How to play controllers effectively in Valorant?

Controllers in Valorant are arguably the crux of the entire team. By placing accurate smokes to obstruct the enemy’s line of sight, they basically construct paths for their teams to follow, letting them push sites or defend key locations with ease.

Good smoke placement requires precision, awareness, and communication to give your team the upper hand. Whether you’re using dome smokes for global coverage or wall abilities to lock down specific areas, mastering the timing and positioning of your utility can completely change the flow of a match.

Here’s how you can master the controller role in Valorant ^[1], becoming the pillar your team needs. Of course, if you want a helping hand when learning, you can always hire a professional Valorant coach from Eloking to give you a hand. Don’t forget to use the code “BoostToday” so you can get a 20% discount in the process.

What is a controller’s role in Valorant?

Controllers use utilities that block vision to isolate fights, get map control, and deny enemy sight. Currently, there are six controllers:

• Brimstone
• Viper
• Omen
• Astra
• Harbor
• Clove

Although it seems simple to block vision, good smoke placements can be hard to drop. Bad smokes can negatively affect the player’s team, making precision essential.

Effective controller play is more than putting smokes at chokepoints. It needs constant awareness of the situation, as numerous things determine when and where to deploy denial of vision. Mastering controllers needs cooldown management and communication with the team to maximize the impact of abilities throughout the match. Ignoring these aspects heavily limits the effectiveness of a controller.

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What’s the difference between dome and screen controllers?

Controllers are different based on their smoke shape and placement method. Astra, Brimstone, Omen, and Clove are global dome controllers because they deploy dome-shaped smokes anywhere through a placement menu, making them strong solo controllers.

Viper and Harbor are screen controllers because they use wall-shaped blockers. Although they have dome abilities like poison cloud and cove, they don’t have precise placement. Their walls depend on throw location and map geometry, limiting areas. They work best as secondary controllers or in maps where their utility shape excels.

How to master proper smoke placement in Valorant

The type of smoke a player needs to place depends on the situation. Players need to smoke chokepoints for executes, retakes, and blocking attackers, where they must deploy them in entrances. It prevents enemies from hiding near the smoke, narrows the area they can push, and forces them to expose themselves.

Smokes are mainly for stalling and isolating angles during late-round situations with fewer players in open spaces or mid-site. These can slow attackers, obstruct post-plant positions, or prevent the spike from planting. Avoid open-space smokes when attacking or retaking unless outnumbered.

How can smokes help in defusing the spike?

A critical situation involves using smokes to defuse the spike. The optimal strategy is to place the smoke directly on the spike to cover the player who’s attempting to defuse. It hides the diffuser, forcing attackers to push through it, and can bait them into fights that are disadvantageous for them if the player fakes the defuse. Teammates can position themselves around the smoke to fight off attackers.

Smoking the chokepoint leading to the spike is a weaker option because, although it blocks vision, it also hides attackers from the player’s team, giving them cover. A smoke on the spike provides direct protection.

How to be offensive as a controller in Valorant?

Smokes are essential for defaults and site executes on offense. Cooldown management ensures players can transition between both smoothly. During defaults, smokes allow players to get map control, prevent defender rotations, and enable lurking. Saving at least one smoke for an execute.

For executes, players should smoke off defender rotation chokepoints to isolate anyone in the site. Flush chokepoint smokes stop defenders from abusing the smoke for cover. Although most sites have common smoke points, players should change depending on map control and remaining smokes.

How to be defensive as a controller in Valorant?

Controllers should focus on retakes, early map control, and wasting time if they’re playing defensively. Retakes are similar to offensive executes where players must smoke chokepoints to get control of the site, while avoiding cutting off their team’s vision. The best retake smoke for a defuse is usually directly on the spike.

For early control, smokes can block attackers’ vision, slow their push, and ensure attackers don’t know the positions of defenders. These smokes well with set plays to gain early control or isolate attackers for picks, disrupting their defaults and creating doubt.

References

1. [1] "official Valorant homepage". playvalorant.com. Retrieved August 15, 2025