Valorant
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This Raze super boost is breaking Valorant’s Ascent map
Olivia Richman
Wait, that’s illegal! Valorant players are concerned with a Raze “super boost” and they are calling on Riot Games to fix it. Boosting is nothing new in tactical shooters, but this particular trick is game-breaking. A Reddit user called Nikkyy discovered the boost on Ascent. In a now-closed thread, the player showed how to access the rooftops around the map with Raze. It might not be the easiest trick, but …
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These three players might replace TenZ at Cloud9 Blue
Nicholas James
With Cloud9’s superstar Tyson “TenZ” Ngo stepping down from the roster, there is a massive hole to fill for the team coming into the Valorant Champions Tour. Replacing TenZ is no small matter, as the player has carried the team to multiple top finishes and helped it qualify for many of the early tournaments in Valorant’s competitive circuit. This change is also on top of Cloud9’d recent acquirement of Nathan …
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Yoru players can break into defenders’ spawn with this lineup
Fariha Bhatti
With the launch of Valorant Episode 2 comes a brand new duelist in the form of Yoru, who can sneakily teleport inside Ascent Defender’s spawn from far away. Valorant’s shadow agent Omen has totally been upstaged by Yoru’s much similar (but better) toolkit. Earlier, Omen alone carried the power to slither around the map, making incredible plays. Yoru enters with the Gatecrash ability that is much deadlier. All of Yoru’s …
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Valorant pro subroza shows how best to use Yoru’s flash
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant Episode 2 adds Yoru as the 14th agent on the decorated duelist roster. Riot’s shooter now has plenty of flashers, but Yoru’s Blindside can be especially tricky to combat for his enemies when it’s used correctly. While the game was not necessarily in need of another flasher, Yoru’s pop flash may have an edge to it. Winning a duel against Yoru can be tough when he can vanish out …
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Valorant bug lets Cypher quickly destroy Sage walls with camera
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant patch 2.00 comes with tons of trivial glitches, but Cypher’s ability to ignore Sage’s Barrier Orb could be game-breaking. Valorant Episode 2 comes with game-breaking bugs that not only destroy Sage’s wall but facilitate Cypher to make discreet moves. New glitches in Valorant let Cypher’s Spycam slip through Sage’s Barrier Orb without making a noise. The camera can also break the wall immediately upon interaction. The exploits existed before …
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TenZ steps down from Valorant esports to focus on streaming
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant pro Tyson “TenZ” Ngo will no longer be a part of Cloud9 Blue’s active roster. The star player has announced he is taking an indefinite leave from the game’s esports scene. The 19-year-old spent seven months on Cloud9 Blue’s roster after being transferred from Cloud9’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive division. TenZ is set to remain under the Cloud9 umbrella, but as a streamer. The original member of #C9BLUE @TenZ_CS has …
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Riot Games and Bungie sue cheat maker for costing them millions
Fariha Bhatti
Riot Games has teamed up with Bungie to put an end to a cheating business of a software company found to be producing hacks for Valorant and Destiny 2. A report by Polygon alleged that a website called Cameron and GatorCheats is complicit in generating “a portfolio of malicious cheats and hacks.” Lawyers for Riot and Bungie have joined forces to take down the website sellings hacks for Valorant and …
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Valorant Episode 2 adds Yoru, rank updates, and big balance patch
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant fans have been anxiously awaiting Episode 2 Act I and Riot Games has finally shipped it. The 2.00 patch adds new agent Yoru to Valorant, along with some major changes to Omen and Brimstone. There’s a very long list of changes and additions, but it’s worth taking a look at some of the highlights. Here are some of the important stories that came out before the balance patch launched. Valorant …
Valorant dev reveals how MMR impact matchmaking
Fariha Bhatti
News
Matchmaking in Valorant can be a testing experience for players due to smurfs and griefing. Things will hopefully get a bit better. Riot Games’ patch 1.13 introduced tweaks to the matchmaking system in response to complaints of a sudden spike in smurfs. However, a Redditor named hardstuckbabe said that the issue cuts both ways, and the new system that lets players climb the rankings more rapidly has flooded high-MMR brackets …
Valorant releases 2021 Champion’s Tour starting dates
Nina Forneloza
News
Valorant has released the start dates for their much-anticipated Champion’s Tour. The Champion’s Tour is Valorant’s biggest esports tournament. It will take place over several smaller, international tournaments. Starting with Challengers, which is Valorant’s regional competition, teams and players will fight their way thorugh the ranks to make it to the next tier, which is Valorant Masters. In Masters, the top teams from each region will fight to take their …
All of Yoru’s abilities and agent interactions explained
Olivia Richman
News
Yoru is Valorant’s 14th agent, bringing some much-needed stealth and mobility options to the tactical shooter. After developers surprised fans with a cinematic short featuring Yoru’s abilities, Valorant players were left wondering exactly how Yoru’s abilities would work in-game. Luckily, a few streamers have had the chance to test out Yoru early. With Episode 2 dropping, take a look at how to properly use Yoru’s abilities in this breakdown of …
Valorant revamping rank system, adding leaderboards in Episode 2
Nina Forneloza
News
Valorant’s ranked system is getting a complete revamp, and leaderboards are coming in Episode 2 which starts January 12. Along with a new Agent, some balance changes, and weapon updates, Valorant developers have completely changed how the Rank Rating system will work in Episode 2. There will also be a highly requested leaderboard added to the game. Riot has dubbed the new ranking system “Rank Rating” or “RR”. Developers have …
Leaks say major Brimstone buffs coming in Valorant Episode 2
Fariha Bhatti
News
Riot Games’ multiple additions to Valorant’s agent roster has sidelined some older agents like Brimstone. However, a new leak suggests that the developer will boost the aged controller’s abilities in the upcoming patch 2.00. Episode 2’s early release has revealed that Brimstone may finally get some love from the developer. The old sarge’s kit will get some polishing, which may bring him back into the game meta. Episode 2 buffs …
Omen to receive harsh nerfs in upcoming Valorant patch 2.00
Fariha Bhatti
News
Riot Games has decided to temper down Omen in an effort to balance out Valorant. A leak suggests that Riot’s shadow hunter will see heavy nerfs in patch 2.00. Since the game’s release, the Valorant developers have nerfed plenty of agents in response to players’ complaints. Omen’s stats and pick rate show that the shadow agent has quietly excelled with his cryptic abilities. An early look at patch 2.00 suggests that …
Valorant shows 14th Agent Yoru in action for the first time
Olivia Richman
News
As Episode 2 of Valorant approaches, Riot dropped a cinematic trailer named Retake that heavily features Agent 14, who was previously leaked to have the name Yoru. It starts with Phoenix tensely talking with an off-camera voice about defusing a Spike and taking back a site on Icebox. Jett, Cypher, and Viper can be seen patrolling the area. “Don’t rush me,” the mysterious voice says. “We don’t have time!” Phoenix …
Try this Jett spawn peek trick on Ascent to spot your enemies
Olivia Richman
News
Valorant is a tactical shooter where knowing the enemy’s location is paramount to winning a round. It’s why Cypher’s intel gathering abilities are so powerful and why the newest agent, Shatter, has an ability that misdirects opponents with fake footsteps. But even duelist agents who are often used for pub stomping can get in on the intel action with a few tricks. Since the game’s closed beta in the summer …
This Sage wall on Bind is the perfect spot to clutch out a win
Nina Forneloza
News
Valorant players often find ways to do pretty cool things with a hero’s ability, and this trick with Sage on Bind is no different. A Valorant player recently discovered a Sage wall on Bind that can be used to help hold Site A. The wall is placed on a box near the entrance to Showers. Jumping on top of the wall is fairly tricky, but there are more advantages than …
Trick your enemies with this Omen fake defuse tactic
Fariha Bhatti
News
A common trick to win a match of Valorant is faking a Spike defuse. With this Omen trick, players can take a simple fake defuse to another level. Fake defusing is pretty simple: Tap the Spike once and pre-aim for enemies who peek to protect the Spike. This simple trick is a game-changer. However, Omen’s ability to teleport makes this trick tenfold deadlier for the enemy. For example, defusing a …
Brimstone buffs are set for upcoming Valorant update
Olivia Richman
News
Brimstone’s pick rate might see a spike in Episode 2. For the entirety of 2020, Brimstone was one of the least-picked agents in Valorant. According to statistics from The Spike, Brimstone had a 0% pick rate in the First Strike North America regional final alongside Sage and Viper. On the European side, Brimstone was played on just four maps. Brimstone is also an unpopular choice for casual players climbing the …
Team Liquid trialing former CSGO pro JUGi for Valorant roster
Nina Forneloza
News
Team Liquid is reportedly trialing former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Jakob “JUGi” Hansen for its Valorant roster. Nothing is official yet, but Team Liquid fans are hopeful that JUGi will don a Marvel Comics-themed jersey sometime soon. During the trials, JUGi is reported to have taken the place of Adam “ec1s” Eccles, but it is unknown whether JUGi will replace him on the active roster or someone else’s. JUGi most …
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.
