Everyone knows what shenanigans Omen and Yoru can pull off in VALORANT. Most players don’t think of Sentinels as good tricksters, but as it turns out, Sage can pull off some nasty fakes using her wall in ways players expect, but by lurking alongside it.
A VALORANT content creator named quazafr is gaining traction online by using Sage’s Barrier Orb to get crucial kills, all while leaving their foes wondering how. Instead of using it to confirm their safety, this Sage purposefully lurks, then walls opponents off from chokes to secure a close range fight, catching them off-guard. It’s very much a “I’m not locked in here with you, you’re locked in here with me” moment that has led to plenty of laughs online.
This clip from Twitter was only one of six different TikTok episodes of “placing walls in front of people,” as the creator calls the series. It truly taps into the troll nature of some agents in VALORANT, but does it in a more cerebral way.
How is Sage getting away with these tricks? It’s simple: expectations.
So many people who play Sage play her the way she was intended to be played: defensively. Walls and slows to prevent pushes, heals to assist allies when they play aggressively. It all fits, but there is always potential to push the boundaries and play an aggressive Sage. For example, using heal on yourself after taking a duel can get value if you hit your shots, or using wall to boost yourself onto a high ground that enemies don’t expect.
Yet, this content creator uses their own form of trickery. Lots of the walls used in this clip are in traditional Sage spots, but because of their defensive nature, nobody expects Sage to effectively wall themselves off from their team or site. That’s exactly what quazafr does, and the wall almost immediately flicks a switch in the enemy’s heads that the Sage is just on the other side, when in reality, she’s right behind them.
This is no different from an Omen or Yoru fake-teleporting, using an ability to shift the enemy’s focus long enough to secure a kill, except for the fact that it’s even riskier due to her lack of an escape. However, when it works, it can lead to some hilarious moments. There are plenty of times that quazafr almost acts like a teammate to their foes, or even throws their weapons in front of their eyes, testing how far they can play along until the enemy notices that the Sage is among them before shooting them in the face.
One thing you shouldn’t take from this clip is that this is a valid strategy to pull out often in ranked. If you notice the rounds, all of these clips seem to be in Swiftplay, a casual game mode. But, if there’s one thing you can learn from players like this, it’s to always check your corners.
