I talked to one of my Astra locking comrades Rain about how to play Controllers in hopes to motivate more people into joining us and being every auto-lock duelist's favorite player!
In VALORANT, every agent has a role in the game, but few are as important as Controllers. Without Viper, Astra, Omen, and Brimstone, taking sites on the attack is near impossible, and holding sides is almost a lost cause without smoke to hold a choke point. The two controllers you will probably see on most maps are either Astra or Omen, due to their powerful kits and ease to play. Today, we talked to a player who has accrued probably hundreds of hours on both of these agents, Rain, about how to really master them.
I noticed your Omen pick rate is much higher than Astra. Why use Omen over Astra? Do you think he’s stronger or is it just a comfort pick?
Rain: I’m pretty comfortable on both picks, Omen and Astra. But I do lean towards Omen a little more because I feel as I can do more solo and aggressive plays. I don’t need to rely on other people.
Why use Omen over Brimstone. Why is Omen better than Brimstone?
Rain: I never have played Brimstone: nothing against Brimstone or anything! I just like Omen’s kit more. I think Brimstone’s ultimate is good and being able to place your smokes all at once is good too. I just personally would rather play Omen and with our team composition it’s better to have Omen.
When are the best times to use your Omen blind? On attack or defense?
Rain: The Omen blind is pretty situational unless you have a set play already with your teammates. If you’re going to flash them into some place or if you are on defense you can throw your blind out to stall or get a frag. So I feel like you need to have a set play for it to really shine.
Omen’s teleport isn’t the most versatile ability, but it has its uses, what should someone be using for and when?
Rain: Yeah, Omen’s TP is a little bit clunky right now, they did make it better a few months ago. Like you said it is not super versatile. It’s situational, almost like the flash. If you have information on where enemies are I feel like you’re able to get more map control with a TP, you’re able to TP over a Cypher trip… Just sneaky things, or outplays, like a fake TP, just cheeky little things.
When are the best times to use your ultimate ability? Creating space for your team? Going for a flank? Or for fast rotations?
Rain: I love Omen’s ult, and everything you just said is a great way to use the ultimate. If you’re in a 1v4 you can easily grab the bomb and get a free bomb plant. Flanking is harder to do but if you do it when chaos is going down people can overlook it. Rotating with it is good too.
I know you mostly play Omen, but you also do play some Astra. A lot of people think that Astra is one of the best characters in the game, do you agree? Why or why not?
Rain: Yeah, I think Astra is definitely one of the best agents. She has one of the best kits and her ultimate is powerful too, like a wall that covers entrances or the bomb. Astra is a character that requires good comms like if you’re going to put down a star your team needs to tell you when to activate it.
How should you be using your suck ability?
Rain: I would say using the suck is very powerful if you’re combining it with someone else, like a molly, Killjoy molly, Viper molly. I also like to use it if I know an enemy is pushing somewhere to stall for rotations.
What’s a mistake Astra players make when putting down smokes?
Rain: I feel like with Astra smokes you have to be pretty precise, there are two bubbles around the star when you’re placing them, and people don’t realize the smaller bubble is where the smoke is. So just be careful and hopefully, it doesn’t go up on a box or something.
When should you use your ultimate ability as Astra on attack and on defense?
Rain: On defense, I love using the Astra wall for retaking, you’re either just blocking them off the bomb. For attack, it’s pretty straightforward, just use it for an execution or post-plant.
Any final tips for Astra?
Rain: Just taking your time to know where you place your stars and when to use them. You only have five, it’s not like the omen ability where it regenerates, so you have to use them carefully.
Thank you to Rain for joining us and make sure to drop her a follow on Twitter and Twitch.
