Complaints about VALORANT’s Ranked System
If you’ve been unhappy with the ranked system in VALORANT, you’re not alone. NRG Esports’ Brandon “Aceu” Winn recently voiced his concerns about the “inflated” ranks that some players can achieve through five-stacking.
Unfair matchmaking in Aceu’s recent game
In his last game, Aceu played with two teammates who collectively had 17 kills and 30 deaths in a 23-round match. This was a tough loss for the skilled former Apex Legends pro, who had 35 kills and only 16 deaths.
Five-stack advantage in VALORANT ranked games
This issue raised by Aceu has been previously addressed by other professionals. The ability for five-stacked players to join ranked matches with solo queue players creates numerous challenges for those who want to climb the ranks individually.
Advantage of five-stacked players
Five-stacked players have an easier time climbing because they are familiar with each other and have better synergy compared to solo players. As a result, solo players struggle to win matches as they lack coordination with their teammates.
Solution: Implementing two queues
Aceu’s encounter highlights the drawbacks of playing solo against five-stacked opponents. These issues, including inflated ranks, can be resolved by introducing two distinct queues—one for solo-duos and another for group play.
This approach has been successful in another Riot Games title, League of Legends, where it addressed similar problems in the ranked system. Full teams were matched more frequently against other full teams, while solo and duo players competed only with and against other solos and duos.
Although Riot devs are currently on a week-long break, it is likely that they will address these issues in the near future.
VALORANT, ranked system, complaints, NRG Esports, Brandon “Aceu” Winn, inflated ranks, five-stacking, matchmaking, Apex Legends, solo queue, synergy, two queues, League of Legends, Riot Games