Which VALORANT Ultimates Rank the Best Statistically?
A focal point of the macro view of VALORANT that is unlike its big brother CS:GO is the ultimate system. Every ultimate requires between 6 and 7 charges to be available. You get one charge for each kill, death, orb pickup and defuse of the spike. But what are the best ultimates and who should you be giving those charges to? With the help of the statistical analysis tool CypherCam.org, we provide data-backed insights into the power of these abilities.
S - Best VALORANT Ultimates
Cypher | Neural Theft | 7 pts | +9.85% round win rate
Not only is Cypher an S-tier agent but his ultimate is also by far the strongest when it is in effect. If the agent gets to use Neural Link, his team’s win rate goes up by a whopping 9.85% over Cypher’s average round win rate. Granted, the ultimate is slightly unreliable as you need an enemy body that’s been recently killed around you. Nevertheless, it illustrates just how important information is in VALORANT and why Cypher’s Neural Theft sits on top of the VALORANT ultimate ranking.
Phoenix | Run it Back | 6 pts | +7.62% round win rate
Phoenix’s Run it Back is one of the most reliable ultimates and when used in a smart way, will rarely screw you over. Even if you don’t get to kill anyone or even encounter them, the information you gain from having pushed aggressively without having to fear for your life is very impactful. Use the ultimate early to make sure you’re in a safe spot when you teleport back and don’t use it too late or you may run into the situation where you can’t defuse the spike. Every other application will produce value for you.
A - Best VALORANT Ultimates
Viper | Viper’s Pit | 7 pts | +5.43% round win rate
Viper doesn’t have a lot going for her other than her ult. The worst agent in the game is still solid in post-plant situations once she is on site, dominating space and taking control of the action. You’d of course rather not have Viper on your team, but if she’s already locked in, distributing ultimate charge via orbs and defuses is going to lessen the blow.
Raze | Showstopper | 6 pts | +4.91% round win rate
Showstopper is a potentially devastating ultimate with high impact that synergizes well with Raze’s Blast Packs. The beauty of Showstopper is that it doesn’t necessarily have to kill anyone. The mere activation accompanied by the voice line will force people out of their hiding spots, giving your teammates favourable angles to engage them in. At 1.27 kills per round when using the ultimate, it’s the best ultimate to assure kills with.
Click to enlargeSage | Resurrection | 7 pts | +4.71 % round win rate
Sage does it all. Not only are all of her abilities very useful, but her ultimate is also one of the strongest in the game, putting her in the A tier of the best VALORANT ultimate tier list. Numbers advantages are a huge factor in deciding rounds and especially on offence, can single-handedly decide rounds. Ideally, you’d want to either resurrect the best player on your team but an argument could be made for agents with a great ultimate of the S and A tier. Not to be underestimated is the effect it has on consecutive rounds, as resurrected heroes who survive also get to keep their guns.
Breach | Rolling Thunder | 7 pts | +4.3% round win rate
A lot of strategists in the scene fawn over the potential of this ultimate but it hasn’t fully hit the player base yet. On paper, the potential of this ultimate to aggress onto sites is outstanding, especially in a game in which most maps are defensively favoured. Like all of Breach’s abilities, they need to be well-coordinated with a team though and this is even more so the case with Rolling Thunder, an ultimate that also has friendly fire. Even if you hit nobody with the ultimate, almost the entire bomb site has to be cleared, creating a lot of space for your offence to work with and take hold of. It’s an ultimate that will likely gain in value as people figure out how to use it in a team environment.
B - Best VALORANT Ultimates
Brimstone | Orbital Strike | 6 pts | +2.85% round win rate
Orbital Strike is a solid ultimate but not a great one. There are some parts of each map which yield a higher return of kills when you’ve already located an enemy. Split in middle comes to mind, which might not immediately net you a kill but will force opponents out of hiding spots and allows you to find them in unfavourable angles. It also lets the Brimstone player clutch in post-plant situations on offence, giving him a safe way to content the activated spike from an unknown location.
Click to enlargeC - Best VALORANT Ultimates
Jett | Blade Storm | 6 pts | -0.25% round win rate
You see that correctly; players who use Blade Storm are more likely to lose the round than the average round win rate of Jett. That, however, is easily explained by the applications in which you will find players use Blade Storm in. Often, players will use Blade Storm in eco-rounds in which they weren’t able to buy a weapon, giving them a way to save money efficiently. It’s still not a great ultimate even though it synergizes with her kit and allows her to shoot in the air with pinpoint accuracy. The requirement to very likely need a headshot to win a gunfight makes it very skill-based, but also not reliable enough.
D - Best VALORANT Ultimates
Sova | Hunter’s Fury | 7 pts | -0.99% round win rate
Here the statistics are painting a grimmer picture than we’d likely feel about the ultimate. Certainly, it’s not getting kills reliably but there doesn’t seem to be a tangible reason as to why Sova’s lose so much more during rounds in which they should have an advantage. It’s not even that they are getting fewer kills or die significantly more. Perhaps it’s more about giving away their position to the opponent who can make out where an ultimate must be coming from when they see the rays.
Omen | From the Shadows | 7 pts | -1.55% round win rate
Let that sink in, your win rate will go down by 1.55% if you use your ultimate. The applications of this ultimate are so limited as well as highly game-sense based that very often, players will teleport to locations that will trigger a sound cue that gets them killed in the process, putting their team behind. On paper, the ability to teleport around the map in a game that was relying so much on anticipation of the opponents engagement angles looked to be very strong. So far, it has been a complete dud for the average player. Make beautiful mistakes and learn where to use Omen’s ultimate, because we as a player base apparently have not understood where to use it.
Images courtesy of Riot Games and CypherCam.org
