From squishy little monsters running across our screens to blue wires pulling us into a deathly void, VALORANT sure experimented with new styles of play in the game’s three agent releases for 2023.
Yet, as with every new character, map, buff, and nerf, there are winners and losers. For 2023, we looked at VALORANT’s three new agents and their releases holistically to rank them, determining who we would take on our team and who we would leave behind on the select screen.
Between Gekko, Deadlock, and Iso, we’ve ranked our three new friends and determined which agent release was VALORANT’s best of 2023.
The year’s worst: Deadlock
As much as I wanted to love the game’s newest female agent, a sentinel from Norway equipped with nano-wire technology and a compelling backstory, Deadlock’s actual presence in-game continues to fall short even five months after her release.
Riot did a great job of teasing Deadlock and also developing her character. Unlike Breach, the other agent in the game who is an amputee, we got to see firsthand how Deadlock’s show of bravery and courage left her with a disability. The scene of her pressing the button and discarding not only the polar bear chasing her but also her left arm still rings in my head.
Her cinematic was great, and Riot did a good job of also integrating her quickly into the other cast of agents. Cypher finally has a friend, finding camaraderie after dying in every single cinematic—well, almost.
This is all to say the reason Deadlock is in last place in our rankings for agent releases in 2023 has nothing to do with her character design, teasers, or release schedule. The reason she is in last place is because out of all three agents released in 2023, she is the worst to actually play once you get in the game.
Despite recent buffs to her GravNet, Deadlock is still not going to be viable until, at the bare minimum, her Sound Sensors get reworked. Unless Riot is trying to redefine the role and characteristics of sentinel agents as a whole in VALORANT, Deadlock is simply really bad at doing what a sentinel is supposed to do. She can’t effectively watch flanks, her utility puts her in danger every time she sets it down, and her ultimate is lackluster and easy to waste.
There is so much potential in Deadlock’s design, backstory, and concept for her abilities, but she falls short in every measurable metric. She continues to not be picked in professional play—she was the only agent not played at VCT Champions 2023—and both her pick rate and win rate in casual play have continued to fall off.
What Deadlock needs to turn her trajectory around and become a usable agent is a rework to nearly all of her abilities and, most of all, she needs more consistency compared to the other four sentinel agents.
Just OK: Iso
Chinese agent Iso is VALORANT’s newest, and the last new major content drop of 2023. Riot teased a new duelist agent for the majority of 2023 and Iso fits the bill, though with a markedly different playstyle to high-fliers like Jett, Neon, and Raze.
Iso’s release is a part of overall strategies to appeal to the Chinese market in 2023 after VALORANT was localized in that market officially for the first time. In addition to Chinese-themed weapon bundles (yes, multiple bundles) and Riot announcing China’s addition to the VCT circuit, Iso is the capstone of the year.
Though the game already has a Chinese agent in Sage, Iso’s release adds something new for the Chinese audience who weren’t around to play during the game’s launch and beta back in 2020. Iso also fits a certain style—he is reminiscent of Yoru with his hip fashion and dark aura.
Many fans fell in love with his design, though his actual backstory is less developed than the other agents released this year, largely because his release plan was likely thrown out the window after his design was leaked early. Yet even though Iso’s character is still a mystery to us, he continues to grow among fans every day.
As far as his playstyle goes, Iso gives duelist players a bit of a more passive and protected option while still playing an entry role. He has more ways of protecting himself than agents like Jett, who often go for a “glass cannon” strategy. In addition, his ult gives players the ultimate test of their aim and positioning skills.
For us, Iso sits firmly in the middle of this year’s agent releases. He’s fun, and there’s nothing wrong with him like there is with Deadlock, but the last agent on our list just has a leg up on him.
Our new best friend: Gekko
Gekko was by far VALORANT’s best agent release this year, for a few reasons, but I’m sure that regardless of what we say, you’ll only remember one little guy the most.
Yes, we’re talking about Wingman, who singlehandedly captured the hearts of VALORANT fans worldwide. Regardless of how Gekko actually plays in-game, Wingman, Mosh, Dizzy and Thrash are enough to make us love Gekko and the entire family of friends he brings with him to each fight.
Gekko is the first agent in the game to not only use outside, sentient (we think) creatures as his utility, but he can also pick them up where they fall to reuse them again. While this first seemed like a broken, overpowered concept, players quickly integrated the mechanic and found it balanced enough.
One of the most memorable moments for me in 2023 was fans cheering as Wingman defused and planted spikes during VCT Champions 2023 in Los Angeles. Even fans who were rooting for the opposing team couldn’t help but cheer him on.
Wingman even has a nickname, “Li’l Bro,” which is almost used more than his actual name at this point. The characters’ little squishy designs combined with Gekko’s voicelines and interactions with them make him by far the best agent released in 2023.
In addition, though he is far from the best initiator in the game, Gekko did see professional play soon after his release and was used in several key compositions by teams around the world to great success. T1’s Carpe, for example, integrated the agent flawlessly into his team’s composition for Bind.
Though many players still prefer to run a Skye, KAY/O, or Sova instead of Gekko, pretty much everyone agrees: How can you hate Wingman?
In 2024, we would like to see VALORANT continue to experiment with new, creative ways to use agent designs and utility, while also providing interesting backstories to accompany all of our new friends. Yet, keeping consistency with agent role descriptions and responsibilities is also vital to ensuring each new agent finds their place in the already existing lineup.
