How to Defend on Lotus Map in Valorant

Are attackers more dominant in Valorant? Learn how to defend on Lotus Map in Valorant with these top tips!

Did you know the Lotus Map in Valorant was inspired by the City of Lotus and the Temple in India? Plus, it’s one of only two maps in the game, along with Haven, to feature three Bomb Sites.

Lotus was initially seen as a favorite for the Attacker side, but as time passed, players realized that playing as a Defender also poses challenges. Understanding the early game objectives and identifying the areas of the map that are most likely to be pressured are key factors in becoming a successful Defender in Lotus. 

If you need help playing as a Defender in Lotus, this article can provide valuable knowledge and tips to help elevate your gameplay. After reading this article, you will learn about attackers’ common strategies. With that, you can improve your defense and increase your chances of winning your ranked matches.

So without further ado, let’s start!

Map Structure

Map pressure is a critical aspect of gameplay in Valorant, as it involves creating pressure on the enemy team by controlling and occupying key areas of the map. This helps to restrict the enemy team’s movement and limit their options, making it easier for your team to gain an advantage and secure the round.

Lotus, just like Haven, provides long sightlines and tight corridors on B and C while having a huge area on A in which pro teams have been firm on not giving any space on defense. It can also be compared with Fracture as there are multiple chokepoints that the defense can throw much utility to provide valuable map control.

A Rubble

The most valuable part of the map surfacing through tournaments and radiant level play is A Rubble, which provides multiple angles for the attackers that the defenders have few options to deal with.

When the attackers take control of A Rubble, they can storm through A site through multiple angles at A Tree and A-Main. If the defenders are stacking A, they are provided multiple exit plans, such as going A stairs that choke the entire A site defenders or going through A link that provides a clear path to B and C.

With this amount of map pressure that attackers can take at A Rubble, Pro teams have consistently used multiple players and utility to deny A Root access at round start. Defenders need to watch out for mobility agents that can easily cross to the other side of the wall of A Rubble from A Root.

Having multiple angles to watch out for is never an advantageous position for the defenders to fight in. Another thing to watch out for is early round counter pressure that will likely happen, and positioning is key in this situation.

Agents For A-Control

Multiple agents have been taking the role of A-Site control: Omen, Raze, Neon, and Skye, which have been present on A main for pro teams at round start and even mid-round. Omen, with his Paranoia, can deny early space on long hallways and choke points, and his quick one-ways provide better angles for the defender to play with.

With their quick throwable utility, Raze and Neon have also been seen in tournaments as a single Neon Relay Bolt or a Raze Paint Shell can delay entry on A Lobby, together with mobility abilities such as Neon’s High Gear.

Raze’s Boom Bot can provide the defenders multiple angles in the early round for the attackers to deal with. Skye has also been seen at A Rubble, as her Guiding Light can provide both info and a flash for the defenders to play with. 

At the same time, her Trailblazer can be used mid-round to clear tight hallways and exert more map pressure on the attackers.

Moreover, Breach has seen play here in A Rubble, even though only some of these other agents provide better alternatives in taking A Rubble. His stun can take away the entire A Root area early on and provide easy kills for your mobility agents that are pushing through.

A Site/Tree

A Site and A Tree are put together, as this is where the attackers will be playing their post-plant positions. Let’s say A Rubble has been taken, and now the attackers can easily storm through A Site from A Main and A Tree. This seems like a bad scenario for the defenders to be in.

However, what the defenders have been using here at A Rubble is what the defenders need to use to contain both A Tree and A-Main. A single flash inside A tree will clear out the whole area with the attackers completely blind.

A-Main can also be taken with a single flash, as crossing A-Rubble and A-Root from the center makes the attacker completely susceptible to pop flashes or overhead flashes.

Retaking A Site might be the hardest thing a defender can do in Lotus, as A Tree and A Main are two entirely different spaces separated by thick walls that need multiple utilities to clear out.

A crossfire from both these angles will make defusing the spike very hard. Saving up some of your smokes, flashes, and info-gathering abilities to clear up these spaces before committing to the defuse is the best option a defense setup will have.

B Site

Sentinels have been key to denying access to B Site, as shown by multiple tournaments. Info-gathering sentinels such as Chamber, Cypher, and Killjoy have been seeing play either soloing C site or playing together with Chamber to lock down multiple sites while their teammates are exerting map pressure elsewhere.

Killjoy and Cypher have been the sentinels anchoring the C site while having either an Alarmbot or a Trapwire placed on the B Main Entrance to gather info on lurks and pushes towards B Site.

The defenders on B Main do not exert map pressure as the easiest retake on Lotus is at B site, where the defenders can push from multiple angles, such as the two Links and through B Upper and C Door, creating a tricky situation for the attackers to be in.

B Site has been seen as the last option of attackers as both A and C Site have easier post-plants and better options to play with. Retaking B Site can be easily accomplished with multiple crossfires that the attackers must deal with. Playing behind B Main in a post-plant scenario leads to one chokepoint for the attackers to cross. 

Having no defender here in B site might make it seem like this is an excellent site to hit, but defenders can easily take back control with good timings on the multiple angles that the B Site Attackers need to watch out for.

C Mound

With only one entryway and a whole Mound to move in, C Site Defense mostly comes down to the Sentinel Agents such as Chamber, Killjoy, Cypher, or Jett with an Operator. 

C Mound doesn’t produce that many options for the attackers, with this one entryway to C Site and C Door being the only waypoints that the attacking side can use, but the post-plant here is still better than B Site so this has been the second options of pro teams on the attack.

Defenders exerting early map pressure on C Mound need to watch out for stuns and overhead flashes that cover the entirety of Mound as the C Main chokepoint that makes attacking hard also gives defenders a hard time crossing it.

An Operator posted up C Main has been the most important tool of any Lotus defense setup. A single Chamber or Jett can easily deter any early C Mound access without utility or a free pick and reposition from these two agents.

Omen has also been taking the position of OPer here in Lotus to provide more options on the team rather than having a Chamber or Jett taking up the stun, flash, or Molotov agent that is important in a map with multiple chokepoints and long hallways.

Early aggression from the defenders is also present here at C Mound as taking C Lobby Control gives the defender nearly half the map to play with, as B Pillars is closer on this side than A Lobby.

C Site

With your trips and traps set up in the entrance of C Main, a back site sentinel’s only job is to click your abilities to delay any pushes coming your way.

Having two openings into the spike plant area is also why agents such as Cypher and Killjoy are important in a Lotus defense setup, as they have a utility that detects, delays, and damages multiple entry routes.

Unlike A Site, where numerous post-plant areas need to be cleared, here at C Site, the attackers’ post-plant scenarios are almost always to play inside the site or push either C Waterfall or C Hall to take control of one option the defenders have in retaking C Site.