VALORANT Map Guide Split
In this series, I take you through all of the maps in VALORANT, arming you with all the basic information you need to dive right in and get started. Today we’ll be looking at one of the original maps, Split.
What are the callouts?
When diving into VALORANT, of the most important things to do is master the callouts. This will put both you and your teammates on the same page when communicating and allow you to relay information much easier than with pings.
These are the most essential callouts for Split that the game gives you. While using these calls will allow you to relay a lot of your information accurately, check our Valorant Split Map Callouts Guide.
What's the gimmick?
Every map in VALORANT has some different features to give every map a unique feel and style. In Split, this feature is quite subtle. It has an elevated mid that gives access to both sites. Because of its elevation, there are two unique areas. These are vents and B tower.
Vents create a unique area because of its' dip. This can be a real choke point if attackers are caught running through it. B tower is also unique as it has a rope allowing you to change elevation very easily. This is very different to other “heaven” type areas on other maps as it normally takes a lot longer to take the high ground. These unique features help add an extra level of importance to mid.
The A site
Now it’s time to dive in and look at the sites themselves. Starting with A, which is the more open of the two sites. There is one main entrance and another that comes through heaven. The on-site area itself has a lot of difficult positions including behind the screen and elbow. It’s certainly not uncommon to have a player on-site and one in heaven.
When attacking A, we typically see a smoke in screens, covering the furthest back defender entrance and one in heaven. This is to isolate the on-site player and overwhelm him. It’s important to properly clear utility as a good sentinel kit or Astra stars can be very punishing if you all try to pile through main.
The B site
Now let’s look at B. In general, this site is much more packed than A with even more difficult positions to cover. There is a large pillar in the centre of the site, as well as a unique backsite space that can be very hard to clear without proper utility usage.
One thing that I have already mentioned is the heaven section on this site that defenders have access to very easily. Typically attackers will try to smoke this off but because of rafters, it's very difficult to properly avoid and defenders will almost always have the advantage. One of the most common ways to deal with this problem is to have your Sage use her wall like this.
Doing this will allow you to run onto the site without worrying about heaven but be careful as you will be potentially funnelling yourself into some dangerous utility if the defenders are clever.
How to attack on Split?
Attacking on Split isn’t easy. In fact, it’s probably one of the hardest halves in all of VALORANT so what’s the best way to approach it? As the name suggests you need to SPLIT, this means attacking through the main entrance of the site and mid. Given the maps unique features, mid absolutely must be used to at least pressure the defenders and drag them away from each site.
Both main entrances are very narrow and can be easily controlled with utility so just trying to 5-man rush them is often not very effective. Instead, try a slower playstyle defaulting towards mid. Often, defenders will get overeager with their abilities and you can force them to waste it easily.
How to defend on Split?
On the other hand, defending on Split is supposed to feel much easier. Often because of how unpopular Sova is, teams (in ranked especially) often lack good info gathering tools. Use this to your advantage and sit in one of the many close angles and punish your opponent's lazy checks.
It’s also worth thinking that because mid is so important for the attackers, it should be important for the defenders too. Don’t be afraid to invest and fight for this area and we commonly see Sage’s wall across it to slow the attackers down.
The more you can do to funnel the attackers the better, you need to make them think that their only option is to try to rush onto one of the sites together through one entrance. A good way to do this is to pressure one of the main entrances. If at the start of the round you take garage, their instinct will be to run quickly towards A main and you can use it against them.
What agents are good on Split?
I always like to look at what the top-level professionals are playing right now so that you can use this in your ranked games. Currently, on Split, the most used composition is this:
It is worth noting though that while this is the most popular, there are many good options for this map so don’t feel too restricted by this
My go-to recommendation for Split has to be Sage. She brings so much stall and map control that she just heavily simplifies the whole thing. You’ll always have easy answers and your defender side will become even more powerful
I personally love playing Split and hopefully, now you have all the knowledge you need to dive right in and get some free wins.
