Bomb Tapping: What does it mean to tap the bomb or spike?

In tactical FPS games like Counter-Strike and Valorant ^[1], bomb tapping is a technique where a person starts defusing a planted bomb but immediately stops after the sound cue. The reason behind bomb tapping is to bait enemies who may be hiding nearby to prevent the bomb from getting defused into revealing their locations and coming out of cover so the defending team can kill them.

Bomb tapping is a strategic move and players use this technique in time-limited situations where the defenders have to defuse the bomb no matter what. Since most high-level players are used to others bomb-tapping, they don’t peak out when they hear their opponent defusing in case it's a fake which can lead to a loss if it turns out to be a real defuse.

How to get good at bomb tapping in Valorant and Counter-Strike?

The key to getting good at bomb tapping in Valorant and Counter-Strike is to check where it’s planted. If it’s planted in the corner of the bombsite, then there’s a high possibility that the enemy will be hiding where they can easily look at the spike when they peek out. 

For example, if a bomb is planted on top of the boxes in bombsite A in Dust 2 ^[2], the enemy team is hiding somewhere in A-Long since they have a clear line of sight from that position. Bait them out by tapping the bomb and peeking in that area.

In Valorant, if someone plants the spike on the railing in bombsite C in Lotus ^[3], the opponent is likely hiding in Sands and is ready to deny the defuse.

References

1. [1] "official Valorant homepage". playvalorant.com. Retrieved September 05, 2024
2. [2] "Dust 2 page". counterstrike.fandom.com. Retrieved September 05, 2024
3. [3] "Valorant Lotus webpage". valorant.fandom.com. Retrieved September 05, 2024