Struggling to clutch your Attacker rounds on Sunset? Don’t know where to plant the Spike on Ascent? It’s every Sentinel and Controller’s biggest headache: What to do with the bomb when you’ve got full site control.
In VALORANT, planting the Spike in the correct location can be the difference between winning and losing a round. Many times, placing the bomb down at the safest and most obvious plant spot (also known as the default plant spot) is a terrible decision. It’s better to consider playing for the map control you have, forcing Defenders to defuse from multiple exposed angles.
In the past, VALORANT players had to learn Spike plants by grinding out hours of competitive matches or binge watching YouTube guides. Not any more. A simple, free VALORANT tool draws on in-game data to reveal the best (and in some cases, worst) locations to set down the Spike.
How to figure out the best VALORANT Spike plants
Called the “VALORANT Plant Spot Tier list,” VALORANT stats site vstats.gg collects contemporary data from Riot’s API to analyze the strongest plant locations for Attackers across all seven maps in the competitive queue. Each map listing gives an overall average of Attacker win rate for a site plant, along with the best and most popular plant locations across each bomb site.
For example, Attackers on Bind are far less likely to convert an attack on A if they plant the Spike near Dice for Showers: There’s a 61.85% round win rate across ranks. But VALORANT players have a 69.97% win rate for a round by planting for A Short near Uhaul.
Makes sense, no? It’s far, far harder for the Defenders to retake site and defuse the bomb if Attackers are holding Lamps and A Short. Otherwise, Defenders have multiple opportunities to trap, stall, or pinch Defenders in Showers (whether through teleporter, a Sage wall, mollies, or holding a peeking Defender on defuse tap).
So, how do you use Spike plant data to your advantage?
Users can filter across ranks to learn which plant spots are generally the best at the highest level of play. This is incredibly useful for getting the best data possible: If a player in the top 500 struggles to prevent a defuse on a Spike plant, then players across Diamond, Gold, and Bronze should expect similar headaches.
On Ascent, Radiant players that get the bomb down on B for Default (that is, behind Dice and planted for Boathouse) are practically throwing the round: There’s just a 67.65% win rate for this plant spot. Every single plant site listed across Ascent has a far higher win rate. In fact, planting the Spike near the intersection of Lane and Boathouse has the highest Attacker round conversion rate across all of Ascent: 76.93%, compared to Dice’s 67.65%.
Keep in mind that round conversion rates aren’t just about planting the Spike. Attackers may be pressured into planting the Spike at different areas (such as Dice on Bind) depending on how many Attackers are alive, how much site control they have, and whether Defenders are actively contesting site. So Ascent’s low win rate at Default isn’t just about Dice being relatively safer to both plant and defuse. If Attackers feel pressured to plant safe during a messy round, then they’re also far more likely to lose the round in the first place. An Attacking team that has full site control in Radiant is simply going to put the Spike at a good location.
For the time being, vstats.gg offers Spike plant data on all maps in the competitive queue. Sorry, Fracture and Pearl fans, but you’ll have to wait until these maps return to the rotation for more info on where to plant the Spike.
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