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Valorant Takes More Than Just Shooting
Anyone can be a good shot in Valorant, but if you want to climb the ranks, it’s going to take more than good aim. Winning in Valorant also takes a big brain. Strategies, or strats, are one of the most important (and often overlooked) things in tactical shooters. Many players in casual or the lower ranks in competitive don’t execute effective strats and rely solely on aim. Chances are that if you’re in the lower ranks, your aim won’t be great, either. Here are some simple, beginner strats for Bind, one of the more popular closed beta maps.
Time to Attack
Since communication can be a problem among teammates, these strats will involve single player utility. The first Agent we will look at is Brimstone; he is a solid pick for most teams due to his Molotov and sky smoke zoning abilities.
Strategy 1 requires your team to make it up to smoking range, either through Hookah or B-Long. Once in range, drop a smoke on elbow and both sides of B-Site tube. Once these smokes are down, move in and make sure to check corners and plant.
The second strategy involves moving through A-Short and smoking Peacock (area outside of Uhall), Truck and A Default. Smoking Peacock speaks for itself, as there is usually a player holding that angle. Putting a smoke on top of Truck ensures that vision from Heaven is blocked off. Be sure to place the smoke on top of the truck rather than near it; if it isn’t on top, Heaven will still have sight on A-Short. The last smoke will take away sight from any player holding Triple Stack, the three boxes on site, or baths. Once these smokes are in place, move in with your team to get the quick plant.
Viper has great zoning capabilities, but you have to be careful when you use her abilities. Always keep a lookout at your toxin levels to make sure you have enough juice to execute a play. This strat splits the site from the back cubby and Heaven.
Strat 2 takes the same concept but brings it to B. This time, cut the site in half, blocking off Cubby, the back of site and the CT (Defender Spawn) hallway. When moving onto site, be sure to watch Elbow for lurking Defenders.
Omen is an important player on attack. His long range ultimate teleport can change the outcome of a bad attack in an instant. He is also important because of his long range smokes. Omen has the ability to send his smokes out further than Brimstone and can smoke out Heaven. Here are some key locations for Omen smokes.
Sage is a key player among all Valorant teams. Having this healer is a must if you are looking to succeed as a squad. While you can’t exactly build strategies of attack around her abilities, her slow field and wall do have offensive capabilities. This map shows good spots to place her utility to limit counterattack options for the defenders. Placing walls can cut off angles for Defenders so they are unable to stop attacks. Slow fields are incredibly useful if you know a player is holding an angle. Slow the Defender then push them to make sure they can’t get away from your rush. Just be sure to not slow your own team in the process.
Going on the Defensive
This is going to be a much simpler guide since you are going to have to hold these positions rather than push to attack. Starting off with Omen and Brimstone, let’s take a look at the defensive smokes we can drop. (Note: The smokes shown are for both Agents)
Here are some fairly simple and common smoke drops. What’s useful about these two is that you don’t need to peek these angles to drop the smokes. If you are pushed back by the enemy team, the circles with the red dots are where you should drop smokes. Make sure you aren’t exposed while smoking these secondary sites. You don’t want to be caught with your utility out.
Viper takes the idea of splitting an area and flips it to hurt the attackers, limiting their vision and their options for attack. One important Viper orb that decimates the attackers chances of moving A-Short is the orb on top of the boxes. Use the right click to lob your orb on top of the double boxes. Once activated it will block the top half of the attackers bodies. They won’t be able to see you, but their legs will be visible, allowing for easy frags.
Sage is the last Agent we’ll look at on defense. The healer excels at defensive play. The simplest execution of a defensive strat for Sage is to wall off an area from the Attackers. When an area is constantly being rushed, wall it off and slow down the play. When the enemy team attempts to break through your wall, prepare a Slow Orb and launch it right before the wall is broken. Be sure to utilize the bounce of the slow so you’re not in the line of sight when it breaks. (Black dots represent secondary utility locations if there is a push)
And there you have it, some basic smoke/utility strategies that all players should know. Of course, these are all plans that one can do by themselves. It is way more effective to work with your team. Experiment with the different Agents to see what plan works best for you. One of the most important lessons, however, is to make sure you and your team are pressing ‘W’. If you don’t actually move forward in Valorant, you will lose. Good luck out there, Agents!
