This might be the perfect time to release this post. Episode 3 //// Act 2 is starting today.
Ranked VALORANT can be one of the most frustrating things in the world. If you use social media you've likely seen professional players or you've heard your friends complaining about their ranked experience and teammates. Saying things like "My teammates can't be real. Riot is developing AI", "This person went AFK", "The auto-lock duelist went double negative", etc.
The commonality between all the complaints you ever read is that they are always talking about other players instead of themselves and what they could have done better. The easy way out is to blame others and never take accountability. I can guarantee that if you lost a game 10-13 there was something YOU could have done in multiple rounds to flip that to a 13-10 or 13-11 win.
VALORANT ranked isn't rocket science and you shouldn't over-complicate the whole thing. Your #1 goal should always be getting better individually. It shouldn't matter too much whether or not you win your ranked game. I know you want a higher rank to brag to your friends but it means nothing if you can't hold your own or play the game properly at a higher level. If you're truly supposed to be in a rank (Diamond, Immortal, whatever) you will eventually get there if you continue to play.
Like I said above, you should worry about yourself when playing and getting better individually because that's within your control. Don't spend your time worrying about what other players are doing, or what other players should have done.
Here's 6 tips on how to be a good teammate while playing ranked VALROANT.
1. Play Your Agent To The Meta
Think about you and your ranked teammates in a line entering into a site. If all 5 of you are alive, the line should always look something like this:
Duelist
Duelist/Controller/Initiator
Controller/Initiator
Controller/Initiator/Sentinel
Sentinel
The easy way to put this is... if you're playing a Duelist, you should be going in first. If you have 2 Duelists on your team, both of them should be in positions 1 and 2. Duelists were made to go in first because of their abilities, they are self-sufficient agents. When you lock a duelist and don't go in first, you're putting your team at a disadvantage.
If you like to bait, that's fine. Play a Sentinel. That class was made for that lurking/baiting style and it's less frowned upon when a Sentinel is last alive. If you suspect you're playing the wrong class, check out my How To Choose Your VALORANT Class/Agent guide.
2. Communicate
VALORANT is a team game. Teams need to communicate to have success. You don't need to communicate like a professional player in the finals of the Berlin tournament but you need to say something. Read my VALORANT Communication 101 guide if you want the basics of communication.
3. Stop Over-Peeking & Chasing Kills
This happens all the time. How many rounds have you lost in ranked where your team got the first 2 picks and it was 5v3 but then you ended up losing? This is something that happens so frequently in ranked but can be avoided if people stopped over-peeking and chasing kills. Since you can't control what others do, you need to focus on creating good habits for yourself of not over-peeking and chasing kills. This will help you as you climb the ranks and even play in official tournaments on a real team. No one is perfect, but the less you over-peek and chase kills the more rounds you'll win as time goes on.
What do I mean by over-peeking?
It's situational but the simplest form is taking a gunfight when you don't really need to. A prime example would be if you're on the attack and defending the spike but start to peek before the defenders even get close to the site to initiate a retake. Instead of over-peeking, you should be trying to set up in a Crossfire, Contact, or Bait setup.
4. Don't Over-Rotate
Ranked even at the highest level of matchmaking consists of players brainlessly running around the map as soon as they hear a sound. When your teammate says "2 here", that's not the cue to start rotating. Listen to your teammates, use your mini-map before leaving your position. If you want to become a better player the actual play would be to limit test and see if you can take space and map control away from the enemies based on your team's calls.
Instead of rotating, if my team says "4 here". I try to advance my position (forward) and trap the 4 players in that area of the map. This increases your chances of winning the round. You'll build game sense as well if you do this. You will start to know how far you can go, when you need to walk, etc.
5. Anchoring Sites
If you are a site anchor on defense. DO NOT LEAVE UNTIL NECESSARY. When an anchor leaves their site it creates a huge gap in your defense that someone could take advantage of.
Remember above I talked about playing your agent to the meta? I also said if you like to bait/lurk you should play a Sentinel. Well, the Sentinels job is to be on the opposite side of the map trying to find picks or cut rotations. If you get caught leaving the site you anchor by the Sentinel then you may have lost your team the round.
6. If you're not Hitting Your Shots
You can still be a good teammate. Kills do not equal wins. There are other ways to help your team secure rounds and ultimately get a W.
You can use your utility to set your team up for success.
You can give precise call-outs so your team knows exactly where the enemies are.
You could even be bait for them and set them up for the kills.
There will always be games when your aim doesn't feel that great and the shots aren't landing. Be creative, positive, and find other ways to contribute.
I hope this helps you during your Episode 3 //// Act 2 grind. GOOD LUCK!