While Valorant wins certainly can come from getting good at clicking heads, a surefire way to improve is to get tactical. This is especially true when you rise up the ranks and start playing with the best. While there are plenty of tactics to go around, here are five key tactics you should have in your arsenal to deploy across your games.

1.The Fake Out

Valorant is a game of information. Knowing where your opponents are, who their agents are and what weapons they’re packing lets your team prepare. But you can flip this fact on its head by making the opposing team believe something that isn’t your true intention.

Enter the fake out.

You can fake out the opposing team in a number of ways. But there are two incredibly effective and simple ones.

First, the fake push. This sees you or a teammate simulate an attack on one site, while the rest of your team heads for a different one. If the opposing team is communicating, this can scatter their resources and make tonnes of space for your team.

Second, decoy grenades can be powerful tools for redirecting opponents’ attention allowing you or your team to take advantage of the additional space.

2.Covering Fire

Valorant is a team game, so you should be working with your team. Covering fire is one of those simple concepts that gets really overlooked in the game. Here, you want to redirect your focus form pushing forwards and actually hang back while a teammate or two do just that. This gives you a vantage point where you can provide information or covering fire to your teammates. Making their attack a lot easier.

3.Coordinated Entries

Much of aa match can be quite quiet, and you can use that to your advantage by making sudden attacks which overwhelm your opponents. A great way to do this is to co-ordinate with your teammates and take enemy positions from multiple sides. This not only multiplies the amount of angles you will cover, but also splits the attention of the opponents, making them easier to pick off. Just be sure to communicate with your teammates as you do this.

4.The Retake

Many players feel stressed out when a spike is planted and they are defending. But if you keep your cool, the retake can be quite easy. Use tools like smoke and other agent utilities to maximize your knowledge and minimize your opponents. Combine this with cover fire and coordinated entries and you’re onto a winner.

5.Covering the Spike

Waiting for the countdown as an attacker is a stressful thing. But it’s actually pretty simple if you have a clear plan. Simply assess the area, hold key angles—while your teammates hold other ones—and use your utilities to maximise your information on the opponents. If you need to cover multiple angles or reposition, be sure to keep in constant contact with your squad.

Bonus: Choose Rare Agents

Many players will choose from a small pool of the most popular agents, making their abilities well known among players—who thus know how to control them. You can pick up rarer agents if you buy valorant points. Picking more obscure agents allows you to surprise your opponents, especially for the first few rounds of a match.