Valorant might still be in closed beta but despite that, the game has a ranked mode. Like all things in beta, some players are already concerned with the shooter's competitive system.
The competitive mode was added to Valorant rather recently. Before that, players could only go for casual matches but now, the ranks are all there for the taking. We’ve already looked at the separate medals and how Riot has updated them. Today, we discuss some of the criticism Valorant’s ranked system has already received in its short lifespan.
- READ MORE: Valorant vs. CS:GO
Valorant is a bad choice
The rank, that is. The medals in ranked are currently the following:
- Iron
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Platinum
- Diamond
- Immortal
- Valorant
Valorant is obviously the highest glory one can achieve in the game. While it may be a fancy way to call the most prestigious rank, it’ll certainly cause some problems. Why? First of all, it sounds weird. Take for instance the recent case of Tyson "TenZ" Ngo who was the first player to reach Valorant in Valorant NA. Even before updating the medals, Valorant was the best rank, but maybe Riot needs to reconsider it? In any potential future videos, searching “Valorant Valorant” might be the only way to find some of the top players. Needless to say, most of the time it won’t give you the results you’re looking for.
Queuing in Ranked
The next problem with the ranked system comes from the queue itself. Popular streamer Ali “Myth” Kabbani shared some of his thoughts on the current system.
As Myth puts it, there’s no separate queue for solo players and party stacks. Arguments can be found for both sides. On the one hand, it could often be a negative experience to get matched against a stack as there’s a bigger chance they’ll be doing a much better job than five randoms. On the other hand, Valorant is a team game, and communication with your newly-found teammates is vital, so in order to win, you’ll have to do just that – communicate. In both cases, a stack of players who have spent time together will have the upper hand, it’s just that in some cases it won’t be that noticeable as it’ll be determined by player skill.
- READ MORE: Valorant's new ranking system leaked
This isn’t a problem strictly in Valorant, though. Just like many other things, Riot was probably inspired by CS:GO, where playing against a full team when queued as a solo is something that happens way too often. Surprisingly, the results aren’t nearly as bad as you think (speaking from personal experience), so maybe it would be wiser to give the Valorant ranked system a bit more time.
Some other competitive titles have the option to search for strictly solo queue players when trying to find a game. This might be a good way to address the issue by making the players choose what's best themselves. Stay tuned for more Valorant news.
