Who is the best controller in Valorant, and how can gamers take advantage of them to win more games? If you've been watching the Open Qualifiers or VCT tournaments, you probably already know who we're talking about. Astra, the Goddess of the Stars.
Astra is an agent that has so much power over the game and is still slept upon in matchmaking quite a bit. Throughout today’s article, this guide is dedicated to Astra to teach players how to bring Astra to her full potential.
The most potential Astra really provides, hands down, is her stars’ ability to persist throughout the entire round. Furthermore, it denies the enemy team the ability to push up. If the opposing team tries to rush past a star in a chokepoint, they risk getting pulled in and killed. They are forced to bait out the star and play the round more slowly.
In addition, when playing behind cover, there is not much stopping an Astra from just placing stars directly on top of you and activating them. Other notable things separate Astra from other controllers. One of which is how quickly she can form her smokes for execution.
An agent like Omen takes a bit of time to throw out his smokes, and it can be a little too slow because of rush plays. Although Astra needs to place her stars before she can activate a smoke, all of her utility can come down at once if the stars are in place. In comparison, Omen’s abilities cannot.
He needs to place one smoke, then another, and then throw his blind, putting him one step behind Astra as well. Omen was previously considered the best controller in the game; it feels like he falls short sometimes compared to Astra.
Viper, another controller agent, is also incredibly strong as of right now. However, she’s more of a niche pick for certain maps, where Astra’s play has been rising consistently pretty much everywhere. She is definitely the go-to controller agent as of right now.
The first thing to keep in mind as Astra is that her stars provide a lot of pressure. She is awesome on offense or defense even without activating the stars, forcing players to react to them. The thought of just the threat that if they walk over them, they could be pulled or stunnedis often enough to make enemies play more safely.
Furthermore, since the enemies can see your stars, you can use it to bait them into a specific direction on offense. If the player notices the team rotates quickly, placing stars on one site at the start of the round, then recall them back once the round starts. Thus, it manipulates where they are putting their defenders.
Since Astra is definitely more of a slow play agent, she benefits from this rotation of stars and methodically placing them to create pressure all over the map. Previously, Omen was strong at this tactic, but Astra can do this even better.
Another reason Astra is powerful right now is how strong she executes. Players must place her smokes when executing as Astra to block off choke points. Later, the other available stars are placed as stuns and pulls on common cover points. It allows them to disable enemies in two locations on-site and provide the team with free kills. Optimally, those stars should only be placed until the push is about to happen. Therefore, the opponents have minimal time to react.
One of the even better things about Astra is that her ultimate can be used in place of smokes. You can use this to have even more stars for post-plant or playing around throughout the round. If players intend to use Astra’s ultimate for an execute later in the round, they can afford to use your stars to help grab more territory a bit more freely.
Astra walls can function effectively for the site takes, which is one of the other great things. In Omen’s situation, it can be challenging to plan a strategy around his ultimate because it doesn’t always have that big of an impact. However, Astra can be used as an actual piece in execution and, therefore, gives her a lot more value in a matchmaking setting.
One more thing to keep in mind while using her ultimate is because it blocks sound, it can be an excellent opportunity to run an execute.
Generally, on defense, players want to set up stars at select choke points throughout the map. If the enemies do try to push any location hard, the defender can shut them down with a pull and grab some free kills for your teammates. Even better is that she does not need to be on-site to activate them. As Omen, he needs to stand near on-site to blind them during that hard push.
Astra can pull people from wherever and whenever. However, to do this most effectively, the players must communicate and keep an eye on the map. You can also combine this technique with Killjoy mollies and Raze grenades as well, which can become an obnoxious force to deal with as the attackers.
The great thing about being able to recall the stars is by placing your stars early in the round. If they do not show pressure on a site, you can recall those stars and use them for a different purpose, such as a quick counter-push or a retake!
As for her ultimate, it may feel awkward understanding where to use it on defense, but its most significant strength is going to be on retakes. Due to the wall denying audio and blocking bullets, it can block off areas that defenders will generally use for their post-plant and force them to aggress to deny the defusal. The best tactic is to wall off a place beyond the bomb, so the team can close in and take control more easily. Later they can hold for enemy players pushing through that wall.
Knowing that the Astra wall is solid for a retake, it is highly encouraged to let the team understand when your ultimate is available. Once they know this, they can play off-site for the retake if it comes down to it. The last thing your team wants is for players to die alone due to mis-coordination, forcing you to try a retake solo as Astra.
Astra is incredibly strong right now, and she will likely eventually get nerfed. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t abuse her gameplay right now while she’s on top and use it to help you gain in Ranked. She has been absolutely dominating during these VCT matches recently, and it’s not something players should be overlooking.
She’s probably one of the best support agents to carry within ranked, and if you’re an in-game-leader type player, she may be the perfect agent for you!
