EsportsValorant

Valorant Controller tier list: Which Agent is best for you?

Lauren Bergin
Riot Games

Looking for Valorant‘s best Controller Agent? Here’s where Astra, Brimstone, Omen, and Viper sit in the meta — and which one is worth picking in your next ranked game.

When it comes to Riot Games’ flagship FPS, Valorant, there are a lot of aspects for you to sink your teeth into. Not only will you be looking for the best Agent to take charge of the battlefield with, but you’ll have to choose which role you want to play on the team.

From Sentinels to Duelists, there’s a whole selection of characters to choose from – but if you prefer to herd your enemies around and leave them clueless, the Controller class is for you. All about using smokes to guide your enemies to their impending doom, Valorant’s four Controllers truly shake up the battlefield.

So, are you wondering who the best Controller Agent in Valorant is? Here’s our tier list of all four, including Astra, Brimstone, Omen, and, last but not least, Viper.

Contents

Best Valorant Controller Agents: Tier List

5. Astra

Astra official splash art ValorantRiot Games
Astra basically invented the term “galaxy brain.”

Attack

  • Valorant’s galactic Controller, Astra, has immense flexibility on the attack. You can lay out stars ahead of your team to drop smokes, stun commonly-held lines, and even pull enemies out of cover. You can call the shots from the back, and let your team play it out.
  • Her power on attack only gets amplified with her Ultimate too. Being able to block not just lines of sight, but sound as well, can really throw enemies off in a post-plant. It makes a retake almost impossible.

Defense

  • Cosmic Divide can perfectly wall off one, if not two sites, forcing enemies to tread a little more carefully for fear of getting their head shot off. Additionally, because Attackers need to take extra care, they’ll be running out of time by the time they plant.
  • If they do plant, a well placed Gravity Well can pull enemies off of the spike (as of patch 2.07), and activating your smokes means the enemies will never know where they’re being shot from. Throwing a stun in a chokepoint also helps with slowing down pushes.
  • You have to take care in your Astral form as if you’re sitting pretty when the Attackers appear you’re an easy target.

Verdict

Astra certainly lives up to her Controller tag – at her cosmic whim, she can control the entire map using her stars. On both attack and defense, her kit is valuable, but it requires a bit of time to master considering there’s a lot going on. Recent nerfs have also made her a lot harder to play, so while Astra mains can still get good use out of her it’s not easy to pick her up.

4. Omen

valorant omenRiot Games
Manipulating the darkness to his whim, Omen is one of Valorant’s most mysterious Agents.

Attack

  • Omen is every offensive-minded player’s dream come true. His kit makes him a natural flanker that can attack enemy positions with ease using his signature Dark Cover.
  • Shrouded Step makes him even more dangerous, and means that you never really know where he’s coming from.
  • His ultimate, From The Shadows, seems like an insane ability, but in actuality it’s the weakest part of his kit. As a replica of him appears before he fully materializes, it’s easy to shoot his shadow and cancel the ult, especially if you’re trying to teleport into the backline of a well-defended site. However, what it does help with is scouting ahead with zero risk, or teleporting to an off-angle before the enemies can rotate for some easy kills.

Defense

  • Like all Controllers, he has a smoke ability — Dark Cover — that can block enemy line of sight during a push. While they were having some issues, these were amended in patch 3.04 so players can smoke off the map more effectively (especially since his recent buffs).
  • Paranoia, despite being tuned back, is still one of the best blinds in the game. Use it to slow down attacker pushes through chokes before swinging for kills.
  • Again, his ultimate literally lets him teleport anywhere on the map, which means he could wrap around and flank attacking enemies or, alternatively, sort himself a prime spot to snipe the competition as they flood the site.

Verdict

Omen’s mobility separates him from other Controllers, but it’s a blessing and a curse. Timing that ultimate perfectly is so important. Despite that, and the fact his kit might not be as newbie-friendly as Brimstone’s, it has every ability to affect the game just as much, if not more.

3. Viper

Valorant's Viper by the logoRiot Games
Fancy a bite? Viper’s got you covered.

Attack

  • Valorant’s toxic Controller provides the best post-plant denial out of any Agent in the game – period. Between her Snakebites and toxic decay, it can be almost impossible to defuse the spike when she’s on the board.
  • Her utility doesn’t offer as much breaking onto a site as per the other Controllers, but you’d give it all up to have just an ounce of the post-plant denial Viper has. Brimstone may have his molly, but it’s nothing compared to the American Chemist’s utility.

Defense

  • Defense is where Viper certainly shines. Both Poison Cloud and Snake Bite can make an attacking team think twice before pushing, and punish them with some nasty decay damage if they do. However, it costs a lot of fuel to keep both at once so you need to manage it well.
  • Her ultimate ability, Viper’s Pit, might be one of the best in the game at locking down the point to defuse. Throwing a massive poison cloud on the point before trying to retake definitely swings things in your favor.
  • It’s also perfect for warding enemies away from more open areas and into tight choke points, where your own teammates can lie in wait to take them down. Dropping it mid in Icebox, for example, cuts off an entire route of play, forcing enemies to go B or, more likely, A.

Verdict

Constant buffs patch after patch has turned Viper into a must-pick in pretty much every Valorant game. Only in Episode 4 has she been nerfed, which was enough to knock her from first. Her denial of the site is still unparalleled though, and given you have to plant (or defuse it) to win each round, her kit will still be potent.

2. Harbor

cover art for Harbor in ValorantRiot Games
Harbor is the latest controller to join the ranks in Valorant with a set of water-themed abilities.

Attack

  • Harbor’s High Tide and Cascade are great tools for blocking off the enemy’s vision when trying to take over a site. The additional slow debuff from High Tide ensures that the enemy cannot cross the wall of water quickly and ambush your team.
  • Cove’s bulletproof shield is a terrific addition to Valorant which allows Harbor to provide additional protection when planting the spike or being surprised by an enemy ambush.

Defense

  • Defense is where Harbor really shines with his arsenal of abilities. High Tide and Cascade are extremely good for blocking off vision into the site for successful site takeovers and defuses.
  • On top of those, Cove is highly effective when trying to get a clutch defuse with the bulletproof shield’s protection.
  • Apart from all other abilities, Harbor’s ultimate, Reckoning is extremely powerful when trying to rush into the site after it’s taken over by the Attackers. Apart from creating three consecutive waves of concussive blasts in a fairly big radius, the blasts also provide information about enemy presence if caught inside the Defender’s line of sight.

Verdict

Given that it’s still early days for this Controller, it remains to be seen what kind of balancing changes are in store for Harbor. However, at the time of his release with patch 5.08, Harbor has entered the ranks rather boldly in Valorant. Capable of holding sites on his own against multiple enemies, this Agent takes up the second spot on our list as one of the stronger Controllers in Valorant.

1. Brimstone

Valorant Brimstone controller agentRiot Games
Hailing from the US of A, Brimstone brings the fire to the fight.

Attack

  • His Sky Smokes can truly change the battlefield landscape, but the best part about them is that they can be deployed without having to reveal your position – perfect for just before a push (or a fake).
  • Stim Beacon is always useful to have around to increase fire rate and movement speed of allies, meaning you can catch enemies off-guard. It also indirectly buffs the Vandal against the Phantom, which is huge.
  • His mollys can cut enemies off, and take chunks off those health bars if they do make contact.

Defense

  • His Orbital Strike ultimate is one of the most powerful in Valorant, dealing a significant amount of damage. Just like the Sky Smokes, it can be used almost anywhere on the map, no matter where you’re located.
  • As attacking enemies tear through choke points, open up the skies and let ’em rip. Additionally, if you hear a cheeky defuse come in, you can use it to clear enemies off of the spike to save you some valuable seconds or, best case, take out the spike defuser.
  • Learning molly line-ups can help you with stopping defuses without needing your Orbital Strike.

Verdict

Thanks to a plethora of buffs to Brimstone and nerfs to other controllers, the American Agent is now top of his class. He’s simple, but incredibly effective. His Stim Beacon alone, with its movement speed boost, is an incredibly slept on ability, but the rest of his kit has plenty of lockdown to keep enemies at bay.

So that’s it for Valorant’s best Controller Agents! Looking to become a Future Earth champion? Be sure to check out our list of guides:

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