In VALORANT, the outcome of a fight is sometimes decided even before it begins. Strategy will give you the edge in some situations, but it’s only one part of the battle.
Players need accurate aim to shoot exactly at the right location and kill their enemy before they can react. Even from a better position, a player will likely lose if they miss shots.
There are countless techniques that can help a player hone their aiming skills. Spending time in the firing range even before playing your first game is an efficient warm-up tool—provided you train efficiently.
VALORANT coach Woohoojin shared a simple training drill yesterday that can help you land better shots in many situations. It’s meant to take advantage of the “deadzone,” a small time window where players can shoot accurately even if they move.
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“Deadzoning is a technique that allows you to shoot accurate bullets while changing direction,” Woohoojin explained in a video. He differentiated it from counter-strafing, which takes advantage of the deadzone but for a different purpose.
Most players have already encountered opponents who were moving from left to right very fast. And when it’s done right, the opponent will kill you even if you both have similar aiming precision.
The technique is efficient because you’ll be harder to target. If you can’t shoot while moving, however, there is no point in doing this since you’ll also make aiming harder for yourself.
A simple training drill in the firing range
Woohoojin’s training drill allows players to learn the precise size of a deadzone to use it in a game. You can train with all your favorite weapons, just to get a more accurate feeling. Here is how to do it.
First, target the firing range’s central pole. Aim at its left and shoot. Aim at its right side, then left, and shoot again. The objective is to understand at what time the bullet will go astray due to your move and when it doesn’t so that you keep your accuracy while moving.
Once you understand the deadzone’s size, aim left, then right, then left, and so forth. The wall should look like this with bullet holes:
The coach also gave some tips to practice more efficiently:
- Only press one movement key at a time.
- Shoot until you are completely accurate.
- Move on to bot practice when it’s done (aim at the bot’s side and shoot accurately using your movement key instead).
- When you’re satisfied with your accuracy, increase the training bot program’s difficulty to medium, and then hard.
Using the deadzone is a simple trick that has a situational use. It won’t be useful in every round, but it’s simple to learn and can make a difference.
