HOW, ON GOD’S GREEN EARTH, IS THIS GAME STILL EVEN BREATHING AIR IN THE COMPETITIVE SCENE?

I’ve hit a level of mental exhaustion I didn’t think a game could bring me to. Not even the most chaotic indie game on Steam Early Access has done to my sanity what Valorant has done — and I’m not talking as some casual, not as some once-a-week Silver. I’m Ascendant 2 right now. That’s right. ASCENDANT 2. This isn’t Iron. This isn’t Bronze. This is a rank that is supposed to be filled with serious players — coordinated, tactical, aware. Instead, I feel like I’m walking into a zoo where the animals got hold of aimlabs and confidence issues.

Let’s start with this:
I have a $2,000 PC with specs that should be effortlessly pumping 300+ frames in any modern title. COD? Smooth. Apex? Smooth. CS2? No issues. But somehow — somehow — Valorant manages to spike from a stable 120 FPS down to 4 FPS mid-fight. Four. Frames. Per. Second. And no, it’s not my thermals. Not my drivers. Not my internet. I have combed over every detail like a maniac and this ONLY happens in Valorant. It's a riot (no pun intended) how this is the game with issues. It's not even funny anymore.

But Let's Talk About Ranked.

Because this is where my blood pressure starts to truly climb. In what universe, in what timeline, does it make sense that every 2nd or 3rd game in Ascendant 2 — not Gold, not Plat — I queue into players who treat the match like some goddamn sandbox demo.
Every game it’s:

“I’m going Sheriff only”

“Nah bro, I’m just messing around with shotguns today”

“I’m Radiant smurfing down here to chill”
...AND THEN THEY GO 11-29.

WHAT ARE YOU CHILLING FROM? YOUR 0.3 K/D ON YOUR MAIN? BECAUSE I PROMISE, IT'S NOT FROM COMPETITION. You're dragging down entire lobbies in the name of “fun” while people like me are literally clawing our brains out trying to climb in a broken system.

And Let’s Not Ignore Smurfing.

Let’s talk about the absurdly rampant smurfing issue. It's reached a stage where it's not even something you suspect — it’s a fact. You get 1-tapped through smokes, mid-movement, with zero audio, zero timing, and when you check their career:
“New account, only Reyna, 38/9 every game, unranked to Immortal 1 in 4 days.”
Gee, I wonder if that’s legit.

This isn’t one game in twenty. This isn’t rare. It’s constant. It’s in every lobby, and the system does nothing. The matchmaking is so warped it feels like it rolls dice to decide if you’re in a game of ego trolls, blatant smurfs, or disconnected agents throwing the game because “they’re having a bad day.”

Now for the Personal Side.

I’m not new. I’m not uninvested. I have given this game every ounce of what I could.

1,000 hours in the last 3 months.

I’ve been in in-house IRPs, community customs, tryouts.

I’ve paid for coaching, I’ve subbed to SkillCapped, I've followed Aim Lab routines, I’ve VOD reviewed my own gameplay.
I’ve gone as far as possible short of joining a Tier 3 org to improve — and still, this game feels utterly unplayable.

When I warm up, I dominate. When I hit Deathmatch — guess what? Every single Plat or Gold insta-taps me before I can react. But when I rewatch the footage? My crosshair was ON THEIR HEAD. Shot fired. No reg. It’s like the game doesn’t want me to win. Like it wants me to stay forever trapped in this toxic limbo, surrounded by egomaniacs and washed-up Radiants living out their Sheriff-only midlife crisis.

The Mental Toll

And now? I’m moments away from literally breaking my $1,000 monitor. Not even out of rage, but out of sheer disbelief. I’ve played hard games before. I’ve grinded ranks in League, CS, Apex — and yes, they’re frustrating. But this?
This is a new breed of psychological torture.
This is being told “you’re the problem” after doing everything right — comms, positioning, utility, aim.
This is watching teammates play for clips instead of wins, and the matchmaker just shrugs and says “deal with it.”

So, You Want Me to Climb?

You want me to “just focus up”?
Tell me how.
Tell me how I’m supposed to carry games where I’m the only one clearing corners, the only one buying util, the only one anchoring, the only one listening to comms.
Tell me how I climb when I’m queuing with people who are quite literally throwing for “content,” or because they “don’t care about this account.”

What’s the Solution? There Isn’t One.

No anti-smurf solution.
No proper match balancing.
No realistic way to block repeat throwers.
No accountability for ego-fraggers who queue ranked just to treat it like a deathmatch montage.
Nothing.

So what now?

I’m about done. I’m genuinely considering selling my account just to force myself to stop playing. Because nothing good comes from booting up this game anymore. And it’s tragic — because I love tactical shooters. I love the genre. I love improving. But Valorant?
Valorant doesn't want to be loved.
It wants to chew you up, throw you into chaotic ranked roulette, and blame you for losing when your 3rd duelist instalock goes AFK and your smurf Jett 1v5s just to ego peek A site with a Shorty every round.

To Anyone Reading This:

No, this isn’t a “cope” rant.
No, this isn’t “just a bad day.”
This is a genuine cry for understanding in a system that rewards nothing but chaos.

So go ahead. Tell me it’s in my head.
Tell me my mechanics aren’t sharp.
Tell me my positioning’s off.
But when you’ve poured 1,000 hours, coaching, VOD reviews, team play, routines — and still feel like you’re playing Russian Roulette every queue — you’ll realize what I’m saying is what everyone’s thinking but won’t say out loud:

Valorant ranked is not competitive.
It’s chaos with a scoreboard.