Ian Fielding, from the VALORANT Competitive team, posted an official update today regarding ranks and competitive matchmaking. There’s a lot of good information in the post and we want to break down the main points here in this article.
When is VALORANT Competitive Matchmaking Releasing?
First, Ian noted that VALORANT’s competitive mode will be releasing shortly after patch 0.49 for the EU and US regions. The competitive mode will be using the same rules and format as the Unrated mode.
Getting Ranked in VALORANT
To get ranked in VALORANT, players must complete 20 Unrated matches after which point Competitive mode is unlocked.
VALORANT Competitive Ranks
There will be 8 ranks with 3 tiers each, except for the top rank of VALORANT. The Competitive ranks are:
- Iron
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Platinum
- Diamond
- Immortal
- VALORANT
Winning games will be the number one determining factor for climbing the ranks. Performing well on an individual basis will also improve your rating. Losing games and performing poorly will have a negative impact on your rank.
Personal performance impacts your rating less and less the higher in the ladder you get. The thinking behind this is that if you play consistently and perform strongly, you will be less likely to throw games and forfeit matches. In the highest rank of VALORANT, winning games and rounds are the two main determining factors in gaining ranks.
VALORANT Matchmaking
The matchmaking system makes fairly balanced matches and aims to detect and prevent smurfing and rank boosting. Because of this, personal performance is part of the matchmaking equation.
Queue Size
Players will be able to queue by themselves and in groups of up to 5 people. You must party with playing within 2 ranks or 6 tiers of your own rank. This is to prevent imbalanced matches where one player carries the entire match. Matchmaking takes into account your queue size and attempts to prioritize matching you against other similar group sizes.
Rank Decay
After 14 days of inactivity, accounts are INACTIVE. Your personal rank becomes hidden at that point. Ranks display again after your first match back. Ranks DO NOT decay, so don’t worry if you have to take a break from the game.
