Valorant Pearl: callouts, map & tactics

How to use the interactive Pearl map

Above you see the official Pearl minimap straight from the Valorant API – with all 26 callouts exactly where the game itself places them. Tap a dot or a name in the list and the map shows you the callout, its area and the three nearest neighboring callouts. Use the filters to show only A, B, mid or the spawns. One Pearl quirk to watch for: the spawn filter shows three names on the defender side – besides the spawn itself, Defender Water and Defender Records. “All names” labels the entire map at once.

On Pearl that really pays off: the two sites sit far apart on the outer edges of the map, and many names like A Dugout, A Secret, B Screen or B Hall don’t exist on any other map. If you think you know Pearl, start the callout quiz: ten random callouts, you tap the right spot, and at the end you see your hit rate. A fast, precise callout is often worth more than a perfect flick – and on a map with long routes, it saves your team valuable rotation seconds. For all 13 maps and several difficulty levels, try the full callout trainer.

Pearl at a glance

According to the official Valorant Wiki, Pearl released on June 22, 2022, with patch 5.0 at the start of Episode 5 (“Dimension”), Act 1, and it is the game’s eighth standard map. At launch, Pearl was only playable in Unrated; two weeks later it joined the Competitive pool. Riot describes the map like this: attackers push down into the defenders on this two-site map set in a vibrant underwater city. Pearl is a geo-driven map with no mechanics – the fight runs through a compact mid or across the longer-range wings. And Pearl is the first map set on Omega Earth, the parallel Earth from Valorant’s story.

The lore, per the wiki: the Pearl District is one of several geodesic domes on the Portuguese coast of Omega Earth. With Omega’s climate on the brink of collapse, Lisbon faced destructive rising tides that were on course to submerge it completely – the domes let the city and its people survive beneath the waves. During development the map carried the codename “Pitt”, because it had a giant hole in the center back then, which was later cut. Another suggested name was “Cascade,” since the attackers “cascade” down into the defenders – an image that fits the official description nicely.

Pearl’s mechanics: why there are none – and what matters instead

The honest answer first: Pearl has no map mechanics. The official wiki lists its map features as “None” and calls Pearl the first map released without any dynamic elements or mechanical hooks for gameplay. There are no doors like on Ascent, no ropes like on Split, no teleporters like on Bind and no rotating doors like on Lotus. What defines Pearl instead is the layout itself. The points below come from the official description, the patch history on the wiki and the position data of the official map.

Compact mid, long-range wings

Riot explicitly describes Pearl through two combat zones: a compact mid and the longer-range wings. In practice that means short duels, timing and utility decide fights in mid, while sightlines and positioning matter more on the outside. When you learn Pearl, ask yourself every round which of the two zones you’re fighting in – because the right weapon and the right ability are often different.

Two sites far apart

A look at the position data shows how far apart the sites are: A Site sits all the way at the right edge of the map, B Site in the left third. The entire mid lies between them. The defender area with Defender Water and Defender Records stretches across the top half of the map, and attacker spawn is at the very bottom. For you, that means rotations from one site to the other are long, and anyone who starts too late won’t make it to the retake in time.

Glass floors and the crouch-only connection

Two small details from the patch history show that Pearl still has its quirks. First, the map has glass floors: patch 9.07 fixed a bug where ground effects from agent abilities didn’t show up on these glass floors. Second, there’s a connection near defender spawn that you can only pass while crouching. According to the wiki, since patch 6.03 AI-controlled abilities such as Skye’s Seekers also travel through this passage.

Sites that keep getting refined

Because Pearl works without mechanics, Riot has balanced it mainly through geometry. Patch 5.06 already changed a lot: the waist-high wall on the left side of B Main was lowered so it can no longer completely hide anyone, a wall at Mid Top was pushed in to remove a 50-50 check, A Art was simplified, and the choke from A Main onto A Site was tightened so it’s easier to smoke. Patch 6.11 reworked the B side (B Ramp, B Screen, B Hall, B Tower), and patch 11.08 adjusted B Site again for Pearl’s return to the pool – more on that in the map pool section.

Pearl rule of thumb: no mechanic will bail you out – it’s all layout, timing and utility. Mid is short, the wings are long, rotations are far. Internalize that and you’ll make better decisions on Pearl.

All 26 Pearl callouts explained

The table lists every Pearl callout from the official map with its area and the three spatially closest callouts. Pearl breaks down like this: 8 callouts on the A side, 9 on the B side, 5 in mid, plus attacker spawn and three callouts in the defender area (Defender Spawn, Defender Water, Defender Records). The table uses the names from the English client. Other language versions translate only a few terms – in German, for example, “Mid” becomes “Mitte” and “Defender” becomes “Verteidiger” – so the callouts work with teammates from any region.

A side: Art, Main and the site on the right edge

The A side has eight callouts and lies entirely in the right half of the map. Starting from the bottom, the attacker side, A Restaurant and A Art sit right next to each other; according to the map data, A Restaurant also borders Mid Connector. Further up you’ll find A Main and right beside it A Link – according to the wiki, this is where the “A Link Box” stands, which players can climb on. A Site itself is at the far right edge of the map, with A Dugout directly above it. In the upper half, already toward defender spawn, are A Flowers and A Secret. Both border Defender Water or defender spawn, which makes them the routes defenders use to reach A from above.

Important for attackers: the choke between A Main and A Site was tightened back in patch 5.06 so it’s easier to close with a smoke. This is exactly where an A take either breaks through or gets stuck.

Mid: compact and central

Mid has five callouts and stretches from the bottom edge of the map up to roughly the center. At the bottom, Mid Top starts on the attacker side, next to Mid Plaza and, down at the lower left, Mid Shops. Further up is Mid Doors, which borders B Link according to the map data, and finally Mid Connector, which lies between Mid Doors, Defender Water and A Restaurant. Mid therefore connects both sites: via B Link you go left to B Site, via Mid Connector right toward A and the defender side.

B side: the long wing on the left

With nine callouts, the B side is the largest. Attackers come through B Club and B Ramp into B Main and from there onto B Site. On the left edge of the map, B Screen sits right next to the site with B Hall above it. Above the site are B Tower and B Tunnel, which border Defender Records – that’s the route defenders take from their half onto B. To the right of the site is B Link, the connection to mid via Mid Doors and Mid Plaza.

Spawns and the defender side

Attacker Spawn sits at the bottom edge of the map, between B Club, Mid Shops and Mid Top. Defender Spawn is at the top edge. Two more callouts belong to the defender area: Defender Records lies left of the spawn near B Tunnel and B Tower, and Defender Water lies right of the spawn between A Flowers and Mid Connector. When you rotate as a defender, your routes typically run through this upper part of the map – which is why these two names are especially important for rotation calls.

Is Pearl in the map pool? Rotation history

No. Pearl has been out of the pool since patch 13.00 (June 23, 2026). The official 13.00 patch notes put it like this: Summit and Sunset are in the Competitive and Deathmatch queues, Fracture and Pearl are out. Pearl didn’t return with patch 13.04 (August 18, 2026) either; since then the Competitive pool has been Ascent, Abyss, Haven, Lotus, Split, Summit and Sunset. You can still load Pearl in a custom game at any time – perfect for walking the routes from this guide at your own pace.

Pearl has rotated several times already. Here are the milestones according to the official patch notes and the wiki:

• Patch 5.0 (June 22, 2022): release, initially Unrated only, added to the Competitive pool two weeks later.
• Patch 7.04 (August 29, 2023): Pearl and Fracture rotate out, Breeze returns.
• Patch 9.08 (October 22, 2024): Pearl and Split are back, Icebox and Lotus leave.
• Patch 11.00 (June 25, 2025): Pearl and Split out, Bind and the new map Corrode in.
• Patch 11.08 (October 14, 2025): Pearl and Split back in, Lotus and Ascent out.
• Patch 13.00 (June 23, 2026): Pearl and Fracture out, the new map Summit and Sunset in.

For its return in patch 11.08, Riot changed B Site. The reasoning from the patch notes: defending post-plant positions from B Main should remain a viable strategy, but it had become overly difficult for defenders to retake the site, particularly when utility was in play. So the deep sightline from “B Long” was removed, because it provided too much control over the site from a safe distance, and cover positioning on and around the site was adjusted to encourage more direct engagements on the site itself. You’ll always find the current status for every map on our Valorant maps & map pool overview.

Pearl pro meta: who got picked

We don’t have our own per-map presence values for Pearl – the map is currently out of the pool, and our pick rate overview covers the active pool. The data below therefore comes from tournaments in which Pearl was still played: the reference is 36 recorded team comps on vlr.gg from VCT 2026 Stage 1 (four regions) plus Masters Santiago and Masters London 2026.

NeonDuelistPhoenixDuelistFadeInitiatorAstraControllerKilljoySentinel

Pearl: Top 5 by pick rate (36 team comps) · source: vlr.gg, VCT 2026 Stage 1 (4 regions) + Masters Santiago/London 2026

The card above shows the top 5 agents by pick rate on Pearl: Neon, Phoenix, Fade, Astra and Killjoy (source: Top 5 by pick rate (36 team comps) · vlr.gg: VCT 2026 Stage 1 (4 regions) + Masters Santiago/London 2026). This isn’t one fixed comp that teams played, but the five most frequently picked agents. Killjoy and Sova are tied for fifth place. Astra stands out: she appeared in 35 of 36 recorded comps. The reason is the layout – because the sites are so far apart, Astra can play both sides of the map with her globally placed stars without having to walk there herself. Her Nebula smokes, Gravity Well and Nova Pulse can land on the site she isn’t standing on.

Fade and Phoenix are the tools for mid: Fade’s Haunt and Prowler reveal enemies in the tight corners around Mid Plaza and Mid Doors, while Phoenix flashes himself into duels with Curveball. Neon fits the size of the map because High Gear lets her cover long distances quickly. Try your own variations in the team comp builder – there you can swap the pro agents for your own regular lineup.

Attacking on Pearl: tips for the attacker side

As an attacker on Pearl, you have a clear strategic advantage: the sites are far apart. Pull the defense to one side and then hit the other, and you force them into long rotations. That only works, though, if you don’t give away mid.

1. Take mid control early: through Mid Top and Mid Plaza you gain space in mid. Whoever holds Mid Doors can push through B Link to B and through Mid Connector toward A – which keeps the defense under pressure on both sides.
2. Get info before the take: a Haunt or Prowler from Fade or a Recon Bolt from Sova shows whether defenders are playing deep or up front. On a map with long routes, that information is worth twice as much.
3. Smoke the A choke: the choke from A Main onto the site has been tighter since patch 5.06 and is easy to smoke. Block the defenders’ vision and go through together.
4. Take B with pace: the route through B Club, B Ramp and B Main is long. Don’t trickle in one by one – arrive grouped, and check B Screen and B Hall on the left edge.
5. Punish rotations: after a fake on one side, the defense needs a long time to reach the other. Use that window instead of hesitating.

A proven pattern on Pearl is the mid split: one or two players take Mid Doors and push through B Link onto B Site while the rest come through B Main at the same time. The B defenders suddenly take fire from two directions. The same works on A: control of Mid Connector plus the main hit through A Main. Timing is everything – if one group is late, you end up playing isolated duels. Practice these plays beforehand on the strategy board.

For the post-plant: since defenders have to rotate from far away, it pays to pick post-plant spots from which you can see the defenders’ rotation routes. On A, that means the approaches from above (A Flowers, A Secret); on B, the routes via B Tower and B Tunnel. Keep the patch 11.08 changes in mind, though: the deep sightline from B Long onto B Site was removed, so the B post-plant has become more direct.

Defending on Pearl: tips for the defender side

As a defender, the biggest challenge on Pearl is the distance between the sites. You can’t count on a quick rotation. That’s why you need information early and on both sides.

1. Don’t give up mid for free: lose mid and attackers can push both sites through B Link and Mid Connector. One player with info utility around Mid Doors or Mid Connector is worth gold.
2. Secure the flank with sentinel utility: Killjoy’s Alarmbot or Cypher’s Trapwire tells you when someone sneaks through mid into your back.
3. Know your rotation routes: Defender Records leads to B Tunnel and B Tower, Defender Water to A Flowers. Learn these routes by heart so you don’t lose a second on a retake.
4. Don’t rotate too early: because the routes are so long, fakes work especially well on Pearl. Wait for confirmed information before you leave your site.
5. Retake together: since patch 11.08, B Site is designed to be friendlier for retakes. Use that – but group up first instead of running in one at a time.

Watch out for fakes: on Pearl, every wrong rotation costs you a lot of time. Hearing footsteps or a single ability on the other site doesn’t mean a hit is coming. Info first, then rotate – or your own site ends up empty.

A solid default setup spreads the defenders so both sites and mid are covered. Astra’s stars are especially strong here because she can place smokes on both sides from a single spot. If you’re not playing Astra, your controller should save their utility for the site they’re holding, while a second player with info abilities watches the other side.

Pearl setups: Killjoy, Astra executes & smokes

Here are the key Pearl setups to copy – no video needed: every position is marked on the official minimap, numbered and explained step by step. The agents come from the Pearl pro comp in VCT 2026: Astra (in 35 of 36 recorded comps) for the executes and Killjoy as the sentinel on A.

Every Pearl setup on this page is backed by at least two matching sources. Because Riot reworked B site in patch 11.08, we only show the smokes outside the site there. Important: the markers show the area, not the exact pixel. Try each setup once in a custom game before you use it in ranked.

Killjoy A setup: Nanoswarms on both stairs, turret by A Secret

DefenseSite AKilljoy

1. 1Nanoswarm 1: Put the first grenade on the stairs that lead down from A Main onto the site – right where attackers exit the choke.
2. 2Nanoswarm 2: The second grenade goes on the stairs at the A Link entrance (left of the site, the path from mid). Both attacker entrances are now mined.
3. 3Turret: Place the turret at the back of the site against the wall toward A Secret. From there it watches the plant and both entrances and is hard to shoot.
4. 4Alarmbot: Put the Alarmbot on the near corner of the A Main entrance. When it triggers, pop the Nanoswarm on the A Main stairs as well.
5. +Tip: Killjoy's utility shuts off if you move too far away – stay in range, e.g. in A Flowers or A Secret.

Covers: Both attacker entrances (A Main and A Link) plus the turret's view of the plant.

Weak spot: Initiators (Sova, Fade) find the turret and Alarmbot early; a flash or molly on the stairs clears the Nanoswarms. Vary the positions from round to round.

Sources: Sportskeeda – All Killjoy lineups for Pearl · Attack of the Fanboy – Best Killjoy Pearl setups · Player Assist – Killjoy setups on Pearl (defending) · TheGlobalGaming – Best Killjoy setups Pearl · Esports Driven – Best Killjoy setups for Pearl

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Astra A execute: Nebulas on A Link, A Flowers & A Secret

AttackSite AAstra

1. 1Nebula 1: Place the first star at the top of the A Link stairs. It cuts the site off from defenders rotating from mid (Mid Connector).
2. 2Nebula 2: The second star goes on the A Flowers exit at the top left of the site – the rotation path from Defender Spawn is now blind.
3. 3Nebula 3: Put the third star on A Secret at the back right so it also covers the A Dugout entrance.
4. +Tip: Place the stars during the buy phase, then enter together through the A Main choke and clear A Dugout with a Nova Pulse or molly.

Covers: All three defender access points to the site: A Link, A Flowers and A Secret/Dugout.

Weak spot: The A Main choke stays tight – a defender on site or in A Dugout still has to be cleared. Nebulas don't last long, so go in fast.

Sources: ONE Esports – Best smokes on Pearl · ONE Esports – Best controllers for Pearl (Astra) · 1v9.gg – Clove smoke spots on Pearl · Player Assist – Brimstone smokes on Pearl (attacking) · Esports Driven – Astra smokes on Pearl

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Astra B execute: Nebulas on B Hall & B Tower

AttackSite BAstra

1. 1Nebula 1: Put the first star on B Hall, on the side closer to B Main. Defenders there otherwise look straight at the B Main exit.
2. 2Nebula 2: The second star goes on B Tower to the right of the site. That closes the high angle and the rotation path from B Tunnel.
3. +Tip: Then enter the site through B Main; you have to check B Screen and B Link yourself.

Covers: The two main defender positions on B: B Hall and B Tower.

Weak spot: B Link and B Screen stay open. Since patch 11.08 there is new cover on site – clear the site corners carefully after smoking.

Sources: ONE Esports – Best smokes on Pearl · ONE Esports – Best controllers for Pearl (Astra) · 1v9.gg – Clove smoke spots on Pearl · Player Assist – Brimstone smokes on Pearl (attacking)

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The best agents for Pearl

Pearl isn’t in the Competitive pool right now, but for custom games and for anyone preparing for a possible return, it’s worth looking at the roles. This selection is based on the pro data (top 5 by pick rate) and the layout of the map:

Find out which agent fits your playstyle on Pearl with the agent test. For the current overall ranking of every agent, check out the agent tier list.

The 5 most common mistakes on Pearl

Pearl has no mechanics to catch you off guard – mistakes almost always come down to time and distance. These five cost the most rounds:

• Giving away mid: abandon the compact mid and you hand the enemy the shortest routes between the sites. Even one player with utility there changes the round.
• Rotating too late: the sites sit on the outer edges of the map. If you only start moving when the spike goes down, you’ll usually be too late for the retake.
• Rotating too early: the opposite is just as dangerous: a fake pulls defenders off their site, and the real hit lands on an empty site.
• Forgetting the edges: B Screen, B Hall and A Dugout sit on the edge of the map and are easy to miss during a take. Check them before you step onto the site.
• Vague callouts: “one left” helps nobody on a map with 26 callouts. “One B Tower” or “two Mid Doors” wins rounds. Use the map above until every name sticks.

Callout cheat sheet: what good calls sound like on Pearl

A good callout answers three questions in one sentence: how many, where, and in what state. On Pearl there’s a fourth: where are they heading – because the routes are long, and your team needs to know early which site is under threat. These examples use only names from the official map:

• “Two A Main, one tagged” – two enemies are coming through A Main, one of them is damaged.
• “One Mid Doors, turning B Link” – an enemy in mid is heading toward B Site.
• “Three B Ramp, going B Main” – the B hit is coming down the long wing.
• “One Mid Connector, looking toward Water” – pressure from mid onto the defender side.
• “I’m rotating through Records to B Tower” – clear info about your own movement.
• “Spike A Site, two playing A Art” – post-plant info for the retake.

Two rules make the difference on Pearl: first, call early – because rotations take so long, every second your team knows sooner counts. Second, call your own rotation: when you leave your site, your team needs to know there’s now a gap. And as always: info first, emotions later.

Pearl compared with the other maps

Along with Corrode, Pearl is one of the few maps in the game with no map mechanics at all – and according to the wiki, it was the first map ever released that way. While Ascent works with doors, Split with ropes and Lotus with rotating doors, Pearl is decided by layout, timing and utility alone. Its trademarks are the compact mid and the widely separated sites. The table shows all 13 maps at a glance:

Learn Pearl in 15 minutes: your plan

Pearl isn’t in the pool right now – which makes it perfect for relaxed practice in a custom game. This plan combines the tools on Valorant-Spind:

1. 5 minutes of map study: turn on “All names” above and go through A, mid and B using the filters. Pay special attention to the three callouts in the defender area.
2. 3 minutes of quiz: run the Pearl callout quiz until you score at least 8 out of 10.
3. 5 minutes in a custom game: load Pearl and walk the routes – B Club, B Ramp, B Main, B Site, then through mid via Mid Doors and Mid Connector to A. Feel free to time yourself to get a sense of the rotations.
4. 2 minutes of tactics: for Pearl, draw a mid split onto B via B Link and B Main on the strategy board and share it with your team.

After that, check out Corrode, the other map with no mechanics at all, and Ascent, where almost everything also revolves around mid. If you also want to work on your aim, the aim trainer has drills for the long duels on the wings.

Pearl FAQ