Ana Valens Profile - Dot Esports

Every VALORANT player has had that embarrassing comms slip-up before, where they can’t quite remember the name of the location where they died.

For new maps in particular, callouts and comms can be challenging. Players can study Lotus or Split’s layout as much as they want, but without practicing your voice chat reflexes, you’ll end up stuttering and misspeaking in the heat of the moment.

With Episode Six, Act One in full swing, plenty of new VALORANT players are still (re)learning Split for their competitive games. Luckily, one of YouTube’s most popular VALORANT coaches has just revealed a powerful off-angle that can land attackers a free kill on their A pushes.

In a VOD review YouTube video posted earlier today, VALORANT coach Woohoojin explained that there is a large potted plant in the far lower right corner of A lobby. Players can easily hop on top of the plant and ADS peek. Sitting on the furthest left corner of the pot gives an attacker an easy line of sight for an A main push.

Our Esperança match wasn’t looking in our favor. Halfway through the game, and the Push bot was deeply entrenched in our team’s territory. I switched from Kiriko to Moira to boost my teammates’ heals and help our DPS pick off Symmetra and Junkrat, and the tide started to turn. One teamfight after another moved in our favor as Symm, Ana, and Mercy fell to my right-clicks.

Suddenly, we went from a 70-meter gap to our team in the lead with the bot approaching spawn. “Don’t push the bot!” I told my teammates as overtime loomed. Miraculously, we held the line, and an otherwise hopeless match resulted in a hard-fought, and more than sweaty, win. My three-stack and I proceeded to queue up for a few more games, each just as intense as the last. I could feel the adrenaline rush through me. I hadn’t played Overwatch 2 competitive in a couple months, and I was starting to remember why I loved playing it so much.

Sound is one of the most important elements in a game like VALORANT. Jiggle peek too wide, or walk forward too long, and suddenly your enemy knows exactly where you are. VALORANT is primarily a game of information after all, and the more info you give to your opponents, the less likely you are to convert a round in your favor.

But there’s such a thing as being overly cautious in VALORANT. Case in point: Two VALORANT coaches just revealed how players can rethink their flank mechanics by using running sounds to their advantage.

Last night, I scored my favorite Play of the Game in Overwatch 2 yet. My team pushed the final point on Paraíso as I hovered out of sight as Pharah, low on health, ready to help turn the tide.

First, I landed a final blow on an enemy Pharah in mid-air, a revenge shot that put me two-and-one between me and her. I quickly rose above to help Orisa kill a baby D.Va who had just ejected from her mech. Mercy came in with the clutch heals, and I switched targets toward one of the meanest and bloodthirstiest Roadhogs in our play sessions yet. Hog was low on health, and I wanted revenge for all the incredible hooks he’s pulled on me since last week.

Late last month, League of Legends creator Riot Games promised that it would bring “change into our cultural DNA” and stamp out “sexism” and “misogyny” after ongoing accusations about sexual harassment inside the company. Some worry that Riot is backtracking on change after two employees with a vocal pro-social justice background departed from the company under questionable circumstances, Kotaku’s Cecilia D’Anastasio reports.

Communications associate Mattias Lehman and systems designer Daniel Klein are no longer associated with Riot, and seven past and present Riot employees argue that the two men left after they vocally defended Riot’s gender-inclusive panel segment during PAX West, Kotaku reports. Klein went on to tell The Verge that he was fired from Riot “for violating our social media policy.”

FaZe clan’s controversial Fortnite star Turner “Tfue” Tenney is back on Twitch and YouTube after both of his channels were taken offline, according to a new video from his restored YouTube account.

In a video titled “What really happened to my Twitch and YouTube,” Tfue revealed that he was banned from Twitch for 14 days due to “some stupid, stupid stuff” that “wasn’t even bad.” He refused to specifically explain why his Twitch account was suspended, although he confirmed that his entire YouTube account was taken down by a hacker shortly after his Twitch was shut down. The entire process to restore his hacked YouTube channel took two weeks in total, something he called a “pain in the ass.”

Turner “Tfue” Tenney may be one of the best Fortnite: Battle Royale players in the world, but he’s also attracted a fair amount of controversy over the past few months. He’s racked up two Twitch bans and a suspension from Fortnite by Epic Games.

Shortly after Tfue hit 30,000 subscribers on Twitch in late August, his account was suspended. Up until Sept. 6, visiting his Twitch channel revealed that his channel was “unavailable.” On Aug. 23, Tfue tweeted that his account was “suspended,” and that his YouTube account was “deleted.” Information remains vague on Tfue’s ban weeks after it was sent out, leaving many to speculate why he was kicked off the platform.

Fortnite: Battle Royale’s Slurp Juice is not a real drink. At least, it wasn’t. One brave YouTuber has merged real-life edible (and not-so-edible) products together to create a glowing concoction similar to the consumable found in Fortnite.

Last December, YouTuber Craig Howe mixed Gatorade, milk, and toothpaste together in a mason jar to create a Slurp Juice recipe inspired by the Fortnite drink’s in-game look. Throwing two LED lights underneath the jar makes the drink look exactly like its in-game counterpart, complete with the Slurp Juice’s iconic glow. In a YouTube video demonstrating the concept, Howe shows off the steps necessary to create the recipe and even drinks the concoction for his fans.

Actions speak louder than words. It’s an age-old saying that’s been used again and again when it comes to sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace. It’s also a maxim that Riot Games needs to embrace if the company wants its female employees to feel safe.

The League of Legends creator first came under intense scrutiny after Kotaku’s Cecilia D’Anastasio published an in-depth report on Aug. 7 alleging sexual harassment within the company’s hiring process, management structure, social events, and day-to-day operations. Less than a month later, that report has left a black mark on Riot’s reputation, especially as allegations against Riot continue to emerge.