Clove Valorant guide: Mastering the immortal troublemaker

Clove is the first Controller in Valorant who truly encourages you to play like a duelist. They are a fearless Radiant from Edinburgh who possesses the unique ability to influence the round even after being eliminated. They excel at aggressive entry support, winning chaotic mid-site brawls, and providing consistent vision block from the grave.

• Role: Controller (aggressive site pressure)
• Core mechanic: Essence absorption -> activate Ruse (smokes), Pick-me-up (haste/health), Meddle (decay), Not Dead Yet (self-revive)
• Best win condition: Force aggressive trades, support entries, and sustain site pressure after death
• Difficulty: Medium (requires smart positioning and timing)

This Clove Valorant guide breaks down every undying ability, smoke management from the junction, economy strategies, best weapons, team compositions, and how to play Clove effectively in Season 2026 Act 1. I am providing pro-level insight that will help you turn death into a tactical advantage.

Clove Release Date

Clove officially joined the VALORANT Protocol on March 26, 2024, during Episode 8, Act 2 in patch v8.05. Their arrival was one of the most anticipated in the game’s history, as they introduced a completely new way to play the Controller role. By allowing smokes to be placed after death, Clove effectively removed the “punishment” of a Controller dying early, which had been a staple of the meta for years.

Character Overview

Feature	Detail
Real Name	Ollie Baird
Role	Controller
Origin	Edinburgh, Scotland
Voice Actor	Isla Campbell
Agent Number	25
Primary Mechanic	Post-Death Utility

Clove Abilities Overview

To play Clove correctly, you have to shed the traditional “hide in the back” mentality of a smoker. Your kit is designed to reward you for taking fights.

Basic: Pick-me-up

When you damage or kill an enemy, you can activate this ability to absorb their life force. This grants you a 15 percent speed boost and up to 50 temporary overheal HP. It lasts for 10 seconds. This is your primary dueling tool, allowing you to chain kills together or escape a dangerous trade after securing a pick.

Basic: Meddle

Clove equips a fragment of immortality essence that decays targets. When thrown, it erupts on the floor and applies a 90 HP decay to anyone caught in the radius for 5 seconds. This is a massive debuff that makes enemies extremely easy to one-tap. It is perfect for clearing out common cubbies or stopping a push through a choke point.

Signature: Ruse

This is your smoke ability. You equip a view of the battlefield and launch clouds that block vision for 13.5 seconds. The defining feature of Ruse is that it can be used after death. As long as your body is within range of the area you want to smoke, you can continue to support your team from the junction. Each smoke has a 40-second cooldown.

Ultimate: Not Dead Yet

After dying, you can activate your ultimate to resurrect. Once you are back in the living world, you become intangible for 2 seconds to reposition. You then have 10 seconds to earn a kill or a damaging assist. If you fail to do so, you will die again. This is the ultimate “second chance” ability that can turn a lost site take into a successful plant.

Defensive Escapes and Resetting

Clove is surprisingly slippery for a Controller. If you find yourself pinned down, using Meddle to decay a group of enemies often forces them to back off, giving you a window to reposition. If you manage to get a kill while being cornered, immediately popping Pick-me-up gives you the haste needed to slide out of a crossfire.

Resetting with Clove often happens through death itself. If you die in a “power position,” your job is not over. You must stay updated on the official VALORANT/Riot Games site for map changes, but generally, dying near the middle of a site allows you to keep smoking entry points for your team. If you have your ultimate, you can wait for the enemy to turn their back, resurrect, and catch them in a timing they never expected.

Ability Data Table of Clove

Progression and Economy

Clove is a very affordable agent to play. Since their smokes are their signature and the second one only costs 150 credits, you can almost always afford full utility even on save rounds. In the current meta, Clove is a top-tier pick for “bonus” rounds where your team is using weaker weapons. Your Meddle decay essentially levels the playing field against enemies with full armor.

Ultimate priority should be high for Clove. Having Not Dead Yet available changes how the enemy has to play around your body. They are forced to stay and watch your corpse, which slows down their rotate and gives your team more information. Always look to farm orbs in mid-map to ensure you have your revive as often as possible.

Best Weapons and Loadout for Clove

The Phantom is usually the best primary for Clove. Because you are a Controller, you will spend a lot of time playing in and around your Ruse clouds. The Phantom lacks tracers, meaning you can spray through your own smokes without being easily located.

The Vandal is also a strong choice if you are confident in your aim, especially when combined with the Pick-me-up speed boost. For eco rounds, the Stinger or Judge are incredible. Clove’s haste allows you to close the distance for a Judge blast, and the Meddle decay makes even a Stinger feel like a laser. You should consult a current agent tierlist to see how Clove stacks up against other Controllers on specific maps before choosing your secondary.

Lore

Ollie Baird hails from the historic streets of Edinburgh, where they discovered their Radiant gifts at a young age. Their powers over immortality are unique, allowing them to traverse a “junction” realm that sits between life and death. Clove is known for their rebellious spirit, often described as a “Scottish troublemaker” by fellow agents. Despite their youthful appearance and love for butterflies, they are one of the most resilient members of the Protocol. They carry a backpack filled with mementos and jewelry that represent their non-binary identity, including a ring with a neutrois symbol. Clove is fearless because they see death as a beautiful, necessary cycle, a perspective that often unnerves the more serious agents like Omen or Viper.

Clove is fearless as they do not see death as a scary thing, in fact, they see it as beautiful. They are described as a Scottish troublemaker, which can be told in part by their bold personality; getting into the fight, without holding back.

Clove is a young agent with short hair, dyed black at the roots that fade down to a pinkish/purple color at the ends. Their eyes are a silvery light blue. They have a headband with two small black horns, and wear several silver hairclips in their hair.

They wear a pink short-sleeved jacket, with colored markings, underneath a black shirt with white sleeves, with “HELLO” written near the collar. They wear purple shorts with a black cat design above the hem, wearing dark blue leggings underneath scattered with multiple blue butterflies. Their shoes appear to be purple with white soles.

Team Compositions

Clove thrives when paired with agents who can follow up on their aggressive site takes.

1. Clove and Gekko: Gekko’s Wingman can plant the spike while Clove takes the initial contact. If Clove dies, they can still smoke for Wingman from the grave.
2. Clove and Breach: This is a devastating combo. As discussed in our Breach guide, his stuns combined with Clove’s Meddle decay make enemies virtually defenseless.
3. Clove and Jett: Jett dashes in, Clove follows as the second entry with Meddle. If Clove gets the trade, they pop Pick-me-up and keep the momentum going.

How to Play Clove in Season 2026 Act 1

In the current meta, you need to understand that being a Controller doesn’t mean you sit in the back. If you are playing Clove, you should hover around the middle of the map. This is because Clove has a very limited field of view for placing smokes compared to an agent like Omen. If you are too far away, you won’t be able to support your team when they hit a site.

You don’t always have to play on the site itself. Hovering in a safe, central location allows you to smoke any of the sites as needed without getting caught out. When your team is ready to retake, do not feel pressured to be the first one in. Even with your aggressive kit, you should aim to be the third, fourth, or fifth person in the entry order. Wait for your teammates to reach their power positions—the spots where they stop to clear initial angles—before you scale with them. Check the official VALORANT/Riot Games site regularly to see if there have been any changes to smoke ranges or cooldowns that might affect your mid-map positioning.

Clove Pro Tips

To maximize your impact, you have to master the “retake simulator.” When an enemy team hits a site, your first instinct should be to smoke off the entry points and call it out to your team. Look at your mini-map and wait for your teammates to rotate into their power positions. Once you see they are ready to enter, you scale with them. If your duelists are not doing their job, don’t rush. Take your time and continue to bait for the team. Your mindset is to find the “gap” in your team’s scaling. If one teammate is going right and another is going left, you fill the middle gap and hold it.

When using Clove’s ultimate, there are three questions you must ask yourself. First, will it convert into a kill? If an enemy is right on your body, they will likely run away the moment you resurrect, making it hard to get that required kill. Second, will it allow my team to take necessary space? Resurrecting can allow you to clear a massive area very fast, even if you don’t get the kill, which helps your team win the round. Third, will it be a good bait for my teammate? If you have a teammate sneaking up, resurrecting forces the enemy to focus on two different threats, giving your ally a free kill.

A secret “sauce” for Clove is to use the Meddle vulnerable on enemies hidden behind thin walls. If you decay them and then spam the wall with a high-penetration weapon, it is one of the easiest kills you will ever get. Always consult a Valorant gun tierlist to ensure you are using the best wall-banging weapons for this strategy. Finally, remember to use your ultimate as soon as you get it. There is no point in holding it for the “perfect” moment when you could potentially use it three or four times in a single half by being proactive.

Cosmetics – skins, sprays and more

Clove’s aesthetic is a mix of punk and ethereal, featuring a pink jacket and blue butterflies. Their short hair fades from black to pink, matching their vibrant personality. Their Agent Gear includes the “Gloomheart” spray and the “Flutter” Ghost skin, which features a beautiful butterfly motif. In Season 2026, the “Meditation is for Mortals” card and the “Wingman For The Win” spray are popular Battle Pass items that lean into Clove’s lighthearted view of the afterlife. Their jewelry, including the butterfly rings and the neutrois symbol, are iconic parts of their character design.

FAQ: Valorant Clove guide for competitive play

Can Clove smoke anywhere on the map after they die?

No, Clove’s post-death smokes have a limited range based on where their body dropped. You must die in a relatively central location to the site or in the middle of the map to ensure your Ruse clouds can still reach the necessary choke points for your teammates.

How does Clove’s ultimate timer work?

Once you resurrect with Not Dead Yet, you have a 10-second window to earn a kill or a damaging assist. If the timer hits zero without you contributing to a take-down, you will die again. This timer is reset if you manage to secure the kill or assist, allowing you to stay alive for the rest of the round.

Is Clove a better Controller than Omen or Brimstone?

Clove is not necessarily “better,” but they fill a different niche. Omen is better for verticality and one-way smokes, while Brimstone is better for long-duration site lockdown. Clove is the superior choice for players who want to maintain high kill pressure while still providing essential vision block for their team.