If you are someone who just unlocked the ranked match system or are curious about how the ranking system works, we got you covered. Without further ado, let’s discuss everything we need to know about how the Valorant ranking system works.
How Does Valorant Ranking System Work
Firstly, it is best to remember that you cannot play the ranked match as soon as you enter the game. You will have to win 10 unranked matches to unlock the competitive mode. Previously, it was fairly easy as you would only have to play 20 unranked games. Sadly, such a procedure caused problems as a lot of trolls and newbie players would be able to enter the ranked mode. Hence, Riot Games decided to increase the criteria so that players would have to win 10 unranked games first. But that is not all you require to accomplish to play the ranked matches. After winning 10 games, you will have to play five placement matches. These five games are the key to playing ranked games as the placement match determines which rank you belong to.
What Are Ranks in Valorant?
As mentioned earlier, the placement matches ensure what rank suits your playstyle the best and places you on one. There are eight ranks in total in Valorant: There are more ranks within the ones mentioned above. Each rank has its own sub-ranks, called tiers, that you progress through. For instance, the Iron rank has three tiers, which are Iron 1, Iron 2, and Iron 3. Likewise, all the other ranks have the same kind of tier system. However, the rank, Radiant does not have this feature. Radiant only has one rank. As for the rest, you will progress through each tier based on your performance in the games. Additionally, the Immortal and Radiant ranks have very few players in each region. Specifically, the Immortal rank has only 1% of the top players of a region while Radiant has only 500 top players in the whole region.
What Is Match Making Rating (MMR) System?
The way you increase your ranks is based on your playstyle. Valorant, like other FPS games, uses the Match Making Rating system (MMR) to keep track of your games and increase or decrease your rank accordingly. MMR keeps a lookout at your stats like wins, headshots, kills, damage dealt, etc. If all the stats are high and consistent, your rank increases. However, if your stats get low after ranking up, you will lose your rank and fall back. Hence, your ranks are purely based on your skills. If you are really good at the game, your ranks increase faster. But if you play badly at a certain rank, MMR puts you on a lower rank so that there is balance in the competition.
What Is Rank Rating?
Rank Rating is a little different from the MMR. While MMR determines that you get in a match with similar rank players, Rank Rating keeps track of the points you gain or lose from a match. You need 100 RR points to move on to a different rank. Likewise, if you lose a game, you lose 20 RR points which can push you back to a lower rank. If you are a new player on the ranked platforms, then you do not have to worry about completely losing the rank. Valorant does not let your RR points go below 80. So, you can easily get back up if you fall back down. Furthermore, the RR point also differs in wins, losses, and draws. Following is the general way you gain or lose points based on your results. An important thing to remember about MRR and RR is that gaining RR points depends on your MMR. If you have a higher MMR than your rank, you will gain more points when you win than when you lose, and vice versa. But if your MMR is equal to or close to your rank, you gain or lose approximately equal points when you win or lose respectively.
What Are Leaderboards?
The leaderboards system of Valorant is also unique. Firstly, the game’s Episode 2 brought us the Regional Leaderboards. So the leaderboards you see are the top players of the server/region you are playing in. Although all the players who play the game are on the leaderboards, you will not find yourself until you play at least 50 competitive matches. Furthermore, you have to keep playing the game to keep your place on the leaderboard. Similar to the ranking system, you will disappear from the leaderboards if you take a break for a couple of weeks.
Will I Get Demoted if I Don’t Play Valorant for a While?
Usually, a lot of FPS games have a feature called Ranking Decay. The feature lowers your rank automatically when you take a break from the game or do not play for a time period. Valorant does not have such a feature, so you can take a break assured your rank will not decrease. However, if you took a long break from the game, you will have to play one placement match so that the MMR decides if you are able to play in the same rank as when you left. But the game does not show your rank if you are absent for more than 14 days. If your skills match the rank you were previously were in, your rank will remain the same or even increase. But if you are a little rusty, you will get a lower ranking so that you can brush up on your skills.
