Natus Vincere, otherwise known as NAVI, debuted their new VALORANT roster in the G-Loot VALORANT Clash tournament. The roster, previously under FunPlus Phoenix, now with the addition of cNed in replacement of ardiis, showed some new ideas. We saw Sova, Killjoy, and Jett on Pearl; Zyppan’s Reyna on Icebox; and, to my excitement, Viper on Ascent. Viper is one of my favorite agents on Ascent. Due to Ascent’s close-quarters combat, Viper’s utility excels at shutting down choke points and creating consistent pressure for denying line-of-sight.
Viper on Ascent was most notably used in 2021 by teams like Fnatic and Version1 at the VCT Masters LAN in Reykjavík. In 2022 we have not seen much use of Viper on Ascent as she sits at a 0.58% pick rate in 2022. The most notable team in 2022 that used Viper was Soniq’s in early 2022. While the match was one-sided, with NAVI winning 13-2, there were a few takeaways from their defense. They emphasized aggressive control with Viper, KAY/O, and Omen utility at both mains. NAVI would win the series 3-2, thus winning the G-Loot VALORANT Clash.
<aside> <img src="/icons/info-alternate_pink.svg" alt="/icons/info-alternate_pink.svg" width="40px" /> The purpose of this article is to take a deeper dive into competitive VALORANT games. This follows the part of the approach that I apply when reviewing games; identifying gaps, weaknesses, strengths, and understanding how teams play.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8xAmr1JoNg&t=26958s
NAVI’s composition consisted of Omen, Viper, Fade, KAY/O, and Chamber. The composition lacks a duelist, however, brings forth aggression from agents like Omen, KAY/O, and Chamber. NAVI’s core roster, previously FunPlus Phoenix, is no strangers to no-duelist compositions. The team previously played Omen, Fade, KAY/O, Chamber, and Sage. With that double sentinel composition, they emphasized conditioning Sage’s wall to create trap setups towards chokepoints. The double controller setup of NAVI allows consistent pressure towards choke points with line-of-sight denial and one-ways. Omen’s use on Ascent is valued due to the one-ways that he can place on both Defense and Attack. This is used to ‘confirm space’ or lock down the space that you want to take/hold. On NAVI’s defense, this allows them to consistently pressure mains with Omen one-ways and Viper’s Wall but also utilize both Viper and Omen one-ways to shut down enemies from splitting sites through A Tree or B Market. Initiators like Fade and KAY/O have been pretty dominant on Ascent. NAVI take advantage of their informational tools with the pair as a way to push people back and gather control. This is seen by KAY/O’s early knives and Fade’s early Prowler to gather or pressure space. Similarly enough, Fade’s Seize and KAY/O’s molly consistently threaten space and pair well with utility like the Viper wall. They have utility to fallback on or combine, like Molly + Seize, or flash + peeking.
NAVI’s setups emphasized aggressive Main control with Omen and KAY/O on one site and Viper’s wall on the opposite site. Due to NAVI’s aggressive control, it would force enemies into an operator, Viper utility, or one-ways with both Omen and Viper. Controlling Mains can be important for defenders on Ascent. When establishing main control, enemies are denied from initially taking main, and must spend extra utility to clear angles. If enemies decide to take mid, reacting by pressuring Mains is the proper response. If playing heavily towards Mains teams must compensate towards other positions of the map like Mid, A Tree, and B Market. NAVI does exactly this while consistently threatening one-ways towards enemies attempting to split both sites.
With NAVI’s primary setup ANGE1 and Zyppan would establish aggressive A Main control with Omen and KAY/O. At the start of the round, KAY/O would molly A Main, and Omen would one-way it. While this is a heavy commitment of utility, it forces enemies to delay their initial A Main take. This pressure creates the question mark of if someone is inside of A Main, forcing enemies to use an extra layer of utility to clear angles. While Parla never attempted to take A Main at the beginning of the round, NAVI could always respond with Omen and KAY/O’s flashes if they attempted to take control. Due to NAVI fighting heavily inside of B Main, cNed places Chamber’s alarm bot towards A Tree. This allows consistent information in case cNed is pushed off the angle in mid. If there is mid pressure ANGE1 one-way smokes off Catwalk for delay.
SUYGETSU would play Viper on B Site with an aggressive wall in B Main while Shao on Fade Prowlers at the start of the round. The Viper wall threatens the initial peak and forces enemies to take damage when entering B Main. If SUYGETSU is pushed back, the Viper wall still denies vision outside of B Main. This forces enemies to use utility to push him back as he consistently plays aggressively inside B Main. SUYGETSU also throws a one-way towards. If B Main was locked down, Shao would rotate towards Mid to play with cNed on Chamber to shut down enemies going Mid. If enemies manage to break through their mid setup they are forced into Viper’s one way orb covering the Market exit.
NAVI’s KAY/O Molly and Omen one-way to control A Main - Round 11
NAVI’s Viper wall and Fade Prowler to control B Main - Round 3
With NAVI’s secondary setup SUYGETSU and Shao establish A Main control with a Viper wall and Fade Prowler. SUYGETSU’s Viper wall forces, similar to his B Main wall, threaten their initial peak and force enemies to take damage when entering A Main. When ANGE1 played on A Site, if enemies pressured mid, he would throw a one-way toward Catwalk. Instead, SUYGESTU puts Viper’s Orb up as a one-way to prevent enemies pressuring through Mid. Shao usually falls off to play A Tree while SUYGETSU falls back towards Hell/Dice on site.
Similar to their previous setup, ANGE1 and Zyppan keep their aggressive playstyle and control up towards B Main. Zyppan throws a KAY/O Molly, denying enemies from pushing, while ANGE1 throws a one-way that confirms the space. ANGE1 often pushes within this setup and holds onto B Main, throwing shots through his own smoke. This heavy utility will isolate an enemy if they aggress, or force enemies to wait out the initial utility before taking B Main. If the enemies decide to hit the opposite site, they either deal with Chamber Op, take damage from Viper's wall, or walk through Viper's one-way catwalk.
Another big part of their setup is the willingness to crunch Mid. After using utility towards B Main, NAVI would have Chamber hold B Main and send Omen Mid to reclear Mid. Shao would throw a Haunt from Tree to Mid while ANGE1 Omen smokes and flashes towards Arches to reclear space. Due to NAVI confirming Main control, it allows them to be able to either crunch or use heavy utility to contest Mid.
NAVI’s Omen one-way and KAY/O Molly to control B Main - Round 6
NAVI’s Mid reclear - Round 8
Protocols for when enemies have ultimates are crucial for competitive teams to have. Most ultimates alter the round, meaning adjusting your plan is important to making the round favorable. NAVI used an anti-KAY/O ultimate setup in Round 8. Viper’s wall is placed to block Mid and B Main while SUYGETSU plays on A Site. This means if the enemies execute B Site with KAY/O ultimate, NAVI can deny line-of-sight from B Main. Omen plays on B Site, which means that if the enemies hit A Site Omen will smoke off A Main.
NAVI uses Zyppan’s KAY/O Molly and ANGE1’s one-way smoke towards B Main, similarly to other rounds. If Parla hit B Main fast, it will isolate any enemies within the molly, shutting down or delaying their execute. NAVI used a Prowler in A Main to set up cNed in Wine. This is because he expects to be able to get a kill and teleport out if the enemies take A Main before using KAY/O ultimate. It is not the case, as Parla used KAY/O ultimate before entering A Main due to NAVI's consistent main pressure. To play the round as safely as possible KAY/O entries before ulting since he can be revived if down. While cNed is unable to escape Wine, he still manages to take down KAY/O which delays their execute.
cNed stuck wine but takes down the KAY/O - Round 8
NAVI Omen smoke A Main while shutting down the execute - Round 8
NAVI’s aggressive Main control forces enemies to utilize an extra-layer of utility the push them back off main. If enemies do not push them off of the Mains they end up being pushed into one-ways, cNed’s Operator, or heavy utility. Every single defensive round, NAVI dictated the pace with minimal disruption from Parla. In the few scenarios that Parla did pressure mains they had to adjust and use an ultimate to clear the mains rather than clearing site. This effected their executes by not being able to adjust properly.
In Round 8, when Parla wanted to use KAY/O ultimate to execute A Main, they used it from outside A Main to ensure that anyone in Wine would not escape. Since they could never confidently take A Main or B Main, they waited before contesting it. While this had the intended effect on cNed, he still took down KAY/O, delaying their execute since Parla had to resurrect him.
Another example was in Round 11, where Parla wanted to use Fade ultimate to execute onto A Site. Instead of using the ultimate towards the site, they used it towards A Main. While the ultimate did hit both Zyppan and ANGE1, Parla did not capitalize on the decay immediately. This can be important with an economic deficit since the ultimate does 75 decay to enemies and restores after a set amount of time it makes kills easier, especially with the weaker weapons.
Parla uses Fade ultimate for A Main - Round 11
While NAVI had a dominant map on Ascent, there was a lot we did not see on their defense, as they did not need to change much to win rounds. However, from what we did see, NAVI accomplished what they designed their composition to do. Their use of aggressive utility to establish main control and direct enemies into one-ways or cNed’s operator was well-played. With the lack of Viper on Ascent, NAVI brought through a few compositional surprises and a much different and aggressive approach than expected. I am excited to see if NAVI use this composition, or a similar composition, in their next Ascent match. While the series was closer than expected, I was excited to see different approaches and compositions from NAVI. It only leaves me wanting to see what they will showcase next.
While NAVI’s use of Viper’s wall was effective, it felt they did not show all of what they could do with it. This is most likely due to not needing to change too much of their play style. However, there are a couple of plays that I can envision from the Viper Walls of NAVI.
While NAVI took advantage of the Viper wall consistently with Viper in B Main, I never saw them further take advantage of the wall with Chamber in B Main. Chamber playing in front of the wall could create a potential surprise, even with the support of Fade’s recon.
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NAVI did pressure Mid often in their secondary setup. They were prepared to reclear Bottom Mid after establishing main control if the enemies went Mid. However, their Viper wall towards A Main blocks off vision Top Mid. I did not see them take advantage of this to crunch mid.
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NAVI’s A Viper wall creates question marks for if the defenders crossed into Wine or are playing behind the wall. In this match, we did not see A Main being contested early on by Parla. A play like this can be used for a double Wine bait setup on an eco round.
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VALORANT Coach & Analyst. Worked in NA, EMEA, APAC, and OCE with Challengers, Game Changers, and Collegiate teams. Former Architecture Student, President of Freedom By Design, and Graphic Designer.
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