Valorant
The advantage of online games, or generally speaking, any game using the internet, is the ability to compare yourself with other players. And as literally everything is connected, everything needs an inner ranking system. A competitive method of playing, to put it simply.
No wonder, Valorant has a hierarchy progression and a competitive mode that is exciting! Players are not just fighting for specific achievements. They're fighting each other for the championship! And since the Competitive Mode has received a minor update, it is essential to clarify the rules and nuances of the game in this way at this time.
Valorant Ranking System
First, playing in competitive mode is only allowed if the player has reached the 12th account level. These rules are relevant from Act 1 of Episode 4. The exception is when at least one ranked match was played before Episode 4 was released. In that case, it does not matter the level of the account - the player can freely participate in competitions further. Before the update in Episode 4, the competitor needed to compete in ten unrated games. Only then the competitive mode could open. Still, now the quantity of victories does not matter.
For the current moment (and this distribution is unlikely to change), there are nine tier ranks in the ranking system of Valorant. It goes from Iron through Bronze-Silver-Gold-Platinum-Diamond-Ascendant-Immortal, and, finally - Radiant. All Valorant echelon levels, excluding Radiant, has sub-ranks inside. Number one (e.g., Iron 1) is the most proletarian, and Rank three is the most elevated. Accordingly, if excluding Unranked, everybody can find 25 Valorant ranks.
Around the most significant 500 participants in each territory will reach Radiant Rank, and around 1% per territory will achieve Immortal.
Rank and Act Rank
It's about the Valorant Ranks in the game. And another essential thing is Act Rank - the Rank in the act! It is determined by the highest of the wins in the ranking, called proven skill. Act Rank is marked with a unique triangular badge.
Along with moving through the grades, new marks depicting higher-ranked halves will substitute for lower ones.
The inside of the pyramid portrays the ranked competition victory, and the triangular mark at the top represents your proven skill (the highest-ranked victory) and, therefore, your Act Rank. The player who wins the match that improves his Rank to Diamond 2 receives a Diamond 2 triangle. Determinate: the color and dimension of each triangle indicate the Rank the player was at when he won that match. Higher-rank wins will gradually replace lower ones, providing a more accurate picture of the progression.
Correspondingly, the outline of the Badge changes according to the victories achieved in that ranking. So there is always a chance for Badge to look colorful at the end of an act. Only dominant top Radiant players will witness a trustworthy gold triangle - nothing surprising here! Act Rank Border evolves after 9, 25, 50, 75, and 100 points of competitive wins.
A brief reminder: Act Rank in Episode 1 was determined by the 9th highest-ranked win, but Episode 2 changed the rules so that the highest-ranked victory clinches.
Another reason Act Rank is associated with the Acts is that you receive a gun buddy at the end of the Episode. This is related to the highest Act Rank received.
Also, the ranking works differently for players of the Iron-Ascendant and Immortal-Radiant ranks. And this is rational - to put beginners alongside amateurs and keep professionals at different segments.
Playing with friends in competitive mode, by the way, is also possible only within certain positions in the ranking. If the lowest tiers in a group are Iron or Bronze, then only Silver can be the highest. If someone with a Gold rank appears in the group, the minimum is raised to, in fact, Silver! If the minimum is Gold, then the maximum requirement is Platinum. Starting with a minimum of Platinum, the maximum can only be one level higher.
Elo and Matchmaking
This raises the question of how easy it is to track your Rank. Look in Match History! Also, there are leaderboards and progress bars after Ep.2. Which brings up an Elo rating method. It is a system for estimating the competitive skill level of players in cybersports (but not limited to). By the way, Elo is not an abbreviation. The technique arrives from Arpad Elo, a physics professor of American-Hungarian origin.
However, no method in Valorant informs players of their Elo. The score is calculated as an estimate of won/lost games. And anyway, that is what in-game matchmaking does.
A player earns Valorant RR by playing matches, usually ending in either victory or defeat. If you win, your rank rating always goes up, but if you lose, it goes down. However, individual performance can help you advance faster at the Iron to Platinum ranks.
The distribution is such that anyone always starts at Rank 10 after promotion and at least 80 after the demotion. Leveling is possible. There are no special rules here - victory raises the Rank, and defeat lowers it.
Notes on Improving
Important notes about player groups or stacks:
If there is a group of 5 players in lobby, then there are no tier restrictions. But if one of the players goes beyond the standard limits for the group, RR (stands for Ranked Rating) penalties will be assessed. If there are three or fewer players, the requirements are standard. And groups of four players do not exist: Riot does not allow you to balance the power of your team in a group of four.
To increase your level by improving your ranking, you need to collect 300 RR. In the beginning, they are only 10; up to Radiant - 300 - the level increases. And then the subtleties begin. For example, suppose one of the top 500 players in North America scores less than350 RR, the North American regional threshold for that level. In that case, they are stuck in Immortal 3 without leveling up in Immortal 2.