Sunset: Valorant’s new take on the old formula

With the launch of the episode 7 Act II, Riot will introduce a new map to Valorant. Based in Los Angeles, Sunset will be Valorant’s tenth map. The cinematic for the latest map was released before the Valorant Champions 2023 Grand Finals. The new map does not feature any new tricks like revolving doors or ropeway and is rather simplistic. The map will be joining the competitive queue two weeks after its official release with Episode 7 Act II. Alongside Sunset, Breeze will be returning to the active map pool replacing Pearl and Fracture.

Map Design - Sunset:

The new map follows a very traditional three lane two site design approach. The design is a familiar one for a ton of tactical-fps enthusiasts. Obviously, the map can’t be that simple. Talking about the goals while designing the map, Joe Lansford the lead map designer said

“Sunset features a mid that is fairly difficult to control and doesn’t really favor one team or another; it’s generally good for rifle ranges and opens up a bunch of opportunities for whichever team can take it. We expect to see both teams make mid control a central part of their strategy on Sunset.”

Map Layout:

New Sunset Layout Courtesy: Riot Games

The map fits right in with the goals. The design features a heavy emphasis on mid. For the defenders, the mid top acts as a quick rotation path connecting the A and the B sites. While the defenders can definitely rotate via the longer ‘defender spawn’ route, comprising of ‘mid’ grants an additional avenue to attackers for accessing the sites. Thus it becomes crucial for defenders to control mid. Failing to do so will lead to defense getting overwhelmed by incoming onslaught of utilities by the attackers.

While compared to defenders, attackers can concentrate their attacking force on the site and let a single lurker around mid to contest it. A smoke on ‘Mid top’ can help attackers get more control of the mid and control the rotations after moving up towards ‘Mid top’. The attackers definitely don’t need to contest mid hard but forsaking it completely won’t be an answer either. A well-timed flank from a defender can completely destroy the attacker's plans.Thus both sides will work towards controlling mid either proactively or passively.

A Defender’s perspective:

As a defender, mid will be essential to winning the round. The defenders can use ‘Mid Tiles’ to fast flank any A site execution. Additionally, defenders can control ‘Mid’ using ‘Mid Top’ and ‘B Market’. Controlling ‘B Market’ and ‘Mid courtyard’ will help defenders control the attack attempts to B. With ‘B Market’ under control, controlling the incoming attacking onslaught from B main would be much easier. The B site in itself is very unique with a central large pillar. A strong site anchor can play around the pillar to control the site.

Sunset Mid / Courtesy: Riot Games

A is much easier as ‘A Main’ is the single avenue of entry to the site. Defenders have to proactively defend the ‘A Main’ and ‘A Elbow’ or play retake. There are some elevated spots on ‘A Link’ and ‘A Alley’ that can be used to defend ‘A site’ passively and play retake. The site itself doesn’t have much cover and if not controlled properly can lead to getting overwhelmed by attackers.

The Sunset attack:

As an attacker, controlling ‘Mid’ will help pressure the defenders. A lurker on ‘Mid’ can help control the rotations. A ‘B Site’ execute might include controlling ‘Mid’ and then attack ‘B Market’ and ‘B Main’ at the same time to control B. The ‘B Site’ has a pillar a defender can play around, but attacking from two sides can help overcome. For A site, forcing through ‘A Main’ can help to attack A from both sites. The site itself doesn’t have much of a cover and the defenders can be flushed out. But the toughest part of attack is being thorough with the corner checking.

The Agent Composition:

With the current double-controller meta will work tremendously well with Sunset. Omen will be a great aggressive controller for the map. With the narrow lanes and open sites, the Paranoia will render maximum values. Viper and Harbor both are great on the map but with Viper utilities and open skyboxes, Viper might be a choice for many. Additionally, Breach is a good initiator for the job over Skye. Especially with rather narrow lanes, the breach stun can get amazing values. Depending on the team, they can either go for two duelists to counter the defensive nature of the map, or another initiator and a duelist or a Sentinel and a duelist as the last three agents.

The main duelist on the map has to be Raze, especially after the Jett nerfs. With the narrow lanes, the Raze nade combined with the Breach stun can yield amazing value. Despite the nerfs, Jett will be amazing on the map. Another great pocket pick here will be Chamber. Chamber can help with ‘Mid’ control via ‘B Market’. Neon with her speed can get to places really fast and the narrow lanes will work amazing well for the stun. The Fast Lane can help section off fights. Playing additional initiator can also help attack and add pressure to the defenders on site with Open Skyboxes Sova/Fade might be a choice but they don’t work as well with the map. Instead, playing Kay/O or Skye makes much more sense.

Conclusive notes

Overall Sunset is a normal map, without gimmicks and follows a traditional design. The map is certainly defensive but the emphasis on mid is new for Valorant. It will be amazing how simplistic the map is with simple design but with the agents and it will be an amazing map to play. The map will join the competitive queue in two weeks. Until then, there will be a separate queue for the map. With the agent changes and the new map pool, Valorant will take another turn preparing for the new duelist.

Credits: Riot Games.

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