Thanks to the latest patch we witness some insane Valorant Competitive Changes, from banning 4 stacks to removing rank restrictions.
Patch 3.10 went live today, which introduced us to Chamber (Agent 17) and some competitive changes. These changes are made focusing on the communities reactions to previous updates.
We have seen constant ups and downs in the Valorant Competitive Scene since the Beginning. Stating with Smurfing, toxicity, amounts of gains and losses of RR, etc. But this patch is the first step to solve the mentioned problems. Let’s take a dive into what the updates are.
Also Read: Valorant Patch Notes 3.10: Agent 17 Chamber added and massive ranking system updates.
Valorant Competitive Changes
5 Stacking Back For All Ranks
Till the previous patch, players with a higher Elo(between Diamond 3 to Radiant) could not play with more than 2 players in a party. But this patch brought back 5 stacking for all competitive ranks due to higher demand. This step was also taken in hopes to reduce smurfing as well.
4 Staking Banned
After some analysis, Riot learned that when people 4 stack, the 5th solo queued with them tends to have a bad experience. Riots exact statement was “We are also removing 4-stacks from the Competitive queue, these types of groups tend to leave the remaining solo queue player with a relatively poor play experience, and we believe that removing this option will result in a significant reduction of overall toxicity reports. ”
Rank Rating Gain and Loss Changes
So, with bringing back 5 stacking Riot has also removed Rank restrictions. This means any player in any rank can play with any other player’s rank, for example, an Iron player can play with a Radiant player. So if anyone is friends with Tenz tell him about me so I can play with him.
Roit choose to take out rank restrictions, as they determined that most players smurf because they are not able to play with their friends with lower ranks.
But with these restrictions out of the way, there needs to be some terms and conditions so that the rank environment is not one-sided. The conditions set by Riot are different for different rank divisions but are only applicable for 5 stacks. The changes are :
If everyone in your group is Diamond 2 and below:
- The queue time will be slightly more.
- So if the rank difference between two members of a team is more than 1, then the total gain and loss of RR from the match will be reduced based on the total difference.
For example, if you party with 4 of your friends. The lowest team member is Silver 1 and the highest is Platinum 1. Your team will recieve 50% RR reduction because the highest and lowest members are 1 rank outside the standard group restrictions. So, say you win a game rather than gaining +18 RR, you will gain 50% less i.e. +9, and the same for a loss.
If one or more members of your group are Diamond 3 and above:
- The queue time will be much higher, as you are to be play against people with the same MMR.
- based on the same logic, the loss and gain of rank rating are more compared to the above group.
For example, 4 of your party members are Immortal and one of your friends is Diamond 2. The whole squad has a 75% reduction to RR gains and losses due to rank disparity. So, after winning a game rather than gaining +18 RR, you will gain 75% less i.e. +5 RR, and the same for a loss.
If one or more members of your group are Radiant:
- The queue time will be highest, as this time valorant has to find another 5 stack with the same MMR.
- And the rank rating gain and loss will also have the highest reduction as the ranks disparity is a lot. The minimum reduction for this disparity is 75% and the maximum reduction is 90%.
Note: All the above-mentioned changes are only for 5 stacks not for 3 stacks, duo, or solo.
Read the whole patch notes here.
