A method of video decoding in a decoder is provided. In the method, a coded video bitstream is received. For a scan position in the transform block, an offset value is determined based on a template magnitude for a template of the scan position. The offset value is constrained based on a first number of context models for each frequency region. For the scan position, a base value is determined based on the first number and the scan position. A context model index is determined based on a sum of the offset value and the base value. A context model is selected from a plurality of context models based on the context model index. A value of a syntax element at the scan position is determined based on the context model. A transform coefficient at the scan position is determined based on the value of the syntax element.