How to counter-strafe in Valorant

Shooting games like Valorant and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) are very much alike when it comes to mechanics like counter-strafing, which increases a game’s overall skill roof.

Counter-strafing is one of the essential skills to master in a shooting game. If a player wants to get more kills and overall get better at Valorant, it is important to learn how to counter-strafe. This is the best way to get good first-shot accuracy during face-offs.

Hence, counter-strafing is employed to survive in competitive shooter games. This advanced technique existed in CS: GO and then came to Valorant, as both the shooting games have certain similarities.

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How to counter-strafe in Valorant?

If the player presses the ‘D’ key (Right), the character strafes right, and if the player presses the ‘A’ key (Left), the character strafes left. The word "strafing" in gaming terms means moving sideways, and counter-strafing refers to moving in the opposite direction to the enemy.

When the player strafes from right to left, it stops temporarily for a moment and moves aside. The shot made during that movement becomes deadly accurate.

A Reddit user, u/johnzrxx, uploaded a post on r/Valorant, explaining the counter-strafe mechanism by moving forward. He said that it is possible to counter-strafe while moving forward-right. The user suggested pressing the 'D' key, then release it and tap the 'A' key. Then the player can shoot the target with ease in Valorant.

In fact, the professional Valorant player, Tyson “TenZ” Ngo, explained the mechanism of counter-strafing in the game. During one of his streams, he showed how to counter strafe in Valorant.

Players can try out counter-strafe in different motions, but it needs a lot of practice to master the skill.

Importance of counter-strafing in Valorant

Valorant players have also adapted a similar mechanism to get an accurate shot while moving. There is a lot of scope to practice counter-strafing, especially in the peeking angles.

Counter-strafing also increases the overall win and kill rate, along with shot accuracy. This will help the player get an easy headshot. Although it is not essential to have the skill, it definitely helps at a competitive level in Valorant.