Valorant
Valorant
Valorant Mobile’s leaked feature leaves PC players envious
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant mobile hasn’t been released yet but it’s already stirring drama, making PC players envious of its exclusive visuals. Valorant Mobile has been under development for almost two years, and players eagerly await its arrival. Now, more details and snippets have started to slip through the cracks, and they’re so good that PC players are jealous. The data miners have discovered the MVP screen for Reyna from Valorant Mobile China, …
Valorant
Oxygen Esports sign former Sentinels player Dapr
Tokoni Uti
North American organization Oxygen Esports has signed former Sentinels player Michael “dapr” Gulino to the Valorant roster, the org announced today. Dapr has completed the roster at the time of publication and Rustun Lusk will be moved back to the assistant coach role as a result of the move. It is unclear if head coach Malkolm “bonkar” Rench will stay with the roster for Challengers next year since he has …
Valorant
Aspas linked with move to Leviatán
Tokoni Uti
One of the best Brazilian Valorant players Erick “aspas” Santos is linked with a move away from LOUD to Leviatán, according to a report by Blix.gg. The report says that aspas has reached a verbal agreement with Leviatán and will compete for the team next year in the Americas Valorant Champions Tour if the deal goes through. Other teams were interested in aspas, including Team Liquid, FURIA, and some Pacific …
Valorant
Valorant pro meL responds to reports of gender bias in team trials
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant Game Changer player Melanie “meL” Capone has finally responded to reports of being denied opportunities in T1 because of her gender. Opinions have been pouring in from all directions since esports journalist Rod Breslau shared on Sean Gares’ stream that storied GC player meL has been denied trial with top teams due to being a woman. According to him, at least one player didn’t want to play with a …
Valorant
Valorant rank distribution explains why you’re stuck in Silver
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant’s recent stats have revealed that both noobs and pros are rare, showing Silver as the most crowded rank. It’s no secret that most Valorant players are Silver, but which rank is the least crowded? According to recent stats, skilled and new players are rare in Valorant, taking up only 1% of the space on the chart combined. Tracker.gg has revealed an updated rank distribution in Valorant, and it doesn’t …
Valorant
Monyet joins Paper Rex, Benkai transferred to Global Esports
Tokoni Uti
Today, Pacific organizations Paper Rex and Global Esports announced the mutual transfer of Valorant players Cahya “Monyet” Nugraha and Benedict “Benkai” Tan. As revealed today, Monyet will complete the Paper Rex Valorant lineup for next year’s roster with the release of Wang Jing Jie. Meanwhile, Paper Rex has transferred former in-game leader Benkai to Global Esports as part of the organization’s rebuild efforts for next year’s roster. https://twitter.com/GlobalEsportsIn/status/1702676147413078066 Both teams …
Valorant
Cloud9 formally releases Leaf and Runi, Xeppaa and Jake remain
Tokoni Uti
North American organization Cloud9 has formally announced the release of several Valorant players, including Dylan “Runi” Cade and Nathan “leaf” Orf, while two players remain on the team at the time of publication. Cloud9 is set to rebuild around Erick “Xeppaa” Bach and Jake Anderson next year, with three players reportedly set to join the team, some of whom would be familiar to Cloud9 fans. As previously reported by Flynn …
Valorant
Valorant player hits Immortal without a traditional mouse
Fariha Bhatti
If you thought you were a ranked demon for hitting Radiant, you must watch this Valorant player who reached Immortal using a drawing tablet. Valorant ranked is cutthroat, especially past Diamond. The real competition begins in Ascendant ranks, where lobby rules differ slightly from lower ELO in Valorant. As you reach Immortal, the criteria for ranking up shifts entirely, making Valorant a whole other game and a way more difficult …
Zellsis re-joins Sentinels after leaving Cloud9
Tokoni Uti
Valorant
North American Valorant player Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro has re-joined his former team Sentinels following his release from Cloud9, it was announced today. At the time of publication, Zellsis has joined the team as the sixth player and will, therefore, not be on the starting lineup, WIN.gg understands. But this could change prior to the start of the season next year since there are several months before the 2024 Valorant Champions …
S0m parts ways with NRG
Tokoni Uti
Valorant
North American Valorant player and content creator Sam “s0m” Oh has parted ways with organization NRG, it was announced last night. S0m is leaving NRG after three years with the organization where he pursued competitive Valorant and competed at the highest level. He will return to content creation during this offseason but did not rule out another stint in competitive Valorant, he said in a video for NRG. https://twitter.com/NRGgg/status/1702107355176112428 “Since …
Fnatic parts ways with Valorant head coach Mini
Tokoni Uti
Valorant
European organization Fnatic has parted ways with Valorant head coach Jacob “Mini” Harris after two years with the team, it was announced today. Mini played an integral part in the team’s success. Most notably, with the scouting of talent in the European region, such as Emir “Alfajer” Ali Beder and Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev, both of whom went on to become the best players in the world for a period of …
Hilarious Valorant bug has players asking Riot for Fortnite-style skins
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Not all Valorant bugs are just frustrating. Some apparently turn your agents into golden characters with music blasting in the background. Valorant has had plenty of skin-related bugs in the past, but most of them resulted from poor clipping. The recent Champions skin bug is unlike any other, and while it’s royally annoying, it has still inspired an idea among the Valorant players. A Valorant player shared the bug on …
Run and gun accuracy in CS2 looks worse than Valorant
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
If you thought run and gun was bad in Valorant, wait until you see this video shared by a CS2 analyst. Popular CS personality Jacob “Pimp” Winneche took to X to share a snippet from his CS2 playtest. In a practice server, the analyst demonstrated just how accurate shooting while running is in CS2. FPS players know that Valorant had a severe run and gun issue which took Riot almost …
Valorant Champions Tour 2024 rules explained, season start date, transfers, and more
Tokoni Uti
Valorant
The rules for the Valorant Champions Tour for next year have been released to the public, with the circuit set to begin at the start of 2024. The VCT season is expected to begin next year following the conclusion of Valorant Champions last month, which saw North American team Evil Geniuses crowned as the best team in the world. There is expected to be a series of smaller off-season events …
Riot finally buffs Astra in Valorant patch 7.05
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Astra has received a long-due buff to her toolkit, which is crucial enough to convince controller players to give her another shot. Riot has finally buffed the overly-overlooked agent in Valorant, Astra. The spacefarer will now stay conscious and alert in her Astral form, making her less vulnerable to enemy attacks and movements. Valorant’s spatial controller, Astra’s use, has been strictly limited to those who don’t mind putting some extra …
KRÜ Esports player DaveeyS passes away age 23
Tokoni Uti
Valorant
Today it was announced that KRÜ Valorant player Santiago “DaveeyS” Galvis Ruiz has tragically passed away at 23 years old. The player was integral to KRÜ’s Valorant roster this season and had competed under the organization since October 2022. DaveeyS passed on Sunday, just one day after his 23rd birthday. The cause of death was decompensation, according to the organization, which is the failure of a major organ. “There is …
The best Valorant agents to play on Sunset
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Sunset is the latest map in Valorant, with two simple sites split by an elaborate mid area. Here are the best Valorant agents who excel at tackling Sunset’s layout. Sunset is starkly different from the recent maps Riot has added to the Valorant playlist. It’s smaller, cozier, and has dozens of choke points. Layout-wise, Sunset has more in common with older Valorant maps. If you’re intimidated by Sunset’s complex mid, …
Riot Games says it’s working to secure a “positive outcome” for Guard players
Tokoni Uti
Valorant
The global head of Valorant Esports at Riot Games has said it is working to figure out a solution for The Guard players following the row with the organization. Yesterday, Leo Faria said that Riot Games is working to find a “positive outcome” for the players at The Guard. A few days prior, it was announced that the organization had failed to sign the team participation agreement to formalize the …
Does Elon Musk play Valorant?
Fariha Bhatti
Valorant
Elon Musk’s Valorant Champions attendance may not have been as ceremonious, but some Valorant players are still curious if he actually plays the game. The Valorant Champions 2023 final was a big event, both in terms of viewership and celebrity attendance. Ben Affleck and Elon Musk surprised the fans at the event with their kids, leaving the attendees star-struck. While Ben Affleck entertained multiple interviews and even a backstage tour, …
Riot criticized over handling of The Guard dismissal from VCT Americas league
Tokoni Uti
Valorant
The developer and tournament organizer of the Valorant Champions Tour, Riot Games, has been criticized by the community after refusing to admit The Guard as the Challengers team into the Americas partnered league for 2024. Riot Games denied The Guard, which earned qualification to the league through the Ascension tournament earlier this year because the organization failed to “meet the deadline to agree to the Team Participation Agreement for VCT …
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.
