Smoker’s playground: How VALORANT’s newest map Sunset will shift the controller meta

“Here we go again,” a wave of annoyance ran through me as I heard players in Agent Select demanding one of us dodge the queue. This was the fifth time I ran into Sunset in a VALORANT Competitive queue, and not one time did I hear anyone speak fondly of it. And frankly, as a controller main, I think the hate is rather weird.

I love Sunset. From the music that plays in spawn to the art created by Canada and Los Angeles-based artists, Sunset is probably Riot Games’ best ideation for its tac shooter so far. But besides its beautiful outlook and the creative playstyle it nurtures, I’m most impressed with how perfect it is for controllers.

After receiving maps like Lotus and Pearl, which, let’s face it, aren’t the easiest to be a “smoker” on, Sunset is a breath of fresh air for VALORANT players like me who have been controller mains since day one. Not only are the chokepoints distinct, but there are plenty of crucial spaces to fight for and no shortage of creative opportunities. 

While it’s apparent how Omen and Astra are meta on Sunset, surprisingly, I’ve found all five of VALORANT’s controller agents to be adequately viable on this map—even as solo controllers on a team.

It has been so long since we’ve got a map that supports a solo controller comp. Ascent and Haven are probably the only maps in which I’m comfortable with a team containing just one controller. 

Despite that, the ranked meta is strongly allergic to double-controller setups. But it just isn’t enjoyable being the only controller on difficult-to-control maps like Bind, Lotus, Pearl, and even Breeze. 

When I say I’d like an Omen with my Viper on Lotus or a Brimstone with her on Bind, I’m sure most controller mains would relate. It takes a huge load off us, as we don’t need to run from site to site dropping smokes for the team’s duelists who aren’t even sure where they’d like to proceed.

Sunset’s controller meta is incredibly creative, and I think it’s a relief for all smoke mains who are forced to be the team’s only true support agent. 

Sunset B Site on Attack

Say you’re an attacker Omen, and you’d like to push through B Main to take the site. While smoking B Market’s exit is absolutely inevitable, you can do quite a few things with your second smoke. The default is to smoke B Boba’s opening.

But if you haven’t noticed already, anyone can climb the boxes near it and have a clear view of your head—no matter how well you smoke.

Thanks to its larger size, Astra’s Nebula does cover it better, but it still leaves a critical gap that your teammates or you have to eliminate.

To fix this, you can try deploying the smoke on the boxes, creating a nice little one-way that’ll allow you to pick someone pushing from the spawn side. You’d have to mind the cubby on the left, but it can be easily cleared by one of your teammates. It is still better than getting one-tapped by someone hard holding an easy headshot angle.

Another option for B Site is to smoke this choking lane on the site and take control of the site from over the platform on the right.

Sunset Mid on Attack

For taking control of the mid-section as an attacking Omen, I’d crucially smoke Mid Top.

But I’d want to keep the Bomb Door chokepoint uncovered—unless you plan on pushing through Mid Top into the spawn area. 

Note that smoking Bomb Door too close to Mid Courtyard may give an enemy Initiator an idea to sneak into the smoke and deploy a devastating flash on your team, enabling defenders to push through Mid Top with their own utility. 

Of course, you can smoke deep into the chokepoint to avoid this, but I’d recommend saving up the smoke for better use. You’d have to take a course anyway; you can’t just smoke both entrances off and sit in Mid Courtyard.

Or, here’s a one-way smoke that I adore. You can try this to punish enemies peeking from here.

Sunset A Site on Attack

Again, A Site is pretty basic. You inevitably smoke (deep) A Link’s platform and A Elbow’s opening toward the site. That said, Omen and Brimstone’s smokes may leave nasty gaps, so make sure you deploy accordingly. Again, this isn’t a problem with Astra or Harbor.

You can also send teammates to take control of Elbow and smoke A Alley instead.

Sunset on defense

On defense, the default chokepoints are pretty apparent: B Main, Mid Bottom, and A Main. But with Omen’s kit, you can throw these devastating one-ways in A Main and Mid to find more value.

You can also smoke at the opening of A Elbow and hold the lane to support your teammate in A Main with some infuriating Odin spam.

Omen’s smokes are pretty small, so it’s useless smoking deep into A Lobby for more space: it’ll leave nasty gaps on the sides. The same applies to Brimstone and Viper’s smokes. But this isn’t a problem if you play Astra or use Harbor’s Cascade. 

Here’s the basic chokepoint you’d want to smoke to stop a B execute. 

But if you’re feeling particularly aggressive, smoke deep into B Main like this, forcing your enemies in B Lobby to fight for B Main. 

Harbor and Viper on Sunset

Both these agents aren’t our average smoke controllers, and hence require a lot of team coordination and creativity to fit in solo controller comps. 

Here are some Harbor attack and defense setup ideas I’d recommend.

Besides her controlling prowess, Viper is also a pseudo-sentinel. She’s best combined with a primary smoker, but thankfully, she’s also viable as a solo controller—provided you’re open to learning a few easy Poison Cloud lineups.

Here are some Viper wall and smoke setups I’d recommend.

You should probably learn two essential Poison Cloud lineups for Sunset, one for Mid Top and the other for A Link. Thankfully, these are pretty easy to remember. 

A Toxin Screen from B Market to A Main is perfect for defense. It’ll deny information and allow your team to push back attackers.  

Whichever controller you pick, the most basic thing that you’d have to learn is to smoke relevant chokepoints for your team. Sunset’s a pretty simple map, but if you aren’t sure, I’ve indicated all the main chokepoints you’d need to know in previous sections. 

The best way to play controllers in VALORANT’s Sunset

As a controller, I focus on denying as much information as possible with my vision blockers while supporting the team’s goal with secondary utilities like blinds, mollies, pulls, concussions, and of course, ultimates. 

Sunset’s intricate features and attacker-friendly nature heavily favor a double initiator team comp. It’s vital to keep seeking intel as a defender to keep track of the attackers’ movement. Add a controller-cum-lurk expert, an anchoring sentinel, and a duelist to it, and you’d have the perfect team for the map.  

It isn’t exactly a bad idea to play double controllers on this map, either. Viper and Astra or Omen will be a great combo, and Viper and Harbor thrive in double-controller comps anyway. But I’d prefer double initiators instead.

Considering how it’s curated for support agents to find value and not bottom frag on the map, Sunset is definitely my favorite VALORANT map so far. 

But there are also a couple of flaws, including some nasty bugs, that need Riot’s attention. For example, some chokepoints are a bit too big (A Main and Elbow opening, B Main) for smokes to cover perfectly and require slight trimming. I’m hoping Riot will address this in a future rework.

While I may face some heat for saying this, I recommend embracing the map’s quirks instead of declaring it trash and dodging it every time. Mostly because, no matter what, Sunset’s here to stay—for a while at least.