What Does Thrifty Mean in Valorant?

To paraphrase a wise man, many online games can be boiled down to a clash of numbers. You want to have the best numbers that are higher than your opponents’ numbers, and if they’re lower than your opponents’ numbers, you have to use your other numbers to raise your numbers. It’s simple math, but by that same token, if you manage to win the game when you don’t have the highest numbers, that’s worthy of praise in itself. This brings us to today’s question: what does Thrifty mean in Valorant?

After a winning round in Valorant, your team is given a victory tag based on how you performed. These tags include common online game staples like “Flawless,” meaning no one on your team died, or “Ace,” when a member of your team kills every member of the opposing team at least once. These tags are more for bragging rights than anything, but it is cool to get a big shiny sign after a round telling you that you successfully did the thing. However, there is one victory tag that’s a little more uncommon, and rather impressive in its own right: “Thrifty.”

What Does Thrifty Mean in Valorant?

One of the major gameplay aspects of Valorant is its in-battle economy. Both teams have an allocation of cash they can spend on things like weapons and armor, though that cash has to last them the entire match. The logic of numbers dictates you want the best weapons and armor money can buy, but it’s a victory that subverts that logic that earns you “Thrifty.”

Basically, if your team wins the round while having spent less money than the opposing team, that’s a Thrifty win, also known as an “eco round.” For example, if the other team loads up on pricey rifles and body armor, and your guys still beat them down with pistols, that’s a “Thrifty,” and can be pretty impressive. Purposely going for Thrifty wins requires some decent skill with lower-damage weapons, not to mention some strategy. Of course, you could also just get a lucky shot on the dude with the biggest gun, and then use said big gun to mow down his allies. Hey, you didn’t pay for it, so it still counts as an eco round. Reduce, reuse, recycle, as they say.