So I've been playing valorant for about 2 months now and I've been stuck in plat 3 for weeks. I've been playing duelists like iso and jett for the most part, my aim is good but sometimes it's just not enough to win games on my own tho I do think my aim is at least worthy of ascendant. So I'm thinking of switching up my roles, I tried playing controlers but smoking isn't my thing and sentinels are boring to play, people told me to play cypher but his style of play is imo very scummy, hiding behind traps and only killing enemies off guard is not my thing and feels very dirty (no offense to cypher players), which only leaves one answer and that's an initiator role. I want to play the one that gives the most value for the team and I feel like having an agent that reveals enemys position might be the go. I tried kayo but he ain't for me, so that basicaly leaves me with either sova or fade. I don't watch competetive so I don't know which one is more viable and which one I should look into maining.
Sova vs fade
you dont care enough clearly if u think playing senti is scummy. if you rlly wanted rr nothing would be feel scummy to you
heroin addicts will do anything to get what they want. regardless of how scummy or wrong it is. you just dont want it bad enough
that being said it depends on the map for sova vs fade. ascent and icebox sova for sure, lotus fade for sure
yea it can be hard to get used to that smoke role.
it is also hard to balance being aggressive but also trying to get the most value for the team. often they don’t go hand in hand.
have you tried any other flash init such as skye or breach? they allow u to be a bit more aggressive with self-flashes and still offer a decent amount of utility.
i reckon give sova a go first then if you do want to play recon inits, i would say sova has a lower floor so it’s easier to start out but if you do continue, he does have a pretty high ceiling.
initiator is the worst for ranking up because your relying on setting up your teammates to get value (you should be able to identify the problem here)
but if you really want to play those two
Sova - Ascent Haven Breeze Icebox Sunset
Fade - Bind Lotus
either - pearl
neither - split (play skye or breach here)
lookup Johnnypkay and Tseeky for sova guides, Tseeky and Ztol for Fade guides
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killing enemies off guard is not my thing and feels very dirty
I know you're new to the game and i fully understand why people think cypher is ratty, but in general this game is about making the fights you take as unfair as possible. If you are in a situation where you give someone a fair fight when you could be using util to make it unfair, you aren't playing the game right and are bad.
There is not much to learn about cypher. Also I never said senti in general is scummy, only cypher, pretty sure I called the role boring in the thread as it requiers you to stay alive, I'm quite an agressive player myself. I did try to see what cypher is all about, I gave it a go, I'm not just talking out of my a**, didn't lose a single game on sunset when I played him without even looking up any tutorials, but never felt rewarded when I won. My rankup game, the first and only time I ranked up to diamond was dropping 17-2 in a 13-1 win on sunset with cypher, that was my second game with him. It just doesn't feel right playing him
Initiator isn't for an aggressive player, when attacking you're using your util for setting your duelist up not for yourself. If you want to be aggressive play a duelist. If not that then try learning how to lurk as sentinel on attack, it provides the most value for your team on attack since the util isnt meant for taking sites with your team.
If you're deciding between Sova and Fade, I think the best option is to learn both, because each one is a lot better on a few maps. If you're hell-bent on picking just one, though, then go Sova as he's meta on more maps than Fade (plus Lotus is rotating out anyway).
That being said, though, just because Cypher is a sentinel doesn't mean you need to be scummy when you play him. You don't need to hide in safe corners and kill people using only unbreakable trips and one-way cages. If you want an example of how good Cyphers play, I recommend watching just one nAts VOD... guarantee it'll change your perspective on the agent.
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