The most underrated aspects in Valorant, when it comes to beginners, involve map control and management of the economy. Mastering these basic mechanics takes your game to a completely new level, helping you rise through the ranks in the competitive scene. The guide will explain map control and economy in a very simple way so that you can easily apply these concepts in your matches and see improvements right away.
The Importance of Map Control in Valorant
Map control is how your team controls or contests an area on the map, which affects the overall strategic execution and round wins. When your team is dominant or in control of important parts of the map, this helps the team gain crucial information, superior positioning, and opportunities to surprisingly catch the opponents off-guard.
1. Why Map Control Matters for Beginners
Every map in Valorant boasts a unique layout, featuring chokepoints, long sightlines, and areas where either defenders or attackers rotate. The mastery of map control for newer players will:
Save you from unnecessary deaths - this saves you from getting successfully flanked or overwhelmed by enemies.
Give you better angles during engagements for easier kills.
Allow for easier site takes or retakes depending on whether you're attacking or defending.
- **Give good intel** on the enemy positions to give your team an easier time with any coordinated push or rotation.
2. Key Areas of Map Control on Valorant Maps
Each map in Valorant has distinct areas where a team wants to have control of the map. These areas usually provide chokepoints or high-traffic areas where teams fight the most.
Ascent
- Mid Control: Mid control on Ascent is essential. Attackers are able to split their executes between A and B sites, and defenders can then make quick rotations by having mid control. The middle of Ascent is very wide, which makes it really easy to cover with smokes and flashes. Learning how to take or defend mid control will prove advantageous.
- B Long and A Short: These places are pretty vital for both the attacking and defensive sides of Bind. As one of the two mentioned areas, it opens up more options for attackers to execute a spike plant and for the defending side to delay the enemy push.
Haven
Garage and C Long: Haven is the only map with three bomb sites, so rotations and map control become even more important. Garage and C Long become very crucial to control since it allows for quick access to C site and gives the opportunity for the attackers to get pressure onto the defenders.
1. Use Utility Wisely
It will be tough to take map control without smokes, flashes, and molotovs. Smokes block off the sightline, making it easier to push through chokepoints without getting picked by enemies holding angles. Flashes can help clear corners and surprise opponents. Molotovs also do a great job in denying enemy pushes.
2. Communicate with Your Team
Map control is a team effort. If you're pushing mid, communicate with your team to make sure they support your push with smokes or flashes. Likewise, if you find the enemy in an area, controlling it, make sure to communicate that with your team so you can adjust your strategy to compensate.
3. Play for Information
You don't necessarily have to deep in enemy territory to achieve good map control. Often enough, holding a passive angle and just listening for enemy footsteps will give your team much-needed information. For example, you might hear audio cues of footsteps in B Long on Bind, indicating preparation to push. That's ample time for your team to rotate accordingly.
While attackers push and take map control, defenders need to **hold** map control to stop pushes and gather information. A couple of tips regarding holding map control as a defender:
- Play with utility: Use smokes and flashes to deny the entry points and force the enemy to waste time.
- Don't over-extend: There are plenty of ways to get greedy for kills and completely lose control of the map. Hold key chokes and fall back to positions you can hold more safely.
- Rotate where needed: Sometimes you see one side of the map getting taken, yet you're on the other side of the map in your default position. Rotate to help your team.
Economy management in Valorant refers to how you and your team spend and save your credits throughout the match. A well-managed economy literally means getting the best rifles, armor, and utility while having a better chance of winning the rounds.
1. Understanding the Valorant Economy System
Valorant rewards players with credits depending on how they play out each round. Naturally, a won round yields more credits than a lost one, and even in lost rounds, players can earn up to a large amount based on objectives such as spike plants. The art to climbing the ranks is knowing when to buy and when to save.
Types of Rounds in Valorant's Economy System:
- Buy Round: This is where there is enough credit on the team to buy rifles, full armor, and utility. Ideally, during an eco round, your entire team would be fully bought for maximum firepower.
- Eco Round: An eco occurs when a team has deliberately spared credits by buying only pistols or very cheap utility. These will be rounds that give you time to gather enough credits for a full purchase in the following round.
- Force Buy Round: This occurs when a team buys as many things as possible, regardless of the fact that they aren't getting full armor or their best weapons. Typically, a force buy takes place in a losing situation in which you need to attempt to win the round with very little buy.
Good economy management will be the difference between winning and losing games, especially in competitive play. Here's how you can improve your economy management:
1. Don't Buy Every Round
But one of the biggest mistakes a beginner makes is buying every round, irrespective of their bank. This will leave them with mediocre weapons and utility, at a disadvantage to those who are fully equipped. Communicate with your team for what saves and full buy rounds.
2. Know When to Eco
Generally speaking, if you lose the pistol round, then going for an eco in the next round is almost always a good idea. This allows you to have enough credits in order to buy rifles and armor in round three. While in an eco round, stack a bomb site with your team or play close corners in order to maximize your chances of getting a kill.
3. Spend Utility Wisely in Eco Rounds
Even during an eco round, utility can change the tide of the game instantly. Flash or smoke into a better-equipped enemy for an easy pick or to recover a fallen weapon.
4. Keep Track of the Enemy Economy
Mind the enemy's money. If the enemy is on an eco, or doing a force-buy, you can play a lot more aggressively as long as you know they have worse guns. On the other hand, when the enemy has full buys and your team doesn't, it's sometimes better to play defensively.
3. When to Force Buy
Force buying can be quite a risk, but at the same time, it might be necessary in certain situations when the enemy team is, for instance, close to winning the match. When there is an urgent need for your team to win a critical round, yet the credits happen to be low, you can force buy. Here is a little something to consider in force buying:
Coordinate with your team: Have everyone on the team riding with the force buy. It is much better to have the whole team with SMGs and light armor than to have a couple of pistols and rifles.
- Positioning, positioning: Because in force buys, you are essentially having worse weapons, positioning becomes much more important. Play close angles and avoid any long range duels.
4. Winning Pistol Rounds and Bonus Rounds
The pistol round is usually a forgotten round, but it may determine the balance of team economies for the next few rounds. Winners of a pistol round will take the significant credit advantage that will enable them to purchase better weapons in further rounds.
Likewise, the term **bonus round** refers to a round after you win a pistol and a follow-up. Some players keep cheaper weapons to save money, while others love upgrading instantly. How sure your team is of playing with their loadout determines whether they choose to play a bonus round or not.
Conclusion
Valorant newbies can achieve massive successful rounds of wins and high rank through map control and economy management. Learn how to handle key areas on the map, effectively communicate with your team, and use your economy to its full potential; the edge of every game over others will be yours.
Keep in mind that map control cements critical information and positioning for your team, while economy management enables your team to have the resources to contest effectively in every round. Apply these constantly, and you will find yourself well on your way to improving and climbing the ranks.
For personalized coaching and to speed up the process, take a look at revocoaching.gg. Take your gameplay to the next level!