What is infamous 9-3 curse in Valorant?

Everything about the fearsome 9-3 curse in Valorant (Image via Riot Games)

While curses, in general, are a myth to many, the 9-3 curse in Valorant is undoubtedly real. Superstitions like these are common in all kinds of games and include small beliefs like one weapon being luckier than another.

This article will not deal with those aspects but focus on what the 9-3 curse is in Riot Games' shooter. From its origin to why people believe it, all of it will be covered.

Discussing 9-3 curse in Valorant

Like every other superstitious belief, the 9-3 curse is just a concept the Valorant fanbase has built up. Although this seems funny, the consequences have remained quite crucial.

Every team is given 12 rounds on each side to gain as many points as possible when playing the game. During this phase, if a side leads with a score of 9-3, the likelihood of them losing increases substantially.

This phenomenon has been observed in the grand stages of the Valorant Champions Tour, making it a real thing in the community. Hence, many leading teams end up giving one round to their opponents to make the score 8-4 and "break the curse."

This idea seems silly, but many professional players also believe in this curse, including Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan, Tyson "Tenz" Ngo, and Yassine "Subroza" Taoufik, making it a serious thing in the community.

It also pushes many content creators to create videos on how to break the curse, with the rest showing how real the threat is.

Is 9-3 curse genuine in Valorant?

The answer is a bit tough, as this has been proven in many big stages like the VCT Masters. One of such instances was seen during the group stage match between Gambit and 100 Thieves, where the latter took a flawless 9-3 lead on Split.

However, Gambit came back hard in the second half. From 9-3 down, they took the to 10-12 in the second half. They still lost the match 10-13.

This happened with the same teams again on Icebox, where Gambit led 9-3 and managed to take the score to 11-3. While things looked dire for 100T, they pushed against all odds and won 10 straight rounds to claim the map.

Two cases at the same stage made fans and gamers believe that the 9-3 curse is real as it always hits the leading team.

From a logical standpoint, the curse only happens if sides end up becoming overconfident about taking a win, but the opponent comes back harder. Also, whenever the score reaches 9-3, many users are subconsciously struck with a fear of losing and pulling their morale down.

Whether that is the case or not is a big question for many, but logically, this is the only answer anyone can come up with.

Nonetheless, this superstition will remain in the player base for a long time and will make its return in many matches in the future. Valorant gamers are advised to keep their minds strong when hitting the 9-3 scoreline to break it and come out victorious.