The Scottish troublemaker Clove is finally here and ready to take over Valorant. Players have been eagerly waiting to see the next Controller agent's abilities, and fortunately for them, they don't need to wait any longer.
Clove was revealed previous to the VCT Masters Madrid, where players finally got a chance to see the new agent in action. Clove ability kit is unique and quite fascinating as well.
There is a good reason Clove is called the "young immortal" by most, and with such astonishing abilities, Clove's impact in Valorant will be felt right away. So let's take a good look at Clove's abilities and how they can change the way the game is played.
Valorant Clove abilities revealed
Clove kit was revealed in the VCT Masters Madrid Showmatch, as was mentioned above. There we got the chance to take a good look at Clove's unique abilities and how they might impact the game.
Here is a rundown of all Clove abilities in Vaorant.
Ruse (E)
Clove equips E and gets a view of the entire battlefield, similar to the Brimstone map. Clove can then select the locations where the clouds/smokes will fall, and press alt-fire to confirm it. Ruse can be used even after dying.
These smokes block the enemy's vision and make it much easier for teammates to take control of parts of the map. They are useful in attacking or retaking situations, and they are arguably the easiest smokes to deploy in the game.
Meddle (Q)
Clove equips a "fragment of immortality essence" and presses fire to throw it. This fragment will then erupt and decay all targets in its radius for a period.
Meddle seems a great ability to clear close corners or areas where you expect the enemies to be. Since decay means the enemy's health will decrease, similar to what happens when inside Viper's pit, you can use this ability to force enemies out of positions. Using Meddle like this will also give you plenty of favourable gun fights, and make it much easier to clear bombsites.
Pick-me-up (C)
Pick-me-up allows Clove to "absorb the life force of a fallen enemy" that was either damaged or killed by Clove. Using Pick-me-up will give Clove a temporary health gain and haste.
This ability is incredibly strong in 1v1 fights, as it allows you to heal, similar to Reyna, but also gain a movement speed boost, which makes it harder for enemies to hit you and easier for you to reposition.
Pick-me-up is great to when you need to force fights or are executing into a bombsite. It can also be very useful for retakes for the same reasons listed above.
Not Dead Yet (Ultimate)
After dying, Clove can activate Not Dead Yet to resurrect and get back on the playing field. However, Clove will need to either kill or gain a damaging assist in a set time, otherwise, Clove will die again.
This is by far Clove's most unique and game-changing ability. Being able to come back from the dead allows Clove to impact the round again, but forces it to be done quickly. If Clove doesn't get a kill or assist in a short period, Clove will return to the death realm.
So there is a good chance we will see Clove players forcing fights whenever Not Dead Yet is used. It will also be a hard task to understand when it's worth using this ability, or when it's just a waste of an ultimate.
No matter the case, Not Dead Yet has the chance to impact rounds like only a few ultimates have.
Clove design is unique for a very good reason
Clove was designed with a clear intention in mind, creating a controller that gives players more chances to be aggressive and that excels in those types of plays. This was said by Dan Hardison, Agent Gameplay Designer for Clove.
"As far as goals are concerned, early on into the process we identified the controller role as ripe for opportunity for more aggressive playstyles, as prior to Clove we felt that choices were limited outside of Omen for players who wanted to really take the fight to their opponents"
"We wanted Clove to teach VALORANT players how to assess the value of their life within any given round"
This is a breath of fresh air for the controller role, which has been stagnant for a long time. Like Dan Hardison mentioned, apart from Omen, there isn't a controller where players can go for more risky plays and carry rounds alone.
If you look at the other roles, most of them have at least two agents who can do that to a certain extent. Skye, Kay/o and Breach for initiators, Chamber for sentinels, and all the agents in the duelist role.
So it's great to see that the controller role finally has a new agent and one that provides very distinct things from the ones that already exist. Perhaps Clove is the future of the controller role and we will be seeing similar agents in the future.
But one thing is certain, Clove is a unique agent that everyone will want to try out and can change the meta of the game.
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