Valorant Duelists – Best to Worst

Here are the Valorant Duelists ranked from best to worst based on their pick rates on professional matches

Duelist is one of the four roles in Valorant, and the Agents under this category are expected to pick up kills as their teammates open up opportunities for an easier duel. As a Duelist, you are expected to frag out in the team and be the first to challenge when attacking a site. 

Currently, there are six Duelists in Valorant, and when you look at their pick rates in ranked and professional matches, it is clear that some of these Agents trample over the rest in terms of their effectiveness. Here are all the Valorant Duelists ranked from the best to the worst –

Raze

According to Tracker.gg, Raze is the highest-picked Duelist Agent in the game with a pick rate of 8.0%, and this is also the case in pro tournaments. For example, at Champions 2023, Raze was picked 75 times compared to 73 Jett picks. 

Even in last year’s Champions, Raze reigned supreme as the most picked Duelist, and even though her ultimate saw a massive nerf along with her Boom Bot, there’s no doubt that her kit is unmatched.

What Makes Raze the Best Valorant Duelist?

All of Raze’s kit helps her take space, allowing her to challenge for map control, which is the primary role of a Duelist. Her Boom Bot (C) helps take information and clear corners alongside her Paint Shells (E), which can result in kills. However, Raze’s most powerful utility is her Blast Packs (Q), as these allow her to move fast and aggressively take space. 

Raze’s incredible movements with the Blast Packs and the ability to make various types of plays with them, including sabotaging the opponent’s aim by moving them with the sticky grenade, set her apart from other Duelists. Moreover, she is more self-sufficient than Jett, thanks to her ability to clear corners with Boom Bot and Paint Shells. 

It has become mandatory in pro play to use Raze in specific maps where her utilities are way better than Jett’s. These maps are –

• Lotus
• Split
• Bind
• Fracture

Jett

Even after some big nerfs where Riot Games introduced an activation time for her Tailwind (E), Jett still remains one of the most-picked Duelists in both professional matches and ranked games. Looking back at the early months of this game, Jett was considered one of the worst Duelists. Then, once players got used to her aggressive and fast style, Jett became “broken.”

Jett is the best Agent to use the Operator for her team, making her better than other Duelists. Unlike Counter-Strike, Valorant’s sniper rifle is much heavier and slower. As a result, you need to have this gun on Agents that can quickly get out of aggressive positions. Jett’s dash ability lets her take crazy angles with the Operator, and her smokes allow her to stay alive in dangerous positions.

If these reasons weren’t enough for Jett to be one of the most-picked Duelists in the game, she is also very fun to play in ranked matches. As a result, someone who is going for the fragging-out role will likely pick her. Moreover, her ultimate ability can turn eco rounds to her team’s favor, as it basically becomes a much more powerful firearm that’s accurate even when she is gliding through the air.

Yoru

After being released into the game, it was evident that Yoru was an enjoyable Agent to play. However, picking this character in ranked games meant you were “trolling,” as he was pretty weak compared to other Duelists. Yoru’s kit just wasn’t as good as the other Agents in the game, and that’s why, alongside being unpopular in competitive queues, he got barely picked in pro matches.

After a set of buffs, Yoru grew stronger, and we saw him appear in many pro matches. Valorant deciding to replace this Agent’s fake footstep ability with a clone was a game-changer, and players quickly started to use Yoru in the most creative ways, and that was the answer!

Yoru’s ability to be creative through his teleports, fake clone, and ultimate make him a viable Duelist in this game. That’s why pro teams often pick him in matches where they are trying to confuse their opponents with interesting strategies, as we have seen many teams do on Bind this year. These interesting ways of playing Yoru have given him a new life, making him our third-best Duelist in the game.

Neon

Although not picked as often as other Duelist Agents, Neon can be very powerful, especially under the control of a skilled player. This Agent’s focus is being fast, and if you are an experienced movement player, Neon would be the right pick. 

The use of Neon was popularized in pro matches when Fracture joined the map pool. On this map, Neon’s fast movement ability allowed her to take space quickly, avoiding stuns and other defensive abilities. Teams started to use her on Pearl and Lotus as well, making it clear that she works very well on newer maps of the game. 

What makes this Agent excellent is the unique, fast-paced plays you can do with her. During the instances where picking Jett or Raze will result in predictable outcomes, Neon shines the brightest. However, even with so much potential, Neon is the least-picked Duelist in the game. 

Phoenix 

The former king of Haven, Phoenix, is currently one of the weakest Duelists in the game. His fall from grace was after KAY/O’s addition to Valorant, who proved himself to be a much more useful replacement for the Duelist, as the Initiator had better flashes, a more powerful molly, and an even better ultimate. 

The good news is that Phoenix has been seeing buffs, and one of the recent ones made his flash travel very fast, making it undodgeable. A few teams have even played him this year on maps like Pearl, but the pick rates remain low.

Reyna

Reyna is the most-picked Agent in Valorant, and yet, she is the worst Duelist. Compared to other Agents in the game, Reyna’s kit seems to be the least helpful, as you can’t even use many of her abilities without getting a kill. However, during unranked and competitive matches, this Agent can be fun, especially when you are on a hot streak. 

While the rest of the Agents in this category can be self-sufficient, Reyna fails to do that without getting kills, and this becomes an issue in high-level games where you are not given fair duels. As a result, while she is fun for pugs, Reyna will remain the worst Duelist in the game until we see massive updates. 

For more articles like this on Valorant Agents, check out ESTNN’s Valorant section.