Valorant
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BearClaw CEO speaks out on payment issues with Valorant team
Olivia Richman
BearClaw Gaming was accused of not paying the organization’s management and Valorant players back in February. Now, the organization’s CEO is speaking out on exactly what happened and why. BearClaw had signed a Korean pro Valorant roster. Without any support being given or payments being made, all of the players and staff had their contracts terminated a short time later. The Valorant squad decided to continue competing together under a …
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Valorant patch 2.05 adds harsh AFK penalties, fixes Cypher bug
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant patch 2.05 is here and, as promised in previous updates, it brings stiff penalties for AFK players. The new patch rolls in with AFK penalties, competitive changes, agent key binds, and bug fixes. Players have been calling on the developer to prevent chat-banned players from entering ranked games. The devs have heard those pleas and taken action in Valorant patch 2.05. One of the smaller quality of life updates …
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Fan drafts a concept for a new Valorant Guru who gathers information
Fariha Bhatti
It’s only been a few weeks since the new agent Astra landed in Riot’s shooter, but players still have tons of new ideas for Valorant agents. A fan has drafted a concept for a new Valorant agent. User RivalRudra has laid out the barebones for Guru, an agent that easily fits in Valorant’s fierce and whimsical frame. Riot Games has always been keen on addressing community response and ideas for …
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Here’s why you should never recall Killjoy’s Turret and bot at once
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant’s technoid Killjoy may be experiencing some mechanical glitches in her gear, players have discovered. Riot Games has spawned numerous new agents to Valorant’s roster, but a few have made the cut in the top picked agent list. Upbeat and lively, Killjoy breezed her way in Valorant, becoming one of the most played agents in ranked and professional games. With her cutting edge kit and an ultimate that locks opponents …
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CSGO pro Elige says Valorant gameplay is heading in wrong direction
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant esports has made great strides in North America in just a short period of time. But Counter-Strike: Global Offensive professional player Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski believes that growth is not necessarily headed in the right direction. Unlike Valve’s shooter, that has matured into an esports giant over the course of nine years, Valorant is still relatively new to the esports arena. The FPS is in its embryonic stages, picking up …
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Everything you need to know about FFA Deathmatch mode in Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
Riot Games’ tactical shooter is cut-throat and tough to master. Fortunately, Valorant has a free-for-all deathmatch mode which provides ideal settings for players to sharpen their mechanical skills. Released with Episode 1 Act 2, Valorant FFA Deathmatch mode helps serious players hone up their in-game skills. In FPS games, the aim is of utmost importance. Even if you’re laden with tons of utility, powers, and abilities, it all comes down …
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Here’s how to get Sage’s one-way wall on Bind right every time
Fariha Bhatti
The famous Sage one-way wall on Bind can be a game-changer if enemies continue to attack bomb point B in spite of it. And there’s an easy way to get your wall correctly every single time. Sage may not deal much damage with her abilities, but her seemingly innocuous kit can be deadly when used correctly. The agent is equipped with healing powers and a barrier orb that shields teammates …
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Raze among the highest picked agents in VCT Challengers 3, Jett places fourth
Fariha Bhatti
Eight teams have qualified for Valorant Champions Tour Europe Masters One, and these teams heavily utilized Omen, Sova, and Raze to secure a spot in Valorant’s biggest event to date. In high elo games, Reyna or Jett are statistically the best agents that players love to play. Duelists are often preferred for their belligerent powers and abilities that can annihilate enemies in seconds. However, in team games, agent lineups vary …
TenZ returns to competitive Valorant as a stand-in for Sentinels
Fariha Bhatti
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Cloud9’s streamer Tyson “TenZ” Ngo will be playing for Sentinels in the upcoming Valorant Champions Tour: North America Masters. Sentinels Valorant team was in dire straits after dropping its best player from the active roster ahead of VCT Masters One. Jay “Sinatraa” Won was accused of sexual and mental abuse by ex-girlfriend Cleo, who publicized voice recordings and screenshots from said events. Her statement prompted a community-wide backlash and an …
Shroud explains why new agent Astra may underperform in solo queues
Fariha Bhatti
News
Astra has officially joined the Valorant agent roster but she’s rarely spotted in ranked games. Michael “shroud” Grzesiek may know why Astra isn’t living up to the hype. Valorant’s Episode 2 Act 2 delivered a new controller Astra as the 15th addition to the agent roster. Her bombshell release had fans on their toes, eagerly waiting to try out the agent on the battlefield. With her purple smokes and a bird’s …
sinatraa suspended by Sentinels after sexual abuse allegations
Fariha Bhatti
News
Sentinels has responded to sexual abuse allegations made against Jay “Sinatraa” Won by ex-girlfriend Cleo. The former Overwatch League star won’t be playing in the VALORANT Champions Tour: North America Masters event with his team. Sinatraa was accused of sexual and mental abuse by an ex-girlfriend during a nine-month relationship, and the allegations were described in detail in a post made by the woman. sinatraa has not made any public …
Alliance adds 5th player to Valorant team, and it’s not kennyS
William Davis
News
Alexandre “xms” Forté has been announced as the fifth and final member of Alliance’s Valorant roster. The former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player joins from Team Finest, where he only spent one month. The announcement comes days before Alliance is set to compete in the first stage of the Valorant Champions Tour. The Omen player will make his official debut on Friday. This closes the door on speculation that Kenny “kennyS” …
sinatraa accused of mental, sexual abuse by ex-girlfriend Cleo
Olivia Richman
News
Sentinals’ star Valorant player Jay “sinatraa” Won has been accused of abuse by his ex-girlfriend. After sinatraa spent some time telling people that he had dumped his ex Cleo, she decided to tell the community her version of events. She revealed that she was the one who broke up with sinatraa after he had mocked her for not wanting to be ignored. It seemed that this was the final straw …
Here’s why Valorant doesn’t have an infinite deathmatch mode
Fariha Bhatti
News
Valorant developers have finally acknowledged pleas for a 24/7 deathmatch server, and have revealed a reason behind the delay of its implementation. Riot Games’ tactical shooter currently doesn’t have a typical practice mode that you can spend seamless hours in without any end in sight. Valorant has various game modes, but they’re all based around the concept of losing or winning. That competition may make a game exciting, but many …
Valorant’s BlastX skin bundle has bug that basically wallhacks
Fariha Bhatti
News
A new Valorant bug has been making the rounds lately, but this time it isn’t about a problematic agent or map. Valorant’s unique and vivid skin line BlastX is at the center of the new bug that provides opposing players with a free wallhack . The bright coloured nerf-gun inspired weapons can expose players through walls, revealing the location in ranked games. Riot Games has added tons of in-game cosmetics …
Asuna dominates in Valorant Champions Tour, trends on Twitter
Nina Forneloza
News
100 Thieves’ Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk has been on fire lately. Even after a loss to FaZe Clan in the VCT Challengers 3 grand final, was still trending worldwide after his performance against Luminosity Gaming. The victory gave the team the 2-0 victory 100 Thieves needed to continue on to compete in the grand final against FaZe Clan. There were multiple points in the game where fans were clutching their chests with …
Here’s how to protect the spike on Bind with Killjoy
Fariha Bhatti
News
Valorant’s efficient German Killjoy has a unique kit that can help you protect the spike on Bind. Nanoswarm is a lethal weapon. The sentinel’s molotov is valuable for jamming pushes and clearing out choke points, which is why they’re usually laid down at the beginning of the round. On the attacker side, Killjoy can utilize the molotovs by planting them on the spike to be deployed later on sound cue. …
Try these quick tips to fight lag and improve ping in Valorant
M Alzamora
News
Valorant is a great game, but it’s not immune to the one thing that affects all multiplayer online games. Lag is a player’s worst enemy, slowing down the connections between computers and causing hitches, dropped frames, and other issues that can ruin a player’s experience. No one likes to have a bad ping. But there are some ways to control lag and its effects it can have on a player’s …
100 Thieves’ Asuna gets prettiest ACE seen in Valorant so far
Fariha Bhatti
News
In a match against NRG Esports, 100 Thieves’ Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk gave a lesson on how a duelist should be played. In the VCT Challengers 3 North American division, NRG locked horns with 100 Thieves, one of the top teams in the region. The two teams put on a great show for fans, taking the best of three to a contentious decider. However, the entire series’s highlight was Asuna’s ruthless …
Valorant players dismiss instructions to avoid teabagging during VCT
Fariha Bhatti
News
During a Valorant Champions Tour match, European Valorant players were explicitly advised not to teabag or shoot the enemy’s corpse. The instructions were brushed aside as clips of teabagging surfaced after the G2 esports versus Team Dfuse game. In professional matches, there are a strict set of rules that must be followed during the game. For example, cheating, hacking is prohibited to ensure fair play. But some other rules exist …
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.
