Valorant
Valorant
Valorant’s new Magepunk 3.0 bundle is mouth-watering
Fariha Bhatti
Steampunk conasouirs can now dip their primary Valorant rifles into Magepunk 3.0 colors, Riot has announced. Valorant has some of the best animated skins in the FPS genre, but some are just built “diff” — think Ion, Prime, Glitchpop, and more. These are the bundles that have become staples in player inventories. Magepunk is also a legacy collection that has remained popular since its original release in 2021. After rolling …
Valorant
Valorant patch 6.10 brings Brimstone changes, adds Spray Wheel
Olivia Richman
The latest Valorant update has addressed a lot of bug issues and improved some of the game’s features. But patch 6.10 also brought some balance changes to Brimstone, a supportive Controller agent that’s meant to manipulate the map to his team’s advantage. Here are some of the most notable changes in Valorant patch 6.10. Brimstone was the only agent to get an update in 6.10, although Omen was mentioned as …
Valorant
Riot finally settles the Phantom vs Vandal debate in Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
You no longer have to argue with your friends over the best rifle in Valorant. Riot Games has officially weighed in on the Vandal vs Phantom discussion with solid facts. The Vandal vs Phantom debate is as old as Valorant itself. Since 2020, players have been struggling to come to a conclusion about which weapon is the best. Vandal lovers think their weapon is superior, but Phantom users also have …
Valorant
Valorant ranks: How do they work in 2023?
Fariha Bhatti
Ranking up in Valorant is no easy feat. There are nine ranks, each with a competitive streak that is not for the faint of the heart. Still, want to play ranked? Then you better know how Valorant ranks work in 2023. Valorant has taken the gaming world by storm with its unique blend of strategy, teamwork, and fast-paced action. One aspect of the game that piques players’ interest is the …
Valorant
Valorant rank distribution shows most players are Silvers
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant Radiants are still rare, with Silver being the most populated tier. Here’s the updated rank distribution for 2023. Valorant players were overcrowding the Silver ranks, prompting the developer to squeeze in a green Ascendant badge between Diamond and Immortal. It did help with oversaturation but failed to destroy the ELO hell that still abodes most players. According to the updated Valorant rank distribution, Silver is still the most populated …
Valorant
Valorant pro SicK arrested for criminal trespassing, again
Fariha Bhatti
Sentinels’ benched Valorant pro Hunter “SicK” Mims is once under the spotlight for alleged criminal trespassing. According to sources close to SicK, the Valorant pro is not in his best mental state. SicK landed into the public eye after his online controversy related to his ex-girlfriend, who accused him of infidelity. As the situation exacerbated, so did SicK’s bizarre tweets. Soon after, the streamer and pro player got into bigger …
Valorant
Leak reveals potential changes to Valorant map Icebox
Fariha Bhatti
Icebox is going under the knife to prepare for its comeback, which is still months away. On April 6, 2023, Riot axed Icebox from Valorant to make space for a renewed Bind. The new map rotation sees each map going to the workshop for necessary tweaks. After Bind, Icebox is now getting a facelift to fit in the game meta. Riot still hasn’t shared the changes, as the next rotation …
Valorant
“He’s not himself right now”: ShahZaM blocks SicK on Twitter
Olivia Richman
The Valorant community is growing concerned for Sentinels’ former player Hunter “SicK” Mims as his social media posts become more perplexing. G2 pro Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan tweeted late last night that he blocked SicK on Twitter so he could warn others in the esports industry that he’s “not himself right now.” ShahZaM added that people should ignore his tweets and “erratic behavior” since this isn’t truly who SicK is. “Thanks …
Valorant team forfeits match due to one player’s Honkai: Star Rail addiction
Olivia Richman
Valorant
A Valorant team forfeited a Valorant Challengers League match due to one of the players deciding to grind Honkai: Star Rail. Honkai: Star Rail has become one of the most popular Gacha games, with over 20 million downloads in just one single day. The game has become many people’s obsessions, including some pro Valorant players, apparently. On May 2, Ghost CommandoS forfeited a Valorant Challengers League Taiwan/Hong Kong match against …
This Premier feature could end smurfing problem in Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant Premier’s air-tight smurf protection has reminded players of the terrible ranked situation, and now they want similar rules in the main game. Competition just got serious in Valorant with Premier, a queue that paves the way to VCT. It’s currently in beta, but players are already impressed by how Riot is tackling the new mode. No hacker or smurf can set foot into the queues. Of course, there are …
What is your Country Code in Valorant Premier Registration?
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant Premier has a strict requirement policy and verification process. So, you may find yourself stuck at finding your country code to register for Valorant Premier. On April 25, Riot Games took the competition to a whole new level with Valorant Premier. An in-game mode that connects with Valorant esports, allowing everyone an opportunity to go pro. To ensure competitive integrity and fair competition, Riot has put serious rules in …
What determines your division in Valorant Premier?
William Davis
Valorant
Valorant is giving its players the opportunity to participate in a real competition with Valorant Premier. Because not every player is on the same level, Valorant Premier has a division system. Valorant Premier is similar to Clash in League of Legends, except it’s much bigger. For a limited time, players get the opportunity to come together as a team and compete in a flash tournament. This new mode allows players …
VCT Summer 2023 schedule explained
William Davis
Valorant
The competitive year for Valorant is just getting started. The VCT Summer 2023 schedule is packed from May all the way through August. 2023 is a special year for competitive Valorant with the beginning of the International Leagues. During the VCT Summer 2023, fans will enjoy the first International League playoffs, the Masters Tokyo, and the first Championship in China, among other events. Before any global event, the International Leagues …
Players urge Riot to ban agent insta-locking app
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Imagine being able to insta-lock Jett from your loo break. As wild as it may sound, it’s now possible with the Recon Bolt app, and players are not happy. Sometimes, the Valorant queue can be so long that you must wait for long minutes to find a game. Players often get water, food or take a toilet break in the meantime. But these breaks come at the cost of risking …
Exclusive Valorant Prime Gaming player card released
Nicholas James
Valorant
A new set of Valorant Prime Gaming rewards has dropped, allowing fans to get their hands on the gorgeous new Caught One player card. Amazon Prime Gaming is an ongoing rewards system for people who are subscribed to the Amazon Prime service. Tons of games offer free rewards, often refreshing regularly, that players can claim. In order to access Prime Gaming rewards, you’ll need an Amazon Prime subscription. The latest …
Riot immortalizes deceased Valorant pro with a title
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot Games has paid tribute to professional Valorant player Gizem “Luie” Harmankaya, who died in the 2023 Turkey earthquake. The Valorant episode 6 act 3 battle pass went live on April 25, 2023 with heaps of content and updates, but one card stands out the most. Riot has immortalized a deceased Valorant pro by dedicating a player title to her name. The “Gizem” title is making rounds among the players, …
Valorant patch 6.08 brings slight nerfs to Killjoy
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Valorant patch 6.08 marks the return of Bind, but Riot has also sandwiched a crucial Killjoy nerf between the patch notes. Bind is finally back, taking Icebox’s spot in the competitive queue. This big update was the center of attention in the new patch, so some players missed the crucial Killjoy nerf. The jolly agent is one of the best sentinels in Valorant, but Riot is on a mission to …
Valorant Run It Back bundle returns with Reaver Phantom
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Riot is on a roll! The developer just pulled back the veil on a new Ultra collection, and now leakers claim that a new Run It Back is also in the pipeline. Valorant has a limited rotating store featuring only four slots. This means that if a skin goes out of the market, the chances of a return are slim. However, Riot Games likes to bring back sought-after items through …
Radiant Entertainment System is Valorant’s most expensive bundle
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Radiant Entertainment System may be a bit over the top for some, but it’s definitely up there with the Spectrum bundle as one of the best Valorant skin collections. Riot Games has unveiled Valorant’s third Ultra bundle, and it’s worth all the wait. The retro arcade-style bundle has music, pizzazz, and animations, but it’s not cheap. It’s Valorant’s most expensive bundle to date. Riot has lifted the curtain on Radiant …
Valorant agent 23 teaser hints at the missing agent 08
William Davis
Valorant
Valorant agent 23 is still months away, but Riot Games has chosen to whip fans up with a surprise teaser image. Riot’s tactical shooter is maintaining its pace of releasing a new agent every four months. Gekko’s recent release completely rocked the meta, and the developer still has plenty of time to create a suitable follow-up. Even though Valorant agent 22 isn’t expected to come out until July 2023 at …
Riot Games has long looked to expand its footprint beyond the success of popular MOBA League of Legends, and one of its biggest successes to date in this regard is the tactical shooter, Valorant. Blending traditional first-person shooter elements with unique and flashy hero abilities, Valorant seeks to combine the best attributes of tactical shooters and hero shooters into one cohesive experience.
Based on player feedback, the game has largely succeeded in accomplishing those aims. It’s not an easy balance, and it’s one that is arguably still tenuous, but Riot Games seems to be doing as good a job of it as most fans have hoped for.
What type of game is Valorant?
Valorant is a first-person shooter that represents a unique blend of the tactical shooter and hero shooter subgenres. There are some games that represent similar gameplay elements, but not many that offer the exact experience that Valorant puts forward to players.
The tactical shooter genre is often considered to have been defined by the release of the original Counter-Strike, a multiplayer mod for famed single-player PC title Half-Life that later became a standalone game of its own. While most multiplayer FPS games to that point emphasized prolonged battles between opposing players zipping around the game at high speeds, Counter-Strike slowed things down significantly and made players much more susceptible to each other’s firepower, requiring players to take a more tactical approach to play.
That slower and more tactical approach, combined with the lightning-quick nature of action when it does occur, proved reliably popular. That popularity can still be seen today with the ongoing success enjoyed by the Counter-Strike franchise, and it’s this gameplay type that represents the core of Valorant. It’s no accident that former Counter-Strike developers were drafted by Riot Games to help create Valorant during the game’s formative stages.
What differentiates Valorant from CS and other tactical shooters it that each of the game’s characters, called agents, wield a number of unique abilities. Some are typical for tactical shooters, like flashbangs and smokes, while others are wildly different, such as an ability that transports two players to an isolated dueling arena for its duration.
These agent abilities are more reminiscent of hero shooters, a subgenre that arguably got its start with the Team Fortress games but has best been popularized by Blizzard title Overwatch. The abilities, combind with the tactical considerations that are at the core of Valorant, separate it from most any other FPS experience available for play.
How does Valorant esports work?
Like many other popular competitive shooters, Valorant does have a thriving esports scene. That scene is differentiated by the way it’s run and controlled by developer and publisher Riot Games. Riot uses a model based on the success of its League of Legends esports scene, which sees the globe’s competitive players and team’s separated by region. These regions play out their own competitions in their sections of the world before coming together at regular intervals for international tournaments featuring the best teams from each individual region.
While League of Legends once boasted a variety of regions and regional types, Riot sought to simplify that model when setting up esports for Valorant. The game has only a handful of major regions, and these regions are held as largely equitable, each sending their best teams to international events leading up to the year-end VALORANT Champions event.
