Every Valorant map has something that makes it different from the others, and you can leverage these unique traits to your advantage.
Bind — Teleports
The two Teleports on Bind create most of the variability on the map since it has no Mid area. With one going from the A Site to B Hookah and the other connecting B Long and A Showers, the opportunities are endless. Valorant players keep forgetting how easy they make rotations between sites, especially for the attackers. By the time the defenders realize what is going on and rotate, the spike should be already planted.
Ascent — Breakable Doors, Wide open Mid
Ascent is the Valorant map built upon the wide open Mid area, a complete contrast to Bind. Operators reign supreme on this map, which makes rotations and smokes crucial. But once the attackers get onto the site, they exploit the real gimmick of this map. There are three entrances to each site, with one of them being a door that you can open or close with a switch. Most of the time when a Duelist would enter a site, they would head towards the door switch to prevent the angle. This is not utilized enough considering that if you flip that switch, you can get shot from fewer angles and you get information when the defenders break it on the retake.
Icebox — Vertical gameplay
Icebox and Split used to be the OG zip line maps, but ever since Fracture was released, it dethroned them both. Icebox was the first Valorant map to utilize both horizontal and vertical zip lines, but apart from that, what makes it stand out is the verticality. The aspect of vertical gameplay in Valorant was made a lot more subtle, considering some agents can abuse it while others can. In CS:GO, everyone could do the same jumps if they practised enough, but in Valorant, you can only do that on Icebox.
Breeze — Huge map, Trap door
Riot games found the recipe on how to create one of the most hated maps in the game with Breeze. It takes ages to rotate since it’s that huge but that also makes it a great lurk map. Another way you can abuse this is by using the trap doors in A Hall. There is a one-way shoot that drops you down to Mid on the attacking side, and a big metal one that needs to be switched Oon, on the defending side. The best way to abuse this and confuse the defenders is to fight for control over A Hall. If you fail you just go down the shoot and rotate towards B through Middle. If you kill the defender in A Hall, the entire defense collapses. You can open their metal door and enter the A Site, get into Defender spawn, flank, go Mid again and so much more.
Fracture — Zip lines, four ultimate orbs
A lot of players would include Fracture in the competition for the worst map for similar reasons. It’s huge and with so many site entrances, if one link breaks, the defense is done. The horizontal zip lines connect both sides of the Attacker spawn, making it easy to rotate quickly and from multiple directions. There are vertical zip lines that connect areas on both sites with higher ground spots, and all of these zip lines lead towards and are close to the four Ultimate orbs. Make sure to confuse your enemies by constantly rotating using the zip lines and collecting the orbs for faster ultimate ability charging.
Haven — three spike sites
It’s not hard to realize that what makes Haven unique are the three spike sites. It’s probably the first map of its kind in tactical shooter games and it makes for diverse gameplay. With three sites, you can rotate towards and burn the enemy’s utility. It should be a no-brainer. But also be careful, since lurks on this map can be deadly. Once you commit to a site, you are pretty much stuck there. And if no one is watching flank, it can get messy.
Pearl — Middle Maze
The new map Pearl is available in the Competitive queues since the last patch and players are already having a headache with it. There is a huge open area in the middle of the map called Plaza, which has two entrances and two exits. Those two exits then split up into two more exits, and all of them head in different directions. It’s not hard to get lost on this map, but it’s almost impossible to guard yourself against flanks coming from every direction.
Header: Riot Games