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BeforeValorant’sintroduction of Lotus in early 2023, Haven occupied a unique spot in Riot Games’ strategic first-person shooter: while most other playable maps feature two bombsites, Haven hasthree. And while creative in its design, this idiosyncrasy often causes headaches for defending teams. On two-site maps, a single defending initiator can usually tell early on whether the attacking team might be playing for A or B.
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But not on Haven, where attackers can spread their numbers out and threaten three sites at once. Conversely, while defenders on two-site maps can simply allocate two agents to one site and three to the other, Haven’s math dictates that at least one site will only have a single defender… if any at all. So what’s the solution?
Omen On Haven Overview
Omen is widely considered to be the best controller agent in professional play, and arguably, thebest controller in solo queue.Omen’s kit takes full advantage of Haven’s map design, helping defenders tilt the scales a little bit back in their favor.
For instance, Haven’s map design allows fortricky Shrouded Steps (“teleport”) spots, letting Omen contest space quickly in A Sewers or C Long; the small ledges in the map’s walls offer one-way smokes that other controller agents can’t take advantage of, making it hard for attackers to push C Garage; and unlike in larger maps like Breeze, Omen’s smokes can perfectlycover important chokes to completely deny attackers' line of sight.
Next time you’re on Omen and find yourself facing down an attacking team on Haven, try the following plays to strike paranoia into their hearts.
Teleport Play From Mid Garage To Grass
Assuming that you bought your Paranoia (“blind”) ability and at least one each of your Shrouded Steps and Dark Covers (“smoke”),walk up against the barrierin garage,ping the attacker’s doorwayleading to mid grass, andget ready to cast a smokein front of garage doors. When the round starts, follow these steps:
If you did everything right,you’ll end up in the back of mid grass, while any potential enemies who came out of the door will be blind and deafened by your Paranoia ability.
Aim permitting, you’ll have an incredible advantage in the ensuing fight. However, because this play puts you in an inescapable situation,only use this if you’re on a save round, or if you’re on equal buy rounds and need to try something new—you don’t want to give your enemies a gun upgrade accidentally.
After teleporting, Omen will be facing the same direction he was looking at in the initial cast. This means that if you cast your teleport, then look another way quickly, Omen will be looking that same way on the other side. Use this trick to get yourself oriented before you even cast your teleport!
One-Way Smoke On A Site Short
Far and away, Haven’s main defining characteristic is its three-site design. Butthere’s another distinguishing featurethat most agents in the game don’t care about, but that a select few agents absolutely do:Haven’s trademark verticality.
On each of Haven’s sites—sometimes even outside of the sites, as in C garage and A lobby—sit piles of boxes stacked two-high. Agents with upward mobility, like Raze, Jett, Chamber, and Omen, can maneuver on top of these boxes to take off-angles on unsuspecting opponents, forcing their attackers to rely on flick aim to fight.
As a controller, however,Omen can take this advantage one step further. When defending the A site, if you suspect that some enemies are attacking from A short (sometimes called “sewers”),you can throw a smoke on top of the double-stack of boxesas attackers come out, creating a one-way for you and your teammates to hold.
But as one additional element of trickery, you can teleport into this smoke—or even preemptively teleport onto the boxes, and cast the smoke on yourself as attackers flood the site. This way, you’ll be able to simply drop behind the attackers as they attempt to take site, and claim your free kills as they’re looking the other way.Just ensure no one is still sitting in sewers—or you’ll become the free kill instead!
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Heaven Retake On The A Site
Because of Haven’s attacker-sided map setup, defenders often find themselves in retake scenarios. And for Omen players who tend to play on C site, this pattern can make life quite hard if attackers hit the A site quickly, as both A Long and A Short are out of range to smoke immediately.
Here’s a gameplanto make retaking the A site a bit easierfor Omen players:
Though a bit unorthodox,your smoke alone offers several advantages to your team:
Now, when you combine this smoke with a teleport into it,you’ll open up a lot of options for taking space and establishing site control.
For instance, if your teammates start fighting hell, you’re able to swing out of your smoke to support them. However, if you suspect an enemy is playing A Long, you can blind them via your Paranoia ability and fight them. Also, if an enemy is playing A Short, you can likewise blind them—butyou can also teleport from your smoke onto one of many box stacks, catching them unaware.
This play is, ironically, made even easier if an enemy agent smokes Heaven, giving you time to perfectly place your smoke and teleport into it—just use your minimap to guide your smoke and teleport!
