How do you develop a player's game sense and decision-making in Valorant?

Game sense and decision-making are skills that get developed only by playing the game and gaining experience! When playing the game, there will always be multiple options that you can take, now which one is better, is a question for reviewing or experimenting! When I’m coaching my students, I always give them multiple options in a scenario where they died or failed a move, so they can think wider and see the options that they had on hand. This way, if they go into a similar scenario in the future, they know which option is the best to take to win the round!

Awareness in the game and minimap awareness play a big role in decision-making. You have to constantly have a glimpse at your minimap so this way, you will know what is happening around you and how to react to them. Now a lot of people always ask me, when they look at their minimap, they get timing and die so what should they do? The answer is very simple, the minimap is like looking at your mirrors while driving! You don’t stare at it, you glimpse at it and immediately look at the front again! There are times that you have to look at your minimap:

1- When you are not doing anything positive for yourself or the team. Ex: Rotating, having a knife in your hand, etc…
2- When an ally dies.
3- When you die. So you can give information.
4- When an ally or you get a kill.
5- When there’s any utility that provides information. Ex: Sova arrow, Fade Eye, etc…
The more you practice the skill, the more your minimap awareness gets better and so will your game sense and decision-making!

Game sense is the thing you can’t learn by just watching videos, you have to play different types of games to understand it. For example: If you play Csgo you will learn the mechanical game better compared to Valorant cause Csgo has 4x times harder mechanical gameplay compared to Valorant.

Let’s say: If you play Elden Ring for example, you will learn how to be patient cause Elden Ring takes a lot of time to play and learn, that will lead you to understand how to be patient in any game, technically when you learn different things from different games and you implement those things in-game you will have better decision making, game sense, utility usage and much more. That’s also why I have a lot of game sense in the game compared to other players.

But you can learn about decision-making instead of game sense, you have to just ask yourself in a game like this when you gonna make decisions: is it a good position to peek? if I peek what’s my chance of killing the enemy?, what’s the rate of success getting multiple kills?, what’s the rate of me losing the fight?, do I have a utility peek with it or should I wide peek it? Does the enemy has utility peek me? is the timing right to peek? How can I counter their utility, Those are the things u have to consider when u making decisions in-game there’s a lot more in-game still.

Developing game sense and decision-making is pivotal in my coaching approach. Understanding precedes execution; grasping theory empowers informed choices. To refine skills; Theory and Application; Decisions are dissected, underpinned by theory. Understanding principles empowers intuitive choices across situations.
Case Studies:

Real scenarios are analyzed, bridging theory and gameplay. Critical thinking hones as theory is practically applied.
Map Awareness:

Comprehending map dynamics is key. Identifying key areas and choke points informs rotations and boosts decision-making.
Macro and Micro Mastery:

Grasping macro (strategy) and micro (engagement) decisions is emphasized. The link between both, impacting outcomes, is highlighted.Role and Communication:Game sense spans roles and communication. Recognizing strengths, relaying information, and team dynamics refine decisions.
VOD Insight:

VOD analysis is pivotal. Reflecting on gameplay choices fosters self-awareness, driving improvement.In summary, I merge theory and application. From theory-driven breakdowns to map understanding, role insight, and VOD analysis, my coaching equips well-rounded decision-making. This elevates performance across macro and micro contexts in Valorant.

I try to open their eyes by showing how I’d play if I were in their shoes, I also make sure to let them know how important that is, and which alternatives are also good. It’s usually easy to tell what the player is lacking since if he dies exposed to some angle he’s not holding, for example, means that he’s not aware of his surroundings, so looking at the map more would help with that.

The most common mistake about rotation is rotating too soon (without any reads about the enemies). Players either peek for example A Main and if they don’t see anyone there, they instantly rotate without anything happening on the map. Or they’ll rotate as soon as they see one/two enemies on the map, gambling for no reason. To fix that you should just rotate when it’s more obvious that they’re going to the other side (3-4 enemies on that part of the map), or if you have a read that they never fake/lurk.

It is very hard to implement in short term, but I am still doing my best. I am pointing mostly major mistakes in short term coaching, so person can focus on them and I as well provide detailed explanation on each mistake person does, so he improves his gamesense. I give homeworks to my students that also help them improve different skills.