With Valer receiving some massive buffs and nerfs to characters that make up the meta, the meta is changing, and with maps rotating in and new agent buffs on the horizon, the meta will further develop. We’re going to break it all down in this 8.03 tier list.
Introduction to the Meta Shift
Now, first up, I do have to talk about rank superstars, and these are consistently characters that I think are really good for ranked play if you’re mechanically cracked, but they don’t really see any pro play at all, and that’s perfectly fine. However, definitely keep in mind that they are not meta characters; they are just ranked superstars.
Ranked Superstars Overview
First off, at the bottom of the list, we have to talk about ISO. While ISO did receive some buffs rather recently, unfortunately, the character has just been underperforming, not seeing any meta play, of course. But even comparing him to a lot of other duelists, he just kind of lags behind. Not having both a flash and mobility is pretty rough, honestly, and it’s making it so it’s hard for him to find an identity in the current space. If you’re winning every single 1v1, dinking heads, of course, you’re going to get value on this character, but really, that’s most characters in this category.
Focus on Raina
Next up, of course, we do have to talk about Reyna. Reyna has been the ranked superstar for the longest time, basically converting your mechanical skill and your smart engagements into value directly.
Now, in order to make it so that Reyna is worth the pick in your games, you should really be fragging out and getting a lot of kills. Like if you’re going to be consistently dying, consistently not getting these trades, getting dual frags, finding ways to use your ability to take 1v1s, multiple 1v1s in succession, and win them, you’re not really getting a lot of value out of the character.
If you’re consistently bottom fragging on this character, then you’re definitely going to need to be grinding your mechanical skill. Because a Reyna that is at the bottom of the leaderboard over and over again is not doing a lot to win these games, as Reyna doesn’t have a lot of intrinsic value. A huge amount of her value is directly tied to how good you are mechanically.
Rank Superstar Characters
It out right now down below, and the last character in the rank superstar section is Phoenix, and I really do wish that Phoenix saw some meta play. But I highly doubt that we’ll ever see that again. Back in 2020, Phoenix was the number one duelist and saw a lot of play.
These days, Phoenix is only seeing play in rank, but that’s not a bad thing. Phoenix is one of the best characters to play in ranked with a really high win rate. He’s capable of doing a lot of different diverse things, so no matter what you come across in a game, you can find a way to get value. I think he’s a really good multi-dimensional duelist that allows you to approach any ranked game and still find a way to carry it or get value. So, overall, I definitely put him at the top of the ranked superstars list.
D Tier Overview
Now let’s move on to D tier, and the character that we do have to talk about in the D tier is still, unfortunately, only Deadlock. Now, Deadlock’s best map is in the map pool as Icebox, and that’s okay, but still, even outside of all the buffs that Deadlock received quite a bit ago, she’s still lagging behind.
Unfortunately, Deadlock is still struggling to find her identity, and overall, I don’t think that Deadlock has the power to overcome some of the problematic weaknesses in her kit. I think that more buffs are needed, or maybe even more fundamental reworks of the character. If you become really good at fast decision-making or setting up on the fly, you can definitely still get value out of her, but from a meta perspective, or from a top-down perspective, Deadlock is just lagging behind all the other Sentinels in the game.
C Tier Analysis
Next up, we do have to talk about C tier, which is characters that are either a bit underpowered but they still see some play under the right conditions, or they’re characters whose maps are not in the map pool right now. And first up, I will say Sage.
Now, Icebox is one of Sage’s best maps, but I think that this has been happening for quite some time, or Sage is just pound-for-pound weaker than a lot of the other options, whether that’s double duelist, double controller, or some of the other Sentinels. Sage is just lagging behind a bit compared to a lot of the other characters in the game.
Even on her best map, she’s really not amazing like she’s not performing that much in pro play. Now, the secret, though, is that Sage actually has a pretty high win rate in ranked play across most ranks, so the character is still perfectly fine in ranked play. But I do think that as people get better, as you climb the rank, she gets worse and worse, so I would definitely say that you could play Sage on Icebox, but I wouldn’t necessarily one-trick her this season.
Spotlight on Neon
Next up in the C tier, unfortunately, we have Neon, a character that I do think can actually be quite a bit better than C tier.
Neon’s Flexibility in Ranked Play
If you’re combining her all the time with a Breach, her best map by far is definitely Fracture, not currently in the map pool, so that is unfortunate for Neon. When you’re picking her, you’re picking her instead of Ray or Jet, which is kind of hard to justify when those characters are just so good and so consistent without the need of a designated setup character like Breach all the time. So, yeah, Neon’s a little bit less flexible in that regard. Still, a fantastic character for ranked play and if you get really good with her, you can definitely still dominate. So overall, I’m putting her in the C tier.
Last of the C Tier: Harbor
But last in the C tier, we do have to talk about Harbor. Harbor is mainly used in double controller setups. I think that there are some interesting Harbor techs going around in ranked, where we’re seeing Gecko Wingman go in, plant, and then Cove from Harbor protecting it. We’re also seeing Harbors get a lot of value in ranked play.
I think like solo Harbor controller can actually work on a lot of maps surprisingly because there’s a lot of simple strategies that work in ranked play. Simple rush strategies, things that you can do with Harbor.
But as you’re starting to get into more meta play, Harbor doesn’t really see any play as a solo controller, mainly a double controller on maps like Breeze has potential to see more play, but right now, I don’t think he does quite enough to be that standalone solo controller. So yeah, for now, he’s going to be at the top of C.
B Tier Analysis: Sky’s Position
Now moving on to the B tier, at the bottom, we still got to talk about Sky. And unfortunately, Sky has fallen quite a bit, and she’s just in the B tier. I wouldn’t necessarily say she’s the worst in B; she’s a really solid pick still, still very powerful.
But those nerfs have finally started to add up, and they’re being felt with a lot of Sky players. Now, I don’t think that Sky is unplayable or anything like that. I think Sky is actually still very strong, but Sky is not the all-seeing dominating initiator that she once was.
But she was just pound-for-pound better than every other initiator in the game, and it was just hard to justify not picking her. Not only did this make her quite a bit weaker but also put her as a character that fights for the spot of initiator in a team, not the one that just keeps consistently taking it home. So it leaves a lot of room for other initiators to kind of rise up, which is what we’re seeing more and more this patch.
Chamber’s Upcoming Buffs
Next up in the B tier, we have Chamber. And keep in mind that we are talking about 8.03 buffs to Chamber that are coming soon, making him a bit stronger. Not to mention, he’s pretty good on both Lotus and Breeze, which are in the map pool right now, which is definitely good for the character. Now, the only thing that is kind of holding Chamber back is the fact that Cipher is just so damn good right now.
Chamber Versus Cipher
Like it’s hard to justify picking Chamber over Cipher. You could see a world where maybe you’re picking Chamber and Cipher, but then you’re lacking a lot of that aggressive utility, especially on offense, so it’s a little bit hard to justify there. I think really Chamber is only down here because of competition, but a little bit more buffs or maybe nerfs to some of the other Sentinels in the game, and all of a sudden, Chamber could find himself quite a bit higher than he is right now.
Brimstone’s Solid Performance
Next up, we do have to talk about Brimstone, and Brimstone’s just a really solid character, period. And with Bind still in the map pool, he’s still a very, very good pick. He sees some pick rate on some other maps.
Unfortunately, with Fracture out of the map pool, he’s losing one of his best maps right now, but still, overall, Brimstone is still a really solid character, sees substantial play, and I also think is one of the best controllers to just learn to play because he’s easy to play, and he’s a great one to flex to when you have to choose between locking the fourth duelist or playing a controller.
Brimstone’s the one that allows you to actually do the job really easily that you need to do, and you really actually will aim better and actually sometimes frag out because you get to focus on your mechanics really, really easily. And uh, yeah, there’s not much to think about when you’re playing Brimstone because his abilities are pretty simple to execute.
Astra’s Strategic Play
Next up, let’s talk about Astra, and Astra is seeing quite a bit of play as well. A really great character to combine with another controller, really solid character overall, where you can combo her abilities. There’s a lot of stall-based utility. She combines some elements of a controller and a sentinel, and she’s really, really great, just overall. I think that she’s a lot better in pro play, though, than she is in ranked play. She’s hard to set up properly in ranked play, so she does kind of get knocked down a little bit because of that, but overall, I still think she’s really, really solid if you learn to master her, and I’m putting her in the B tier, respectively.
KO’s Potential and Limitations
Next up, we do have to talk about KO, and KO is still a beast, especially on Ascent. KO’s map is Ascent, just completely dominant on Ascent, really good at stopping stalls, really good at gathering information, and with Sky being a little bit weaker, KO is actually justified a little bit more on some other maps. You can experiment with him on a lot more maps than you did before. I do think that KO is a great character on paper. One of the only things that’s holding KO back is he actually does have a pretty low ranked win rate overall, and I think.
KO’s Complexity and Utility
It’s just because KO is pretty hard to use, hard to capitalize on his utility sometimes. That doesn’t mean he’s necessarily weak, but you got to make sure that you really know what you’re doing, and your timing is proper on the character.
Yoru’s Ascension in the Meta
Next up in the B tier, I’m actually going to talk about Yoru. Yoru has been surprisingly seeing some pro play, some experimentation, and has a lot of potential to make it in the meta as a whole. Mainly because Yoru is becoming more discovered; like teams understand the character more, they realize how to do the lineups and setups and teleports with the character.
Surprisingly, really good, and also Yoru is actually good at oping because he can keep you guessing, right? He ops one location, he has a lineup teleport to the other side of the map, he opts the other location, and when you don’t know where the op is, it’s super hard to play around it. Yoru always has an out, so he’s really good in that regard.
And, yeah, I think Yoru is kind of finally breaking into meta play after being just a ranked superstar for so long, which is pretty impressive. And overall, it’s a character that directly rewards you for getting really good at him: low win rate and low rank, super high win rate and high rank, so get to grinding, and you’re going to dominate your lobbies.
Breach’s Impact on Gameplay
Now moving on to the E tier, characters that are just really strong, make up a large percentage of the meta, or have a lot of potential in the meta going forward. First off, we got to talk about Breach. Breach is just amazing, great for setups, aggressive plays on defense, and just really good at enabling a lot of characters, a lot of duelists. He’s good at enabling in ranks.
I think he’s one of the best characters to play in a duo, especially with a duelist. He’s just so freaking good, and this character just doesn’t get enough respect, unfortunately, even though he is one of the best characters in the game.
Although both Fracture and Haven not being in the map pool does make this character a little bit weaker than he otherwise would be, but I still think he’s a very solid pick overall. You just got to whip him out in the right spots, with the right characters, and with some amount of coordination.
Gecko’s Emerging Role
Next, we got to talk about Gecko. Gecko is really starting to finally come into his own as an initiator, not only because there were nerfs to other competitors like Sky but also buffs to Gecko overall, and the map pool favors him better as well. I think Gecko’s kind of in this place where he has a lot of potential; he’s rising up the pick rates, and I think he could be really good, but we’re going to actually have to wait and see. He’s seeing a substantial pick rate right now, but it could go higher with time, and I do think that Gecko is looking to be one of the big winners of this patch, so definitely keep an eye on him for now.
Continuing with the A tier, we still got to talk about Killjoy. Killjoy is just very reliable as a sentinel, one of the best sentinels in the game. There are a lot of maps that she’s just completely dominant on, like Ascent, and overall.
Killjoy’s Impact in Ranked
I think that Killjoy is just really annoying and difficult to deal with in ranked. She has a lot of utility that you have to break through, and even though she has received some nerfs, she’s still very strong, very reliable, one of the best characters in the game. And, uh, yeah, how you approach Killjoys and learning how to deal with their utility is one of the litmus tests to break into the higher ranks, so it’s definitely something that you’re going to have to learn.
Fade’s Ascendance in the Meta
Next off in the A tier, we have Fade. And I think Fade is another big winner when we talk about Sky because all of the sudden now it’s more competitive. Like before, Sky was just like, “pick Sky,” right? And now it’s like, you’re probably going to pick Fade, but you might pick Sky sometimes. But overall, I think Fade kind of edges it out a little bit more. And I think that Fade has always been in this place where she’s strong; she was just lagging behind because of competitors. But when those competitors become weaker, Fade becomes stronger, and I think that now she deserves an A tier slot.
Sova’s Consistent Dominance
Another character that has been consistently dominant and is still dominant is Sova. Still one of the best information-gathering characters in the game and still very strong. Still saw a lot of play in spite of Sky being around and will still persist going into the future. He’s not favored on every single map, so I don’t think he’s going to have like complete meta dominance, but he still is very strong, and in ranked play, I think you can actually play him on pretty much every single map and you still get value. So Sova is amazing and he definitely deserves an A tier spot.
Jet’s Versatility and Strength
Next up, we do have to talk about Jet, and Jet is still one of the best characters in the game. Just great at entering, great on eco, great at using Ops. I mean, there’s just a laundry list of things that Jet is really good at. It’s only an A tier mainly because I think Ray’s edges her out a little bit on map picks overall and pick rate. Both these characters are basically neck and neck, and knowing both, playing both is probably not going to hurt you. I think you can also dominate with either of these characters in ranked play, so it’s perfectly reasonable. You could put them both in A; it doesn’t really matter. They’re just some of the best characters in the game, and I think everyone kind of still knows that. That’s not going to change anytime soon, and unless we see massive nerfs to these characters, they’re going to be up here as meta definers for the foreseeable future.
Omen’s Unique Role
Now moving on to S tier, we do have to talk about Omen. And Omen is just kind of a do-it-all right now. He’s really good at doing his controller job, he’s really good at lurking, he’s really good at creating openings on the site, he’s good at even teleporting in and being aggressive post utility. You play him almost like a duelist after you utilize your utility to help your team engage. Now you can get aggressive; you don’t have a lot of utility afterwards, so.
Omen’s Role and Strategy
You get a little bit more proactive; maybe you trade, you take the first engagement, then you trade and allow your teammates to trade you back, and you’re going to be able to do your job and then get value in the trade. So there’s a lot of things you could do on Omen that’s really strong. Not to mention, for rank play, I mean lurking is just super busted. So, yeah, overall, Omen is just a great character. He’s seeing a lot of play, and he looks like he’s just going to be a very reliable meta pick for the foreseeable future.
Viper’s Essential Role
Now, Viper is definitely going to be an S tier, and I think she’s going to stay S tier basically forever unless we get like a really weird map pool. But there are maps where Viper is needed, and uh, Icebox is one of them, and Breeze is one of them, and those maps are in the map pool. She’s good on a lot of other maps as well, and she plays in double controller setups as well. I mean, right now, she’s just kind of a monolith where you just need Viper a lot of the times. You just have to have Viper, and that’s been both pro play and ranked play alike.
I think they’re going to be coming out with a controller next for the next agent, and they really need to come up with a character that can fight Viper for her spot because right now, it doesn’t really matter how you change Viper, buff, nerf, how you move her around, doesn’t really matter. She’s necessary. She’s just completely necessary on these maps, so her dominance is not changing anytime soon.
Reyna’s Dominance as a Duelist
Now, a character we did mention is Reyna. Reyna is just the number one duelist right now, really great at taking space on site, decent at breaking utility, although not as good as she once was, rest in peace. Reyna is just a really great character and honestly one of the best ranked characters as well, also one of the best solo carrier characters as well. I keep preaching about how good Reyna is, just one of the characters that can just do it all, and I think really great to play, pick up, learn in this meta, and pretty much for any meta in the game. If she wasn’t in the S tier for meta play, she would still be the best ranked superstar.
Cypher’s Strategic Advantage
Lastly, in the S tier, we do have to talk about Cypher. And Cypher is just kind of amazing. With a lot of these trips on maps like Ascent and Breeze, Cypher is just him right now; he’s just too freaking good, too freaking strong, too freaking reliable.
Cypher is just one of the best characters in the game, and he’s one of those characters that is just really hard to play around, whether it’s with his double info ultimate or his reemerging trip wires. Cypher has just gotten buff after buff, quality of life change after quality of life change, and it’s all kind of added up and culminated. Plus, with the maps favoring him perfectly right now, Cypher is just really, really good, and you have to learn how to play against him, or you learn how to play him. I mean, that’s just kind of how it is.
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