Valorant’s ranked Competitive mode is live. Similar to other competitive, team-based games like Riot’s League of Legends or Valve’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which Valorant draws influence from, the new competitive mode is available alongside its casual, “Unrated” mode. Once you unlock Competitive mode, playing enough rounds will earn you a rank, which is a reflection of your skill level and will affect how Valorant’s matchmaking system pairs you with other players in ranked play. But how does Valorant’s Competitive ranked mode work? How many Unrated matches do you need to play before Competitive unlocks and how do you earn your first Competitive rank? And what are the Valorant ranks anyway?
In this guide we’ll break down all your questions about Valorant’s ranked system, as explained in Riot’s official blog, so you know what to expect when diving into Competitive mode for the first time.
How To Unlock Competitive Ranked Mode
To unlock Valorant’s ranked mode, which is officially called Competitive mode, you have to complete 20 Unrated matches.
How Many Competitive Ranks Does Valorant Have?
There are a total of eight ranks in Valorant. Each has three tiers except for Valorant, the top rank possible. That makes for a total of 22 possible skill badges. Riot has provided a handy graphic showing off its tiered ranking system, which you can see below. The ranks and their corresponding skill level badges are as follows:
- Iron 1
- Iron 2
- Iron 3
- Bronze 1
- Bronze 2
- Bronze 3
- Silver 1
- Silver 2
- Silver 3
- Gold 1
- Gold 2
- Gold 3
- Platinum 1
- Platinum 2
- Platinum 3
- Diamond 1
- Diamond 2
- Diamond 3
- Immortal 1
- Immortal 2
- Immortal 3
- Valorant
How Does Ranking Work In Valorant?
According to Riot, “winning games is the most important factor in gaining rank,” but your personal performance plays a big part in that too. Performing “exceptionally well” can help you rank up faster, while performing worse than you have in previous matches can hurt your competitive rank. It gets a little more complicated, though. As Riot explains, the way Valorant determines your early rank puts much more scrutiny on your personal performance, but eventually, winning matches becomes the more important determining factor. Once you receive your Valorant competitive rank, you will be matched only with players within two ranks of yourself.
Much of the way ranked mode works, according to Riot, is built to combat smurfing, rank boosting, and ensure balanced matches for all competitive players. But be aware–ranked mode only just went live in late April, when the Valorant beta hadn’t even been live for a full month, so the more nuanced ins-and-outs of this system may change as Riot gathers data and feedback.
Will My Rank Reset If I Haven’t Played In A While?
No. Your rank doesn’t reset in Valorant if you haven’t played in a while, but if you’re inactive for 14 days, it will be temporarily “hidden” until the next time you play a match. That doesn’t mean it’s disappeared or decayed, just that it won’t be displayed for other players until you become an active player again yourself.
“We want to be confident that when others see your rank, it’s an accurate reflection of your skill,” Riot explains.
Will My Competitive Rank Carry Over After The Beta?
No. After the Valorant beta is over and the game officially launches, all competitive ranks will reset. You will have to follow Riot’s instructions for achieving a new competitive rank based on the rules at that time. We don’t know how the competitive ranked system might change before launch, so we can’t say much more than that.
Competitive And Unrated Mode Differences
Valorant’s new Competitive mode was introduced shortly after patch 0.49 was pushed, and it is currently only available in the EU and NA regions. Gameplay-wise, it is no different than Unrated mode. It is still 5v5 team-based matches, set in the same maps, with the same objectives and win conditions. You can still solo queue or queue up with a full five-person party. The only difference is that Competitive mode has a ranked system, which means after playing a few rounds unranked, you will receive your first ranked badge, and then only be matched with other players of similar ranks. Winning matches can increase your rank, and losing them can decrease your rank. That also means if you queue up with a party, you’ll all have to be within two ranks of each other.
Valorant is still in closed beta, so the balance of its ranked system is likely to change. We’ll keep you up-to-date on Riot’s Valorant updates, including future patches and other adjustments to its ranked system. For now, read up on how to get your Valorant beta key if you haven’t already and–if you’re ready to dive in–learn some top Valorant tips and tricks.
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