Valorant Patch 8.0 Best Duelists Tier List

Similar to Deadlock in the Sentinel role, Iso has been quite underwhelming for being the newest member of the Duelist roster. His abilities feel like the developers wanted to create a more team-oriented version of Reyna; however, without the self-healing aspect, he just falls flat in a coordinated setting. As a Duelist, you want to be able to create your own opportunities to make plays and clutch the game, and Iso is not really able to do any of that.

None of the new map or weapon changes really affect him, as he is just underpowered at this point. Until he gets some love from Riot, Iso is going to remain at the bottom of the list, with a kit that feels like it was designed for different agents.

While Phoenix was one of the most popular characters when Valorant first released back in 2020, at this point he just feels like a remnant of the past. He is quite hard to get any value out of, especially in higher-ranked games, as his flashes are quite awkward to use in comparison to some of the other agents in the roster. There are better versions of all of his abilities, scattered throughout the other agents. He feels like a tutorial character, which will help you learn the game before you start trying out the rest of the roster.

Phoenix is an agent that can get the most value out of his kit in chaotic gunfights that allow him to utilize his healing abilities, and in a tactical shooter, taking damage is not something that you actually want to happen.

Yoru is a character that really rewards you for your creativity, with so many options available to you at any point in the game; it could become overwhelming at times. Another way of saying this is that he is quite hard to get consistent value out of, and most of your sessions are going to wildly swing between carrying the game and bottom fragging. Icebox coming back into the game is definitely going to help Yoru become a bit more popular, as the map is wide enough for some interesting teleporter plays, which will keep your enemies on their toes the entire time. He is also one of the better Duelists to utilize the new Outlaw Sniper, so he has that going for him as well.

Still, Yoru feels like a character that you have to main to actually be able to win your games. Playing something like Jett or Raze is a lot more simple, and their abilities can provide you with instant value in pretty much any round. While we put Yoru near the bottom of this list, we definitely think he can be pushed up to the A-tier depending on the player.

Neon might be the most map-dependent Duelist on the roster. Unfortunately, one of her strongest maps in Fracture is not going to be present in the game for a second season in a row. The change between Haven and Icebox is also not going to affect her too much, as those two maps are pretty interchangeable as far as her effectiveness goes. She can still be effective on maps such as Sunset and Breeze, which allow for some quick timings and are also quite open, but in general, she is far from the strongest option if you are looking for a reliable Duelist.

If you are looking to master multiple Duelists, then Neon is an amazing pocket pick for some of the maps, but if you are just looking for a stable option to main throughout the season, we recommend some of the other agents in the game.

As always, there isn't much to talk about Reyna, as she is one of the characters that will always be as good as the aim of the person playing her. The new introduction of Icebox will not affect her in any meaningful way, as her kit does not really rely too much on the structure of different maps. She could utilize the new Outlaw Sniper to some degree, but never as effectively as something like Jett.

Reyna will always be difficult to place in a tier list, as she could be at the top or the bottom easily, depending on the player that pilots her. She does not interact too much with any small changes being made to the game, so we will place her around the middle of the list.

Jett remains unchanged in the new Patch 8.0, but she has a lot of small adjustments going her way. The introduction of Icebox is one of the big ones, as she is one of the best Duelists you can play on the map, with her ability to abuse the verticality of the many crates and openings scattered throughout the different sites. The new Outlaw Sniper is also going to heavily play into her strengths, as there is no character that can use snipers as well as Jett, due to her Tailwind.

These two changes could even push her enough to surpass Raze, but only time will tell. Jett is in a fantastic spot going into Episode 8 and will definitely be one of the Duelists to watch out for in the upcoming meta.

Raze continues to be the best Duelist option in the game, with most of the map pool favoring her fast-paced playstyle and area denial abilities. The removal of Haven in favor of Icebox is going to slightly reduce her pickrate, as Icebox is one of the most wide-open maps in the pool, but she can still provide a lot of value even there. There were no balance changes to any of the Duelists in the game; the only thing that might shake the meta a bit is the new Outlaw Sniper, but Raze is unlikely to be affected in any way. The recent rise of Cypher is also one of the big reasons to play Raze, as her Paint Shells and Blast Packs are among the best abilities to deal with his Tripwires.

If you are looking for a fun Duelist that matches up well against the rest of the roster and feels good to play on the current map pool, Raze should definitely be your first choice.