How It All Started
Back in 2023, my brother showed me a game called Valorant. It’s a 5v5 (five players versus five players) tactical shooter with various characters you can choose from, each with their own unique abilities. The game is very similar to CSGO, with both of the core objectives being to plant or defuse the bomb.
A big reason most players fell in love with the game was the unique scenarios you could create using the characters’ abilities, making most rounds very unpredictable depending on what you or your enemies decided to do. Another reason was the skins you could purchase for your weapons (much like CSGO), but instead of being purely cosmetic, the skins would play short animations depending on the theme of the skin you bought.
Jumping Into Ranked
After I had played a couple of games, my brother told me to try the competitive mode, wanting to see what rank I could get. After winning a decent amount of competitive games, I was ranked Gold 3, which is fairly high for someone new to the game. My peak rank is now Immortal 2.
Understanding Valorant’s Ranking System
Valorant’s ranking system is more granular than CSGO’s, with nine ranks: Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Ascendant, Immortal, and Radiant. To ascend through the tiers, you need to rank up three times at each level—for example, three rank-ups in Iron to reach Bronze, and so on.
I quickly adapted to the game’s playstyle and ranked up fast, eventually surpassing my brother to his great annoyance! To be fair I was putting in many more hours than him as his interests have swayed more to indoor climbing and going to the Gym.
Discovering the Esports Scene
I then discovered Valorant’s esports scene. In late 2020, Valorant launched its first global tournament called First Strike, giving players from all over the world an opportunity to compete for a prize pool of $100k across the North American, European, and Korean regional events. These were the regions with the highest total prize money offerings.
In North America, the team that took first place was 100 Thieves, and in Europe, the team that won was Team Heretics. The tournament was a success and gave players a chance to prove their skills in a brand-new esports scene.
When Things Got Really Competitive
After this tournament—and many more that followed—players began taking the competitive scene much more seriously. Content creators also started finding even more bizarre and creative ways to use character abilities in-game, discovering funny glitches, and showcasing interesting clips of new strategies being used in real competitive matches.
The Smurfing Problem
As the game grew, a major problem began to surface. Many players started complaining about “smurfs.” Smurfs are players who are high-ranked but choose to play on alternate accounts in lower ranks, which ruins progression for other players and ultimately causes some people to quit the game.
Valorant has tried to fix this issue since late 2022 by implementing new features and penalties for players who smurf. However, it remains a significant problem in today’s competitive Valorant scene.
Final Thoughts
Valorant has grown from a game my brother casually introduced me to into something I’ve invested countless hours into, both competitively and as a spectator. From ranking up faster than I ever expected to watching the esports scene evolve, the game continues to change in ways that keep it exciting. Despite its issues, Valorant remains one of the most dynamic and competitive shooters out there, and it’s easy to see why so many players stick with it.
