As VALORANT players, we’ve all shuddered at the thought of a pre-nerf Chamber or Jett holding a straight, narrow lane with an Operator at some point. But before typing “gg” in the chat and giving up, you might want to learn how to counter it to win matches and rank up.
It seems nearly impossible to counter the high-cost sniper rifle in most cases, especially in low Elo matches, not to forget the dreadful times when it lands in the hands of a gifted sniper wielder. But don’t lose hope—I’ve got some tips to ease your rigid mentality and conquer your fear of facing the potent weapon in VALORANT.
Countering the Operator in VALORANT 101
Now, before jumping into the tips, let’s talk about all the disadvantages a player using an Operator has to deal with.
For starters, they have to spend a whopping 4,700 credits to get the gun. Chamber has a free version of the Operator, but it also has its cons—eight ult points to charge up and restricted to five bullets with no reserve.
If you kill an enemy who bought an Operator and ensure their teammates don’t get to save it, you’d most definitely damage their economy greatly, leaving them with no choice but to call for an eco round.
From the battle perspective, having an Operator is clearly disadvantageous in close combat scenarios. You’d clearly do better with an automatic rifle like Phantom or a Vandal or even a semi-automatic rifle like Guardian instead, in this case.
The Operator can fire 0.6 rounds per second, best suited to ranged fights, and it allows you to run at 5.13 meters per second. The Phantom, on the other hand, can fire 11 rounds per second and offers a run speed of 5.5 meters per second. The Vandal has the same run speed as the Phantom but features a lower fire rate of 9.75 rounds per second.
So, the player has to endure a slower speed and fire rate to reap the Operator’s one-shot benefits.
Now that we’ve established that purchasing the Operator is a considerable gamble, let’s explore how to counter a good Operator user in VALORANT.
What is the best way to counter the Operator in VALORANT?
I can answer this question with just a single word: abilities. For some reason, players love to dry peek (peek an angle without any utilities) an Operator, die, and then blame their luck. That’s not how VALORANT works, and most of you know it. Somehow, in the heat of the match, you fail to remember it.
Never dry peek an Operator
The Operator has a 2.5 times base scope and can switch to a five times scope, giving it an incredible edge in ranged fights. If an enemy is holding an angle with an Operator and you know it, you should definitely avoid peeking it without utility in the hope that they’ll mess up their Operator shot.
Ask your teammates to flash, drone, recon, smoke, or blind the Operator user, or do it yourself and then peek. You can even rotate to a different site, keeping one of your teammates as bait near the spot the Operator is playing on.
Pop flash and delegate the Operator’s location as correctly as possible
Another thing to note is that a normal flash intended to gather intel may not be enough to discourage Operators, and they might dodge the same. So a pop flash is the best kind of flash utility to counter an Operator.
For Skye or any other initiator to be able to offer the perfect flash, the exact location where the Operator user is stationed should be known. Are they on the left side of the lane or right? Are they in the right cubby, or are they peeking from A Tree on Ascent? You can do jump-peeking to get such information.
Peek together
It’s always a good idea to peek at an Operator with one or more of your teammates. If the Operator is stationed behind a smoke, ask your teammates to flood out of the smoke along with you, and you should be able to take down the Operator player unless they manage to flee.
Yes, they’ll miss shots; the Operator isn’t an accurate and easy weapon. So if an enemy wields it well, you know they’ve worked hard to gain that skill.
Flood the Operator with numbers and utilities
Try using cover and aggressively push the Operator. Remember, they are mostly helpless in close-range scenarios. Try not to give them one-versus-one fights, though—they might hold a close-range angle with a Shorty.
You can also dump deterring utilities (mollies) on them. Since they have a semi-automatic weapon, they will find it impossible to destroy and endure so many utilities and will be forced to fall back.
Best agents to counter the Operator in VALORANT
Besides Skye, Breach is an excellent flash agent to counter Operator users, and so are Sova and Fade. They can easily force Operator players back from their aggressive positioning. Other agents like Jett, Harbor, Viper, and Cypher serve as great Operator counters, too, thanks to their vision-blocking abilities.
Personally, I’ve found Harbor’s Cascades to be the best counter ability to the Operator in VALORANT so far. It creates a claustrophobic, distracting scenario for the player it approaches, forcing them to fall back. Combined with a Skye or Breach flash, there’s no way an Operator player can give you a hard time on your attack.
Unfortunately, Harbor isn’t the controller of anyone’s dreams, but if you are willing to try him in a double-controller setup, by all means, go ahead.
Another fun option I have tried is with Killjoy’s Turret, but it is only effective in some cases. Say the Operator is holding Split’s B Lobby from B Main on defense, I place the Turret to look right at them before the Buy Phase barrier drops. My teammates have used it to successfully multi-peak the Operator and kill them, and it’s hilarious.
This guide is based on my experience in the game so far. As long as it works, you can always find new ways to counter the Operator in VALORANT. But the rule of thumb will always be not to dry peek.
