Riot targets VALORANT smurf accounts by making forfeits in Unrated not count toward Competitive requirement

Today’s VALORANT Patch 1.06 will make it harder for new accounts to hit the Competitive requirement threshold, putting an end to an exploit abused by smurfs.

The patch makes forfeited Unrated games not count toward the Competitive requirement. Players making new accounts who want to jump into ranked immediately will have to play through 20 full matches first.

Many players who hit Radiant or are looking to play ranked on another account have to play 20 Unrated matches first. A quick workaround for that was jumping into casual matches with friends and killing yourselves before the round starts to save time. These players would then forfeit as soon as possible to end the game quickly. After repeating this process 20 times, their smurf accounts would be ready for Competitive mode.

VALORANT players looking for casual matches expressed frustration with their opponents or allies skipping out of games early. Fed up players believed those forfeits shouldn’t count toward the 20 matches, which Riot delivered in this patch.

Patch 1.03 removed the unanimous surrender vote requirement from Unrated matches, allowing four players on a team to take the match hostage and forfeit. This should now be less prevalent since smurfs will be forced to play out all 20 matches.