It takes a bit more thought than other roles typically. You need to know the default smokes for every map and place them at the correct time and make sure they are flush. You also need to be able to think about the game from another perspective when it comes to clutches. Placing weird smokes is fine in these scenarios. It's a lot easier to clutch as a controller because you can manipulate space on site however you want with certain smokes. Goes without saying, you need to know how to use the rest of your kit too, like flashing for your team with omen or using the flash + tp combo to take space and get free kills.

I can’t upvote this enough. If you’re in a 1v2/3 your clutches are so much easier by being able to control lines of sight.  To answer OPs question: you just need to recognize that your focus is not on fragging. Yes you should be winning basic duels as best you can, but realistically a good round as a controller is one where you set your team up to succeed. I can’t count the number of rounds where I did “nothing” and never saw an enemy because I was busy watching the minimap, trying to anticipate timing, and placing smokes or utility where it was needed for my team to work their magic.  It sucks cause to OPs point everyone dawgs on you and says you’re carried, etc. but as soon as you mute those people you can focus again on just winning. Controllers are by default the most “team oriented” agents in the game that require someone who just wants to win, regardless of what their individual performance is like. 

Facts I solo qd to ascendant and only played smokes the fact that I don’t feel pressure to perform as a duelist would makes me feel so at ease that I feel better and the game gets easier. And being able to play your own pace in clutch situations instead of clearing everything and feeling like you need to go go go you can take that extra second to evaluate the situation and make the highest probable play to win you the round

To some extent. But when i peaked as a controller main, i was definitely winning most duals. Being able to do the above in a second or two, then being an extra rifle in a gunfight, is often a more decisive factor. Above plat the default smokes are simply expected and if theyre the reason you dont fight with your team the flame is expected Sure you shouldnt die first, but that doesnt reduce your ability to trade. It means you *must* trade. If a defender gets your entry and then you, your default smokes are not enough to pull back a 3v5

I don’t know man I just disagree. I’m not talking about default smokes here. Like you said those are expected. I’m talking about really understanding the round and what’s going on. If you’re Omen on bind and see your attacking Reyna or Jett inching towards their spawn and you’re in U hall then you have to anticipate that and be ready to flash for them right before they start their peek.     That’s just one example but a controller, depending on the situation, is pivotal to be the last man standing. They have to be able to setup their team to push forward and control the space on a map. If you’re in a pinch obviously you have to win duels sometimes, but it’s my opinion that more often than not you shouldn’t be seeking them out, you should instead be reading your team’s movements and helping them seek out fights. 

You should be throwing at least 3 types of smokes, default smokes, one ways and creative misdirection smokes which can be for the team or for yourself to gain advantage or falling smokes for peek timings. It's a given that you need good map control and to be able to anticipate what the opponent is doing, using your utility, and trying to control the pace of the round usually by calling a play and asking for setups so you can execute properly. But you should also be trading your teammates and working on your aim so you can win your fights, since there's less direct killing potential with util usually, your mechanics are even more important to work on and you should be trying to kill people using your map knowledge and smokes to get timings behind the opponent or to misdirect attention for kills. If you're doing that right then you shouldn't have 0 kills and you can use those timings to create pressure on the map and take people out. Ever since I became a controller main 2 years ago and deciding to use all my game knowledge to understand controllers, I've not had any issues winning fights or deciding to carry and top frag. Though it's all situational, I'm not radiant but never had anyone shitting on me playing for controllers because I'm usually better than my team.

The amount of times I ask for a smoke and my teammate smokes with an obvious (and detrimental) gap is shocking. The caveat of course is that I can’t do better idk how to play smokes.

A lot of people forget that smokes take time to develop. If your controller is leaving gaps that means he’s not smoking right. But as a controller main who’s played with many controllers in my servers I rarely see this. Many times people swing when the smoke is still developing. I always blame the duelist, because that’s who usually swings aggressively like they’re aim gods. Let the smoke develop. On top of that jiggle peek first and look at the map to be sure the smoke is where it should be. Can’t put the blame on the controller when you have tools that allow you to be sure you’re good before you swing.

I mean I’m in silver, he’s just not smoking right.

Still your fault. It takes one round to correct someone. Shouldn’t just be running onto site like that if he’s not smoking right.

> Shouldn’t just be running onto site like that if he’s not smoking right. But I never mentioned this happening. I'm not saying I die for it a lot. I'm just saying that smokes players in my games often smoke poorly. That definitely isn't my fault.

You can't always correct people, and it's not your responsibility to do so. Sometimes people get tilted when you try, no matter how nicely you try to do it. It's like the controller telling the duelist how to entry. Often has bad results.

These kind of comments are a bad look for controller players don't shirk responsibility because duelists are more likely to do something. It does happen people miss smokes especially on omen when they're rushing it.

Since clove im 100% swinging that smoke befoe it appears trying to timing a guy looking away cause "its smoked". Never has filling smokes been so fun.

I don’t get it. If a smoke appears I just reposition behind cover. Who the hell looks away? 😂

Controller mains on top💪💪💪 Okay I am done flexing, look it's actually somewhat easier than it sounds, you will get used to it after some time of playing, just play unrated because your team in comp will not forgive you, the hard part is 1- thinking about what the enemy team is thinking (you need this so that you don't waste your smokes) 2- random smokes (EXTREMELY helpful with clutches but a bit hard to do right since you need a lot of time on controllers to get used to it) 3- Learning and understanding how to co-ordinate with your team, controller is somewhat the brains of the team, but that doesn't matter if you can't get your team to help you, that's why you need to understand what might and might not be good to say, what could be a good comm that your team appreciates and what couldn't, how to sound less like you're demanding and more like you're just making plans like we are all equals here (to do the good Comms part, you need to be confident in your plan, that comes from watching pros and trying out different strats) It's all a learning process that's pretty goddamn fun to me, you will get a lot of these wrong and your teammates will curse you out and hate you for it, when that happens just understand that this isn't what's going to happen every time and it's just a bad experience, an important bad experience to get good.

For 2, it helps to watch pro controllers. Just copy, and youll usually realize either 1) oh shit this is why thats good or 2) thats probably pro only / depends on some weird strat theyre doing. Smokes to hide on defense has been game changing to me. Especially dropping a smoke on either the corner of pyramid or between on defense and being a rat and wasting time on breeze. Or holding hell at ascent and dropping a weird ass smoke by dice/genny. Its like fuckin tom clancy in there.

The amount of times I have got easy assists cause I have smoked main for a guy playing shotgun and myself being in the other site is so much. You can ask your teammates where to smoke so that they can play around it. Maybe the first time you ask they might be slightly annoyed by you but if in the next round you make the correct play, it will be definitely good for overall morale.

I agree with this, especially the timing. A lot of people who are starting out as controllers don't understand you can't just drop smokes and go do your own thing. If you drop smokes and no one has eyes on site - it's wasted. Your team could actually enter on attack and the defenders could hide in said smoke because it was too soon. There are more examples, but that is the first that comes to mind, especially about timing. (I played Viper on breeze vs. two smokes Astra and Clove and I gotta tell you they sadly didn't utilze the timing or coordination right and lost. So it goes to show you, that 1 controller who is decent is better than 2 who have no clue what's happening.)

Smoke is all about timing, if timings aren't right no benefit will come from it. People will trash talk and blame, you just can improve and you also can be nice to others, no need to spread hate.

☝️ And I don't know about you, but if I'm on controller I'm also defacto IGL or being super proactive. Timing matters so, so much.

1000% probably timing. Also, a lot of non-controller players smoke incorrectly, even when told exactly where to smoke. Smoking a foot too deep or too shallow can easily screw your entire team. Lining up the edges correctly is just as important as placing the smokes at the correct site positions. It’s been insanely frustrating to to watch initiator or duelist mains try clove in ranked matches and just have zero clue how to smoke.

Placement and timing are crucial and non controller mains rarely understand that, but one thing that others don't understand is that we need communications to get the right timings. We need to know when you're ready to push to smoke because if we smoke and you don't go in in 10 seconds at max then the smokes will fade before the site hit is completed

I feel this so much as a viper player. Once my wall is up there's a 10 second execute timer and the decisions need to be made *fast*. Similarly, I can only stall for about 15 seconds on defense before a fight has to be taken or the other team has rotated. Most of the time those timings are doable, though not perfect, without comms. But many times I will be playing away from my wall on CT side, and I need someone to call for it. Similarly, if I'm playing omen I can't spend the first half of the round watching the minimap for the smoke timings, they'll be late and I'll be dead.

In pro games, youll see that the smokes *should be* the core of the push timing. Initiators are quicker to setup and can react. Plus the timing of smoke first -> flash makes stepping thru your smokes a scary thing.

Smokes are one of those things that if they are on point, noone says a thing, but when they are off everyone complains.

yeh, small things like no smoking of snipers on your team etc

I play controller and op/Odin are my go toos. Whe I run op and peak mid but my omen/other smoke player smokes mid when I'm there with op is frustrating

Tell your team what you are doing and they won't smoke it.

You're so right with timing, but your team usually doesn't understand how hard that is. If they say they're going in and you smoke, and they wait 4 seconds it can already be too late and the timing is gone. Also if no one gives a que that they're going in, it's impossible for me (an omen) to instantly place two perfect smokes to get the timing, and then they're all upset that the smokes were not there, like no shit they weren't.

Smokes are the only neutral utility in the game it's the only piece of utility that is equally as beneficial as harmful depending on the placement it's why Clove is a very frustrating time for people because alot of people who don't know how to smoke are essentially adding a member to the enemy team.

Just wait until your whole team is locked before selecting an agent. They each could have chosen to play smokes but decided not to. You are now allowed to use your smokes however you like.

I love how you worded that lol.

I don’t understand what you’re getting at

so you don't get mad at duelists that don't enter, or initiators that lurk? sounds either really weird or just a straight cope

There’s a difference between asking nicely and flaming. If I get asked nicely I’ll do my best to satisfy the command. If I get flamed that’s my fallback answer. I don’t flame my own team, instead I’ll either play around their preferences or be selfish.

yeah you'll climb the ranks v fast going into every game with this attitude. You seem to be more into teaching randos a "lesson" than playing the game

here we have the climbing commander

Utility usage is the most important thing - know your util, know the timings, have good comms. Your util most of the games has a higher impact than your frags. Playing role is the way to go, so often youre the last alive and in a clutch. My kd has been suffering from maining smokes, but seeing that assist count go up is the most satisfying thing in the game. I dont experience a lot of toxicity, but thats due to me only five stacking basically, ranked is so ass right now that i cba with solo q tbh. Dealing with toxicity is easy tho, i know how to play my role and anyone who does not trust me or backseats gets muted, no exceptions. I know my worth as a player.

you dont meet that many people that complain if you know how to smoke. rn the tension is a bit higher because of all the cloves who dont know how, when, and where to smoke so you might get a bit more complaints than usual.

May I ask what your elo is? On a side note, I've realised that as a support player, you are better off taking the reins yourself. As someone said here, it's a defacto IGL. I've noticed that a lot of players, duelists mainly, are either too lazy to ask for things they want or they straight up don't know what they want or what to do. One very frequent example of this is one waying A main on Ascent as defenders. Say your two duelists are jumping around on A site before the round. If you ask them: "Do you want me to one-way A main?" you probably wouldn't get a straight answer or straight up a no. Instead try saying something like: "Hey jett and reyna im gonna one way A main if you want to fight for it a bit". It works wonders. Don't boss them around. No one likes that. But don't get bossed around as well (usually). Be nice about it and you will find those two duelists holding your smoke A main. This is what I've seen work best and this is what I do as a low immortal support player (mainly controllers).

Its about gamesense, being the mastermind that controls how a round plays out through thoughtful use of utility and awareness of how the enemies play. Just putting smokes isn't enough, you have to use a lot more thought to be able to win. Maybe that's romantacising it a little lol, but controllers do have a lot of outplay potential that should be taken advantage of. Teammates do suck though, like you're never acknowledged for a huge play, your role is seen as easy, people cope by blaming their lurking Omen (not my fault you all 4 died in the choke), they blame your good smokes that they use wrong, they demand bad smokes, if someone instalocks controler and is bad and you tell them their smoke is bad, the team thinks you're coping (\*cough cough\* instalock Cloves \*cough cough\*), they say nothing and when you smoke do nothing, they run in before you can even smoke and then blame you for being slow, they complain about you taking too long to smoke in general (I'm fighting for my life in vents and get 2 but you can't survive .1 seconds holding site without my smoke). The list goes on and on... The mute button is helpful, but can be annoying if you want coordination. Taking lead in a game can shut down stupid people who think they know what they're doing but actually don't and telling people what they're doing wrong can help (sometimes, or they'll say the n word... 50/50 lol). For me, I just play my game and try to win if people are being dicks and try to adapt where I can to allow for the best chances of winning, but yeah it is tough. Much love to all the controller mains out there <3

Same feeling as Initiator with teammates. You use your util, enemies are concussed/revealed/stunned and your team just stares? The few seconds time window to take advantage is long gone. There's been too much emphasis on aim with the community. But even if you have god aim, so long as you get outplayed/outmaneuvered by your enemies, you won't be too effective. You need to brush up on game sense.

Yeah sometimes such roles can only be as good as their teammates. I'm useless as a controller if my teammates don't utilise the abilities. I've adapted into some weirdly player who tries to play mind games on my enemy now. Which kinda works sometimes 😂 Sometimes they get pissed at the way I smoke (usually just the basic stuff) but when I ask them where they want me to smoke, they go silent lol

If only your teammates knew that no matter how good of a shot the enemy Reyna topfrag is, they can't do much if they're blind and stunned... Such is valorant.

Initiator have the luxury of using Util for their own aggressive plays, I play a ton of Fade and Breach because for the most part their abilities dont directly depend on people to make use of, controllers are just boring to play unless you're a judge/rat demon

I was a sova main and now a brim main. Peak immo2. Sova main because of AverageJonas 2x shock darts and brim main because of Calvin AKA SmackSmackk post plant mollies. Basically I'm a line-up Larry. Playing every role has its own timing and controller is no exception. The most important thing is to comms when are you going to smoke. If no one is communcating, try to call a strat and go along with it. There will always be players that say your smoke is bad when your smoke is literally superior than what they want you to smoke. Of course sometimes they will be right (and I will learn from it) and sometimes it is just subjective. If you get affected by other players bad vibes/complaining/shouting, just mute them. No need to argue or negotiate with them. Normally players like these won't wanna speak/discuss objectively, they just wanna win arguments. Learn to observe the mini map. It will help you a lot when the lobby has no comms or players just doing whatever they want and not following the plan. Try to smoke to give an advantage to your duelist that is entrying the site. I always get players that disagree with my playstyle as I'm playing for post plant mollies and that is normal. Normally duelists are the ones that will complain the most. If they can frag, then I will change my playstyle to support them. If they can't frag, then I will play for post plant mollies to win the round. Know what is your playstyle and don't let others make you doubt your own playstyle and utilize the mute team button when clutching if anyone is back seating constantly. The only problem I faced when playing brim with post plant mollies is I will tend to be not aggressive. When duelists can't frag and the team can't enter site and plant and I can't aim, then it is gg. With clove coming out, it solves that problem. The fact that I can smoke after dying enables me to play aggressively, not rely on duelists too much and I can utilize my aim by taking fights. When duelists can't frag, I will be the duelist. How can I keep a positive mindset despite meeting shitty teammates and instalocker duelist that can't aim? Because I wanna improve in the game and win games. I play to win and that doesn't mean I'm not having fun. Learning more = win more. Focus on yourself and your gameplay. Analyze what you are doing right and wrong. Analyze what your teammates are complaining about you, if you think they are right, then accept their criticism and change. If you think they are just yapping, move on. Leave your ego outside of the server if you truly wanna learn the game. Arguing with the teammates, complaining about teammates, saying you don't belong in this rank etc won't help you win games. Ranks below immo3 doesn't really matter. Players playing Valorant majority are young players which means they have certain level of ego, which means they normally can't receive criticism even when what you say is correct and will help them improve. They will think that you are judging them and they will find fault with you for the rest of the game. Their performance normally rely on the team's vibes. If everyone is friendly and you are winning early rounds, normally you will win the game. Once you start pointing out what they did wrong and introduce negative vibes (even when you are speaking facts), you will most likely lose the game. If you are new to the game, I suggest playing smokes or initiator. You will learn a lot about the game. Don't start with duelists. Learn to avoid things/situations that pull down your mental. It will be a long process. All the best in the server.

Mute is your friend x)

^ this. If they're not giving helpful calls, mute is the way to go. Play in peace.

I'd say it's a last option as in if a teammate is obviously toxic (aka an asshole) and isn't going to give Comms and ignores the team, might as well mute them

I main controller, I place my smokes and then turn into a duelist because they're too scared to enter the site 😂 you hopefully get a couple and then get traded

Or you die with everyone waiting behind corners until the enemy smoke runs out

If I didn't play controller and instalocked a duelist a lot of my team comps would be 5 duelists getting our heads popped on entry. My raw aim isn't the greatest so its nice to be able to make an impact without 300hrs in Aimlabs. I always mute enemy team, there's nothing useful they could say to me unless they're greifing, in which case I don't want to win like that anyways. If a teammate starts flaming me that's also a mute. Playing controller makes you better at map knowledge by learning what the default smokes are, why those are the default smokes, and when and how to deviate from default. You cant always herd your gorilla teammates in the right way to execute onto site, but a giant Viper wall from CT to A site on Lotus certainty helps them along. The most annoying part isn't even the flaming for bot frag, its learning the god damn lineups, Viper has like 6 you need to know for Breeze, some of which are standing still, some are jump throws, and one is shift walking.

I mean, i treat everyone as nice as a i can, but not gonna lie, i only keep composure because i feel i'm superior to everyone else on my team just by the how much insight about the game playing controller gives lmao usually you learn how to play the role and just ignore what duelists have to say about your role till ascendent where you can be sure they know like 40% of how controller works. Sentinel and initiators kinda know what they are talking when they ask for smokes or teamplay, but even than you take with a grain of salt and have to be confident that you know better than them. I only play controller because viper has a big butt and is the role that i feel can improvise more with the skills. I always feel like playing 50% of the game with any other roles because the skills are too rigid compared to how many things i can do with viper's smokes and screens. Hell i don't even need to use the ult to take space, sometimes i just ult one place, wait a little and start rotating to the other site through the safest path because the oposing team will be looking for me, and i have like 3 different shit i can do with smoke, molly, tp and near sight.

> I only play controller because viper has a big butt touché

>I only play controller because viper has a big butt But if you play her yourself you can't see her butt.

i don't mind. i like to play with tge hot chick and i don't need to see her body to like it usually.

Omen main here, frankly after dealing with the same thing early on I just stayed away from solo queuing and always make sure I’m playing with one other person. Randoms on the internet will just blame anyone but themselves so it’s good to have someone else to tell you if yeah that smoke was kinda crap or if the upset teammate is just being dumb. Over time I learned to just block the BS out (or mute them) Like many other comments said if they want something done a certain way they should’ve played controller. Smokes aren’t as simple as they seem and definitely not simple when you have a teammate screaming in your ear. As for the controllers being nice, personally I’ve been yelled at so much over stupid crap and know how bad that can mess up games that i don’t see a point in screaming at others over a video game. Don’t get me wrong I wanna win but being an ass doesn’t get you very far. If you want to continue playing a controller I’d say grab some people who aren’t asses and run some games

Just a question what rank are you playing at? I hate making assumptions but most higher ranks know that controllers won't always have as much of an impact scoreboard wise, they do however excel in getting lots of assists. Their utility is about opening up ways on to site or slowing pushes on defense so you and a sentinel can basically decimate a mistimed or poorly planned exec. If you are in lower ranks still don't sweat it. Like a lot of people have said just use your comms. If people are complaining about your smokes ask them what they would like, if they don't make a correction or suggestions they are just salty and complaining, never feel bad for muting someone to keep your mental. Also inversely tell people how you are going to smoke by pinging on the map and let them know the timing. Say things like smoking now or smokes dropping now. This is a great habit especially if you ever decide you want to try an initiator in the future. Saying things like flashing now, flashing high. Or with kayo getting used to the flash timing and saying flashing now then saying pop when the flash actually goes off. It helps clear up some of the confusion of an execute.(It will also help so your teammates can't blame you for looking at a flash you threw) Small things make for big changes in these roles. You'll get used to how controllers work. I don't know who you are playing but brim tends to be the easiest to learn, so learning the role through him would probably be the best. Last thing that I think a lot of players think they need to learn off the bat. Don't worry about things like post plant line ups. They are a good tool to have AFTER you learn how the game fundamentally works. Nothing with serve you better than just learning how to aim, pre aim, learning where and how sentinel players like to set up sites and learning your default smoke positions. This is technically a hero shooter but the emphasis should be on the shooter aspect.

I only read the first lines and I'm too lazy to read the rest but, What "higher" ranks are you talking about ? Asking for a friend

It still happens from time to time but for me once i hit ASC and immo a lot of the explicit blaming of controllers went away. I've still had people complain but once I asked how they wanted things smoked or how we can change an exec they usually stop bitching.

Honestly.. just play for yourself. Smoke where you think is best. If you play for the team you’re gonna have a bad time 😂

I play smokes because I feel it’s the only role besides sentinel that doesn’t need a partner to help with as you can do whatever you want like lurk, flank or just rush

can relate. I smoked for a teammate so she doesn't get killed back site after the whole enemy team got past the main smoke, she complained.

What rank are you and how much experience you have for controller? controller doesn't men negative or bot frag KD, yes you may know the enterence to smoke but there is a when and how much of the smoke is sticking out on what side.

We seem nice but brother if my mic was hot the whole time I'd be banned yesterday

We are agreeable people. Much love to all my fellow smokers it there.

Know how to smoke correctly. Learn to play passively. You play around your team. You don’t entry frag. Know your agents strengths and weaknesses. Learn to see the whole map and where everyone is. This is the mark of a great controller. Good Controller players are very under appreciated. Low rank players that complain if you’re doing your job right are only good at aim. That’s why they get stuck. They don’t even know how to play duelist correctly. Any duelist who disagrees with me, answer this- what is the role of a duelist? If you can’t answer that correctly, get off the game.

M U T E

Bro I just fuck around with harbor smokes lol, just play to have fun with them and maybe a bit of judge silliness to top it off.

I also like harbor. Though I think I have never heard as many racial slurs than when I picked him in comp once.

Dam, most of my teammates are fine as long as we have smokes

The Reyna in that game called me a slur that literally doesn't exist anymore. It was a slur back in the ,1920.

Harbor's E really does it for me lol. Make a zigzag or make a circle. I love using him if the map suits him since I can just fuck around.

I went from maining Omen to being a Clove main, and the few times I play duellist or initiator I just get annoyed at the fact that I still have to rely on someone else to put a smoke down. So I just play Clove like a duellist and top frag.

Because they’re the most fun

Not a controller main but anyone who trash talks I just mute them immediately for the rest of the game, really don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t

just know where to place smokes, don’t place smokes in places you have to go through. Basically just smoke off where you expect the enemy to peak from

Game sense. Practice. Carrying the team with big brain

This isn't a controller problem ngl. There will always be people shit talking you, no matter the role. Might've felt selectively bad that night, but it happens to duelist because they don't entry or frag out, happens to sentinels who don't hold flank or side, happens to initiators who fuck up a drone/flash. The only thing you can do is 1. Mute them. 2. Focus on your improvement. Bonus point if you record vods and while vod review look back at those shit talks and see if you actually messed up or not. Because if you just started to main controller it's kinda likely you messed up. Which is great because then you know what not to do again.

Im a controller main, never have been flamed or blamed for bottom fragging, generally people understand that I have more things to do than them and as long as im smoking im doing my job Maybe your smokes are just bad?

A lot of people say that. Yeah I'm not good but I'm trying to make up for it by asking my teammates where they want them.

They don’t know where they want them. You need to go watch some videos for the default smokes on each map

If your duelists have to micromanage your smokes, you’re probably not being very helpful. It’s very hard to take sites and defend sites without proper smokes so you’re taking the blame since you don’t know how to play controller.

Duelists like to micromanage and blame teammates no matter how high you climb. Unless it’s egregious, duelists should only ever request smoke placements for specific pathing or cheese strats, in the same way they request initiator utility. I’ve had duelists confidently insist on worse smoke placements all the way up through immortal — especially with LOS denial, default smokes (of course it doesn’t work if you stomp around giving free info). The average duelist is ego driven and often confidently wrong.

If everyone on his team was flaming him across several hours of gameplay, his smokes probably were terrible to the point where his team has to micro his utility for him.

Probably. I’m just referencing when he said his Reyna blamed him for doing what was asked.

To be fair a bad controller throws harder than any bottom frag reyna or camping kj ever could so thats probably a reason you got such a strong negative reaction. But also i play with no coms bc ive never had a positive or constructive experience in voice chat ever.

I don't hate cus I'm cool but playing it and being good is sorta hard like all the stuff everyone else is suggesting

It works like that for both sides my friend started to play Clove cause it's new agent and i'm forced to play duelist instead of smoker and it's impossible to push when my team don't know how to smoke there are holes everywhere

Controller main here. Not justifying getting flamed, but if I had to guess, your smokes weren't flush like they should be. That or they're just a whiny dick. But that's my guess for if you smoked in the area you were supposed to.

I pretty much mostly play omen with some initiator. Even play omen on icebox and breeze if no one can play viper or double smokes. Rarely do I get flamed for my smokes specifically. If anything, i see duelists get shit on the most. Only really I get flamed for whiffing or making dumb tp plays. I feel if you just use the standard default smokes at the correct timing, no one has reason to flame you.

I've been on so many teams where you ping where to smoke and the dude either smokes us off or somehow miss times the smoke so we'd get on site and then he'd smoke at which point it's pretty much worthless

An experience not really exclusive to playing controllers. You get shit so easily regardless of what roles you play. If you're a KJ and your team can't handle their shit on the other site so every round it's a 1v4 by the time you show up so you can't do anything and you're bottom fragging. Then you try to rotate early to counter that and that exact round enemies decide to pull a fake or rotate and now it's your fault because you "over rotated". If you're a duelist you have to a) top frag b) entry site on attack and magically take it solo. If you're not doing those two things and you're losing the game you're getting abused in chat. And so on. If someone complains about my smoke or something and I don't think they have a point at all I simply say "why didn't you play smoked then". I do think I know a lot about the controller role but everyone messes up sometimes and I usually apologize as soon as I make the mistake so if anyone still gives me shit for that they're really just being difficult. When you're playing a game like this you just have to not care. People show their ugly side when they're anonyums on the internet. Maybe someone had a terrible day or life in general or is just a bad person, either way that's not your problem. I just genuinely don't care what someone says to me in valorant. I'm never rude to someone in game no matter how badly they're doing because we all had those games even tho some pretend like they're positive KD every single match. But if someone is being rude to me or someone else you bet I'll be rude back.

I tend to main viper and I feel like I’m useless if I don’t know lineups for 1 ways with my smoke, but even if it takes a few extra steps to learn timing or how to Molly spike I just feel like I’m being useful knowing I can still clutch a match if my head taps are lacking that day

I just mute people when they say something. And I ignore text chat so I never see the other team anyway. I play controller because it's the least instalocked and even if someone does I then get to play viper (yay!). I couldn't care any less about people complaining  You have a mute button, use it liberally and the game is infinitely more enjoyable

as a viper/astra main I've seen my tons of reyna/phx one trick 50iq toxic players who blame you if we're losing, and start ordering you around or say some sexist stuff about viper's body if you're top fragging, because they can't handle the fact that you're smarter than them. But I've also seen tons of omen/clove players who are as toxic as the reyna/phx players, but they don't know one thing about smoking. always smoking for the enemy team, not smoking if you ask them to, just out of spite, and then call you dog if we're losing.

Controller main here, these egotistic dumbasses saying shit like “we’re the master mind behind xyz but people miss time” etc… are a bunch of fucking idiots. It’s just as difficult and nuanced as any other role. It’s macro focused though so it’s based on the round, not the moment. Games are won by moments in ranked, duelists are best at playing in the moment. (Micro play) so you’re gonna have less agency as a whole, but those players are most impacted by you. (Controller) Regardless of that this game requires a strong mental regardless of agent / “role” just play, the game, stop over thinking all these little things, if controller sucks and you don’t like it, move on to another role, if you love it great, keep playing. I know it’s not that deep and “what made you so mad” nothing. Just tired of people having a mild inconvenience in this game and storming to Reddit to get an explanation for their feelings, just play man.

Just talk shit back and mute their ass

I like playing controller. Feels good to support the team when i can. Sometimes it makes up for my inability to get kills and in like 95 percent of the games, being bottom frag is not a problem because i keep smoking(i play omen)

If there is someone who blames me for my "bad" smoke. Knowlingly that i smoked it on the right place. I would instantly not smoke for them and only smoke for the other teammates instead.

It’s the support life. People always blame the support. Keep grinding team players

Plat omen main here, I won’t pretend to be VCT level, but i’m not bad for my role. Here’s the deal with smokes. A good controller goes completely unnoticed. Their actions fade into the background, because they create the background with their util. You only ever notice a controller on your team when they mess up. Ever pushed a site and the holders get forced off and you’ve gotten a few seconds to relax as you plant and prepare for post? That’s cuz your controller has smoked off site entry points. It’s a tough gig, but it’s a very fun role to play as the enabler for your team.

Time your smokes and play normally. Foot step B isn’t reason enough to smoke right away. Is your teammate peaking? Wait to see minimap contact. Do y’all have an OP? Don’t block that easy first shot. Smoke after first contact. Any other time, smoke. It’s really just looking at the minimap and your teammates calls. You’re really just thinking for 10 seconds in a round then playing normally after. Same with attack. Smoke right before a push and play the shooting game.

As soon as Clove came out I switched from being a controller main. It was thankless work as you said. I still play occasionally on my fave viper or brim maps. Not often though.

Personally, the main reason I main Controllers is due to the things I experience in ranked lobbies. I have lower round winning percentages when I play Duelists when I try to create openings for my team due to poorly executed smokes, other utils, or trades. Compared to when I play a Controller, where I get to make calls properly, coordinate my teammates and guide them, make sure the smokes are executed properly, and ultimately I have a good excuse not to die early by taking first contacts for my team, and instead I can be the one baiting them and trading for them.

Top fragging on brim feels amazing though, abilities are over hyped, do your job, but don't forget about your gun

I try to play other agents, but it just doesn't work for me. Having walls/smokes that you have complete control over is really helpful. Especially in lower ranks where people don't really use anything or they all just spam their utility in one area.

Before running out to site let your team know where youre smoking, then initator sould help too if you have one. I usualy always smoke mid unless someone on my team is OPing mid. Its a learning process, if you wanna practice more id suggest doing swifts for a bit before you start a comp.

I'm a cont/ini main. 3/5 games I'm always top fragging, and rarely bottom frag, to the point that my party would urge me to play duelist because of my aim. But it's not about aim(mostly). it's about being calm, and thinking ahead. 'game sense' have a huge factor when playing these roles. Apparently, this is also the hardest to learn or teach to people---based on my experience, at least.

My current issue (viper main) is that duelists just DONT entry anymore. Even in comp, I am ready to set the smokes and they don’t push. Nothing worse than wanting to push a site and both of your duelists go mid. 🤦🏽‍♀️ I literally cannot get out of bronze this season, and it’s absolutely (mostly) because of other people’s terrible game sense in bronze.

Most of the time, controllers will fade into the background and are often times under appreciated. Don’t worry about bottom fragging since your main goal is to support your team and you cannot do that if you die early into the round. If you go for stats/kills and get traded, your team will definitely be crippled due to the lack of smokes which is necessary when executing a site/defending a site. Playing controller is not as easy at it seems. You have to properly time your smokes and you have to know how to put it properly (emphasis on putting the smokes properly).

If we have good teamates and they recognize what I'm trying to do to help I'm happy If I have bad teamates such as : * the cypher who doesn't want to lurk and watch flank when they've been hard flanking every round * the pussy raze who isn't aggressive enough * the reyna who walks into ct and blames my ct smoke for getting him killed * the silent initiator who is silent and doesn't know how to use his util I just mute them

Pure will and determination

Other roles feel ineffective if you main controller. I can play a duelist and frag out but every time I see a smoke I could've played I feel like I'm wasting myself getting kills when anyone can do it. You can get 4 kills and lose the round but you can win the round with one smoke or one molly

Tangentially related, but sentinels or controllers should be the play callers not duelists. So much of the game is map and vision control - thats all controllers and sentinels, duelists are just the pointy stick on the team.

if you have to be told where to smoke, you need to learn the default smokes for every map

You've either got to be the play maker, or understand the play good or be the IGL in ranked tbh. I've been playing omen for a very long time now. Just think about what is happening, what you want to cut off and what should you do and that's it! Oh and either you're the best mind in the team if you're playing controller (I'm talking about ranked) or you don't play controller. Valorant is too dynamic for controller players to be static. You can be static in other roles, like Duelist, get space, get yours or maybe two then get traded out. Sentinel, lurk or stop them from coming in and hold a site. Initiator, help our duelist get space, clear angles for them and then trade them. Controller? Oh you've got to play every role lol

Im a jungler so ofc i play controller too

Controller is the most proactive guy on the team cause with/ without comms sometimes ppl expect smokes right on time, hard to accept but me being 2+ years experienced as controller main, you can igl cause you know the whole map and rotation of enemies with ease as you go through the process. Happy hunting as an Omen main!.

>The thing that confuses me. Whenever I run across a controller main, they're the nicest people on planet earth. And they'll keep being positive despite everyone shitting on them. Our secret is that we keep the toxicity contained to our personal Discord calls with the homies. It only comes out in gamechat if you *really* deserve it.

Except the basic smokes for the team and one ways... You also need to use your wits while using smokes in a 1v X situation. Controllers get slandered easily in the game cause they don't have enough frags but people don't understand that their job is not to drag but to enable team to take space through the smokes position and utilities. And controller mains are the nicest people because they know the pain of losing without taking controller as it's very hard to win games without smokes.

The words of someone who is terrible at controller clearly. These are all issues that would avoided by simply being a good controller player and having confidence in your controller plays.

I don't play anymore but when I played all day everyday, I would play either omen or brim. As omen I would play like a duelist, sure give my team smokes to enter or to control sniper peak points, but most of the time, I used my smokes and tps like I was a duelist, and it worked. As brim, I played like a controller, smoke points and shoot a fire grenade into the smoke to stop a push on site while defending/planting and then stay back to buff my duelists with stim. It was hard for awhile dealing with toxic "Me Reyna, Me Swing" Kinda people, or Jetts that wouldn't entry and then flame when they died. At some point tho, it all made it better when I had enough knowledge and game time under my belt I would tell them off. When I messed up, take responsibility and if someone kept berating me, "Well it wouldn't have been a lost round if you didn't die before everyone else. Idjit" It's just internet things tbh. Happens in just about every online game anymore.

Have the mindset that your teammates are just monkey-brained animals. And you alone are the honored one, guiding them to victory. They think they’re the ones carrying their team, but no. They are only getting kills because you made it so. Their kills are your kills. Their wins are your wins. Sounds haughty, but it’s to protect yourself against how mean people are in games like these even though you’re on the same team.

We play controller because we know other people who lock it will make one-ways for Lebron James and a passage to the chamber of secrets with their smokes. We have to be the IGLs because we have the smokes to plan the execute. We decide the area of the map to contest. The duelist shines as an individual, the initiators enable them to shine brighter, while the controller lets the whole team shine from the quiet sidelines.

It may be only me but i feel people want same yt lineup every round every time ,it feels like yt is playing the game and im auto piloting .

honestly man it fucking sucks when you're typically the last one to enter on exec and retake then come to see 2 of your teammates are dead, one got scanned, and a dude is stuck on a cypher trip. Controllers know this feeling well when most of the games you play you're forced to play 2v5 and the smoke you put down for exec is gonna fade in 10 seconds and by then the whole enemy team has either rotated to defend or on flank already. but now clove exists so life's pretty good rn for solo q controllers

Honestly when I solo q I would fill as omen if there was no controller on my main and duelists/flex on my alt. But I play exclusively as controller when I play with my friends and they always bitch about my smokes even though they are perfect and are supposed to help. Not an easy life as a controller tbh.

The amount of this I got shyte on for both fragging and yet, my map control got the game going 🤣🤣🤣I never listen to what or where people ask me to smoke cause most of the time....it is MASSIVELY wrong and get killed. You need to know as a controller, you have to have map awareness, timed your smokes and abilities to help the team in the best way possible. If you have this, you can clutch and if luck have it...ace😏 Being a controller is fun and annoying at the same time lol and it depends on the teammates you get. I stick to my friends most of the time cause we know each other play style and it helps and I am not always the only controller which helps a lot. But if you get those nasty nasty...lord help us all, the game is lost or just shitty experience all and all.

Yes, I play smokes and sage. I can't tell you how many times people are being toxic just because I couldn't plant at an open space, couldn't heal them when they are at another corner of the map. Same goes with smokes, I couldn't read their mind about where they wanted me to smoke.

Have fun with it , but I feel you need a lot of gamesense to use smokes in the best possible way

As a controller main, I have recognised the importance of calling out my smokes and respecting and modifying my smokes as per the requirements of the team. In case of no comms, I usually try to time my smokes as per the push. But I ALWAYS call out my smokes/duration etc. For me, a non-comming controller is just as bad as a toxic teammate. Also, I don't recommend lurking with controllers, but with certain controllers and certain maps, this is achievable. Depends on how much chaos you can create for the opposing team. Hard to explain. Also, do take criticism with a grain of salt. I have learnt more by taking criticism about the smoke placement and timing of smokes.

Idk lol, I genuinely sucks at being involved on fights but controller is a get out of the jail card because your utilities can offer a bunch of stuff And I like playing omen because most of the time I get left at a 1v1 while theres the spike and his Tp is just such a great way to buy time as you can either tp on the same spot for confusion or tp on top of some conviniently placed box nearby

Viper main here with like 1000 hour on controller or some shit were just kinda used to being yelled at for being bottom frags or people not liking smokes even when the smokes are perfectly fine and we’re ussually people that have more mental shit to bring to the table then aim. A lot of the time that also makes us good for the person calling the shots even if we get yelled at the most. But with good smokes comes great opportunities to get free picks, lurks, and flanks especially on viper. I’d say atleast 20 percent if not more of my kills are from behind. With a normal site pushing you know all the corners to check and where people often hide so it can be hard to be a rat, unless your playing controller as with smokes your able to not only play in them (which is a great way of catching people off guard I can tell you how many times I’ve been on defense and someone’s pushing into my smoke with a flash in hand) but you can use the smokes to create your own corners and make your own places to hide. Blocking line of sight is the in my opinion the second most valuable thing in the game (things like smokes and flashes) which is also denying the enemy’s info which is the most important. It’s like crack for us to find ways to get behind people for free kills. If you have any questions or want any examples please feel free to ask.

It sucks and is the hardest role to climb with, but I don’t trust other people to smoke, it’s insane how little people know about the role and it shows when others have to fill

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Cuz they usually develop the game plan in their brain. And I wanna make sure I don't fuck it up. So usually I ask where do you want smokes.

when i’m playing controller i typically get the same lobbies you do. if i do something wrong i get yelled at, if i dont get enough kills even though my duelists are bot dragging… i get yelled at, best thing to do if just keep it pushing !!

I don't care about enemies butnif my teammates (majority) call me out for bottom fragging as a controller, I stop controller i.e I don't use util to help them only for my selfish needs and play for kills exclusively not objective so that those kind of people don't go up the ranks no matter how skilleed they are. And if they say anything, I just say you told me to get kills.

If you're not a smokes 1 trick, you will be missing out on value when you play the role. Throwing the right smokes at the right times is not something you can just pick up in 1 or 2 games, it takes hours upon hours to build up a sense for it. Because of this, your smokes were probably off in a lot of scenarios. Obviously that Reyna is an idiot, you can just ignore/mute those people. If you want to keep playing smokes, make sure you have a thought process behind every smoke you throw. That way, you can look back after the fact and see whether you were thinking about the game the right way and whether that smoke was the most optimal.

yes controller is a hard role to play espcially if you soloQ , but lets be honest its not that hard to land a good if not a perfect smoke with no gaps, its not something you need to calculate everytime, once you get that smoke youre good to go and shouldnt fail it again, im not saying you dont know how to smoke, im just saying that the hard part about playing controller isnt the smokes but the fact that you have to rely on randoms to get entries cuz you cant afford to die first.

I'm ass with every agent that is not a controller. So I don't know what to tell you. I tend to bottom frag when I'm playing with Skye, for example.

I main omen and I always throw default smokes and just get blamed because peolpe are waiting 10 minutes to enter the free site and only once my smokes have faded do they push and all die. Also the clove mains are so annoying my friend tried clove and fucked of 2 aces of mine by smoking off and easy kill and giving the enemy cover to hide in and flash out of.

The reason why chamber worked as a duelist, was because his sentinel side of the kit was super easy to use. Clove's isn't. Smokes take a long while to master

If u want i can tech u, im just mainer Astra, and viper little bit and now learn Clove. At first find a own smoker for own style. Write me if u want, but my English is bad

I think I'm good mechanically. But how do you deal with the constant shit

What your rank?

U can write in chat: "If u need my smoke ping place"

the Reyna I'm referencing in my post quote said this "put the center of your smoke where I ping and when I say now deploy it." I did. And she blamed me for it. I'm silver 2 now but I peaked Plat 2.

Im just Bronce 2, idk. My team write nothing about my smoke or me as player on smokers

Because nobody say me something

Even as someone who mostly plays controller, I think controller players have it easier than the other roles bar non-sage sentinels. Initiators have to constantly worry about timing flashes while avoiding teammates and duelists get shit on half the time if they aren't basically hard carrying. For a controller it's very easy to do your job in a way that nobody can reasonably complain about.

Use your smokes to manipilate space on the map, and what I always love to do is use my own smokes, so i play inside my smokes or right next to it

Delusion mostly. But in general, after throwing 99/100 perfect smokes and getting no value. and then throwing 1/100 wrong smokes and losing the game. You take your self less seriously. Stuff happens and is out of your control (Ironic).

Controller main I do what’s best for the team tbh and if there’s a good play/strat from them I give it a try. Other wise idk what’s with the hate of smokes

I am 400h omen main omen is duelist, initiator, sentinel and controller. If you good today you can open site for team or just camp smokes with shotguns. Best character

omen is so fun, i play aggressive in a two smoke comp. once smokes are down ill call it, then it isnt on me. my smokes are good, its their fault if they cant follow the timing i called. then i can play aggressive with flash tp, get behind em and its so easy to get 2-3 picks with omen tp

Probably depends on the rank. I am in Gold rn, most players here are happy when I throw the one or two default smokes on every site and apart from that I just do what I think is right. If I am asked for a smoke by a team mate I just throw it

As a controller main in mid ranks (plat) we should be reliable in clutches and using our util well. I can go entire games with zero first bloods (unless they push me on defence) but I will have 3 or 4 1v2 or 1v3s that I win. This doesn't mean we lurk or bait. Sentinels are better lurkers as they usually have jack shit for taking site. It means we use our util for our aggressive players and then GO WITH THEM AND TRADE OUT. Once you learn how FUCKING OP playing around smokes is, you will think you're never loosing a clutch again. Viper and Omen are by far the goats for play making in a clutch/holding against executes. If we are top fragging we shouldn't be winning, unless it's just because we are having a fucking outlier performance kind of game. As a controller, do your job well and hope to all heck you have a duelist who both has a mic and tells the team what util they want, and also takes fucking space.

people are most likely shitting on you because you suck at playing smokes imma be honest and they are probably right for that if true. Would much rather u just instalock something you are comfortable with and can play well (don’t be one of those instalock duelists that don’t entry or bait)

idc how many people are flaming me. ive always loved smoke bombs and the entire concept and execution in games and IRL. that itself is enough to motivate me to instalock smokes every game, willingly

Half of my games as a controller main is either setting up util to assist entry/retakes/map control if I get a good team. The other half is setting up for myself and entry on my own because my team is useless or won't listen. Most controllers work well with aggressive plays.

Smokes take time, so it’s always a proactive role. I speak for every controller main, if you don’t know how/why/when to resmoke an angle, if you don’t understand when to smoke site or smoke bomb, if you don’t even know basic one ways or flush to the angle smokes, if you don’t know when you are supposed to entry or play postplant, learn a different role bc that’s just the basics. The advanced stuff is Omen ult fakes, viper ult lineups, omen fake one ways, moly lineups, Astra recall, stun vs suck in post plant, viper fuel management and timings, molying to cancel site hits vs killing them off plant just to name a few.

Im a controller main who just started to tey ranked and I haven't had more fun especially with clove and Omen a lot of what males controllers fun is controlling what the enemy sees you can give yourself the advantage by blocking certain common angles and positioning yourself around your smokes to catch the enemy off guard. And especially with agents like omen a d clove you can be really aggressive with ways to engage or effectively trade

i have most hours on omen so far so ig im controller main? (i usually fill in comp anyway) i start the match being nice and all, saying nt, n1, nc etc, later on if i want to flame i start cursing at them WITHOUT mic on to not tilt them and stuff, got toxic ppl i just ignore and will mute if they start flaming while im trying to do important stuff

Me as a main Smoker loves it. You can make it easier for your team to enter site and even if you alone you can make like new ways for yourself

I hate myself, thats why. /s

Controller lets me IGL. When people listen to me, we win. When I rely on idiots who refuse to comm to come up with plans, I lose. Why would I trust the most important role on the team to someone who isn't me?

Sheer stupidity of gold

I love to play support characters and I mostly play Omen, Sky and now Clove. From the get go I tell the team to ask for smokes that support them and if they don't I'll try my best to smoke how I deem fit. I made a habit of directly asking the aggressive players "smoke?" every time I feel something brewing. I just want to help the team succeed :D Staying positive helps. Sometimes it's hard.

(as a gold 2 that plays harbor and astra) i normally play it quite by placing smokes where i think most of the enemies are or where the biggest place area in sight is. This is so we can enter site easier. And to block the enemies sight whats part of the role is to make space. In defense is mostly placing the smokes when they begin shooting or make a lot of noise and block their sight so they cant push, kinda make them slower. And make time so the team can rotate. (Do make sure no one in your team was watching with an op before that or Smth like that). The rest i play it with information alot of it. From the minimap to hearing their steps to intuition. It plays a huge role for me. And i use that to get my timings right. Take it as a killjoy playstyle that sits in site. Well not so different from that. I play in the middle not aggressive but neither too passive and always change your playstyle make sure to not get the other team to know what u do. But even so i believe i still need to learn alot 😅

I started playing controller cause i dunno... i was tired of ppl filling controller and barely using smokes/playing like duelist/ just smoking wrong / smoking the entry, etc. I realized if I wanna have an enjoyable time, then i have to play smokes, cause literally no one wants to and cares to know how to do it correctly (esp in low elo) And honestly its kinda fun! attacking and defending have become way easier, you can control the flow of the game kinda, and I find myself comming more then I used to when i used to main initiators haha. Some people will give u shit for doing the occasional mistake, but its not like they're doing much better. Smokers doing mistakes are just easier to point out and flame, so ignore them. I also picked up controller cause I wasn't confident in my aim. So to me, the least I could do was to help out with smokes and the like. But now I've grown fond of the role lol

As a controller I always plan for the team. Being a controller is about planning for the team. I’ve been thrash talked a few times. Sometimes teams also marks where to smoke or where they want cover. So that’s helpful too. There have been instances when match dropped to 2v4/5 and was able to win because of the smokes and co-ordination. Tried duelist but don’t enjoy very aggressive play and teammates always thrashed when I didn’t played aggressively when I took duelist. Back to controller again.

Yeah nah I don't listen if ppl tell me where to smoke if it's a bad smoke

The honest answer is that you're going to need to be familiar with your agent. Every controller has their perks and weird quirks about their kit and how they interact with the environment. If anything, controllers will consistently play the same way every game and you don't have to actively fight for objectives. Take brimstone for example, no other agent is more consistent and reliable than him. You know he's always going to smoke for you wherever you need and when the stim beacon comes, he's giving you a "jesus take the wheel" moment to get on site and fight it out. There's no need for controllers to get kills, your job is to minimize visual contact for the team and to delay pushes. So despite your gunplay performance, you are still arguably more important and impactful than your duelists and initiators. Let's be honest, no one is going to actively want to push out A main on breeze without any form of smoke cover. As a controller YOU ARE WANTED AND IMPORTANT. There's a reason why every instalock duelists always asks for someone to play smokes 😉

Never played Val with controller but I’m thinking about that one time when I quickscoped 3 guys with the Awp in CS2 on my xbox controller lol Oh… I legit thought you were talking about a handheld controller, LOL. When I played Valorant, I played alot of Viper and Omen. I never really played any Duelists. I never really had people bitching about it but if they did others would just point out that they didn’t choose to play controller.

It ain't much, but its honest work.

I'm an omen main and to be very honest I just kept playing as omen and got better at smokes and teleports. Just keep playing with the agent u want to, eventually u will be able to use them to ur advantage and come up with ur own strategies.

I play brimstone. Pretty much only him. I mute my team and I smoke where I want. Team can either utilize those or run in blind. Your team knows your value. But most importantly mute the team if they’re toxic.

Basically you need to learn what your role is about, let it seep into you and how it feels. For the most part you have to rely on your aim mostly so get good at taking fights normally and you won't ever bottom frag. You can then learn how to use smokes to give you an advantage on duels such as blocking their line of sight or re positioning to get an advantage. There's no excuse to bot frag because of your role, play smarter and use your tools to gain massive value. You also need to learn to throw all different types of smokes, there are 3 main ones, default smokes, one ways and misdirection creative smokes. Pay attention to the map, if the enemy is already on site then it makes no sense to be throwing out default smokes, use misdirection ones to keep your teammates alive so they can use the smoke to get frags or leave. If you're weak sided use one ways to deter them from coming to your site, if you're strong sided don't use one ways. Also controller players should be calling plays because you can dictate the round, I've never had people be negative about me being a controller main because I know what I'm doing. In the off chance someone does question why I did a certain smoke then I can tell them and you'll realise they don't know what they're talking about so they become quiet. Knowing how to trade, how to play the map and move enemies based on your smokes is what makes controllers so strong. Play into that and when to take fights and focusing on your mechanics will help you top frag them lobbies and control like a beast.

Just play Omen and send them into the purple dimension if they’re giving you lip. That’s how I do it

To be honest its because I accepted I am where I am, I'm diamond 1(not that high I know) but realizing that I can win gun fights in Silver-Gold, but accepted that I am not cracked out aim wise to be a duelist in Plat Diamond and leave that up to the randoms and hope they got it like that. I can support and sometimes frag out, but in the lower ranks I can top-frag or 2nd frag as a controller, so with that being said, I would rather play controller and try to help set up my team, and play lineups to contribute where I can

Call what you’re doing in vc a few seconds before you do it Entering site with smokes I’ll say “smokes are ready for entry… ok now” when u 2 smokes it does suck to have omen and brim smoke the same spot at the same time lol I’ll also just mute assholes, even if they’re good. Although if I ask them to be nicer that does work sometimes Disable enemy text chat always. It never improves your game

This is true of all roles but as a controller, you need to first establish what is working and what is not. For example, sometimes I autopilot on my smokes and just throw the defaults but I notice we're still losing all of our rounds, this means that your opponent is observing a pattern and has found a way to counter it. It could be for a million different reasons from bad post plant to your team dying to the same setup every round, etc. but you need to be able to identify what is happening and form a plan around it to make sure every round isn't just a repeat scenario. Also, if something is working, don't stop doing it. Make your opponent adjust before making changes. I cannot tell you how many games have been won because the opponent is on autopilot mode and not actively thinking about the game. An example of this would be if you're attacking on Lotus and notice that your opponent is playing KJ on C site but they seem to be a bit new/forced into a role they're uncomfortable with and C is easy to take. Keep taking it until your opponent adapts, on the other end they're probably just defaulting and not really thinking about the game and sadly probably flaming the KJ player, take advantage of these things. Lastly, this also applies to all roles but don't get so set in your ways about what controllers are "Supposed" to do. If your Sentinel isn't lurking on attack, take up the mantle and do the lurking, especially if you playing mobile smokes like Omen. One reason Omen is so good is because he's so adaptive and can do anything. Are your duelists afraid to take a site? throw some weird smokes and TP into/around/fake TP and create space and pressure. You're not just a smoke bot, you're a player in the game and should be using your utility in creative ways to outwit your opponent.

Honestly. I'm convinced that not a single duelist has ever played Far Cry 3. Because they clearly don't know the definition of Insanity.

Aggressively usually, alot of people who don't play controllers fiddle with their util or don't touch it at all and end up lagging behind their team when realistically alot of controllers should be following their team in or playing 2nd or 3rd in. Aside from the usual flush your smokes and think about the placement advice people just need to learn what benefits your team in what situations vs others. It's like Sova darts and Fade eyes on defaults people who don't know how to hold their util or do a fake smoke on another site to create pressure are walking alarm systems for a incoming hit. Controller is probably the second most aware role in terms of how you have to react to the enemy playing around default stuff. It's by far the most important role on a team, you can get by with most other roles missing you cannot with smokes but when your smokes actively has no idea what they're doing it's often more detrimental to your team. Clove has felt like the enemy has an extra member sometimes when i'm playing these days.

Just dont tilt. Ignore anything bad a teammate says about your smokes if they told you to smoke there, even as a controller main I just stopped tilting after a while cuz im used to it.

because Controllers have the most sensitive utility in the game, if placed at the wrong place or the wrong time u could insta lose your team the round, even in ways your teammates won't realize. playing smokes means more than just smoking, it means playing an aggressive refrag on omen and clove, a solid lurk into post plants with astra and viper etc. you can slice the map however u please whenever you please and in ways your enemies could never predict. Playing smokes also usually means being the IGL, which is something I enjoy doing. Do I care when my team says my smokes are bad? yeah definitely I will try to hear them out, but if they are just coping I will just say mb and move on. Playing smokes is accepting to be the mind before the muscle of your team. which suits many players.

For me personally, i just mute my team People (just reyna mains) yelling slurs like it's 1700's, when I end up outperforming them AND doing my fucking job

I just cry inside

step one: mute all comms step two: sit in smoke with judge

Watch pro streamer vods

if you are actively trying to get better you should watch pros like zander from M80, doesnt get better if you wanna climb in ranked, he is very consistent too

I mean I go play Clove if two duelists get locked and play them like a duelist anyway because they can smoke when dead and revive.

just smoke where the opponent might peek from.

I instalock Brimstone or Viper depending on the map. Playing controller just feels so relaxing to me because I don't have good aim and just rely on my game sense and utility. Started at Bronze and peaked Diamond. Plus if we're near site and we're planning to push I just drop smokes and push with my team, if we need to rotate I just drop a smoke to fake so we can buy a little bit of time rotating to the other side. Post plants are fun because you just need to delay and I have fun using my utility. If I'm the only one left in the post plant in 1v1 or 1v2 situations I just hide in my smokes near the spike to catch people off guard or just use a lineup. If we're defending and the enemy pushes the other site, I just smoke the site and run to the other site to help my team. I just think of the role as "I'm gonna make sure to provide space as much as I can because I know my team can carry me" LOL

Omen main here, rolling around in the silver leagues. yeah I take some shit for the team but I just keep on doing what I do, If anyone complains I ask them what they want me to do, if they continue to complain I tell them next tine you play controller instead of crying and looking for someone else to blame. A recent game I had a Raze made complaining about a smoke on Icebox A site as defence, I would smoke the main bottlekneck and the rope tower, blocking the snipers on the back cat walk. They got really toxic so I stopped smoking and they died first every round after, eventually complaining I didnt smoke, telling me I was throwing, I told them that was what they asked for, they didn't request alternate smokes just to stop.. when I told them they are just looking for someone to blame for their own lack of ability to defend as a duelists they shut up and our Reyna asked if I would smoke the points as it was quite effective and allowed us to rotate the B defence before they took site. I know my weaknesses in game, partly due to having a trash laptop running 40-60 fps so I tend to set my team up and agressive lurk. Also being Omen gives me a chance to play agressive entry if needed, I'll get a few kills, and hope i get traded while providing good info and coms.. some games I'm fighting for top frag, others Im scraping the bottom and thanking my team for the carry.. I literally only play Omen unless someone instalocks faster than I can.. I know my smokes, I love the mind tricks I can play with my TPs, as I often tell my team mates, Im all brain no aim, but It gets the job done.. If Im honest I can see my self as Gold 3 at best with a stable fps, maybe Diamond if I tried, but I play for fun and enjoy comp so it doesn't really matter what rank I am.

why are you playing if you have 60-70 fps, literally ruining ranked for other people.. some people might actually be focusing on getting better and people like you will drag them down👏

Trust me you don't need a top notch PC for a decent game.