The VALORANT new map, Lotus, is here. Lotus is a fascinating and enjoyable map with a very interesting design, its revolving door gimmick. This article, however, is for using Omen, a Controller Agent in the VALORANT roster. As a Controller, Omen’s role is to provide cover for his team and block the vision of his opponents. While I will not delve into the map design of Lotus, I will mention why Omen is a good Agent for this map and give suggestions on how to play him on both Attacking and Defending rounds.
Very Useful Smokes
Omen has great value in Lotus. For Defending rounds, he can place a one-way smoke at the right side of A Site, similar in concept to Cypher’s Cyber Cage one-way setup. He can also put a smoke a little further to A Root for aggressive plays. As an Attacker, Omen can place his smokes on A Top and A Drop to block enemies holding that area. That way, the focus of the team is on A Site.
For B Site, providing smokes in B Upper and either A or C Link gives complete control of the site. In addition, Omen can use his Paranoia (E) more effectively because of B Site’s close quarters.
I also find Omen very useful for C Site as his smokes can essentially block any two of C Site’s three entry points. Isolating the opponent’s options to get in C Site gives the team site control early.
Using the Revolving Doors to Trick Opponents
The gimmick of Lotus is that there are two revolving doors on the map. One after A Root and one connecting B Main to C Main. An experienced Omen player can easily trick opponents into catching them off-guard by triggering these doors and teleporting to the other side of the door. Since the doors have a loud sound, Omen’s Shrouded Step (C) can be somewhat concealed while your team pushes toward the door. Having Cypher’s Cyber Cage also helps in this deception if there’s a Cypher player on your team. [As of this writing, Patch 6.01 has been released with decreased volume of the revolving doors sound. This strategy still applies despite the change.]
Three Sites = Easy Rotations
Like Haven, Lotus has three sites to plant the Spike. The usual Omen strategy for Haven, picking up the Spike and using his Ultimate, From The Shadows, to get into any of the sites not held by opponents, also applies to Lotus.
Can Excel With a Second Controller, or Alone
In my numerous matches in Lotus, I have seen Omen paired with either Harbor or Viper, both Controller Agents with covers that slice a section of the map. While this is not yet how the meta goes in Lotus, Omen can excel on his own here, given how much impact his utility has on this map.
Lurking With Omen Is Valuable
The distance between Attacker/Defender Spawn to B Site is about 50 meters and around 70 meters from Attacker/Defender Spawn to A or C Sites.
Locking down B Lobby is crucial here since Defenders holding B Site can peek through the Attacker’s Spawn about 5 seconds after the round start. Therefore an Omen lurk is very valuable. In an ideal situation, Omen can contest B and help his teammates push either A or C through their respective connecting links or the enemy team’s spawn site. In a practical setting, Omen can hold an angle to catch potential flankers and then lurk through the connecting links or the enemy’s spawn. Since Omen mains can gather a lot of information by lurking, he can call rotations or possible enemy positions. All while providing the team with an equally valuable cover.
Some Suggestions on Attacking Lotus Plant Sites With Omen
Since Lotus has a lot of angles to clear, it is important to have at least an Initiator that can reveal enemy positions. Sova, Fade, and Skye can provide the necessary information on this with their recon abilities: Recon Dart (Sova), Haunt (Fade), and Trailblazer (Skye). KAY/O is also somewhat viable in this setup, but I prefer that locations must be precise, which Sova, Fade, and Skye can provide.
If enough information is gathered with the recon abilities, Omen can use his Paranoia to help push any Duelist while providing cover. Omen can either lurk, watch for flanker(s), or push toward the site. These three options are only possible if the team has an Initiator. If there is no Initiator in the team, at least an Agent who can use flash (Phoenix, Yoru, Reyna, Skye, KAY/O) and a damage-per-second (DPS) ability like Viper’s Snake Bite or Killjoy’s Nanoswarm can flush out opponents holding the site. Again, Paranoia is essential here. But, Omen can not be a solo blind Agent as his Paranoia should be for the team’s benefit. Call out if you will use Paranoia so the team can push after using the ability.
Some Suggestions on Defending Lotus Plant Sites With Omen
Like mentioned above, A Site is probably his most valuable site when defending since he can place a one-way smoke near the site for a passive play or provide a more aggressive smoke at A Root. B and C Sites are not as impactful for Omen, but retakes in these sites could give him value. Of course, his main role is to provide cover for his team; Omen will have value regardless of where he puts them. It’s just a matter of which value has more impact in every round.
There you have it, some tips on how to play Omen in Lotus. As a new map, Lotus does not yet have solid team compositions. I have seen Cypher players getting tons of value in the same way that Omen has. While Chamber is pretty much a good pick in this map despite his recent nerfs. However, the consistent Controller Agent I have seen in both ranked and unranked games is Omen. His ability to put precise smokes and have them recharge throughout the round makes him a more viable Controller Agent in Lotus. The video below applies some, if not all, of the techniques in this article. We lost the match, but I’m the Team MVP as Omen, proving his value on this map.
Let me know what you think. How will you play Omen in Lotus? What other strategies have you found?
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