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Jon "Riot EvrMoar" Walker recently revealed three new changes to Valorant's competitive system that were introduced along with patch 2.02.
The official post on the PlayValorant website states that patch 2.02 will be reducing the amount of time it takes to find a match in higher MMR brackets. This will allow the developers to tackle the situation regarding smurfs up to a certain extent.
Additionally, Valorant's competitive system will witness three additional changes. These three changes are expected to greatly enhance the quality of life in ranked matches. The patch notes for update 2.02 have already been revealed and these are the three new changes coming to Valorant's competitive structure:
- Increase in MMR to Rank Convergence
- Reduced number of five-stack games before being forced into solo/duo lobbies
- Additional performance bonus from Iron to Diamond ranks.
The following is a detailed explanation of all the three upcoming competitive changes as well as how they might impact Valorant.
Patch 2.02 competitive changes in Valorant
Increase in MMR to Rank Convergence
According to the official release from Riot Games, convergence is the multiplying factor which determines the amount of Rank Rating that a player should be awarded if their MMR is not reflected by their rank. However, the developers believe that the implemented system wasn't working accurately. Thus, this change has been made to fix the issue.
Additionally, the developers also confirmed that the amount of Rank Rating players lose after a defeat will also be lowered in patch 2.02. The developers state:
"you should feel less “hardstuck” if you’re getting matched into higher skilled games then your actual rank"
This change will not only improve the quality of life in ranked matches, but also provide better incentive for players to excel in their individual performance.
Reduced number of five-stack games
This is another beneficial change when it comes to the overall gameplay aspect in Valorant. This change forces players to queue in solo or duo lobbies after they have played a certain number of five-stack games at a stretch.
This further ensures that players getting a higher rank than their skill because of five-stack parties, will need to prove their skills in solo or duo lobbies too. The developers also confirmed that the secondary goal for this change is to "create a buffer to the leaderboards," which will further ensure that players who earn Immortal are truly worthy of the rank.
Additional performance bonus from Iron to Diamond ranks
The main objective behind this change, according to the developers at Riot Games, is to create extra incentive for players to perform well. This change basically implies that whenever players perform better than their averages, they will be rewarded with extra Rank Rating.
Apart from creating an extra incentive, this change is also expected to tackle the smurf issues currently present in the game.
Until patch 2.02 comes out for Valorant, it is impossible to determine how these patches will affect the game. However, judging by the direction that the developers are aiming to take the game forward in, it seems like Riot Games are dedicatedly working to improve the overall gameplay experience in Valorant.
