Valorant players will now be able to team up as a “five stack” for competitive ranked play – and the community has some concerns.
After confirming that competitive Valorant players can now group up as a “five stack” with players of any rank, Riot Games has responded to concerns from the players.
Developer John “EvrMoar” Walker took to Twitter to discuss the upcoming changes:
“Shooting down some misinformation spreading,” he said. “You can’t 3 stack in Diamond3+. The RR reductions are extremely harsh for Diamond3+. Diamond3+ will only play against 5 stacks.”
5 STACK WITH ANYONE, ANY RANK. If you aren't in a 5 stack normal rules apply to ranked. Planned for 3.1
Shooting down some misinformation spreading:
You can't 3 stack in Diamond3+
The RR reductions are extremely harsh for Diamond3+
Diamond3+ will only play against 5 stacks pic.twitter.com/iwZNrt9Sxg— EvrMoar (@RiotEvrMoar) November 2, 2021
Following the initial announcement, Counter Logic Gaming’s bENITA responded with hopes that five stacks would only be able to play against other five stacks. “Please make 5 stacks only Q against another 5…” they said via Twitter. Although the system isn’t quite that harsh, it looks as though that will be the case for rank Diamond 3 and above.
Among other concerns, Valorant players suggest that allowing five stacks will make it easier for players to boost others. To combat this, EvrMoar states that ranked rating reductions are “extremely harsh” for five stacks.
Alongside the addition of five stacks, Riot has also removed the ability to queue as four stacks. This essentially means that players can now only queue as solo players, duos, trios or five stacks.
The team will apparently be “monitoring for exploits and how it’s received,” and are ready to make changes as necessary to ensure the new system is not exploited.
