Valorant Competitive Game Mode

Valorant Competitive Game Mode

Valorant Competitive is a 5 vs. 5 tactical FPS where players battle it out using guns and abilities to take control of bombsites and win rounds. In this article, we’re going to be specifically going over the Competitive game mode, which is by far the most intense one of them all. 

Every game of Competitive you play will affect your ranking on the leaderboards, so if you’re looking for a proper challenge, then this is the mode for you.

Now, without further ado, let’s jump into some specifics. 

Attackers vs. Defenders

Competitive games follow the standard 5vs5 Plant/defuse-style format, as is the case for the majority of Valorant’s game modes. If you’re not sure what this means, let us explain.

Each team of five starts as either the defending or the attacking team and sides are switched halfway through the game. The attacking team’s job is to plant the spike at a bombsite and defend it until it detonates, whereas the defending team’s job is to stop that from happening and defuse the spike if it gets planted. Seems simple enough, right?

Though the concept is simple, actually playing the game is a whole other story. Coming up with strategies for pushing or defending bombsites effectively is the key to success and is especially crucial in Competitive, where everyone is going to be trying their very best to win.

Next up, let’s talk a bit about the round structure and win conditions.

First to 13

Competitive games take place over a series of rounds, with the winning team being the first one to win 13 in total. After round 12, attackers and defenders switch sides, and if the score reaches 12-12 by the end of round 24, the game goes into overtime to decide the winner.

In overtime, each team gets one round on defense and one on the attack, and a team has to win both in order to win the game. If the game is still tied after the first overtime, a voting screen will pop up where players can choose to either draw or play on. 6 draw votes are initially needed, but this threshold gets smaller if more overtimes are played. How it works is outlined below:

  • First vote: 6 draw votes are needed; otherwise, teams play on.
  • Second vote: 3 draw votes are needed; otherwise, teams play on.
  • Third vote and so on: 1 draw vote is needed; otherwise, teams play on.

Competitive games can therefore last an indefinite amount of time, but you’ll typically get at least one draw vote after the third overtime.

How the economy in Competitive works

Let’s now talk a bit about the economy system in Valorant, which is very similar to what you see in CS:GO. Every round, you earn a certain number of credits to spend on guns and abilities (max. 9000), and you get more depending on how well you did in the previous round. Here is a quick summary:

  • 800 credits are given to all players in round 1
  • 1900 credits for losing a round, or 3000 credits for winning a round
  • 500 credits for a losing streak of 2, or 1000 credits for a losing streak of 3 or more
  • 300 credits if your team manages to plant the spike
  • 200 credits for each kill
  • Varying amounts of extra credits are awarded as compensation for teammates leaving the game

There is also a 1000 credit penalty for players that choose to “save” rather than play the objective. This includes defenders who are still alive after the spike detonates and attackers still alive at the end of a round where the spike hasn’t been planted.

Managing your economy well and knowing when to buy or save is crucial for success in Valorant, so take extra care and make sure you coordinate with your team.

Elo system and ranks

The Valorant Competitive game mode has an Elo system in place to keep things fair by matching players of a similar skill level with one another. Players also get ranks depending on their rating, which gives an indication of how good they are in comparison to others. 

The current Valorant ranks in order from worst to best are Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Immortal, and Radiant. Each rank has three tiers, except for Radiant, which is a unique rank given to the top 500 players in each region.

If you win a match, you earn RR (Rank Rating) points towards your rank, and if you lose, your points will go down, adding a bit of pressure to every Competitive game. How much you win or lose depends on your performance, but it’s typically around 15-25 per game. It’s also worth noting that each rank tier has 100 points in it.

Queueing 

In the Valorant Competitive game mode, in order to keep matchmaking fair, you can’t queue with players that are at a significantly higher or lower rank than you. The ranks that are eligible to queue up for Competitive together are listed below:

  • Iron I up to Silver III
  • Silver I up to Gold III
  • Gold I up to Platinum III
  • Platinum I up to Diamond I
  • Platinum II up to Diamond II
  • Platinum III up to Diamond III
  • Diamond I up to Immortal I
  • Diamond II up to Immortal II
  • Diamond III up to Immortal III
  • Immortal I up to Radiant

Also, from Diamond III onwards, players can only queue up solo or as a party of two.

Valorant Competitive game mode FAQs

To close out the article, let’s go over a few questions that players often ask about the Valorant Competitive game mode.

Is Competitive available to everyone?

To play Competitive, you need to have won at least 10 Unrated games first. This prevents new players from jumping straight into Competitive without knowing what they’re doing.

What happens if I leave a Competitive game halfway through?

If you leave mid-game, you get heavily penalized and lose a lot more RR points than you would normally. The rest of your team will also get extra credits and ult orbs as compensation.

What happens to my rank if I draw?

You’ll never lose RR points for a draw in Competitive, and occasionally you may even earn one or two.

Do ranks reset at the end of Acts?

Typically, when an Act ends, you’ll have to play a single Competitive game to earn your previous rank back. The only exception is when a new Act is the first in a new Episode. In this case, you’ll have to play five placement games to get a new rank, which will likely be lower than your previous rank.

Are all maps available to play in Competitive?

Yes, however, new Valorant maps aren’t introduced into the Competitive queue until 2 weeks after release to give players a chance to get familiar with them.

Can you surrender in a Competitive game?

Yes, but your entire team needs to vote yes for this to happen.

Can you earn experience points in Competitive?

Yes, you earn 100XP per round you play and get an additional 200XP for each round you win. You also gain progress towards daily and weekly missions.

Are there any rewards for playing Competitive?

Yes! At the end of each Episode, every player will receive a special gun buddy based on the highest rank they managed to achieve.

Conclusion

There you have it, that’s the end of our overview of the Valorant Competitive game mode. Thank you so much for reading, and we hope you’ve learned something new. Though Competitive is challenging and the stakes are high, the rewards are plentiful, so definitely be sure to give it a go some time if you haven’t already.

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About Ghost

Ghost's passion for first person shooters dates back to the early days of Unreal Tournament, Counter Strike: Source and America's Army. He has played professionally as well as casually in a collection of FPS titles and still makes plenty of time to keep current in CS:GO, Overwatch and, of course, Valorant.

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