As someone who has been dealing with FPS games for a decade, it didn’t take long for me to adapt to Valorant’s shooter. But, some days felt like a walk in the park: I was dropping a smooth 30 pump without even breaking a sweat. On other days, he would spend the entire game inspecting his furious teammates at the bottom of the scoreboard. Turns out I’m not alone. Many players think Valorant’s matchmaking seems terribly inconsistent. The horrors of the red carpet do not escape even the best in the game, but why?
Valorant is pretty well optimized, so I can’t attribute my bad days to annoying hackers, software bugs, or other technical issues. But this fascinating little thing called a loser’s tail going around the Valorant rumor mill would explain a lot. Apparently, it’s an old game patent that brought this infamous red carpet out of nowhere. At this point, the losing line seems to be the only explanation for my 13-game losing streak.
What causes the red carpet blues in Valorant?
Jonathan ‘EvrMoar’ Walker is a former competitive Valorant designer who has elaborated on the tail of notorious losers several times in the past. But, some shortcomings indicate that the loser’s tail is real.
First of all, putting players in a certain group on purpose is not a far-fetched concept. This has been happening in games for a while now, for example EA’s FIFA supposedly relies on DDA. Officially known as Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment, this system manipulates matches in a way that keeps players coming back for more. Now, the losing streak in Valorant convinces players to play “just one more game”, but it also pushes them away.
EvrMoar argued that if Valorant had such a system, the developers wouldn’t hide it because it’s nothing particularly new. But, a DDA-like patent just isn’t good for “business” and the health of the game. That’s why Valorant players losing in huge, seemingly endless streaks is either a coincidence or a reminder to go to Aimlabs.
“Data, across multiple games and genres in the gaming industry, suggests that fair matches are a big reason players have a fun and enjoyable PvP experience. Why would we create a system that forces players to lose if we know it would force them out of the game early?’ says Evr Moar.
While that all sounds reasonable, losing 13-15 matches in a row makes you wonder if the gameplay is flawed or if Riot is hiding something from players. A possible explanation could be the stagnation of MMR, which the developers have explained several times.
It’s entirely possible that Valorant’s matchmaking system won’t match losers specifically, but instead match you with those stuck in your MMR bracket for the same time period. That’s why it can also happen to good players, because being too consistent can also cause problems.
For example, if your MMR is stuck at 1500, players stuck at a similar rating for a long time would be fewer than those who are actively leveling up. As a result, the system may pair you with players closest to your MMR on the ladder instead of pairing you with other players with a similar losing streak.
But, the question of why these players stuck in the MMR pool are also experiencing a losing streak remains. It’s a kind of paradox; those with a strong match MMR would increase their variance and escape ELO hell, leaving behind underdogs who can’t seem to get out of the same MMR. Now these losers are naturally paired with each other due to low variance.
This stagnation can also occur at high ranges. You keep getting 20 kills every game, and now Valorant’s system is boring. Nothing new is happening, and he is convinced that you are a certified Ascendant. Now they pair him up with other stuck Ascendants who aren’t improving every day, resulting in a losing streak.
Combine stuck ELO with a bad mentality and frustration, and you have the perfect recipe for a losing streak. If you trust EvrMoar’s explanation, it seems there can be no other logical conclusion to explain the frequent and infamous “red carpet” events that plague Valorant.
While Valorant’s loser line issue remains a mystery, it’s best to err on the side of caution when deciding who or what to trust. Instead of blaming Riot, players could change the things they have control over based on factual information.
That being said, my humble advice would be to stick to the tried and true method of cheating the system: don’t get too comfortable in the same range. Instead, strive to surprise the matchmaking algorithm by improving your game, breaking personal bests, and injecting variations into your playstyle. would drop significantly, resulting in more green in your ranked history palette.
If you’re also on a losing streak, consider mixing things up. Try to run the best agents in Valorant’s tier list based on the current meta, swap out your weapons, load up on one of the best crosshairs in Valorant, and most importantly, train more!