Why VALORANT’s hardest task is getting past agent select: ‘Let me play anything’

It’s not uncommon for VALORANT players to dodge their least favorite maps, but too much of it makes the game unplayable—and players are rightfully frustrated.

There are 11 maps in VALORANT at the time of writing, with seven in the current rotation for competitive play. Whether players want more variety or changes to the pool or just dislike playing specific maps, it feels as though dodging matches has become the norm in VALORANT, to the point where a player can expect at least one or two dodges before round one starts. In a July 1 Reddit thread, players discussed dodging certain maps and how it ruins the fun for everyone involved.

When describing their own VALORANT experience, the original poster said they’re stuck playing the same two maps—Abyss and Icebox—because the rest of the maps keep getting dodged. Meanwhile, other players reported those two maps are the ones being dodged in their games. This means no map is safe, and there’s always a chance that one of the 10 players in your lobby will opt to dodge simply because they dislike the map or their agent is taken.

Now, this wouldn’t be too bad if dodging only happened once or twice during your gaming session. But it happens often, and it’s frustrating having to sit in the queue until everyone finally decides not to dodge. Sometimes it feels like an endless loop of: waiting in queue, agent select screen, dodge, repeat.

To add to the suffering, there have been times when I endured multiple dodges and successfully made it past the agent select screen—only for my game to be cut short by an early surrender or AFK offender. To be fair, this is more common in unrated games than ranked, but it truly does ruin the experience for players who just want to chill and play their games without these interruptions. That’s why I have essentially abandoned unrated games for ranked or intentionally shorter Swiftplays.

I get that it’s tough to give harsh penalties for dodging or going AFK, since there could be valid reasons such as disconnections or emergencies, but you have to wonder if there’s a better way to reduce how often it happens. Players have suggested either adding a map ban system or letting players queue for specific maps they want to play instead of randomizing it, which could be something for Riot to consider in the future.