Cover-Credits:
- Valorant's ranked system got a major update with the API now showing in-depth stats and ranked distribution data.
- Players can now view data from all players instead of relying on third-party data collection.
- Several ranked changes have been announced yesterday to help control negativity and gameplay sabotaging within Valorant.
Riot Games did not have the official Valorant API available for third-party access until December 2020. Players were restricted to player data collection websites like Mobalytics for their ranked stats. In addition to an in-game leaderboard and other visible stats headed to the game in a future update, Valorant players can also check out ranked data on websites from this month.
Valorant Rank Distribution
Earlier this year, Riot Games revealed that winning is what gives you the most ranked MMR. But in addition to wins, you also get performance-based MMR, which helps you climb faster in Valorant. If you have been playing badly despite getting wins, you will get fewer points per win. The game tries to match you with other Valorant players of the same rank to ensure fair matchmaking. However, this might not always be possible depending on the server, time of day, and rank. Players who are Diamond or above currently do not experience fair matchmaking at all times because of how few high-ranked players there are in the game. Smurfing and Boosting also affect your ranked gameplay experience, but Riot is attempting to crack down on players who throw matches and smurf recently.
According to Bltiz's API, this is the currently ranked distribution in VALORANT:
| VALORANT Rank Distribution | |
|---|---|
| Rank | Percentage |
| Iron 1 | 14 |
| Iron 2 | 7.3 |
| Iron 3 | 7.5 |
| Bronze 1 | 6.8 |
| Bronze 2 | 7.2 |
| Bronze 3 | 7.4 |
| Silver 1 | 7.3 |
| Silver 2 | 6.2 |
| Silver 3 | 5.8 |
| Gold 1 | 6.1 |
| Gold 2 | 5.3 |
| Gold 3 | 4.5 |
| Platinum 1 | 3.7 |
| Platinum 2 | 2.9 |
| Platinum 3 | 2.2 |
| Diamond 1 | 1.8 |
| Diamond 2 | 1.3 |
| Diamond 3 | 0.9 |
| Immortal 1 | 0.6 |
| Immortal 2 | 0.4 |
| Immortal 3 | 0.5 |
| Radiant | 0.3 |
How Does Valorant’s Matchmaking Work
Image by Riot Games
Matchmaking allows you to choose which server you want to play on, but it is a preferred server selection, and you are not guaranteed matches on the selected server. Valorant players in higher ranks are often moved to different servers if they cannot accommodate enough MMR players on a server. Solo players have a more challenging time getting a fair matchmaking experience at higher ranks. Players are matched strictly based on their MMR in the current system. Still, a hidden MMR is also available to the game to identify smurfs and boosters and place them in the appropriate ranks as quickly as possible. There are Gun Buddies up for grab in Valorant for players who play Competitive and climb ranks in terms of rewards.
This is what the ranked population looks like currently:
Iron: 28.9%
Bronze: 21.3%
Silver: 19.3%
Gold: 15.8%
Platinum: 8.8%
Diamond: 4.1%
Immortal: 1.5%
Radiant: 0.3%
Here are some of the ranked changes coming to ranked play next year:
- Address of INTers and AFKers
- Reworking ranked penalties
- Easier communication system
- In-game reputation system changes
- Enforcing community standards
- In-game LFG system
According to a recent blog post by Riot, "Next year it’s going to be about making some larger changes to our core ranked system so that players have an opportunity to prove if they are the best of the best, earn cool rewards, and provide a better sense around your rank changes."
