Every Valorant agent belongs to one of four classes: duelist, initiator, controller or sentinel. In ranked games, players often pick whatever they enjoy. In pro play, the five agents a team brings to a map are chosen carefully, and the combination (the "comp") is often the first sign of how a team plans to play.
Duelists: create space
Duelists are built to take fights. Their abilities help them get into a site quickly, survive a fight, or reset after a kill: dashes, self-heals, blinds that only hurt the enemy.
On attack, the duelist usually leads the way into a site, like an entry fragger in CS2. On defence, they're often the player who takes an aggressive early fight to get information or a pick.
Duelists tend to top the kill charts, but their real job is making space for the team. A duelist who gets in, takes the first fight and gets traded has done their work.
Initiators: gather information and set up fights
Initiators help the team take a fight on its own terms. Their abilities reveal enemies, flush them out of corners, or stop them from shooting back for a moment.
A good initiator works hand in hand with the duelist. The initiator reveals where defenders are hiding or blinds them, and the duelist steps in at that exact moment. Most pro comps have one or two initiators, because information decides so many rounds.
Controllers: block vision
Controllers carry smokes, which block the enemy's line of sight. On attack, smokes cut a site into pieces so the team only has to fight one angle at a time. On defence, they slow pushes down and make it hard to plant.
Almost every pro comp has at least one controller. Without smokes, attacking a well-held site is extremely difficult. Many teams' in-game leaders play controller, since smoking well means thinking about the whole team's movement anyway.
Sentinels: lock down space
Sentinels are defensive specialists. Their traps, turrets and walls let one player hold a site or watch a flank alone. On attack, they guard the team's back so a lurking defender can't sneak up from behind.
Some sentinels are built for holding, others for slowing a retake after the plant. Teams choose based on the map: a map with a long, open flank needs someone watching it.
How a pro comp comes together
A typical comp looks like one duelist, one or two initiators, one controller and one sentinel. But the details change with every map:
- Big, open maps often need two controllers, because there's more space to smoke off.
- Tight maps with short rotations favour aggressive comps with two duelists or extra initiators to take space quickly.
- Maps with long flanks make a sentinel almost essential.
The meta (which agents are strongest right now) also shifts with each patch. When Riot makes an agent stronger or weaker, you'll see comps across the whole pro scene change within a few weeks.
Double duelist, no sentinel, and other surprises
You'll sometimes see teams break the standard shape. A comp with two duelists and no sentinel tells you the team plans to be very aggressive. A comp with two sentinels suggests it wants to slow the game down and win on defence. When a team picks something unusual, it's usually a deliberate plan for that specific map or opponent, and it's worth watching how it works.
Reading the comp before the match starts
Broadcasts show each team's agents before the first round. A few questions help:
- How many controllers? One suggests a faster game, two a slower one.
- Who's the duelist? Some duelists are built for entering sites, others for picks and mobility.
- Is there a sentinel? No sentinel means the team is betting on aggression over safety.
- Are the two comps mirrored? When both teams pick nearly the same agents, the match usually comes down to execution. When they differ, it's a clash of styles.
Once you can read a comp, you can often predict a team's plan before the first bullet is fired.
For more on how Valorant's money system shapes these plans, see our Valorant economy guide. For the latest news, visit the Valorant hub.