Map Control Strategies

All competitive maps have:

• High-Traffic Zones - Where most fights occur.
• Power Positions- Locations that provide tactical advantages, such as the high ground; chokepoints; narrow corridors; multiple angles for cover, and more.
• Rotation Paths- The routes used by players in order to move from one zone to another.
• Spawn/Starting Areas - The safe location where players begin at the start of the round, and the weaker locations for teams on their way to the central areas.
• Objectives- Places such as bomb sites; towers; buffs; safe zones; and loot hotspots.

To achieve mastery of the map, remember the following:

• Positioning- Secure detailed information with a major focus on keeping strong angles with cover.
• Knowing where you are and what's happening around you is the beginning of creating opportunities to win battles. To gain map control in early game, establish yourself first with vision on key locations throughout the map. Make sure to have vision over the entire area you want to control. Use your team as a resource; communicate your vision to your team and make sure that they are aware of where the larger areas of control lie for the enemy team. This means making sure that your team can consistently see the lane you want to attack, the lane you want to defend, and the enemy base.
• As you gain more map control, you will need to develop better strategies for keeping that control. First, you need to hold the choke points on a map to give yourself an advantage. Rotating based on objectives is another important strategy. There are many objectives on the map (camps, shrines, towers, etc.), so you should rotate with purpose. Use utility (smokes, walls, etc.) to block your opponents' information from them. If your opponent does not see you, they cannot plan defensively against your movement.
• At the end of the mid-game, it is important to keep control of high traffic areas of the map. The team that controls these high traffic areas controls the pace of the game. Your opponent will need to make quick decisions when moving away from high traffic areas.
• In Late Game, it is crucial to maintain your advantage. Playing on high ground gives you an advantage and allows you to execute combat effectively against the enemy team. As with Playing High Ground, it is essential to tighten your formation as much as possible. Creating formations around objectives will help to secure an area while simultaneously making it more difficult for the enemy to attack.
• Creating aggressive formations can force your opponent's team into weak areas of the map. In order to create an aggressive formation, it is important to understand the roles of both your team members and your opponents. In the final game, it is essential to continue to position yourself correctly so that you can execute your strategies successfully and secure victory.

Control chokepoints, hold crossfires, use the high ground, block enemy vision with utility, and avoid overextending. Listen for sound cues. Map Control for FPS players is knowing where you should not be peeking from.

Ward placement - Vision Wins Games, perfect a team by controlling the enemy jungler's resources, creating lane pressure through strong lane match-ups provides rotation options, creates an atmosphere to have an active timeline for Zone Control Team objectives (Lord / Turtle / Roshan / Baron), manipulate the fog-of-war to control passive/active intel on the map - Intel means Power.

Rotate quickly - if you wait too long to rotate, you will likely die. Always scout before you rotate - do not blindly follow an enemy team. Control the high ground as it provides a tactical advantage when fighting against your enemies.

Take the Power Positions Inside The Circle - Control Houses / Control Cliffs / Control Buildings. Third Party Opportunities - When a team engages in a fight, take advantage of the confusion and chaos and safely eliminate your enemies.

Being able to control the map is not always a matter of fighting. Sometimes by simply pressuring your enemies without shooting you can come out as a winner: holding angles, showing presence, peeking for info, using utility, faking pushes.

Utility is the most powerful map-control weapon.

FPS: Smokes = close the angles, Flashes = stops pushing, Mollies = block rotations, Recon = get info.

MOBA: Vision wards, push waves, slow zones, stuns.

BR: Smokes to rotate, grenades to clear space, scans for info.