Lotus has a complex layout compared to the previous maps we’ve seen so far in Valorant.
The lost city is vast and features new gameplay elements, including rotating doors, a breakable wall that creates an additional passage, and a silent drop that will keep players on their toes.
Knowing where to smoke as a controller is vital on both attack and defense. Denying your opponents vision in certain parts of the map will give your team an advantage and help them take ground.
Here’s where you should place your smokes when using dome smokers like Omen, Astra, or Brimstone.
All the smokes you need to know on Lotus
Attackers
On attack, you must always be mindful of defenders who push out from the sites they’re defending. Smokes only work if they’re blocking the enemy team’s vision, so try to find the enemy players’ whereabouts before you commit to smoking an area.
A site push
If you’re going for a five-man push from A Lobby, make sure to first block off A Stairs, so you can cross from A Main to A Rubble.
When your team is about to enter the A site from A Main, you should smoke A Top or A Drop while clearing the corners of the site. These smokes will isolate defenders staying inside A site and deny vision to opponents rotating from defender side spawn.
B site push
There are three vantage points from which defenders can hold B site, including the C Link doorway, B Upper, and A Link. But if you’re playing Astra or Omen, you can only activate two smokes simultaneously.
Since A Link control is crucial to a successful post-plant, you should prioritize smoking off C Link and B Upper.
C site push
You’ll want to smoke C Waterfall and C Hall for a default C site push. Blocking off these areas will isolate defenders holding inside C site and their teammates rotating from other parts of the map.
That said, C site has many nooks and crannies that need to be checked, so make sure the coast is clear before your team decides to plant the spike.
Split pushes
If your team is doing an A and B site split push, you can smoke off the C Link corridor going toward the B site.
At the same time, smoke the area in front of A Stairs while the rest of your team pushes from A Tree. If all goes according to plan, defenders on site and in B Upper will be pressured from two sides.
Lotus provides plenty of openings to each site, so try to get creative and force your opponents to change their positions constantly.
Defenders
If you’re the only controller player on your team, it will be difficult to place smokes before attackers make their move, unless you’re near the area they’re pushing or if you’re playing Astra.
A site
Defenders always have the option to play aggressively and push attackers at the start of the round.
To gain the upper hand against your opponents, smoke the A Root area right after the Buy Phase. Attackers pushing from A lobby will have to peek out of your smoke or use their utilities to get a better view of the A Main area.
You can even push toward the smoke and catch attackers jumping on the step of A Root, which could secure your team a kill early in the round.
If you want attackers to make the first move, it would be best to smoke off A Main. This will force the enemy team to clear multiple spots if they push your smoke, and your team can watch the smoke from both A site and A Stairs.
You can even stay behind the double-stacked box in A Main, or hold inside the smoke, waiting for attackers to make their move. Just be careful of initiator abilities like Sova’s Owl Drone, Skye’s Trailblazer, or Fade’s Prowler.
B site
The battles in B site will come fast and furious since it’s such a small and enclosed area, should all players from both teams decide to contest it.
The best spot to smoke would be the T-junction in B Main. If you have teammates holding C door, you can position your smoke to block vision from B Pillars.
If you’re the only defender in B site and holding in B Upper or C Link, you should instead smoke off vision from B Main and C Door.
C site
Blocking off C Lobby at the start of the round will give you a better chance of fighting off attackers coming from C Lobby and putting them on the backfoot.
However, if you or your teammates get pushed back, make sure to smoke off C Main to deny attackers vision into C site.
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