Many players plant the spike in subpar locations they are accustomed to instead of the best plants spots on the site. The best plant spot can differ every round depending on the situation, and so it’s important to know when to plant where. Whether or not the defenders defuse the spike determines the outcome of the round, so it is crucial to know the optimal plant spots on every map.

Basics of Plant Spots

The best plants spots are places that have the smallest defuse circle and can be defended from far away and many different angles. The most important thing is being able to defend the spike as safely and as long as possible. This usually means you want to play longer angles when defending the spike. This way your enemies will have a hard time killing if you only jiggle, and if they do decide to push you, it will waste a lot of their precious time. Planting the spike for many different angles will cause the defender’s attention to be divided, and you have a better chance of them not being prepared to fight.

When you can, you also want the defuse circle to be as small as possible, because this will limit the area that defenders can defuse from. In situations where you are blindly spraying through smokes, this can make a huge difference. So you’ll often want to plant the spike up against a wall or in a corner as far as possible. The spike actually doesn’t plant exactly where you are, but a bit towards where you’re looking. So if you want to make sure you’re planting as deep as you can into a corner, you should look into the corner as you plant.

Ascent

A Generator (Bad)

First, we’ll start with the A Site on Ascent. Planting in front of the Generator is extremely common but is generally not a great idea. This is because it is only easy to defend from Wine, but can’t be easily defended from A Main or Tree. Those players would have to swing very far out and commit to a fight. It’s even worse to plant on the left side of the Generator because it’s impossible to defend from offsite. Although Generator isn’t a good spot, many players plant here because they are just used to it, or Rafters or Back Site haven’t been cleared yet.

A Dice

This is a much better plant spot because both Wine and A Main players can defend the spike easily compared to the Generator plant where only Wine players could. Attackers playing in Tree Room can also defend the spike from defenders. But this plant spot has the requirement that you are protected from Rafters with either smokes or teammates covering for you.

A Tree

This is a relatively unknown plant spot that can catch opponents off-guard.

You want to plant the spike as far right as possible against the wooden box. But be aware that you’re very open to Rafters while planting. When defenders try to defuse the spike they will almost always be looking toward A Main, but actually, you can be playing over at Mid Cubby. Most players don’t know this powerful angle, and you can pick up multiple kills from this angle before they can even react. Even if they find out you are here, it’ll waste a lot of their time to flush you out of the spot. This can help you win 1v1 or clutch situations where you need the element of surprise to secure the round.

B Boxes (Bad)

Although this spot is very common, it is one of the worst spots to plant on Ascent B. Unless you have lineups, there are no benefits of planting here, and it’s very difficult to defend from offsite. Nearly every spot on-site can easily be defended from Boat House, so it doesn’t matter that Boat House can defend this spot.

B Corner

A much better spot to plant is a bit North of the bottom left corner. This is because it can be defended from Stairs and Lane. You can also wallbang to get the defuser off the spike safely from offsite because the wall next to the door switch is wallbangable by rifles.

B Back

Another similar, good plant spot is against the back wall between the two entrances to Boat House. This spot can be defended from Lane and from defender spawn. One downside is that it can’t be wallbanged and also you must be safe from defender spawn to plant here. This is a good spot if your team has map control on defender spawn, but otherwise, B Corner is generally the better plant spot.

B Market

One final plant spot on Ascent is this spot planted for Markets. This plant spot can be difficult to pull off because your team must have control over Markets and defender spawn. But, if your team does have the map control necessary, this can be a good spot to plant because Market players can defend spike easily. It can also be defended from Lane and defender spawn.

Haven

A Default

For A Site on Haven, the planting against the default box is a good spot and is safe from both defender spawn and Haven. It can be covered from A Short and A Long, but you must plant on the right side. If you plant on the left side, both Short and Long players are forced to push out farther to defend the spike, so it is disadvantageous to do so.

A Long

This plant spot is specifically to give A Long players the easiest time possible. A Long players can defend the spike effectively by jiggling and playing passively. This plant spot can also be defended if you push out of A Link or A Short or even from Heaven. This plant spot is very good but requires your team to cover you from Heaven and defender spawn.

B Middle

When planting on the B site, most of the time your team will be getting a fast plant and be playing Mid. When playing from Mid, this is a good plant spot because you can defend it from anywhere in Mid and even from A Link. To plant here, you must make sure you have teammates, smokes, or walls to protect you from both the left and right.

B Left

If the enemy team still has a smoke player alive, it can be better to plant in this spot. This is because your team can get smoked off Mid. If you plant in this corner, the defuse circle is very small so it’s easy to spray and kill the defuser even if there’s a smoke. This spot is also a bit easier to plant in because you are safe from A Link, so you only have to worry about your left. One downside of this plant spot is that your team is forced to play more on the right side of Mid to have an angle on the spike.

C Default (Bad)

This is a very common spot to plant on C Site but is an awful spot. C Long players and Garage players have to push very far up to defend the spike. Although it is a safe spot, you should never plant here.

C Garage

Most of the time you should be planting here. You can almost always plant in this spot as long as you have smokes or a teammate watching Garage for you. This spot is much better because the spike can be defended from C Long and Garage.

C Long

If your team is specifically for a C Long post-plant, you want to plant the spike up against the boxes. This will reduce the size of the defuse circle, and if you get smoked off you can still kill the defuser as long as the spike is pinged. It’s not too hard to plant Back Site, but if you don’t have teammates to help watch defender spawn, you may have trouble getting out safely.

Bind

A Truck

This is the most common spot to plant and is a good one. It can be defended decently well from both A Short and Showers. Depending on the situation you can plant more to the left or to the right side of the truck. Planting on the left side can benefit A Short players but harm Showers players, and vice versa. When planting here you should be aware of what map control the rest of your team has.

A Triple (Bad)

If you’re pushing from Showers you may end up planting in Triple. This spot is only easily defendable from Showers but otherwise very difficult to defend. There’s also a chance that defenders playing Heaven can wallbang you while planting so it can also be a dangerous location to plant. But unless you have good smokes, walls, or a coordinated team covering you, it can be difficult to plant anywhere else, unfortunately.

A Open

If you come from Showers and can plant safely, this is the best spot to plant. You can either get this plant down with a Sage wall or you can outmaneuver the enemy team with a B fake and take the teleporter to Showers. Defenders trying to defuse have to be aware of countless angles, so this is a good spot to plant.

B Default (Bad)

Most players plant in this default spot in the bottom left corner. This can be defended from Long but it’s a bad place to plant. This is because Elbow players have to push very far out and sometimes Hookah players can’t stop the defuse if the defuser tucks themself into the corner. You also never want to plant inside of the Tube.

B Mid

A much better spot to plant is right in front of the Tube. This lets B Long, Hookah, and Elbow players defend the spike easily. You can always plant here safely as long as the site is cleared, so you should almost always be planting here.

Split

A Defaults (Bad)

Most players plant behind the Sign or towards Elbow because it’s protected from Heaven. The problem with these spots is they’re hard to defend from off site. Out of the two, the Sign plant is slightly better because it’s possible to defend from Elbow and you are able to wallbang from Heaven. But because you have to wallbang the whole length of the Sign, it is extremely difficult to kill the defuser that way.

A Corner

Planting in this corner is a good alternative to the previous spots because it’s completely safe from Heaven and can be defended from A Main. Another benefit of this spot because it’s in a corner if you plant correctly, you can make the defuse circle very small.

A Bottom

This is a similar spot to the opposite corner of the A Site. It can’t be defended from A Main, but can be defended from both sides of Elbow and even Heaven instead. This is a good location because it has a small defuse circle and it’s relatively safe from Heaven to plant. For a defender to kill you from Heaven, they have to push all the way out on the Rafters. So if you have a smoke or another teammate, they can’t kill you from Heaven.

A Heaven

One final spot to plant is when you are specifically planting for Heaven. Like the other plant spots on A Site, this has a small defuse circle. This spike plant is difficult to defend from on-site but can be defended from Heaven and A Main. This is a good place to plant when your team has Heaven control or you have a teammate who can lurk through A Vents. To plant here safely, you must be protected from defenders that could be in Heaven.

B Default (Bad)

This is a very common spot to plant because it’s protected from both Heaven and Alley, but it is a terrible spot to plant. This is because any attackers that want to defend the spike must push up to right next to it. It’s impossible to defend it from B Main well without lineups.

B Main

This is a much better spot to plant but is open to Heaven and the whole site must be cleared. If you can plant here safely, this is the best spot. This is because it can be defended from B Main, Heaven, and Alley very well.

B Corner

Another decent spot to plant is in the bottom right corner of the site. This can be defended from both sides of Pillar. You can also wallbang the defuser from Alley or B Main, or you can push out just a bit farther to shoot them normally. You can even sneak to right above them from Heaven and catch the defuser off-guard. To plant here you need Heaven Control, so it’s a good spot to plant if your team pushed B from Mid.

Icebox

A Default (Bad)

This is a very common place to plant on the A Site of Icebox, but if you can, you never want to plant here. This is because this plant spot is extremely difficult to defend. Attackers are forced to push up to right next to the spike to see it, so defenders can easily bait attackers to push.

A Generator

A better spot to plant is against the left side of the Generator. If you plant against it correctly, you can limit the defuse circle a bit. This spike plant is defendable from many good spots including Nest, Pipes, and also from Screens if you have lurkers. This is often a risky spot to plant, so it’s best to use a Sage wall to plant here. Otherwise, you will have to trust in your teammates when planting here.

A Belt

This plant is very similar to the last one and is decent. Instead of planting against the Generator, you’ll plant a bit to the left of it. You want to be planting here if you have teammates specifically playing to defend the spike from A Belt. Compared to the previous plant, the angles are slightly worse and Pipes can no longer defend this spike plant. So unless you need to defend spike from Belt, it’s better to do the A Generator plant.

A Top

This is also a very good spot on A Site. You don’t have to worry about Back Site and Rafters when planting here but you have to be aware of defenders playing Screens. This is a good spot that can be defended from many elevated positions including Pipes, Nest, and A Belt. Defenders will have a difficult time trying to use the walls on Top Site as cover because they are very wall penetrable. One great thing about this plant is there is a very sneaky angle all the way from Mid Boiler. If you have a Mid lurker, the defenders would never expect it.

B Default (Bad)

This is the most common spot to plant on the B Site. It’s not terrible, but there are other spots that can be defended much more easily. The problem with this spot is that B Long players have to swing all the way out of cover to defend the spike. Many players know to also wallbang this exact location so it can be dangerous to plant here.

B Corner

Planting in this corner of the B Site gives attackers an easier time defending the spike from both Yellow and B Long. You can even defend the spike from on top of the box in B Long to catch defenders off-guard.

B Mid

This is another good plant spot on the B site as long as you have a Sage Wall for cover. If you plant here, you can defend it from Yellow and B Main like usual. The extra benefit for planting here is it can also be defended all the way from Mid.

B Top

If you can gain full control of B because of a Mid push or an A fake, this is an interesting plant to go for. You want to plant on the right side of the Top site. This exposes the spike to a variety of angles including Kitchen and Tube. Defenders will struggle to get to the spike and have no idea where you can shoot them from.

Breeze

A Default

Most players plant against the middle of the right pyramid on the A Site because it’s safe and can be defended from A Shop and Caves. But a better spot to plant is as far right into the corner as possible. This reduces the defuse circle and gives A Shop and Cave players better, safer angles to defend the spike from.

B Default

B Default is a common place to plant because if you plant on the bottom left side of Pillar, you can be shielded and safe from Defender Spawn and Tunnel. You also can defend spike from B Main and Window.

B Mid

By planting just a bit to the right instead of the previous plant, you can defend the spike from Mid and even Nest. This can be very exposed to defenders in B Tunnel, so you need walls or smokes to block your opponents’ vision. If you can plant here safely, it’s better to do so because if any of your teammates lurk through Elbow or defender spawn, they can catch enemies off-guard. Otherwise, it’s better to plant in B Default.

Conclusion

These are the best plant spots for every map. When you’re planting you always want to consider the map control your team and the enemy team has. One important thing to remember is that although these are the optimal locations, depending on what utility your team has, other originally bad spots can become better. For example, many people have post-plant lineups for otherwise bad default plant spots. In that case, you can plant there instead. Or if you have Brimstone’s ultimate, you want to plant in any corner so it’s difficult to escape it. Now that you know the best spots and some special unusual ones, go out there and win your post-plants. Good luck!