cloudberry [#10]
As a controller main:
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Omen — Only controller with movement, has some insane range, paranoia is arguably the best ability in the game, and he has one-ways which are something usually only he can do. Frankly he's broken and needs to be nerfed because his outplay potential is genuinely unmatched
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Harbor — Super underrated and underused agent. He has some of the most versatile smokes in the entire game—High Tide can be used so many different ways and cut off so many sitelines simultaneously, Cascade can be used to scale or take space or just stopped instantly to be used as a normal smoke, Cove can be used to take space or plant/defuse or as cover because it can block bullets. I fully believe Harbor is an amazing agent who isn't seeing play just because he needs time and effort to learn, unlike controllers such as Omen or Brimstone
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Astra — She'd be higher if she still had 5 stars, or if they didn't nerf the suck for literally no reason. She is an amazing agent who deserves a lot more play than she gets (and she'd have that play if Omen wasn't broken). Crossmap impact is an amazing thing to have, and the ability to instantly smoke the other side of the map is very very strong. Her wall is also amazing and her suck and stun have amazing combo potential if you're not too obvious about it
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Brimstone — The most basic controller in the game. Very easy to use, has very straight-forward utility, and has some pretty guaranteed baseline value. He has the best stall out of any controller in the game plus the longest smokes in the game, each lasting 20 seconds. The only problem with Brimstone is the fact that his smokes don't regenerate. That means in a longer more defaulty round he doesn't have smokes left over, or he can't smoke sitelines after an exec because he used all his smokes for said exec. This is why he's down here
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Viper — Received a bunch of major nerfs recently, but even when you don't account for those nerfs, she isn't really a good controller in the sense of being a controller. She's kind of her own role, a mix of smokes and senti, a kind of permanent lurk role. As far as smokes go she doesn't really provide much value, especially when she can't pick up her orb. There are only a few maps where she can use her wall as an actual smoke, and either way you don't see it too often
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Clove — the absolute worst agent in the entire game, there is absolutely zero reason to be picking her whatsoever
I see your point on how Harbor has a lot of versatile uses that people are not taking advantage of enough. The cascades are good for taking space.
However, the problem I have with the cascades is that they don't replace normal smokes
Smokes in Valorant usually have a dome shape, making people not as keen to push through them as they do not know what could be lurking inside them. Also, the dome shape can block more sightlines, especially when you are defusing. Cascades can only be used to block off a single sightline, not shield yourself from multiple sightlines.
The cove ability was meant to cover this weakness, but then you run into the problem that pretty much every harbor ability is a smoke where he could use something else like a flash or a molly.
Walls are easier to push past since there's a thin layer separating one side from another and one quick flash or timing will get you through safely.
Viper at 5 is lowkey bonkers, even with her nerfs she feels like a better version of Harbor since her wall can be used more than once, and her abilities decay instead of slowing the enemy.
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