Hate Lotus? VALORANT expert says you need to rely on this one ability

VALORANT fans have a bit of a reputation for despising each new map that gets added to Riot’s popular FPS game.

Icebox, Fracture, Pearl, and now Lotus have all fallen victim to widespread hatred and relentless queue-dodging from players of all ranks. But thankfully, every map seems to have eventually found its place in the competitive cycle without too much trouble. We have even already seen Lotus played at the VCT LOCK//IN tournament.

As the game’s newest map becomes a part of the regular rotation, players are starting to get the hang of what agents work best on the second Omega Earth map.

Coach Woohoojin has a few ideas of how your team, either in ranked or as a five-person squad, can maximize Lotus’ geography and architecture to make the most out of the convoluted map. The best ability to take advantage of? Flashes. Particularly pop flashes. Lots and lots of them.

On his recent stream, Woohoojin gave players a free comprehensive look at Lotus and how he thinks the map should be played for the largest chance of success. He went into ideal agent compositions, provided an agent tier list, and also broke down a few basic strategies for anyone struggling.

One of the first things he highlighted from a defensive perspective is how important these red areas of the map are. Lotus is one of only two three-site maps in the game, meaning both finding info with your flashes and retaking areas of the map with flashes are very important. Since the odds that you will have to rotate onto a site are higher the more sites there are, entering into that site becomes more important. Having an agent on your team with an ability that helps you do that is key to successful pushes and retakes.

The areas in red are what Woohoojin referred to as “flash zones,” areas where if a flash is popped, every player within the red box will be blinded. The yellow boxes are where the flashing player would have to stand to throw the flash into the red area. The blue lines are the trajectory of the flash, the path it should take when you throw it.

There are a few hidden spots, like a small hole in the wall to the B site, that seem designed for pop flashes to succeed. Though since each agent has a unique flash mechanic, not all of these blue trajectory lines work for every agent.

Woohoojin demonstrated how to use some of these flash zones on Skye, an agent with one of the strongest flashes in the game. You can easily time and guide her flashes, and they also give information even if you don’t want to peek them. Yoru can also use some of these unorthodox flash pathways since his flash bounces off of walls.

Woohoojin even specifically mentioned Phoenix as an S-tier agent for Lotus. Unlike the flashes of Skye and Yoru, where enemies can anticipate them and dodge them to be blinded for a shorter period of time, Phoenix flashes are extremely difficult, almost impossible, to dodge. His flashes have a very short delay from when the ability is used to when the flash goes off, so using these red flash zones and then pushing in as the fiery duelist can stop enemies in their tracks.

Breach is also a strong agent to use on Lotus because of his flashes, though most of these zones use pop flashes, which is not the type of flash Breach has where it goes through the wall.

KAY/O can be strong as well, though the trajectory of his flashes is a bit harder to control since you have to throw the flashbang in the air and wait for it to pop at the right moment. It’s more difficult to get his flashes to land exactly where you want them.

Regardless, every agent that has a traditional flash—Skye, Phoenix, Breach, Yoru, and KAY/O—is considered S or A-tier for Lotus, according to Woohoojin. Omen and Reyna’s blinds are not as strong.

So take your shot at flashing your enemies on Lotus, just remember that if your teammates are standing in these zones, you might flash them as well.