Take your smoke placements to the next level on Ascent!
Ascent was part of the initial release maps available for play in VALORANT when it first came out in June 2020. Since the map has already been out for a while, many players will have amassed a ton of playtime around the map, giving them enough time to familiarize themselves with the map’s quirks and features.
Thanks to its relatively open layout, many Agent combinations and strategies work well around Ascent, making gameplay around the map relatively simple and easy to get the hang of. However, no VALORANT map is easy to play without the help of utility, especially smokes.
Ascent’s Middle lane is mainly the hottest point of contention on the map. Whichever side gains control of the middle lane will most likely control the pace of every round. Smoke utility is also essential within the bombsites to help secure your team’s site entry.
We have compiled the Best Smoke Spots on Ascent for both the Attacking and Defending sides, which should help your team secure more space around the classic VALORANT map safely.
Best Smoke Spots on Ascent
Attacking
- Best Smoke Spots on Ascent A-site Attacking
- Best Smoke Spots on Ascent Middle Attacking
- Best Smoke Spots on Ascent B-site Attacking
Defending
- Best Smoke Spots on Ascent A-site Defending
- Best Smoke Spots on Ascent Middle Defending
- Best Smoke Spots on Ascent B-site Defending
When, Where, Why, and How to Smoke in VALORANT
Smokes are very easy to place and use in VALORANT, so players rarely think about where, when, and why they set their smoke utility in the first place.
When you should use your smoke utility is purely situational – depending on how the rest of the round goes, you might be forced to place a smoke somewhere unorthodox to serve a particular purpose.
The questions Where and Why you place your smokes at the beginning of the round are often predetermined, and where you place your smokes only depends on which bombsite on which map your team chooses to attack or defend.
For the Attacking side, Why you place your smoke is to reduce the enemy’s vision. On the other hand, the Defending side will smoke off lanes and angles to slow the game’s pace down.
Then there is the question of How to place smoke utilities covered in the article How to Use Smokes Effectively in VALORANT. You should give it a good read to give yourself the best idea of putting smokes correctly in VALORANT.
Never take smokes for granted in VALORANT. In a game where many angles are present in every bombsite, your team will need as much help as they can get through using your team’s smoke utility.
Best Smoke Spots on Ascent A-site Attacking
While there are many cubbies and corners within A-site itself, there are only two lanes that Defenders can use to access A-site – A-Heaven/Rafters and A-Tree.
The only real challenge in taking control of A-site is entering A-site itself from A-Main. A-site Entrance is a chokepoint because of how narrow and concentrated the Defending team’s angle is towards the entryway.
Picking off incoming Attackers is relatively easy from A-Heaven/A-Rafters or A-site because of how predictable this lane is. Not to mention utility such as Sage’s Slow Orb and smokes from the opposing team completely cover the A-site Entrance, making it extra difficult and risky to rush into the bombsite from A-Main.
However, once your team overcomes its initial roadblock towards A-site, smoking off A-Heaven and A-Tree should be enough to secure site entry for your team.
Therefore, the Best Smoke Spots for Ascent A-site are A-Heaven/Rafters and A-Tree – two of the most powerful angles the Defending team has towards A-Main.
Best Smoke Spots on Ascent Middle Attacking
We previously mentioned how difficult it could be to enter A-site on Ascent, which is why Middle control is so important on this map.
On the Attacking side, control of the Middle lane opens up a world of options regarding how the Attacking team takes either A-site or B-site.
For A-site, control of the Middle lane grants free access towards A-Tree and A-Garden. With a coordinated Attack with your teammates from A-Main, the A-site Defenders should be in a world of trouble dealing with two sets of enemies at once. This should also help you cut off Defender rotations coming from Market and B-site.
For B-site, Middle control once again grants the Attacking side access to the Market, which they can use to overwhelm the B-site Defenders with a double entry from both B-Main and B-Market. Of course, Middle control also cuts off rotations coming from the A-site.
If your team chooses to Attack A-site, then the Best Smoke Spots on Ascent Middle Attacking are Lower Middle and A-Garden.
If your team opts to go to B-site instead, the Best Smoke Spots on Ascent Middle Attacking are A-Short and Defender Spawn.
Best Smoke Spots on Ascent B-site Attacking
There are significantly more cover and angles Defenders can use to defend B-site. Perhaps the most important spots to cover are Defender Spawn and Market.
The goal here is to delay the rotation of Defenders coming from A-site or Middle and secure your team’s entry into B-site.
A team of five players should be able to deal with a few Defenders within B-site with ease. At the most, there should only really be one or two Defenders within B-site since the rest of the Defending team has to cover Middle and A-site.
With that said, the Best Smoke Spots on Ascent B-site Attacking are Market Entrance and Defender Spawn.
Best Smoke Spots on Ascent A-site Defending
The Defending team has most of their work cut out for them already on paper.
While the Attacking team can choose to attack various lanes around the map, these lanes are usually chokepoints that can easily be blocked off with utility such as smokes, traps, and mollies.
The goal here is to block off the main entryways that the Attacking team will use to enter either bombsite – A-Main or B-Main.
With this in mind, the Best Smoke Spots on Ascent A-site Defending are A-Main and A-Short. The Attacking team will want to enter from both A-Main and A-Short at the same time, so blocking off both of these spots should put a halt to their march towards the bombsite itself, even if just for a little while.
Best Smoke Spots on Ascent Middle Defending
The Defending team only has access to three angles while defending Ascent Middle, of which two are usable simultaneously. These are:
- Top Middle viewed from Lower Middle
- Middle Link viewed from Lower Middle
- Middle Link viewed from A-Short
Depending on how good the enemy team is at 1v1 duels, your team can opt to dry-peek these angles. However, if you feel a bit more cautious, you can simply smoke off Middle Link and Top Middle to deny the Attacking team access to Middle.
Either way, the Attacking team must not gain control of the Middle lane since the Attackers can use the Middle lane to gain access to other entryways towards either A-site or B-site.
Best Smoke Spots on Ascent B-site Defending
There is only really one important smoke spot for B-site on Ascent: the B-Main Entrance.
Depending on how Middle control is working out for your team, the Attacking team can come from either Market or B-Main (or both if they win Middle control). However, smoking off B-Main should be enough to slow down or halt an enemy team’s rush into B-site.
If your teammate holding Middle concedes control of the lane and opts to fall back into B-site, then this is where you will need to smoke off Market as well.
With that said, the Best Smoke Spots on Ascent B-site Defending are B-Main or Market.
Smokes for Map Control
Smokes are the most important utility in VALORANT. You can still win games without ever using flash or molly utility in-game. However, you will most likely lose the match if your team does not have decent smoke utility on your team.
Site entry and site defense around Ascent can be significantly more difficult without proper smoke placements. To maximize the effectiveness of your smokes placements, read our article on How to Use Smokes Effectively in VALORANT, where we outline a few nuances regarding smoke placements that can help elevate your smoke game in VALORANT.
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