Valorant Terminology - What Is An Eco Round

Eco rounds are crucial to help your team succeed and not play at a massive disadvantage constantly in Valorant.

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Valorant economy explained! I ©Riot Games

Valorant economy can be a fickle situation - you might feel like a baller at one point, purchasing rifles for your bottom-fragging friend, and then all of a sudden, you find yourself in the necessity to save credits to get a Phantom or a Vandal.

Eco rounds are important to avoid playing at a disadvantage constantly. Let's say you force buy after losing a round in which you invested a hefty amount opting in to cash out on Spectres, losing that one round can set you back to a point in which you'll have to play against rifles and OP with less than an ideal utility for the next few ones.

If you don't understand the concept behind Eco rounds, fret not! As we're here to help.

How Do Eco Rounds Work In Valorant

We've explained Bonus Rounds before, and Eco Rounds are in concept similar to them but coming from a different perspective. Just like Bonus, the primary objective is to save credits in order to full buy the next round.

You can do so by buying light shields (or no shields at all), no utility or the one you feel can make a difference, and a pistol or a cheap weapon. Some of the recommended guns for an Eco round are:

  • Frenzy
  • Sheriff
  • Stinger

If you have extra credits, you can invest in a Marshall or a Spectre, as long as you know you'll have enough for a rifle and full shields next round, even if it comes at the cost of some utility.

You can try to win Eco rounds by playing a bit more sneakily or changing the tempo in which you've been doing so. A quick example is that if you're playing Reyna and have been incredibly passive defending your site, take an aggressive peak with a Leer try and one-tap someone with a Sheriff and take their gun before retrieving back to safety.

To avoid getting tilted just be mindful that the idea is not to try and win the round, it's simply to avoid bleeding out money and give you a fair shot and turning back the tide of the match in the following rounds - furthermore, if you do manage to pull a Thrifty, you'll get free guns and saved credits putting you in an incredible position to win several rounds in a row.

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Andres Aquino