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General Notes

Ice Orbs can be used defensively (i.e. stalling) or offensively (isolating fights). The lineups listed will be primarily for the latter. When used offensively, Ice Orbs punish players for holding common, default angles by giving your entry fragger a very favorable fight. By discouraging the enemies from holding these angles, you help isolate fights while your team pushes and fights for space.

There are good lineups, and then there are bad lineups.

What makes a good lineup?​

  1. Consistency.
    1. Being able to tuck into a corner for easy consistency.
    2. Easy to remember details or map geometry.
  2. Speed to perform.
    1. Being able to use your crosshair or other always-on HUD element to quickly aim your lineup.
  3. Timing.
    1. Ice Orbs that land right before you and/or your team executes, maximizing the value from its 7-second duration.
  4. Positioning.
    1. Performing the lineup as close as possible to your team.
    2. Being able to perform your lineup and quickly rejoin your team to assist in the execute.
    3. Performing the lineup in safe locations; not requiring you to be exposed to dangerous angles.
  5. Optimal Ice spread.
    1. Ice that covers the maximum area that enemies are likely to hold from.
    2. Ice that does not touch the area that your team wants to push onto.
    3. Ice that does not overlap with each other (in the case of combining multiple Ice Orbs), resulting in maximum Ice coverage.

When to use Ice Orbs on Defense?​

There are two primary ways of using Ice Slows: stalls, and retake.

Stall​

The idea is to maintain the "neutral" state between both teams, stalling the enemy team's push until your team rotates to help deal with the push. In an ideal scenario, the stall results in your team being able to take an isolated fight with one of the attackers, or your team is able to take valuable space around the rest of the map while the enemy team is stuck at the choke.

Rule of thumbs:

  1. Timing. Wait until the enemy team is committing before using Slow Orbs. Usually there will be clues such as enemy smokes, ultimates, initiator utility, flashes, etc. that allow you to anticipate the push.
  2. Expected Value. Ideally, the Slow Orb splits the enemy team's push and allows your defending team to get a kill. If your team is not able to take any isolated fights, and the enemy team will eventually take site anyways (e.g. you have no teammates on site, or the enemy team is committing multiple ultimates, etc.), then consider saving your utility for Retake instead.

Retake​

Think about common positions that the attackers want to play from during post plant. Throw Ice Slows at these areas, making it easier for your team to retake and reducing the risk of running into a crossfire or trade scenario.