Fariha Bhatti 
Valorant ranked mode is highly competitive, which is why Riot has put some restrictions in place to ensure game integrity.
Valorant has multiple game modes catering to different players but ranked is the most popular. It’s brimming with sweaty players looking to match with equally competitive enemies and climb the ranked ladder. However, the intensity of ranked matches can sometimes make the experience overly cutthroat, prompting some players to resort to creative, but not necessarily fair, tactics to secure victories.
For this reason, Riot has placed overly specific rank restrictions in Valorant that decide what ranks can play together and how lobbies look.
What ranks can play together in Valorant?
Not all ranks in Valorant can freely play together due to the game’s matchmaking system, which is designed to maintain fair gameplay. Players are restricted by rank disparity rules to prevent mismatches that could result in either unfair advantages or disadvantages.
Here’s which ranks can play together in Valorant.
| Rank | Rank range |
| Iron & Bronze | Iron 1 to Silver 3 |
| Silver | Iron 1 to Gold 3 |
| Gold | Silver 1 to Platinum 3 |
| Platinum | Gold 2 to Diamond 2 |
| Diamond & Ascendant | Exactly one tier apart. They can queue with one tier above the lowest rank in their group. |
| Immortal & Radiant | Exactly one tier higher max (Example: Platinum 2 can queue with up to Diamond 2) |
What are the rank restrictions in Valorant?
Here are the main rank restrictions in Valorant that might prevent players from queuing in ranked mode if they violate them.
- Four-stacks are not allowed to queue together in Valorant to prevent one player from feeling left out or excluded, as they would be the odd one out in a group of four pre-made teammates.
- Three players can queue together if they adhere to the rank tier restrictions.
Five-stacks are exempt from rank tier restrictions and can queue against opponents of any rank. However, significant rank gaps within the group may lead to reduced RR gains as a trade-off for broader matchmaking flexibility. Here’s how the reduction works for five stacks in Valorant.
- If any players are outside of the usual restriction range made for parties of two and three, a 25% RR penalty will be applied
- If a low-rank five stack includes even one Immortal player, a 25% RR penalty will be applied
- A 75% reduction will be applied if any player in a mixed rank five stacks is Radiant, and the Radiant player will get a 90% RR reduction for queuing with low-ranked friends
These restrictions allow players freedom over their team composition as long as they don’t mind giving up a chunk of RR gained in ranked Valorant.
