo controller.

After the nerfs to her fuel generation bar, however, I wouldn’t want to play Viper solo on any VALORANT map. Forcing her to be the only controller on the team definitely limits her potential and suppresses her excellent support side. 

If you aren’t aware already, Viper is not exclusively a controller. She’s more of a combination of a controller and a sentinel. 

Viper’s smokes are significantly different from Omen, Astra, and Brimstone. Her thin wall is inflexible, unlike Harbor’s bending, rechargeable wall. But she’s stronger than all other controllers in one aspect: effectively shutting down or stalling a push long enough for your teammates to arrive. 

Despite her not-so-reliable controller side, ignoring the Viper pick for Sunset would be a mistake, because of how good she is as a support agent. The map may promote a single-controller meta dominated by Astra and Omen, but not having Viper as a ‘pseudo-sentinel’ doesn’t seem like an intelligent choice. And I have good reason to say this. 

For starters, on defense, Viper’s wall and orb can cover all chokepoints on the map. Just throw a wall from Mid Bomb Door to A Main and place her Poison Cloud at B Main. Voila, you now have control over all major chokepoints of the map.

You can also throw the wall from Mid Bomb Door to the tall Radianite box near the site in front of A Link and allow your team’s sentinel to anchor A Elbow. I like playing B Site with both of these setups, offering support in Mid whenever needed.

On attack, you can learn a couple of Poison Cloud lineups for Mid Top and A Link, throw the wall on basic chokepoints, and you should be good to go. Of course, you can also learn some Snake Bite lineups just to seal the deal.

You can effectively cut off every crucial chokepoint of the map with Viper’s wall and orb setup, making her a precious addition to your team comp for Sunset in VALORANT. She may not be the best ‘controller,’ but as a support or anchor agent, she can bring unbeatable benefits to your strategies. 

No other controller can do what she can. She can be immensely beneficial on Sunset even as a solo controller, although you’ll feel the limitation of her immobile Toxic Screen. And her smokes recharge, too, unlike Brimstone’s. Don’t forget, players can’t really push through her smokes without being at a considerable disadvantage.

So if you are struggling to win rounds on defense and blaming Riot for creating a ‘bad’ VALORANT map, it’s probably time you bring Viper to the competition.