VALORANT Map Analysis: Is the Game Defence Favoured?

That has been a  lot of discussion on online forums discussing attacking being more difficult than defending in Valorant and we want to test the theory by breaking down competitive stats of some of the best teams in the world. Statistics are on the player base's side proving that all four maps that saw extensive play throughout Valorant’s Ignition Series and First Strike tournaments are defense favored. 

Defenders have a better K/DA than attacking teams by a noticeable margin and defensive round winrates are higher as well compared to that of attackers. But is that really surprising? Most maps in competitive games like CS:GO and Overwatch is usually split in terms of them being attack or defense favored. Most of Overwatch’s 2CP maps, for example, are difficult to breach into for not just uncoordinated ranked teams but also for professional players. But in Valorant’s case, the defense has a clear advantage across all maps. For the purposes of our analysis, we've used stats from thespike.gg. Statistics from showmatch events have not been included. 

North America

The top three teams in North America right now are Sentinels, 100 Thieves, and FaZe Clan. Here is how they performed in 2020. 

Sentinels

Sentinels had an 81% win rate in 2020 with four out of five maps being favored towards defensive tactics. They played only three matches on Icebox and at least 28 matches on the other maps. 

100 Thieves

Across the 72 maps played in a competitive setting, 100 Thieves has maintained a 55%-win rate and a better statistic when defending throughout 2020. Bind is their most played map and they have a clear advantage when defending on it. 

FaZe Clan

With a 59% winrate throughout their competitive matches, FaZe Clan puts on their strongest performances in Bind. The team did not play any matches on Icebox. 

Europe 

Team Heretics, G2 Esports, and SUMN FC are the top three teams of Europe. G2 Esports is the only team that has a better noticeably better track record of attacking on Haven while the rest of the numbers are in line with what we have seen so far from North American Teams. 

Team Heretics 

Team Heretics has an unbelievable 97% winrate with just 1 out of 36 matches dropped in 2020 dating all the way back to the Genesis Cup in Fuego. The teams’ performance at attacking and defending is consistent with their most played maps showing barely any deviation in winrate across rounds. 

G2 Esports

G2 Esports has significantly higher winrates on rounds they defend in with Haven being an exception. The team played an equal number of matches on Hive and Bind but they have a lower attacker round winrate on Haven. 

SUMN FC

SUMN FC has an 87% winrate and took home second place in the First Strike EU finals. The team has a better winrate on rounds when defending than attacking with the exception of Split where they trail when defending by 2.4%. 

Asia

Absolute JUPITER and Vision Strikers are the two most dominant teams in Asia and both of them have a better winrate per round when defending compared to attacking in at least three out of five maps in the game. REJECT, who holds the number three spot is leading in defense round winrates in all four maps they played throughout their competitive matches in 2020. 

Absolute JUPITER

Absolute JUPITER has a 91% winrate in Asia with three out of five maps being favored at defending. The same size for their matches on Icebox is just five but it is one of the rare occasions where the team has performed better at attacking in our analysis. 

Vision Strikers 

Vision Strikers has maintained a 100% winrate throughout 2020 and their date still coincides with the rest of the teams on our list. Haven, which is their most played map with 31 matches played throughout 2020 shows us a lower defender’s round winrate than their attacking rounds. Four of out five maps put them at an advantage when defending. 

REJECT 

REJECT is one of the three teams that have played zero matches on Icebox. They enjoy a distinct advantage when defending with all four maps they have competed in showing a better round winrate when defending. 

Findings: Does Valorant Have a Defender’s Advantage? 

If we compare Valorant’s maps with CS:GO or Rainbow Six Siege, we notice a glaring difference between Riot’s shooter and other games. Valorant offers an advantage to defenders across all five maps we have right now. But that is not the case in other games in order to make them more competitive.

Here are the possible reasons behind the discrepancies: 

Map Balancing: Some sites in Valorant offer ample cover and let you defend more easily. In CS:GO there maps that clearly favor terrorists while others favor counter-terrorists. Cache, Cobblestone, Dust 2, and Vertigo are favored for CTs while Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, Season, Train, and Tuscan are favored for terrorists. But such discrepancies are not seen in CS:GO with all maps generally favoring defenders. 

Abilities: Sentinels and Controllers are great at defending in Valorant but the same can be said for Initiators as well. Agents like Cypher who are designed to gather intel on enemies and push in offensively can also be used defensively for holding sites Agents like Jett and Phoenix are equally effective on offense and defense making defending just as effective as attacking, it not more. 

Not Enough Maps: There are just five maps in the game and Icebox, Valorant's newest entrant, has barely seen any playtime. The disparity between attackers and defenders may change over time if Riot decides to add maps to the game that favors attackers more. We may also get more agents that swing the meta into more offensive playstyles. 

Riot is known for its “50% win rate balancing” in League of Legends where they nerf anything that strays too far from a barely positive win rate. Defender’s advantage in Valorant may be attributed to map balance and agents. Riot can either release agents that are strictly better at attacking or introduce maps that are more attack-favored. The developers have promised a faster map rollout for 2021 and we can expect multiple map releases this year according to the Dev Diaries episode released on November 30th, 2020.  

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