In tactical shooters like Valorant, map knowledge and strategy is everything. So in order to help you lay out some strategies, we will guide you through each of Valorant’s three maps. We’re going to use a lot of map callouts, so refer to the pictures for clarity. This is going to get quite detailed, so get your study glasses ready.
A general piece of advice that holds true for all Valorant maps: Communication is crucial. This might be difficult when playing with strangers and randoms, but it really does make a huge difference. A lack of communication and coordination can often be the difference between having fun and just having a frustrating round.
On Split this is especially true, since it generally favors the defensive side with its many corners and angles.
Overall, Split has three main bottlenecks that attackers need to breakthrough in order to get to Mid, A or B. Breaking through these bottlenecks is crucial, particularly the mid bottleneck - if attackers take it, the map really opens up for them.
Split Map - B Site - Defenders Guide
Let’s move through the Split map from left to right:
A solid tactic on Split is to only have one player anchor on B-Site and have two players on middle and two on A. The main reason for that being that the middle players can rotate to B really quickly and that B-Site has a lot of defensive hiding spots.
As a sole B anchor, you have to play it safe - not too much peeking and always ask for help as soon as you need it: It’s a very fast rotate from Mid to B.
There are a lot of angles for the defender to hold and lots of cover to use. Essentially you only have to cover the bottleneck from B-Main leading to B-Site, which can be done from just about any cover: You can set up behind or up on one of the many boxes or below B-Heaven or B-Rafters. You really have to play the angles here and make sure you can get from cover to cover safely. Also, be extra mindful of cover with bangable walls.
Attackers will never know where to look because there are a lot of angles to check. It’ll be hard to find you and you might get the drop on someone. Plus, the attackers careful approach might cause them to waste a lot of time, so try to amplify that as much as possible.
Split Map - B Site - Attackers Guide
Attack on B is tricky because getting through the bottleneck is the only direct way onto B and it's difficult. There are just a so many angles to check and so many options for the defense. The best move, as soon as you exit the bottleneck onto B, is to block off the right side leading to B-Heaven, which eliminates a couple of angles that the defense can attack you from. Any agent with a wall ability - or even with smokes - can get that job done. This will make getting site control so much easier. Once you do take control and are defending the plant, you can use the many angles and corners to your own advantage.
Always be on your toes though: The defensive help can rotate from Mid very quickly and they have multiple access points to the site, not just one bottleneck. Often times they will come in from Heaven or rotate over via their spawn access point and B-Alley.
A good way to cut off the rotate ability is to send someone to meet the defenders in Middle Mail and not wait for them to get to B. Good communication is the key here.
Split Map - Mid - Defenders Guide
The main thing for defense on Mid is that you absolutely have to hold it at all costs. If you lose Mid, you’re opening up the entire map for the attacking team and giving them a massive advantage. Delay, kill, confuse… whatever you have to do to keep the attackers from advancing through middle is the task here.
To do that a lot of players use covers spots in Mid Vent or Mid Mail and keep the attackers at bay in Bottom Mid. Contesting Mid is crucial. The longer it takes the attackers to advance here, the better.
A neat trick in eco rounds is to buy a shotgun and wait to the left side of the entry-bottleneck in Top-Mid facing Mid-Mail. Hug the wall and wait to blast unsuspecting attackers from close range as they have no other option to get onto Top Mid.
Split Map - Mid - Attackers Guide
Any competent defense will be making sure to not lose Mid, so its important as attackers to at least contend and keep the defenders on Mid busy and away from your teammates who are trying to plant. Ideally, you use your abilities to get the defenders to peek and/or leave cover. Agents like Breach with all his wallbang utility are well suited here, as most of the time the defense will just be behind cover, waiting for you to come through the bottleneck. Whatever you can do to get the defense to leave the safety of their cover and engage early is what you’re going for.
An odd tactic here is that one attacker will go for the ultimate orb that’s in clear sight on Bottom Mid and try to bait defenders to attack him. This only works with good communication though: You need to have a teammate with solid aim picking of greedy, peeking defenders or this plan is just a suicide mission.
Most of the time you should at least have two attackers covering Mid - one coming from Sewer and one from B-Link. You can then have one peeking from each side - one peeking Mid Mail and the other Mid Vent. If there is no one in Mid Vent, you can rotate over and attack the Mid Mail together - or vice versa - to maybe gain the advantage. Once you capture Mid, you can set the tempo for the entire match: Rotating onto B becomes almost instant and the defense can quickly get overwhelmed since they don’t have the advantage in holding down the three bottlenecks anymore. A-Site doesn’t open up quite as much though, as the defenders still have a solid defensive advantage in covering the ropes in Mid Vent. Bonus tip: Don’t forget that you still have good accuracy while on the ropes.
Split Map - A Site - Defenders Guide
There are two ways to defend A-Site on Split - either aggressively or more conservatively. The aggressive way is to defend and contend the corners leading onto the site by taking A-Ramp and setting up on A-Main.
The alternative is to play A more defensively and use the on-site angles from Screens to contest the site. Screens gives you safe view on both entryways to A: Heaven/Rafters and A-Main. Since there is almost no cover on A-Site, setting up on Screens is a really safe way to defend, especially when holding the off-angle.
Another option is to hide behind the sign in the back of the actual A Spike site and surprise wannabe planters. It’s important to keep in mind though, that the sign is fully bangable and doesn’t provide safe cover or escape options. Some players might even preemptively empty a clip into the sign
Split Map - A Site - Attackers Guide
As attackers, it’s very important to keep in mind that the Defense might have rushed A Main and could be anticipating your approach from A-Lobby. So peek carefully and once you clear, make sure you also peek Ramps carefully as well - especially if they’re doing well on economy, because they might have an Operator user stationed on Ramps. It’s best to use walls or other abilities to block the vision from Ramp to A-Main.
Now the dangerous part is the open area on A-Site below Rafters. You’ll definitely need your abilities and communication to provide cover and safety here. Be extra mindful of players camping Screen, as they have a clear shot on you unless you use utility.
Generally, due to the lack of cover, A Site requires a quick push and quick plant. Once the defense rotates over, they will pretty much catch you out in the open. So don’t waste your time on A - this needs to be done quickly.
Once you do get a plant on A - you can use the same angles as the defense to hold. A Screen, again, is a very good spot to hold and catch defenders that are rotating over from Mid or B.
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Alright. That’s it for the Split Map. Class dismissed. Now go out there and split some… uhm… agents? Split some Spikes? We don’t know, we just wanted to force a play on words, but go and split something and remember the guide when you do. Check back tomorrow for our guide on Haven and another poor wordplay at the end of it and check EarlyGame for all things Valorant.