Shroud explains why Sova will never be Valorant’s best Agent
Riot Games / shroud (Mixer)Mixer superstar Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek has thrown light as to why Sova will never be one of Valorant’s best Agents for public matches, but might have his pick in a competitive landscape.
Valorant’s closed beta has been up for public scrutiny since April 7 and, with plenty of players from all corners of the esports world getting their hands on Riot’s tactical shooter, there has been plenty of time for people to develop opinions on the game’s most crucial aspect — its Agents.
While the majority of conversations have revolved around Raze being controversially overpowered – with both shroud and Jaryd ‘Summit1g’ Lazar locking horns over her place in the game – Lazar now believes that Sage has taken Raze’s place as the most dominant character in the game.
Riot Games / DexertoHowever, shroud’s attention was specifically drawn to Sova during his April 19 livestream, where he started by practicing the Initiator’s Recon Bolt placement.
After a few minutes of practice, shroud arrived at the conclusion that Sova is a difficult Agent to use in a public match setting. “What’s so unfortunate about Sova, is that Sova will never be good unless your whole team is on the same page,” the former Counter-Strike pro began.
So unless your team comms were on-point in a public match, then Sova is a very difficult character to utilize to his full potential. Although if compared to Duelists like Jett or Phoenix, both of their ability sets can easily be used regardless of your squad’s actions.
The 25-year-old then went on to explain how if Sova’s Recon Bolt is combined with Brimstone’s Orbital Strike, the commotion caused would be enough to defer the enemies attention — meaning the sonar ping would actually prove useful when taking a Reactor Site.
“That’s the downside to Sova,” shroud added. “You can have all of these line-ups, but none of them really matter… They don’t matter unless you’re playing with a serious five-stack team that knows exactly what’s going on.”
Given shroud’s extensive portfolio within the competitive realm of first-person shooters, it’s no surprise that he’s learning the meta at a rapid rate… Especially considering shroud was on the receiving end of Nicholas ‘Nickwu’ Wu Smith’s incredible Sova plays when the Valorant developers schooled the streamers in a competitive exhibition match.
Given Sova’s limited application to a competitive setting, it is for this reason why he ranks as a B-tier Agent when stacked up against the rest of Valorant’s roster.