VALORANT players discuss why they think Icebox is a ‘mess of a map’

Although it has just recently gone through a significant makeover by developers, VALORANT players have banded together to explain why Icebox is still one of the worst maps in the game.

The snowy map has been out since 2020, was the fifth map released, and was even recently reworked by Riot Games before being added back into the competitive map pool for both solo queue and pro play. On the VALORANT subreddit, however, enthusiasts were quick to complain about the map’s multiple pitfalls, including its lackluster design.

“Lots of awkward places to clear and way too many angles,” one player said. “You can peak [sic] into site and get shot from eight different places. The sites are both annoying to push and hold… The best way to play icebox is with a blindfold because your already going to die from a place you cant see.”

Other players berated the map’s lack of variety when it came to strategies, since most teams usually opted for a full five-stack rush onto a site, or a four-stack attack with a single lurker in mid. On B site, for example, one player claimed there was no space to take for attackers after planting spike, while A site is far too easy to take in comparison.

As a result, the game devolves into which team can hold the A site better than the other, since most teams aren’t able to get through the copious amounts of utility that comes raining from the defending team on B. Unlike other maps, Icebox also encourages double Sentinel agents, since they need to cover up the mid area of the map from lurkers.

Icebox isn’t the only problem players have with this current rotation of maps, though. In general, players are clamoring for more variety in their games, especially after running into the same map over and over again. Swiftplay enthusiasts have also run into burnout far quicker than before since they have been subjected to the same competitive map pool as ranked.