Hello everyone :-)

Today I would like to elaborate a bit about one of the most exciting parts of the game. It starts with a commentator saying: “Last player standing”.

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1. Better to prevent than to cure

First rule of clutching is “You do not allow the clutch phase to happen”. Second rule of clutching is “You do not allow the clutch phase to happen”. However bluntly stated, it covers the truth. Most of the time, even if low on health and with no utility – two players have still better chances to claim the round than full hp, full utility clutcher. Clutches are fun to watch, but they are also really stressful for both “last player standing” and rest of his team. And too much stress may result in significant underperformance for many players. You need to care about your team’s survival.

2. To clutch or not to clutch, that is a question

It happened. Your whole team has been eradicated. After you gathered all necessary information it is time to make a choice – is it worth the risk to battle remaining enemies. There are actually just two cases when you can restrain yourself from direct attempt to clutch: when the odds are really hopeless, like it is not even theoretically possible for you to successfully defuse a spike before it explodes. Second one concerns a difficult situation when you have a decent weapon (Vandal, Phantom, Odin, Operator) and your team’s economy is really poor. When you decide that it would be better not to risk this time, your main task is to take the best weapon available to the next round and safely take down as many opponents as possible to harm their economy. If you have poor weapon, it is the last game of the phase or opponent’s team is one game away from winning – you must attempt to clutch. Also calculate your economy situation whether you die or not, and remember about getting one Ult Point for dying.

3. Create a good clutch atmosphere

As I have underlined before, clutch is always stressful in some way. Therefore your whole team should create pleasant atmosphere around clutch issues that will maximize last player’s chances to carry out that situation. First of all, providing clutcher with information may be helpful but it definitely should not be overused. Most of the information should flow at the beginning of clutch phase or between battles if absolutely necessary. You have to leave much space for a player to simply focus and make a plan of his own. Most players don’t like blabbering during clutch. Remember to praise your teammate if he manages to clutch successfully, especially in tough situation when rest of the team misplayed their actions. If he fails to do so, you can leave a simple “nice try” if his attempt was quite decent. Under any circumstances you should not flame your teammate if he didn’t clutch – usually it was not his fault and you should remember that whole rest of the team also didn’t manage to survive this round. If you punish your teammate for not clutching he will simply rush mindlessly next round or die instantaneously after becoming the last player – just to avoid huge responsibility, pressure and expectations.

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BASIC CLUTCH STRATEGY

1. Gather up all information

To successfully carry out a clutch you should gather as much information as possible that may be useful to last player. That involves especially enemy’s potential positions, their remaining health and time left to end of the round. Another pretty useful information are position of the Spike, enemy’s guns, their remaining utility. You can also casually remind a clutcher of utility that he has left in his arsenal or upgraded guns that he can pick from the ground. Nevertheless, it is usually better just to stay quiet unless you see that your clutcher obviously miss some crucial information.

2. Typical clutch scenarios

- Lurker: if opponents don’t know your exact position yet try to conceal yourself and surprise one of the remaining opponents from unexpected angle. If you managed to kill him, try to hide again. You can also sometimes push aggressively as a last resort surprise.

- Utility: you shouldn’t hesitate to use all your utility to help you with winning the round. Before you attempt to kill remaining enemies or defuse a Spike – make up a good plan and remember of being creative and unpredictable.

- Isolate your enemies: if you are caught by two enemies at the same time, your chances of taking them both down are rather low. Try to check corners and combat enemies one by one, watch out for double peeks from different hideouts.

- Peek and commit wisely: value your remaining health, lower your risk as much as possible. Check corners widely, peek and commit safely to spot up enemies without necessarily instantly fighting for life. Run around obstacles, hide if possible, provoke opponents to take risky duels.

- Play smart around a Spike:

As an Attacking Side you should plant Spike as fast as possible and as safely as possible. Remember that your only goal is to make Spike explode, so don’t peek enemies unnecessarily. Default strategy in that position is taking down an enemy while he is busy defusing, so plant thoughtfully and position yourself to help you survive and kill potential defuser easily.

As a Defender you should aim for taking down a planting enemy, as he is immobilized for 4 seconds, and he must do it before time limit expires. Therefore, you should also remember that you win if enemies fail to plant a spike within default round time, so let them make a mistake, don’t take unnecessary duels if it is possible to win by time expiration. Sometimes it is more surprising to peek enemy just as his managed to plant. If you find yourself in a situation that spike is already planted, take additional notice of time limit, you have roughly 45 seconds to perform two 3,5-second defuses. Don’t stall too long.

- Spike Mind Games: remember that you can tap spike to fake your plant or defuse, include these tactics to outmaneuver your enemy. Performing one successful 3,5-second defuse can really increase your chances. Sometimes it is worth to stick to a full defuse if it is possible that your opponent won’t make it in time to kill you. While sticking remember that attacker has exactly 7 seconds to stop you from defusing, watch out for his rush.

That’s all of my thoughts about this topic for now. Clutch is pretty individual dimension of Valorant, so I am really interested how other players think about it. Leave a comment and share your experience :-)