Do duelists have to top frag to be effective in Valorant?

Duelists in Valorant are equipped with the ability to take on enemies directly. Valorant, in the character description scene, describes the duelists as:

“Self-sufficient fraggers, who their team expects, through abilities and skills, to get high frags and seek out engagements first.”

This raises the question of whether or not duelist agents should be getting many kills to be effective. Although “high frags” is only half the description, many non-duelists in Valorant have become fixated on this expectation from their teammates.

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Should Valorant players change their expectations from their duelist teammates?

Image via Riot Games

In the r/Valorant Reddit, user GottaBlast expressed his feelings about duelists and what their expectations should be.

The original post has over 180 upvotes in just two days and includes many details about his opinion.

The first few sentences largely summarize his point:

“First, I think the duelist tooltip shouldn't say, and the team expects to get high frags. Sure your kit is helpful for this, but this just makes people want to bait and trade and not go in. The scoreboard is focused on far too often. You could lose with a Jett that is 20-15-0, or you could win with a phoenix that is 10-20-10. “

In higher Elo especially, teammates are expected to trade out their other teammates' deaths as effectively as possible. As a duelist, a player should be focused on getting their team onto sites. Since duelists are often equipped with blinds and flashes, or even abilities that can flush enemies out of corners, they’re expected to act as an entry frag.

As the first one onto sites, there will be times when a team’s duelist is unable to find a frag before dying. However, duelists will be able to clear angles and gain intel before their death.

One user, Waste_of_life23, gave an example of when, although there was no kill, a duelist was able to successfully get their team onto the site. They said:

“So if I raze ult get no kills but the whole team backs of the site giving us a free plant and/or post plant setup, I didn’t do my job. Frags aren’t always the most important thing.”

In higher Elo and professional matches, players generally understand that playing duelists doesn’t equal high frags.

Professional player Jake “kaboose” McDonald, who represents Envy in Valorant, explained in a YouTube video how many pro teams execute onto bombsites.

Although duelists can certainly find frags while entry-fragging, it’s more important that they successfully get their team on the site and locate opponents so their teammates can effectively trade their deaths.

Duelists usually enter sites first at the highest level. In lower Elo, though, duelists often bait their teammates and use their utility for themselves.

Additionally, the expectations from duelists in Valorant are high when players insta-lock before the match begins. If a player insta-locks, especially a duelist, their teammates will likely assume that the player is very proficient with that agent.

When you insta lock a duelist in Valorant pic.twitter.com/DOmX3zRwds

— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) January 25, 2021

Duelists can be very effective, regardless of whether they top frag or not. As long as the duelist is using their kit for the good of the team, they can get their squad onto a site and gain intel.

As cliche as it sounds, great power comes with great responsibility. Only a few agents can clear angles as effectively and as quickly as a duelist can.

The expectations have created toxic environments within Valorant. Players have expressed that despite doing their job of entrying, their teammates still get upset.

but here is a fact. It doesn't matter if you dash or go in first in ranked. You need to get kills. If you open up a space for your team with dashes or sachel jumps etc. your team doesn't care about that stuff. they gonna get toxic if you're hanging in the middle of the scoreboard

— Eren Arslan (@QuantumValorant) March 4, 2021

The Valorant description of a duelist has been partially responsible for the high expectations of these agents. Rather than focusing on only obtaining kills, duelists should focus on opening up the round and creating opportunities for their teammates on the site.