Riot Unveils New Competitive Mode for Valorant
| Tags: Valorant
| Author Malik Shelp
A highly requested ranked mode is coming to Valorant.
Valorant’s honeymoon phase is slowly coming to a close with Riot ironing out most of the wrinkles, tournaments being held, and competitive mode on its way.
We've heard your requests to find out where you rank on the VALORANT ladder. Competitive mode is coming! Senior Producer Ian "Brighteyz" Fielding and Senior Designer Sean "Drevarius" Szopinski are here to guide you through it. https://t.co/EDnuMAT3cM
— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) April 24, 2020
On April 24th, Riot put out a post detailing their plans for the competitive play coming with patch 0.49. The game mode, rules, and play will remain fairly unchanged in competitive as to maintain integrity across Unrated and Competitive. It is required for everyone to play at least 20 matches of Unrated before being able to jump into Competitive ensuring that they are familiar with the mechanics before jumping in. Competitive won’t always be available throughout the duration of the closed beta with Riot stating that it would be disabled from time to time for balance changes.
Ranking System
First things first, there are eight ranks in Valorant: Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Immortal, and VALORANT. Each rank has three tiers to it except for VALORANT given that it is the top rank. Winning games and personal performance are the main factors taken into account when determining your rank. How you perform compared to previous matches weighs in on your ranking and how it is adjusted accordingly.
Players can queue with up to four other friends, and Riot claims that group size will play a part in match-making. Solo queue players going up against a solid five stack shouldn’t happen often. Although, when it does, it will be a frustrating experience. In the beginning, matches to determine rank, personal performance will weigh the heaviest on determining rank. How decisively a team wins will also weigh into their score. This will help encourage players to give it their best to the very end.
The announcement included a few minor details such as that after 14 days of being inactive your rank is hidden but won’t experience decay. Valorant at its base has been the hottest craze for the past month. As such, the addition of Competitive only shows that Riot is ready to push the IP forward. Closed Beta ranks won’t carry over the full release of Valorant. But, it is a clever way to get players accustomed to the mode and offer a refined experience.