What is the 9-3 Curse in Valorant and is it Real?

Have you noticed that the losing team wins in a lot of Valorant matches that end their half in 9-3? Well, this has caught the attention of Valorant players, getting the name of the 9-3 curse!

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Is the 9-3 curse real in Valorant? | © Riot Games

Ever since Riot Games released Valorant, players have started to come out with memes and beliefs, some even making it into the game as meme sprays! But one thing that everyone seems to get crazy about is the infamous 9-3 curse in Valorant. So here we'll check out what exactly is the 9-3 curse in Valorant and if it's real.

What's the Valorant 9-3 Curse?

The 9-3 curse in Valorant is when a game ends its half in 9-3, and the losing team somehow comes back strong and wins the game. Although the players don't exactly know why the losing team wins causing the 9-3 curse, there is a pretty solid theory around it.

Valorant players tend to practice only their attacking or defending strategies. Let's say you're good at attacking a site with a Duelist, but are bad at defending it. So if you're in the attacking team in the first half of the match, you'll be efficient in winning rounds ending the half in 9-3. When you switch to the defending team though, you'll be bad since you haven't practiced defending tactics. What happens next is that the enemy team will win every single round because of your inefficiency, causing the 9-3 Valorant curse.

Although there are a lot of game examples where the 9-3 curse happens, it doesn't mean that every 9-3 game will end in the losing team winning. Though it has happened so much, even in esports pro play, that players have started to wholeheartedly believe in it. So is the Valorant 9-3 curse real?

Is the 9-3 Curse Real in Valorant?

To determine the legibility of the Valorant 9-3 curse, we'll take a look into pro matches as that's where the best players clash it out. At VCT Copenhagen, in the matches leading before the semi-finals and the grand final, there were 7 instances where a match ended its half in a 9-3. But in no match did the losing team make a comeback, so the 9-3 curse didn't appear at all. This means the 9-3 curse isn't real, just a possibility.

Don't get this wrong though, as there have been instances where the 9-3 curse in Valorant has appeared on the esports scene. Even at the biggest stage of the biggest event at VCT Champions Finals, we've seen the 9-3 curse between Acend and Gambit, where Acend was leading on Breeze but Gambit took it back and won the map. Acend were the final winners, but it goes to show the 9-3 curse can happen to the best.

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The 9-3 curse in the finals of VCT Champions! | © Riot Games

Don't get comfortable with the fact that even pros are getting the 9-3 curse. They may use the best Vandal skins, but we saw that the 9-3 curse normally doesn't apply to them. So you should look out for yourself and try to avoid the 9-3 Valorant curse!

How to Prevent the Valorant 9-3 Curse?

If you want to prevent and avoid the 9-3 curse in Valorant, you'll first have to get critical of yourself and your playstyle. Although you may have the best aim on the planet if you don't know how to use your main agent's abilities either when attacking or defending you'll lose. So if you want to avoid the 9-3 curse in Valorant, practice attacking and defending strategies equally!

Now you know everything there is to the 9-3 curse in Valorant! Have you encountered the curse yourself? Be sure to visit our Discord server and tell us all about it!

Dean Nastevski
Dean Nastevski