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Win.gg News TenZ says Valorant ranked games are bad for streaming

TenZ says Valorant ranked games are bad for streaming

Fariha Bhatti
Fariha Bhatti Published 15/04/2021

Streamer and Valorant pro player Tyson “TenZ“ Ngo has revealed a reason why he’s not a huge fan of ranked games in Valorant. 

Earlier, tons of Valorant professional players have discussed how ranked games can be frustrating due to queue time, rank disparity, lobby restrictions, and random teammates in solo queues. TenZ cosigned this notion and has called out the developer to introduce a 10-man hub like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s FACEIT. 

Really think adding some form of FPL or Pro 10 man hub would be super beneficial to the top players who don’t want to touch ranked. I know for a fact that the Pro players that do play ranked only play it because of their streams. Reasons why it would be so good to have 1/?

— TenZ / Tyson (SEN) (@TenZOfficial) April 14, 2021

FACEIT Pro League is a third-party matchmaking service that has attracted almost all of Counter-Strike’s top names, allowing them to climb the proverbial ladder in a healthy competitive environment. Ranked Valorant is still in its embryonic stage, with new updates polishing the competitive experience from time to time. However, TenZ claims that pro players don’t want to touch Valorant’s ranked games due to these shortcomings. 

TenZ explains why ranked Valorant games are bad for streams

During his competitive hiatus, TenZ switched entirely to streaming Valorant, and he’s not satisfied with the way ranked games work. According to him, competitive games can be frustrating to play on-stream and are less enjoyable for the viewers. Since random teammates don’t communicate, the quiet streams can be a pain to watch. Entertainment value aside, teammates throwing games and taking unnecessary duels also ruin the competitive spirit of the game according to TenZ. 

He also touched on the common issue of stream sniping that streamers like Michael “shroud” Grzesiek have previously stressed. Valorant’s streamer mode often feels futile since players can track live broadcasts after noticing the invisible name. A private game would tackle this issue, allowing streamers to play their matches comfortably without going the extra mile to add lengthy delays. 

The Valorant pro player elaborated that a 10-man hub won’t even bolster the stream numbers, but viewers can learn tons of stuff by watching pro players in action. Team communications, stats, and callouts are just a few things that viewers can learn from such streams. The streamer went as far as to say that he wouldn’t bother playing ranked at all if not for his content creation. 

in an actual game instead of playing radiant ranked which imo doesn’t feel like a glorified pug, it’s legit a glorified DM where teams are just constantly rushing and taking every possible duel imaginable. I know for a fact if I didn’t stream I wouldn’t touch ranked at all 6/6

— TenZ / Tyson (SEN) (@TenZOfficial) April 14, 2021

Premium leagues still haven’t been discussed by Riot Games developers. Valorant has five game modes that allow players to experience the game in different settings, but ranked still has several restrictions that can often be frustrating. It remains to be seen if the developer would consider TenZ’s request or whether a third-party service like FACEIT would be possible in Valorant. While it seems unlikely, nothing should be ruled out yet as developers are still keenly observing the competitive mode in Valorant. 

Fariha Bhatti Fariha Bhatti
About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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