Mastering Smoke Play in VALORANT: Strategies and Counters

In VALORANT, smoke plays can make or break a match. Learning to use smokes effectively and counter enemy smokes is crucial for your team’s success.

In this article, look at how smokes carve out spaces on the map, we will explore strategies for using smokes to your advantage, how to counter enemy smoke plays, and how to play against smokes given your team composition.

Let’s dive in!

Strategies for Using Smokes

One of the most important things to remember about smoke play in VALORANT is that the player closest to the smoke has an advantage. This is because they can step into the smoke and control that pocket of space the smoke creates.

So, be mindful of where you place your smokes. You want to avoid situations where your team has to walk into an enemy-favored smoke without proper utility or preparation.

When defending, a good strategy is to place smokes that allow you to play inside of them. For example, on Haven’s B site, consider the two options for smoking the entrance from mid into the site.

If you place the smoke closer to the site, it gives the enemy a chance to walk in and explode out of both sides of the smoke. However, if you step into the smoke, it becomes advantageous for your team, as you gain control of the space and force the enemy to walk into your territory.

Examples of Smoke Plays

In this first example, the enemy team has the advantage because they can attack you from all angles. However, you have the advantage if they’re trying to go through the smoke onto the site — unless they use abilities.

Example 1: External B smoke — playing inside the smoke is bad. Playing outside the smoke is good.

In this second example, you lose the advantage if you are playing outside of the smoke because they can exit from multiple angles. However, if you play inside of the smoke, you have the upper hand because the enemy has to go through a very small choke point.