What are Valorant Ranks? 

What are Valorant Ranks? 

Many multiplayer FPS games have a standardized Competitive game mode, and players earn ratings over time as they continue to play and win games. Valorant ranks range from Iron to Radiant, and players earn RR (ranked rating) as they play their way through the competitive ladder. 

Why is it called “ladder”? 

Ranked in FPS games is often called “ladder” because climbing through the ranks is like climbing the rungs of a ladder. As a player wins games, their ranked rating increases, so they can climb higher on the ladder. 

What are the tiers of Valorant’s ranks? 

Valorant has eight levels of ranked play, ranging from Iron to Radiant, named after precious metals and gems, except for the top tiers. Each ranked tier is further broken into a rank between one and three. The top tier, Radiant, lists the players within this rank, but this rank is limited to the top 500 players in the game.

RankTiers
Iron1, 2, 3
Bronze1, 2, 3
Silver1, 2, 3
Gold1, 2, 3
Platinum1, 2, 3
Diamond1, 2, 3
Immortal1, 2, 3
Radiant
Valorant Ranks & Tiers

Can players see who is Radiant?

 Players can keep tabs on the top ranks of Valorant by navigating to the “Career” tab on their profile and viewing the leaderboard. Players in Radiant are listed by gamer tag and their current position on the leaderboard. If a player falls out of the top 500 players on this list, they will fall back to Immortal 3. 

What are placement matches?

Before a player can see their rank, they will need to play five competitive placement matches. The placement matches will be analyzed for performance, and players can be placed anywhere from Iron 1 to Diamond 1. 

How does Valorant calculate RR (ranked rating) after placements?

Valorant calculates RR based on multiple factors. The hidden MMR (matchmaking rating) that each player has, calculated on performance against similarly skilled players, is one of the major factors in earning RR. If a player has a higher hidden MMR than their current rank, they will earn more RR per win. The player’s performance in any given match also contributes to the amount of RR they win or lose in a competitive match. 

How do players rank up through the ladder? 

Each rank requires 100 RR points to climb to the following rank. Wins and losses add or subtract the RR, and once a player has accumulated 100 RR, they will rank to the next level. For example, when a player reaches 100 RR in Silver 2, they will rank up to Silver 3. Once a player reaches Radiant, they simply win or lose RR and climb the leaderboard. 

How are competitive seasons broken up?

Valorant competitive seasons are called Episodes and are broken into Acts. Each Episode contains three Acts. These breaks within Episodes typically coordinate with releases of a new Battlepass, new agents, and new maps. At the start of the new Episode players will play five placement matches, and each Act that follows the players only play one placement match. 

Does rank reset? 

Each Episode, there is a “hard reset” of competitive rating, where players will play through five placement matches again to ensure they deserve the rank they have held. Valorant believes periodic hard resets of rank helps to weed out boosted accounts, and this reset makes players prove they indeed belong at the ranks they have previously achieved. 

What is the best way to climb through the ranks of Valorant?

Players can often feel like they’re stuck at a rank. While this is sometimes due to a run of bad luck with matchmaking, it can often be traced back to personal play. Players can work on improving their own playstyle, aim, and game sense to improve their play and, as a result, their rank.

Focusing on what a player can control (their own play) and not on external factors such as matchmaking or teammate performance can be the difference between gaining more and losing less RR. 



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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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