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Riot Games' ambitious title, Valorant, made its debut in 2020 with multiple playable Agents. However, five of these formed its core by providing players with diverse playstyles and roles. These were Sage, Phoenix, Sova, Brimstone, and Jett. These are the five original Valorant Agents who come pre-unlocked in the game. Most of them are still incredibly relevant today in 2025. Jett was heavily nerfed over the years with her instant Tailwind being reworked. Meanwhile, Phoenix received a positive rework in the recent patch 9.10.
Sova is still one of the most-played Initiators in the game while Brimstone and Sage have become somewhat situational when it comes to team compositions. This article will go over the five OG Valorant Agents and shed light on the ever-shifting meta of the game.
Note: Some of the information used in the article is procured from tracker.gg.
Valorant: The state of the OG 5 Agents over the years
1) Jett
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According to the tracker.gg, Jett has an impressive pick rate of 9.3% across all regions. The Agent is quite literally the poster child of Valorant. She was and still is one of the most popular Duelists in the game. However, the current version of the Korean whirlwind is a lot weaker than the original version.
Initially, Jett had unlimited rounds on her ultimate, the Blade Storm. The high-accuracy throwing knives created Valorant icons such as Seoldam, The Korean Jett. Unfortunately, Jett no longer gets a reset on her knives after securing a kill with a right click.
Her Tailwind was also nerfed and now it has to be activated with the ability key (E). Upon using (E) again, Jett dashes into the intended direction. However, activation provides players with a limited window. If you don't use the Tailwind within this time frame, you lose it. Before the nerf, Jett could dash instantly. Furthermore, her Updraft was also reduced from two charges to one.
Overall, the Agent is still strong, extremely mobile, and popular. Unfortunately, she is much less spontaneous in Valorant. However, Jett still dominates ranked and the Valorant esports world.
2) Brimstone
Brimstone has not changed much in Valorant. Upon release in 2020, he was the only controller but the landscape has changed rapidly since then. As of February 2025, the Agent's global pick rate stands at a low 2.6%.
He is still a fantastic entry-level controller with three large long-lasting clouds of smoke. However, compared to the likes of Clove, Omen, and Astra, Brimstone falls flat primarily due to range.
The Agent is often picked on very small maps. In fact, he's a staple for Bind where his smokes and ultimate can make a massive impact. Otherwise, Brimstone is almost invisible in Valorant. However, he is not the worst Controller in the game by far as his pick rate seems almost abysmal at 0.4%.
3) Sage
Sage's pick rate as of writing stands at about 6.8%. The Agent has shown phases of stagnation since release. One could say she is a situational pick. The Agent is often used on maps such as Split in mid-to-lower-rank lobbies. She is also a staple on Icebox since her wall helps with the verticality of the icey map.
Sage was nerfed in Valorant several times over the years. Her Healing Orb now restores her own health up to 50 HP and an ally's health up to 100 HP. Earlier, it used to be a 60 HP universal heal. Her ultimate orbs were increased to eight and then reduced to seven during patch 9.10.
Overall, a strong Agent but perhaps a situational one in Valorant in 2025.
4) Phoenix
Pheonix received a major rework for patch 9.10. He can now heal over time by just touching his Hot Hands Molotov or Blaze once. The character no longer needs to sustain contact with the ability to heal.
The Curveball was shifted to his Signature ability, replacing Hot Hands, and made more dynamic. Its overall range was also increased to further help with entry-fragging. The rework certainly made Phoenix stronger in Valorant. However, he still lags in one key area — mobility.
This gives Agents like Jett and Raze an upper hand. However, Phoenix certainly is a lot stronger than his initial release in 2020. He can heal faster and more efficiently, enter sites more aggressively, and just spam his ultimate thanks to his six-orb requirement. Overall, he is better in 2025.
5) Sova
Finally, we come to Sova. The recon-expert has not seen as many changes as Phoenix or Jett over the years. His ability to discover opponents is still instrumental. Sova's Recon Dart was nerfed in patch 7.04 and now only scans the area twice instead of thrice.
However, apart from that, the Agent has not seen many significant changes. He is still popular and almost no other Agent has the recon potential as him. His skill-ceiling is high which may affect his global pick rate. Regardless, Sova is perhaps just as strong as he was in Valorant 2020.
