Valorant streamers’ rank up challenges are not funny or impressive

pcgamesn.com:

You come back from a hard day at work to enjoy a chill game of Valorant, but XYZLiveYouTube wants to play Bucky only. So, while four players strive to clinch the win, there’s the shotgun-wielding streamer with a muted mic and no regard for the team. This is how the multiplayer game has become at the lower ranks: a nightmare. Yet, surprisingly, these trolls are heroes on Twitter and YouTube, going viral for every trick shot, and it’s not okay.

Valorant’s long-standing smurfing issue has been well-documented. However, in 2020, smurfs had different motives – they just wanted to play with friends. So Riot investigated and modified the system accordingly to filter them out. Since then, the developer has taken commendable measures to nip it in the bud, but smurfs still plague lower ranks. Sure, the numbers have tapered off, but new smurfs are deadlier than ever.

Why, may you ask? These new smurfs are challenge streamers, and they’re heroes. Trick-rank ups normalize smurfing, setting a precedent that it’s okay to lurk in lower ELO if you’re wielding a weapon that puts you at a disadvantage. Streamers ruin games for enemies and sabotage teammates, yet social media loves them, encouraging others to follow suit.

Riot introduced five-stacks as a means of disincentivizing smurfing. However, Radiant players going viral for being cracked with just a pistol in Silver is enough incentive to aggravate the smurfing problem.

“In addition to addressing smurfs by identifying them and putting them in fair matches, we’ve also made specific changes to lower the incentive to create alternate accounts in the first place,” Riot says.

Let’s take the example of Valorant TikTok challenges, a platform that can make you a star overnight, and it’s an