Immortals don’t counter strafe in valorant…Here’s why 

for me, counterstrafing is a lot more consistent. pressing a key makes it easier to hit the timing, because i know i shoot after i hit the key. letting go of a key is really awkward for me. it might just be because i've played cs for years and always counterstrafed.

I heard Shroud mention that you can shoot almost instantly after you let go of the movement key. I didn't understand this untill recently and this has been a major benefit for me and my gameplay

I think counterstrafing is still useful though, but just don't fully stop. It's useful on a quick jiggle for a 1-tap attempt to immediately hide after the shot. I know you kinda covered it with the jiggling part, but just wanna point that out as well.

As a very consistent Immortal player myself, who doesn’t play anymore, I find myself watching these videos mainly out of curiosity rather than to learn. I believe all these tips are useful! I subconsciously stopped doing this a few episodes ago and realize I mainly do it when I’m tilting. I don’t think it has a huge impact but the discipline you build off of tips such as these will all come together and make you an overall better player. Keep trying, but don’t make your overall playstyle about the shit you’ve seen on RU-vid. Valorant is the most fun when you can be yourself and play how you want, and still succeed.

i noticed beforehand i was doing this unintentionally without knowing. It actually explains why some days when i tend to drone out i do better but when i’m more focused i do worse

So ive been jiggling for 2 years in valorant?

Counter-strafing is a mechanic useful in CS:GO and other 'pure' (using Source physics as-is) Source games because player characters in the Source engine have a significant deceleration period when you release movement keys. Counter-strafing cuts this time very quickly by starting movement in the opposite direction. The Source Engine is also specifically coded to stop your momentum immediately if you press an input opposing your current velocity (See: accidentally stopping mid-air as scout tf2). Valorant is not a Source Engine game (it's Unreal Engine). The physics are not the same. Player characters lack that long deceleration period that makes counter-strafing useful. Counter-strafing has anywhere between no impact to a very, very small impact on this stopping time. Most players will find this difference basically negligible. Some players find that timing their shots for 0 movement error is easier when counter-strafing as a result of muscle memory. These players are free to continue counter-strafing as they wish. Some players find that timing their shots for 0 movement error is harder when counter-strafing as a result of extra inputs and timings (even compared to jiggling-- releasing the counter-strafe is also a learned timing). These players should not counter-strafe. Just do the thing that gets you comfortably shooting bullets near the location of your crosshair

Oh that's actually really informative, and also good to see that u made the text have an outline in the thumbnail :D

Easy fix for the counter strafe timing: Wooting 60HE. It's equipped with analog switches which can be adjusted in 0.1mm steps. You can also enable a feature which allows to turn off a switch by releasing the key by only 0.1mm so if you let go of let's say A or D, you will instantly stop moving. It helped me alot. W keyboard hands down

nice content bro my main issue in valorant for sure it's counter-strafe I always get too nervous from care to much in hit counter-strafe accurate and I just forgot to aim or to pay attention in others game aspects, so I run some dm's just letting the button and I feel my aim way more confident and I feel that I was really aiming and hitting heads, I'll try it out for sure. Hope u stay with ur content it's really good and have helped me a lot!

I've heard for a while ppl say counterstrafing was pointless in val but until I actually learned how to counter strafe, getting those first contact kills were 50/50. Yes I see it's LESS USEFUL then when used in CSGO but to say it's useless is a understatement imo. Whenever I get my timing down with my counterstrafes and hop in ranked, my accuracy is much more consistent and this is largely why I was able to rank up. Jiggling is something Ive always tried to do and can do it's just not as effective from what I've seen in my gameplay

thnx bro!! it really helps to see another perspective of the mechanics

I've been unintentionally using both depending on the situation, you should master both so your movement is a lot more diverse.

after following the tips you gave, now I'm always on top of the frag, thanks bro

i think for some ppl who are already used to counter strafing they're still gonna do it. i like to think of it as the stride in a baseball swing; a lot of ppl think the stride is for power, but its actually for timing (if you stride in baseball for power and shift your wait during the stride you'll become unbalanced and be unable to hit the ball, your weight shift comes moreso from your pivot). in that sense its a fairly meaningless action, as you can technically just time the pitch in your head and swing normally (as the stride adds no strength or speed to your swing). similarly, i think for a lot of ppl counterstrafing is not for stopping faster, but for timing your shots when you stop. especially since letting go of a key to stop strafing is more of a passive act, so its harder to process it as a timing mechanism.

thanks for telling us about the graph, it single handly changes the learning curve, without it you'll never assume that your doing it correctly, but with the graph you can see you are jigglign at max speed without failing a shot

It's easier to do a mix between the two rather then completely switching to one or the other. I counter-strafe simply because of muscle memory and it doesn't falter my gameplay. I don't counter-strafe when I jiggle peak or peak CERTAIN angles in the game, so I can do both just fine. I think it's personal preference though and whatever you're more comfortable with. A lot of pros have mastered counter-strafing so counter-strafing hasn't been rendered completely useless & unnecessary as most of these videos state.

i started following u a week ago.. now i feel my aim is smoother now. Thanks for u advice 💕

Hey yo, this was really usefull, I had no ideia! Thank you for the tips

Thanks for the tip, I'm now signed to global eSports tournaments

i wish i knew this before from the monment i started playing CSGO and even when i started playing valorant i used counter strafe and it makes sense why i whiff my first shot most of the time... altho its the most accurate shot and with counter strafe too... this is gonna take ALOT OF TIME to get used to, anyways thanks for the advice!!!!! LOVE YOU

For me personally, I aim by how the bullets/recoil feel and movement coordination. I practice A LOT in The Range, and I tend to warm up by trying to feel where the bullets are going and how to move to be accurate and evasive. But my playstyle is more of prediction, trapping, and lurking. So I play controllers and initiators more than Duelists.

For you it feels like counterstrafing is something extra for you. With many other people, myself included, counterstrafing feels like second nature, and it would be going out of my way to not counterstrafe. Trying not to counterstrafe messes up my aim and just makes my experience worse.

I'm so used to counterstrafing that even if it doesn't make a difference, it's still a thing I do

That is very true, as a csgo player I still have the habit of counter strafing when it isn’t necessary. It is also much harder due to your character immediately stoping after releasing your movement key which would end up making you move the other way when missing a counter strafe, and the reward is only a few frames of advantage. It is not worth investing time on counter strafing when there is so much more to learn and work on to improve in the game

thanks for this vid ive been trying to learn counter strafing for quite some time, but I never achieved perfection. so this vid gave me hope that i might just did it the wrong way and now ima just try this technique :) thanks very much

counter strafe is a extra bonus i think, good video bro!

I don't think i will ever be able to get the habit of counter strafing out of my system. I played CSGO for wayy too long haha

So counterstrafing is not NECESSARY but I feel it does help me remain consistent and thats why I learned it.

I've always counter strafed for years. It's not something I can really stop doing. I mean, I suppose it barely affects me. But since the movement is definitely more sensitive, I have messed my strafe up before, but not often.

Also not counter strafing can also increase better habits among having peakers adv when you counter strafe the network of the shot for other people is getting further apart a youtuber explains this amazingly but when you swing out without counterstrafing the shots are more frequent also makes it harder to be hit

I got so used to counter strafing in cs I keep doing it in valorant. Thanks for sharing this info, that's why I see my bullets go to the side of the head haha.

Pros play this game for hours on end and practice specifically their first bullet accuracy. So they know how time their bullets without counter strafing. Most of us don't. I think counter strafing is good because it tells you instantly that you shoot after pressing the counter key(A or D). Maybe it's me but my first bullet accuracy has gotten better since I do this. But at the end of the day, crosshair placement is king.

So I was doing the "jiggling" instead of counterstrafing when I thought It was counterstrafing huh?

Humans are creatures of habbits and at some days i just dont get over not to counterstrafe. But yeah its true i felt that before i watching your video as well , i just stobled up on it today Release the key -> aim -> shot the target ; is really more beneficial than counterstrafing. And i am saying this after playing many many years in counterstrike.

Sorry for the question, but what is the name of the background music that plays in your video?

Thanks for this video I hope it helps me

Counterstrafe give your tiny extra timing to hit the shot accurate and fast. Sometimes you just no need that to fight against not strong- enough enemies, but in tournament where players'skills are nearly similar, you will see the differences if you do not counterstrafe against your enemy team, even low tier than you and your team.

This is my first time seeing someone saying that counterstrafe is a myth. Actually makes sense since Valorant movement is different from CS:GO. In CS:GO, characters slides a bit when stoping.

My muscle memory is already used to counterstrafing that i need to learn NOT to counterstrafe when i need to stop making it feel a little weird

greate video ! im not a very good player but sometimes im using A/D keys to correct my aim idk 🤔what it called but ig im doing great job xd

counterstrafing isn't just about stopping yourself to shoot. It also makes it harder for the enemy to shoot you bc of the movement

some people find it easier to time their stop by pressing a key rather than releasing one

bro i did all these drills once or twice and when i got on i wasnt missing. ty

ive been counterstrafing ever since playing this game but now i'm starting to learn to jiggle and it feels better ngl i wouldnt say counterstrafing is useless but jiggling vs counterstrafing is just a preference

believe woohoojin calls it deadzoning as opposed to jiggling

Radiant coach here, if you don't counterstrafe you are only immortal because riot has a horrible ranking system.

Jiggling still actually makes you a stationary target. You're literally just shaking your screen while being in place. It still doesn't make a difference. Jiggling just compensates the microadjustments needed in your aim. If you watch Noted's movement-aim tutorial he actually proves counterstrafing in movement-aim is such a god mechanic when doing it at the maximum speed. Just because movement error is so much prevalent in valorant does not mean Counter-Strafing is worse than jiggling. In jiggling, you are eliminating your character's speed which makes you a dead duck. But if you are counter-strafing, you provide a speedy motion from the server's feedback which makes you a harder target from the enemy's headshot accuracy. p.s. this is why people who do "popping-swing" don't die to headshots accuracy. Because popping swing literally just strafe 4 extra steps instead of 2.

what if ur already used to counterstrafing from cs and its just muscle memory, is it a hinderance or can i do it just for muscle memory?

jiggling is so much easier in val that its harder for me cuz im so used to cs movement

Counter strafing is so ingrained into my brain i cant shoot without constantly counter strafing and crouching

I've been doing this the whole time, thinking I was counter strafing. 😂 Good for me

idk if it actually works but I have a trick that is equall to counter straifing.. the thing is.. just make your normal movement to walk instead of run.. and then instead of counter straifing.. just release the run key... and your aim will be smooth as hell

my issue is that counter strafing has became a habit for me since i played csgo before valorant and i found it very difficult to get rid off

I think it depends on the keyboard as well. Not all keyboards have great timing with the release of the key, if you're using like a Wooting or any other performance keyboard then I think this applies, but counter-strafing is best for budget keyboards imo.

You showed stutter stepping no? Jiggling uses counter strafing with alternating repetition that is not defined to require click timing. Stutter stepping uses counter strafing with random sideway but defined to be timed to shot timings. Both are strafing techniques. Releasing one key vs holding both keys to stop is the technique to achieve counter strafing, I coin it sideway vs inverted sideway movement aka press vs release. There is also the complication of movement mirror strafing or "counter" movement mirror strafing shortened to counter strafing. This form of counter strafing is a term in games without movement based bloom to refer to reacting to an enemy strafe (usually when trying to movement mirror for easier shots) and countering that movement to increase the difficulty of landing shots. Leading the strafing dance in this way gives you an edge in aim vs movement tradeoff as you have the control and therefore the anticipation in the strafing.

Facts bro🔥sick video

I try to play logically but my opponent runs and guns and somehow hits headshot

I feel this only applies to people who dont already have CS experience. If you have to think about the counter strafe before shooting you shouldn't be doing it, but if you have the muscle memory already I don't see why it's worth trying to unlearn the mechanic.

bro this whole time i been doing the csgo strafing i switch to this n it changed my whole skill level

It depends. I find it impossible to break the habit of counter strafing

For someone that came from cs, it's way easier to counter strafe than it's to not counter strafe. Also, there's no point in not counter strafing if you already learned it

Shroud actually mentioned this before. he said there isn't really any reason to learn counterstrafe in valorant because the movement is different from csgo. For those who already know how to counterstrafe just do it. For those who haven't shouldn't really try to waste time on that mechanic and just focus on aim and game sense i think.

my muscle memory forces me to counterstrafe i literally cant stop 😭😭😭😭😭

this guy underatted af

i used to just let go of the key but now i learned to counter strafe and letting go feels weird now

1:05 its even more useful when u hold d and then press a and you stop instantly :)

Totally agree with the accuracy of shots while counterstrafing isn't high despite the acceleration is literally zero and while I start to jiggling the shots suddenly destroy enemy head , actually I tried the game when it released and it wasn't the same after I tried yesterday this game mechanics is totally difference from counter strike

And then there's wooting 60he which makes your strafes perfect. This keyboard is bussin for valorant

I counter strafe when I'm running to be able to stop fast, but I don't counter strafe from walking.

I believe that this the only thing that's been hindering me to high elo. Because since I was bronze to diamond, I religiously practiced counterstrafing and i still dont hit shots, critical shots that i need to high in my games.... Thanks Sondo!!!!!!!

my roommate is ex radiant and current immortal and it’s weird seeing him not counter-strafe often i thought it was common

After playing cs for years counterstrafing is so baked into my muscle memory it's hard to not do it

Great edit my brother, but counter strafe is very useful, when u face better players. In this example on 1:07 i get what your trying to explain, but if someone is counter strafing like that, they literaly suck, ngl. Theres ways for u to practice that and increase your gameplay level, but i guess if u wanna hit immortal, u dont need counter strafe that much. Cuz high elo is up to Radiant 200 or higher. (At least in my region). But i garantee, if u learn how to do that, you will be at an advantage against those who do not know how to do it properly. So, In my opinion, it's super important if you want to be a better player, because counter strafe makes you more agile and ready for combat, instead of releasing the key and having to try a flick, in case more than one opponent appears on your screen. Sorry about my english, its pretty shaky.

ok but I came from cs and counterstrafing is already engraved into my brain. I would have to think about it more to not counterstrafe.

FOR ALL THE TIME I THOUGHT I WAS COUNTER-STRAFING, I WAS ACTUALLY JIGGLING LOOOOOOOL

I still do this till now unconsciously, I tried to stop it off. But then, I realized I was using an optical keyboard instead of mechanical one. The key is so sensitive that a bit press will trigger an action. So, when my finger is on its way to let go of my key, the key is still registered, basically it needs my finger to not stressing the key at all. So yeah, I am still using counter strafing to counter my own keyboard sensitivity.

If only movement was a bit faster we could start doing Ferrari peeks 😆

I think keyboard makes a difference. I use an office one but I got a chance to play on my brother's rk keyboard...and oh boy, the experience was something else. The movement was so smooth

Could you showcase an effective ~15 min aim routine?

So directly releaseing key is better than counterstrafing to stop character moving for precise shooting?

Tysm bro u tole us and explain what exactly we face and mistake that we all understood wrong

It has been researched by od26 counterstrafing can give you at most 6ms on a timing window that pros never hit for example zekken was asked to show keyboard overlay by od and he let go and counterstrafed but never hit the window if it feels more natural do it if it doesnt your not gonna lose anything its useful in csgo I hit top 100 faceit and I had counterstrafing then huge difference but val nothing changes

as a former cs player i do counterstrafe in valorant even though i know its not useful, the muscle memory from playing 8 years of csgo makes it almost impossible for me to not counterstrafe, it's a deeply deeply ingrained habbit. It's not harmful in anyway so I never learned to break that habbit in val

coming from cs i got to worry about not pressing a key tho... I am not used to releasing all keys xD

So basically if u already counterstrafe(I’ve had a bit of experience with source engine games) just keep doing since you have built muscle memory but if u are new to tac fps don’t bother learning it as the time difference is barely a 10 of a second

What we subconsciously do is dead zoning. It’s when you jiggle and shoot In between the split seconds of the jiggles.

I was always told jiggling was called counter strafing

i find that when i don't counter strafe i end up shooting too soon 90% of the time which is obviously placebo but it's easier to keep doing it than to relearn how to shoot imo.

As an ascendant player, I predominantly use counter-strafing(But is actually called jiggling) in my gameplay. When I'm taking fights in open with no cover, I'd be nonstop strafing left and right and shooting one bullet with guardian(I never buy vandal) between every strafe and if i have a wall as cover id be ghost peaking aka jiggle peaking with counter strafe back and forth. I do not remember that last time I stood still letting go of wasd key for more than 1 to headshot someone. If you master this movement technique, you should have impeccable movement so it's almost impossible for enemies to one tap and also be cool and when hit heads at the same time.

no joke, this information helped me headshot a lot!

instead of releasing the other key, does holding both key also work? for example if im holding a to move, then i hold both a and d together to stop then release one

its muscle memory at this point and I still click on heads, my point is if you already know how to do it theres no need to switch and make it harder for people who have that mechanic drilled into their head.

When playing, I don't use both of these mechanics, instead I turned on the dynamics for the sight, and shoot when the sight shows the minimum spread, it's much easier for me than catching timings when strafing

thanks for video but like, CAN YOU PLEASE GIVE ME THE BACKGROUND MUSIC? this is perfect for gaming

I always thought counter strafing with either pressing opposite key or letting go off the key was the same thing but ive been just letting go my entire life lol

honestly, your velocity stops so fast to the point where counter strafing is useless. it's just better to work on shooting while you're still

Say i play alot of cod and apex legends, will this helps with me not able to counter strafe because my habit of hold and release ? I can consistently aim head because apex n cod tracking is much harder than valorant but they also doesn’t mess you up for moving n shooting

so all this time ive' been using the jiggling and not the counter strafe? that's incredible

That Raze has the same shields as all my Gold rank enemies