Learn these smokes for Icebox. Trust us; you will need them!
Icebox received a minor overhaul back in the initial release of Patch 4.04 for VALORANT. The patch brought in layout changes to both A-site and B-site, with the latter receiving a more substantial change to its onsite elements and layout.
Layout changes aside, Icebox is still one of the more vertical maps in VALORANT features many elevation changes for various spots around the map. With a ton of horizontal and vertical angles, to check upon site entry and Defense, you have to know the Best Smoke Spots on Icebox to reduce the number of angles your team is exposed to.
Worry not! We have compiled the Best Smoke Spots on Icebox for both the Attacking and Defending sides, which will help with bombsite takes and site defense around the map. Let’s check them out!
Best Smoke Spots on Icebox
Attacking
- Best Smoke Spots on Icebox A-site Attacking
- Best Smoke Spots on Icebox Middle Attacking
- Best Smoke Spots on Icebox B-site Attacking
Defending
- Best Smoke Spots on Icebox A-site Defending
- Best Smoke Spots on Icebox Middle Defending
- Best Smoke Spots on Icebox 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 tons of angles are present in every bombsite, your team will need as much help as you can get through using your team’s smoke utility.
Best Smoke Spots on Icebox A-site Attacking
The most common Defenders spots on Icebox A-site are A-Rafters, A-Backsite, Nest, and Elbow.
Since your team can only smoke so many spots simultaneously, you will want to smoke off the most common Defender spot and cut off the remaining rotational lanes towards the A-site itself.
With this in mind, the Best Smoke Spots on Icebox A-site Attacking are A-Rafters, A-Default, and the gap between A-Screens and Nest.
Brimstone can smoke all three spots with ease. However, Controller Agents such as Omen and Astra should prioritize smoking off A-Screens and A-Rafters. Your team can manually check corners around the A-Backsite area instead.
By cutting off half of the entire A-site area, your team should have no problems planting the Spike at the ideal spot on Icebox A-site as outlined in our article The Best Spike Plant Spots (All Maps) in VALORANT. From there, your team should focus on securing crucial angles on post-plant.
Beware of cheeky players lurking under your smokes, though, as one of the smoke spots featured here – the A-Default smoke – leaves a small gap behind the generator that Defenders can use to catch your teammates off guard.
Best Smoke Spots on Icebox B-site Attacking
Icebox’s B-site is much broader and feels more spacious than Icebox’s A-site.
The same trend continues for B-site – tight corners and tons of cubbies welcome the Attackers at B-Green. However, once B-Green is cleared, B-site is a relatively easy bombsite to isolate with smokes, walls, and other utility.
Three smoke spots are all you need to secure a Spike plant at Icebox’s B-site. The Best Smoke Spots on Icebox B-site Attacking are the lane toward Snowman, B-Orange, and B-Topsite.
Smoking off all three should be relatively easy for Brimstone. If you are using a different smoker Agent such as Omen, smoke off B-Orange and the lane toward Snowman so your planter can safely plant the Spike at B-Default.
All your team has to do is play post-plant Defense from B-Green and B-Yellow.
Best Smoke Spots on Icebox Middle Attacking
Some VALORANT maps feature a classic A-site-Middle-B-site layout that was made popular by all the tactical shooting games before VALORANT.
Having control of the Middle lane in just about every VALORANT map does three things:
- Open up attacking options towards the current most advantageous bombsite.
- Cuts off the Defender-side rotations from the opposite bombsite.
- Secures flanking lanes.
The same is true for Icebox, where control of Middle gives the Attacking team the option to either flank the A-site Defenders with a simultaneous A-Main and A-Screens attack or take B-Orange and B-Kitchen control to cut off the Defenders’ rotation towards B-site.
Icebox Middle should generally be easy to take if your team is coordinated enough. There is usually just one player holding Middle from Boiler.
If your team decides to go to A-site, then the Best Smoke Spots for Icebox Middle Attacking are Under Tube and Boiler – both of which should grant your team free entry into A-site through Middle>A-Screens.
If your team decides to go to B-site instead, the Best Smokes for Icebox Middle Attacking are Boiler and Kitchen Window.
Best Smoke Spots on Icebox A-site Defending
Defending on Icebox can be tricky if you do not have the proper smoke placements to help deter the incoming Attacker-rush.
Whew! With the Pipes boost now removed, Defenders will have one less angle to worry about on Defense. However, the Attacking team still has many entry options onsite such as the Ropes connecting the two Nests, A-Elbow, and A-Belt.
An Attacker-rush towards A-site can be difficult to contain when Defending A-site because the Attacking team will often have the numbers advantage. Most of the time, there will only be two players holding A-site while the rest of the Defending team players hold Middle and B-site.
With that in mind, your goal as a Defender on A-site is to stop or slow down an incoming rush by the enemies as best as you can so you can buy the rest of your team the time they need to come over and help with retaking A-site.
Therefore, the Best Smoke Spots on Icebox A-site Defending are A-Orb, A-Belt, and A-Nest (near A-Belt). Smoking these spots should help slow down or stop an Attacking team from rushing into A-site.
Best Smoke Spots on Icebox Middle Defending
From Icebox Middle, the Attacking team has two different lanes they can take to get to B-site – Tube and Under Tube.
However, the pre-round start barrier is situated a few meters away from both of these lanes, which should give you enough time to smoke off the area leading up towards these lanes.
You will most likely be all alone when holding Icebox’s Middle lane since the rest of your team will be busy defending A-site and B-site. With that in mind, it might be best to play passively and report enemy positions when you spot them.
With that in mind, the Best Smoke Spots on Icebox Middle Defending are Middle-Blue and Under Tube.
Best Smoke Spots on Icebox B-site Defending
Thanks to the recent layout change for Icebox B-site, smoking off the B-Green and B-Yellow half of B-site is now much easier.
The two lanes at B-Yellow are the Best Smoke Spots on Icebox B-site Defending and are all you need to slow down an Attacker rush into B-site.
It might seem like a good idea to defend B-site by peeking into B-Green. However, if the attacking team decides to rush towards B-site, you will have five players chasing you down without reliable cover to fall back to.
With that in mind, it might be best to hang back at B-site and smoke off the two lanes at B-Yellow while you wait for your teammates to rotate over and help you with B-site Defense.
Smokes on You
Smokes are awesome pieces of utility that play a very important role in Attacking and Defending in VALORANT.
For Icebox, the proper use of smokes is crucial for Attackers in securing and capturing various areas around the map. Blocking off extra angles upon site entry is also an important role that smokes play for the Attacking team.
For the Defenders, proper use of smoke utility can slow down or even stop an Attacker-rush into the site, which can help buy time for the rest of the team to come over and help with retaking the bomb site.
So, there we have it! We hope that learning about the Best Smoke Spots on Icebox can help you elevate your smoking game to the next level!
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