Riot tackles the smurfing in patch 1.13

Riot will tackle smurfing in Valorant Patch 1.13. Rather than tracking down double accounts and cheaters, they will make it easier to access ranked games.

We saw the news on Reddit. Until now, you had to play 20 unranked matches before you could play Valorant's Competitive Mode. One user suggests changing this rule by opening competitive mode to players who have won 10 matches. A Rioter then replied that this change would be effective from the next patch.

For those who don't know: smurfing is creating a secondary account and playing games at a lower level than your own. There are several reasons for doing this. Some do it so they can play with their lower-ranked friends, others do it for the simple pleasure of crushing easily other less experienced players. Either way, smurfing lies in opposition to the matchmaking and creates a negative gaming experience for players who play against a smurfer.

Changing the rule that allows access to competitive mode is a very smart solution and will ultimately improve matchmaking, while reducing the impact of smurfing. Between making 20 games and having 10 wins, there isn't much of a difference for a player with a 50% win ratio. But a smurfer will (normally) have a much higher win ratio, which will quickly kick them out of unrated games designed for new players.

With such a win ratio, it would also be possible to get the smurfer to rank high, at least above what new players usually achieve. Conversely, for new players who would struggle to win their ten games, they would be ranked lower than average. Experienced players will then be able to play among themselves and novices too.

All this should therefore happen in patch 1.13. As a reminder, Riot Games has decided to delay the deployment of the patch and wait for the end of the Valorant First Strike, in order to prevent bugs from spoiling the competition.