Updated on March 2, 1:01 p.m. (GMT+8): Edited article links.
Discipline is a big part of what wins rounds in Valorant ranked. Left in a 2v1 situation? Don’t over-peek and give away the man advantage. If you’re playing post-plant, don’t get greedy and give your opponents the opening they were looking for.
But if you listen to this Valorant developer, there may actually be a case to be made for taking as many duels as you can.
Avoiding higher-ranked opponents may help you live longer in-game, but it doesn’t help you climb, said Senior Competitive Designer Jonathan “EvrMoar” Walker on Twitter.
However, if you succeed in taking them down, you’ll be reaping bountiful MMR gains before long.
Now you have an excuse to ego peek everyone you see in Valorant ranked
“If you can take out a higher ranked player you will gain more MMR from them than if you were to defeat the lowest skilled player on the enemy team,” he explained.
“Defeating a silver player only shows you’re silver. But defeating a Diamond helps show that you are Diamond,” he added. “AKA go ego peek those high ranks. This will also increase your performance bonus — you will get it more often and get a bigger RR bonus from it.”
Valorant uses a mix of both Encounter and Win/Loss MMR. In a nutshell, Encounter MMR is affected by how you do against players on the enemy team, taking into account their rank relative to yours, while Win/Loss simply looks at whether or not you’re winning games.
At lower ranks, Encounter MMR plays a bigger role in determining your overall MMR and rank. But at Immortal and higher, Win/Loss MMR takes precedence, and players also do not receive any performance bonus in terms of RR.
While some players like former NRG player Bradley “ANDROID” Fodor were concerned that this meant that the system favored duelists, who would have more opportunities to find kills, EvrMoar said that support players aren’t left out because ability usage and assists are factored in as well.
“Abilities and assists also count, you get a percentage of the MMR of any interaction you were a part of,” he said. “Playing support is super viable.”
Ultimately, you shouldn’t be afraid to challenge any of your opponents, said EvrMoar. Confidence is a key part of winning games, and if you manage to take down someone higher up the ladder (and win the match), there’s plenty of MMR for the taking.
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