Clutches are a spectacular aspect of Rainbow Six Siege.
We can often find highlights of skilled players pulling off crazy clutches in extraordinary situations.
It sure is an exciting moment of R6 Siege player story with the game.
In sports, we often hear about “clutch players”. People tend to think that we are either born clutch or we are not.
We disagree with this idea. We believe that everybody can become good at clutching. Of course, some people may be better suited from the get-go to clutch, while others may need more work.
At the core, clutching is just a skill, its an ability.
Just like with any other ability, if you know what you want to achieve, what you should do and put work towards improving in it, you will get better.
With this clutching in Rainbow Six Siege guide, we intend to help you understand what clutching is, what mindset and skills are necessary, and what to do in a clutch situation.
What does Clutching mean?
Clutching is an ability to deliver against the odds or in tight situations.
For Rainbow Six Siege, clutch situations occur when you are the last man standing on your team, and you win the round.
Therefore, clutching basically means winning a 1 vs. X situation.
Therefore, clutching basically means winning a 1 vs. X situation.
“X” is the number of enemies left (1-5). You are the last man alive, and the outcome of the round is in your hands.
There are various situations in which you will have to clutch. Following are the disadvantages you may have to overcome:
- being outnumbered
- having to complete an objective
- time constraints
- disadvantageous position
Usually, clutching comes down to you making little to no mistakes, while other team making quite a few or significant errors.
This is especially true in unfavorable situations and when severely outnumbered. Of course, at times you may play like a god, but that’s not the majority of plays, for most of the players.
The second aspect of clutching in Rainbow Six Siege is tight situations.
This means that you may not be at a disadvantage, but the stakes of the round are high – namely a match point.
In either case, clutch situations can be tense and stressful moments. The pressure is on you. If you pull it through, everybody’s happy, and your team gets closer to winning.
Therefore, it is crucial to understand how to deal with clutching in Rainbow Six Siege, and that’s what we hope to help you with in our how to clutch guide!
TYPES OF CLUTCH SITUATIONS
Rainbow Six Siege is a complex FPS game with an objective focused Team Deathmatch. Destructibility of the environment is sophisticated, especially for a competitive shooter, with interesting operators that bring a lot of unique utility to the round. The maps are complex multi-level environments.
What we are getting at is that there are endless clutch scenarios in which you will be put when playing R6 Siege. This complexity and the sheer number of variables gives us virtually unlimited possibilities for clutch situations. Every clutch will be different in Rainbow Six Siege. In some, you will be more likely to win, in some not.
To understand expectations that you should set for yourself or your teammates, we find it useful to define types of clutch situations.
To do so, we advise you to consider the following aspects as important factors that indicate a type of situation you are in.
R6 Siege Clutch factors
Examples:
- Favorable - On defense: you're on-site behind Mira's Black Mirror; attackers have to come in your LoS to plant
Unfavorable - On defense: Outside of objective, attackers have full control of the site
Examples:
- Favorable - On the attack: defuser planted
Unfavorable - On the attack: you don't have defuser and defenders cover it
Examples:
- Realistic - On defense: 10 seconds to go; defuser not planted
Unfavorable - On the attack: same as above
Examples:
- Realistic - On defense: C4/Smoke canisters at disposal for plant denial
Unfavorable - On defense: no gadgets at the disposal
Examples:
- Realistic - 1v1 or 1v2
Virtually Impossible - 1v5
Examples:
- Favorable - Live intel about opponent(s) location
- Unfavorable - No intel tools available
The above points can have various combinations, which indicate the difficulty of the clutch situation.
With that in mind, we were able to identify 4 types of clutch scenarios in Rainbow Six Siege.
Clutch Situation types
A significant advantage is on your side, with no/slight man count disadvantage (1v1/1v2)
A) The advantage is on your side, with a slight man count disadvantage (1v2)
B) The advantage is on neither side, with no/slight man count disadvantage (1v1/1v2)
A) The advantage is on the enemy's side, with a slight man count disadvantage (1v2)
B) A significant advantage is on your side, with severe man count disadvantage (1v3/1v4)
A) The advantage is on the enemy's side, with severe man count disadvantage (1v3/1v4)
B) 1v5 - advantage situation doesn't really matter at this point
The only exception to 1v5 becoming a possible scenario is having an ability to stop defuser plant on defense, with round timer expiring.
The Clutch Mindset
Having the right mindset is the key to winning clutch situations.
You can have better aim or game sense than your opponents, but if you are not even trying because you gave up from the get-go or are a nerve wreck, then you are not going to win. At least, not consistently.
Having your mind in the right condition for a clutch allows you to make fewer mistakes and perform to the best of your abilities – and that’s the most important aspect.
Expectations
Setting realistic expectations is vital to mitigate potential frustration. So often, we see people blaming teammates for not being able to clutch.
Hell, sometimes, the person who did not manage to clutch in a bad situation tends to blame him/herself. This is counterproductive.
Understand: You are not going to win a high percentage of clutch situations in which you are at a manpower disadvantage.
Thus, make sure to judge the situation realistically and set the right expectation towards yourself and your teammates.
Please note that we do not advocate for you to give up without trying or play recklessly. You should always try, even when all odds are against you.
If the situation is really unrealistic, then treat it primarily as a learning opportunity, not an indication of your skills as an R6 Siege player.
Keep Calm
I know it’s hard to stay calm when shit hits the fan, and pressure is on you. It may take a while to get used to clutch situations, and it’s completely normal.
Focus on one thing that you got full control over: do your best, and live with the results.
Don’t think about the expectations of others. More often than not, they actually messed up or took unnecessary risks, which led to you being in a clutch situation.
Being nervous and panicking is not going to help. In fact, such negative emotions will hinder your performance.
In a negative state of mind, we tend to under-perform and tunnel vision.
Each of us works differently in the sense of what helps to keep calm. Some people need expectations to be lowered to bear minimum. Others need a tap on a shoulder from a teammate or a funny joke.
Generally, you should know what helps you to keep calm. If you, however, struggle with an idea on how to remain calm, then here are some suggestions:
- Lower your expectations
- Understand its just a game
- Think of what’s the worst that can happen
- Consider it as a learning opportunity
- Find a team that is not a bunch of a-holes
- Don’t judge your skills based on the outcome, but your efforts
Stay Positive
We believe that if you think about positive things, positive things tend to happen. If you think that the round is over, then let me tell you a secret – it probably is.
So our suggestion? Don’t give up, nor start thinking about negative shit. Don’t focus on the problem (clutch situation). Instead, focus on solving it (winning).
What if you are negative by default? Well, then you’ve got more significant problems than clutching rounds in Rainbow Six Siege.
The Clutch Skills
Here’s the list of the most crucial skills necessary for becoming a clutch player in Rainbow Six Siege.
Patience
An ability to delay action, when natural instincts are screaming “GO.” It’s being able to find a balance between aggression and passive moments.
Patience is not an easy feat to achieve for most people. Not surprising, as the vast majority of our surroundings are designed to prompt our impatience.
If you want to improve in Clutching, then some healthy dose of patience will be necessary. In fact, in many scenarios making enemies impatient is one of the best strategies to increase your odds for clutching.
Aim
Clutch situations ensure one thing – You will have to win your gunfights if you want to win.
You can have the best mindset and be the smartest player on the planet. But if you cannot land your shots, then you are not going to clutch rounds consistently.
Here are essential components necessary for excellent aiming skills:
- Crosshair placement
- Recoil control
- Tracking
To learn more about aiming, visit our skills guide.
Game Sense
Game sense means having an understanding of game mechanics, players’ tendencies, inputs, and your surroundings. Having good game sense will help you predict an enemy’s location and actions.
It comes with experience and empathy – an ability to put yourself in enemies’ shoes. You have to ask yourself, “What would I do?“
Furthermore, having high game sense will allow you to make big brain plays and bait enemies.
Baiting means doing something that deliberately leads to certain assumptions and actions from the enemy.
One of the most prolific examples is the “faking defuser plant.” It simply means starting the animation of planting the defuser and then canceling.
What does it achieve? Audio cue (or even visual from surveillance tools) leads defenders to believe that you are planting.
They may attempt to stop you from doing so, usually in a rushed manner. You already canceled animation and expect them coming – that’s your upper hand.
Want to know more about game sense?
Check our Skills guide section dedicated to this skill.
Check our Skills guide section dedicated to this skill.
Unpredictability
Don’t do what they expect you to do. Try to rotate, pretend you come from one side, but hit from another.
If your position is known, then try to relocate and change your angles.
Keeping enemy guessing and on their toes is a good way to increase your chances of winning the round.
You have to assume that enemies communicate. If they don’t, that’s fine. But you want to prepare your habits to win against good teams, not just the bad ones.
How To Clutch
Now let’s get down to actionable and specific tips that are applicable to various clutch situations.
This part of guide is relevant for both attack and defense.
Assess your situation
You have got to understand the situation you are in.
Without gaining an awareness of what is going on, you won’t be able to make the right decisions.
Therefore, you have to gather information and analyze it.
We actually believe that assessment of the situation is not only crucial for clutching but generally a vital skill to develop if you are intending to be a good Rainbow Six Siege player!
Here are components we suggest to consider when assessing your situation:
- Remaining Time
- Defuser status
- Your position
- Enemy’s location & operators
- Enemy’s aggression level
- Available intel and gadgets
Such an assessment usually happens as a series of quick mental notes that the player makes.
The more experienced you are with the game, the quicker and more natural such a thought process will become. The key here is to create a good habit that will expand over time!
A rough action plan
Now that you comprehended your situation and got the information you need to make reasonable choices, it is time to make a rough plan of action.
Here are a few things you should decide on:
- Will you play the objective or go for kills?
- As an attacker: Which site you want to focus on, and from which direction you will approach it?
- On defense: Which positions do you prefer? What are your advantages? What are your rotation options?
By default, attackers have more flexibility in how they play the clutch situation. Though such flexibility is very situational and depends on your circumstances (time, defuser, positioning).
As an attacker with more than a minute left, you can decide quite a lot on how you will play this clutch. But that’s not the case when you’ve got 10-20 seconds left and have to push the site.
On defense, you are more depending on the general setup of the objective site, enemies’ position, etc.
Provoke 1v1
Going head-on against multiple opponents is not a realistic way of winning clutches. Your top objective should be to take enemies out one by one. If you can turn their advantage of outnumbering you into a series of 1v1 duels, then you stand a chance.
Bear in mind that such separation of enemies is not always possible. If they position themselves well for refrags and cross-fires, then you are unlikely to win the clutch.
Play to your strengths
You should realize the advantages of your operator, as well as of the situation you are in.
Using your gadgets, operator’s characteristics, and environment increases your chances.
If you are a mobile attacker, then take advantage of your speed and relocate.
A bulky defender with an ACOG on the objective site? Find a long, tight angle that enemies are likely to cross.
There’s not much of a point exposing yourself to long angles with a shotgun or a gun like Ela’s Scorpion.
To clutch a round in Rainbow Six Siege, you need every bit of advantage that you can get!
Confirm who observes what
Sounds simple right? Unfortunately, what is simple to do is simple to be missed.
So often people forget to confirm with each other what information is available and who got it covered.
A person in the middle of the clutch might not know that teammates have a camera to watch his back, therefore splitting his focus unnecessarily.
Two teammates may watch the same drone, while another beneficial one is left unmanned.
So if you are the person left to clutch, ask your team: “Any intel?“, “Any cams/drones left?”
Similarly, if you’re dead, make sure to tell your clutch buddy what angle or area you are watching. Also, ask other dead teammates which cam/drone are they watching.
Just don’t have long discussions when your buddy is in the middle of gunfights.
Identify enemies' positions
You should try to understand where your opponents are located, both as an attacker and defender.
Luckily, Rainbow Six Siege offers plenty of intel gathering tools that help in this regard.
Use your drones on the attack. While on defense, utilize cams and other surveillance gadgets. Don’t forget to use a unique operator’s ability (Pulse or Jackal).
Look for cues on where are opponents’ focused.
On the defense: Are they going for A or B push?
On the attack: which entry points to the objective are they holding? How many roamers?
Don't tunnel vision
When you are the last man standing, it is easy to fall into a tunnel vision.
Tunnel vision means that you focus extensively on specific aspects or objective. Focus is great, but tunnel vision is not.
It causes us to ignore information that is outside of our current focus, and that’s not a component of winning in Rainbow Six Siege.
Example: Personally, I tend to pay too little attention to the callouts in clutch situations. It takes energy for me to comprehend such information while focusing on other aspects, but that’s something I am currently working on.
You, of course, may have a different tunnel vision tendency.
Whatever it is, first become aware of it (you can’t fix what you can’t see), then work on improving and overcoming your natural tendency.
Clutching On Attack
Clutching on the attack is a different animal than pulling off a clutch on the defense in Rainbow Six Siege.
Below is the list of our tips for increasing your chances on offense.
Use your drones
Don’t throw your droning skills out of the window when put in clutch situations.
Intel is the king in Rainbow Six Siege, and clutching a round is no exception.
Thus, in case you’re clutching on the attack and have drones left, make sure to:
PLACE DRONES FOR FLANK WATCH
Not having to think about flank makes your life so much easier. First, you do not have to split your attention and wonder when you’re going to get flanked. Secondly, defenders flank frequently when they outnumber an attacker.
Once you’ve put a drone in flank watch position, request teammates to watch it for you.
This helps you make good use of your dead teammates. Dead=/=useless
DRONE THE SITE AND YOUR PATH TOWARDS IT
Make sure you’re in a safe spot before doing so. Not having to face check every corner will help you increase the chances of survival.
Try to conceal the fact that you know the defender’s position. Don’t ping or drone in a plain manner.
For learning more on how to drone, make sure to visit our droning guide
Anticipate common spots
Not in every situation, you will be able to gather intel on the enemy’s exact location. You may not have any drones remaining or time to drone the site.
What do you do?
In such circumstances, you got to guess where opponents might be and check those spots.
Don’t just rush through the map. Check corners, especially in rooms where you would expect any resistance, and most importantly – in the objective.
Try to:
- Think where you would be if you were them
- Make a mental note of a spot when you die from it – this will eventually build into a pattern
Let them get impatient
Some people just can’t help themselves.
Impatience on opponents’ side is likely to happen when you are severely outnumbered.
People will often overplay due to a high confidence level and general cockiness. This happens more in lower ranks, as better organized teams tend to wait the player out.
This applies to scenarios where you’ve got a bit of time left. With 1-2 minutes remaining, try to get opponents a bit impatient, especially if it is 1v3 or worse.
Realistically in such rough situations, you will need your enemies to make mistakes. If you get a pick on one or two greedy defenders, then all of a sudden, a 1v4 can turn to 1v2. And this is a much more doable situation!
Though, essential to note that decent (and better) teams will wait you out, throwing maybe 1-2 people at you by the end of the round. Late enough that you don’t have a chance of clutching anyway.
A good way to bait out more aggressive/confident opponents is to fire somewhere. Good players are not likely to bite on it, but some may assume you are vulnerable or occupied.
...but keep moving
The natural tendency for most people is to wait on the attack for a minute or even more, holding an angle and hoping for an enemy’s mistake. Then they push the site frantically.
That’s probably the most common issue when it comes to clutch situations on the attack. Don’t do that!
Having more time to execute your plan means you are less likely to make mistakes.
Understand: The less time you have on the clock, the more predictable you become. On top of that, you are likely to be outside of ADS (aiming down sight), not checking your corners properly, or worst – sprinting.
Instead, make sure to keep going, advance your progress. You can try to separate enemies, bait them out. Or try to open new angles to the objective. Just make sure you do something instead of wasting time holding one angle!
Pick the defuser
Do not push the site if you do not have the defuser. One of the worst feelings in Rainbow Six Siege is having complete control over the site just to realize that you have left defuser far away.
Also, the defuser may be guarded by one of the defenders if your teammate died with it. Therefore, having control over an objective site will mean jack shit. You will have to challenge them anyway at the defuser location to secure the win.
Get the plant down if possible
By default, time is your enemy on the attack and an ally to the defenders.
Good teams often play the objective, which will make it difficult for you to clutch as you are the one at a disadvantage.
Getting a plant down will turn the tables.
Now you can wait for them to come to you on your terms.
Clutching on The Defense
Below is the list of our tips for increasing your chances of clutching on the defense in Rainbow Six Siege.
Play the objective
Defending is generally considered easier than attacking. However, clutching on defense gives you less flexibility than on the attack.
Play to your main advantage – round time and the objective.
This tip is especially true if the remaining round time is low. If you manage to deny a plant, then you might clutch a round without the necessity to kill all the remaining attackers.
The best operators to play the objective in clutch time are:
- EchoCan deny plant with a Yokai drone
- SmokeGas canisters can kill attacker stuck in planting animation
- LesionAn attacker who stepped on GU mine is incapable of entering defuser plant animation without removing the needle
- MaestroCan kill the planter with Evil eye
- Can C4 from below.
- Any C4 equipped defender
Play the defuser
A sort of extension on the above objective tip is advice to take advantage of situations where you’ve got a defuser after denying a carrier.
In such a situation, attackers have to come to you!
This may turn the tables and give you an upper hand.
However, not every location is proper for watching a defuser. In some scenarios, you may be at a significant disadvantage!
Make them win the round... but don't be passive
The problem is achieving a balance between aggression and patience.
There are two sides to the coin:
Sometimes we tend to play too passively, allowing attackers to surround us and take full control of the objective.
On the other hand, playing extremely aggressively can be predictable. By doing so, you may hand in the round to your opponents.
Try to play smart and force the enemy to make a winning play, rather than just allowing to capitalize on your stupid moves.
If you are in a good position without being droned out, then make them come for you.
In other scenarios, the best option may be to become unpredictable with your aggression. Catching attackers with their pants down can work very well.
Helping others to Clutch
Here are tips of DOs and DON’Ts for dead teammates:
No backseat gaming
For those unaware of the term: backseat gamer is a player who watches you play and tells you what to do.
Example:
“Go right, use your grenade. Aim a bit higher, go crouch.”
Don’t do that shit!
Not only it does not help, but it is detrimental to the success of the person who is still alive and tries to clutch.
Instead, create a healthy habit: stay silent if you have no valuable callouts to share.
Watch surveillance devices
Being dead is not AFK or phone scrolling time.
Jump on available cameras or drones. Try to help with a clutch by providing valuable intel.
And remember: In Rainbow Six Siege knowing where enemies are not can be just as useful as knowing where they are!
Give useful callouts
Chatting and having fun with your friends while playing Rainbow Six Siege is essential.
It is a video game, after all.
However, show some empathy to your clutching buddy. Don’t have useless chatter when they are in the middle of the clutch.
That person probably tries to focus and listens to audio cues.
Instead, make sure to give only useful callouts.
Telling a teammate that you don’t see anything on a camera placed on the other side of the map is irrelevant information that they have to process.
Don't criticize
Don’t criticize your teammate, especially for trying. Sometimes people clutch, sometimes they don’t.
Everyone makes mistakes, and probably you’ve made some too – otherwise, you could be in a position to clutch yourself, wouldn’t you?
If you see something, that teammate could have done better, then give them constructive feedback (there’s a difference).
But! Make sure to judge whether the time is right for such feedback. People may be down on morale if they feel like they failed the team. If that’s the case, then say, “Nice try man, you did well,” and come back to the topic on another occasion.
Preventing Clutch Situations
Simply if you are in clutch situations too often, then review actions leading to it!
A certain dose of introspection will be healthy and allow you to prevent the need to clutch in Rainbow Six Siege. There has to be something wrong with steps preceding the clutch situation.
It may be you, it may be your teammate or a misunderstanding within your team. One thing is sure – trends don’t lie. Instead of focusing on getting better at Clutching in R6 Siege, it is far better to fix the underlying issue.
Re-fragging and cross-fires are much better means to win the rounds than focusing on clutches. Clutch situations will happen, but the true greatness of a team comes primarily from the ability to work together as a cohesive unit. Thanks to this ability, you can limit the need for clutching.
To give you an example:
You like to roam and find yourself in need to clutch a lot.
Perhaps the issue is that you are not returning to the site fast enough?
Maybe you stick to your predetermined plan a bit too much? Or you do not have any map control as a roamer?
