Valorant Ranks Explained: Every Rank, RR and Act Rules (2026)

Valorant has 25 ranks across nine tiers: Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Ascendant and Immortal each have three divisions, and Radiant sits alone at the top. You need account level 20 to play ranked, five placement matches set your starting rank, and you need 100 Rank Rating (RR) to promote to the next division.

Below you will find every rank in order, how RR is gained and lost, how placements and act resets work in the yearly season format, the rules for Immortal and Radiant, who you can queue with, and where most of the player base actually lands.

How many ranks are in Valorant, and what order do they go in?

Riot Games lists nine competitive tiers from lowest to highest. Every tier except Radiant is split into three divisions, numbered 1 to 3, where 3 is the strongest. That gives 24 numbered divisions plus Radiant, for 25 ranks in total, per Riot's Competitive Mode FAQ.

To see these tiers alongside real player counts, check the rank distribution page, or browse the Valorant stats hub for everything we cover on the game.

What do you need to unlock ranked in Valorant?

Competitive unlocks at account level 20. Riot introduced that gate in Episode 4 Act 1, replacing the older requirement of 10 unrated wins. Players who finished a ranked match before Episode 4 kept access even below level 20.

Once unlocked, your first five ranked games are placement matches. According to Riot's Iron through Ascendant RR article (December 2025), the highest possible initial placement is Ascendant 3, so nobody places straight into Immortal. After placements you start your rank at 50 RR.

How does Rank Rating (RR) work?

RR is the visible progress bar inside each division. Hit 100 RR and you promote; land at 0 RR and lose again and you demote. Riot does not publish fixed point values per match, but it does explain what moves the number.

• Win or loss: the biggest factor by far.
• Smaller factors: margin of victory, standout individual plays and being the underdog in the matchup.
• Your own performance: teammates' stats do not change your RR.
• Penalties: going AFK or dodging queue repeatedly costs RR.

How does hidden MMR affect RR gains?

Behind your visible rank sits a hidden matchmaking rating (MMR). If your MMR is above your current rank, wins pay more than losses cost. If it matches your rank, gains and losses are roughly even. If it sits below your rank, you gain less for a win and lose more for a loss until your results catch up.

What are rank shields and demotion buffers?

Promotions start you at a minimum of 10 RR, and a demotion drops you no lower than 70 RR in the division below. Entering division 1 of any tier, by promotion or demotion, grants two rank shields. A shield stops a loss at 0 RR from dropping you into the tier below, though shields do not stop a drop from, say, Silver 2 to Silver 1. Want to estimate how many wins a goal will take? Try the rank goal planner.

How do acts, seasons and rank resets work?

Since January 2025, Valorant runs on year-long seasons instead of episodes. Each season has six acts of roughly eight weeks, and Season 2026 began on January 7, 2026, per esports.net. Exact act dates can shift, so treat schedules as estimates until Riot confirms them.

• Acts 1 and 4 (season start and mid-season) require five placement matches.
• Acts 2, 3, 5 and 6 need one placement match if you already completed your initial five.
• Riot says your rank does not automatically drop when a new act begins, but a poor placement result can lower it.

What is Act Rank?

Act Rank reflects your highest ranked win in the act, which Riot calls your proven skill. Each win adds a triangle to your rank pyramid, colored by the rank you held at the time. Per Riot's Act Ranks and Rewards page, you need at least nine competitive wins in an act to earn the Act Rank badge, and borders upgrade at 9, 25, 50, 75 and 100 wins. At mid-season and season end you also receive a gun buddy matching your highest Act Rank from that period.

Is there rank decay in Valorant?

No. Riot's FAQ states plainly that Valorant has no rank decay, so taking a break will not drop your division. The one exception is the Immortal and Radiant leaderboard: you must play at least one competitive game every seven days to keep your leaderboard position. Falling down the board reflects a change in placement, not a lost rank.

How do Immortal and Radiant work?

Immortal and Radiant use a different RR system. You enter Immortal 1 with 10 RR, RR keeps stacking with no cap, and gains depend only on wins, losses and round differential, with no individual performance bonus. Immortal 2, Immortal 3 and Radiant are unlocked by regional RR thresholds listed in Riot's Immortal and Radiant RR article (March 2026):

Radiant needs both the threshold and a top 500 spot in your region. You lose Radiant if you fall below the threshold or are overtaken by the lowest Radiant player. At a one-placement act start, Immortal and Radiant RR is cut by 90 percent, which returns Radiant players to Immortal. Riot adjusts these numbers over time, so check the source before planning around them, and follow the top of each region on our leaderboards page.

Which ranks can play together in Valorant?

Party limits for groups of two or three players depend on the lowest-ranked member. Groups of four are not allowed in ranked.

• Iron or Bronze: can queue with players up to Silver.
• Silver: up to Gold.
• Gold: up to Platinum.
• Platinum through Ascendant: within one full rank, for example Platinum 2 with up to Diamond 2.
• Immortal 1 and above: solo, duo or five-stack only.

Five-stacks ignore the table but only match other five-stacks, so queues run longer. If a five-stack falls outside normal party ranges, RR gains are cut by 25 percent. Groups with an Immortal take a 25 percent reduction, and groups with a Radiant take a 75 percent reduction, with non-Radiant members losing 90 percent of potential RR. You can line up a squad's stats side by side with compare players.

What rank are most Valorant players?

Riot does not publish an official distribution, but third-party trackers built on its API do. A September 8, 2026 snapshot from esportstales covering Season 2026 Act 5 across all regions puts Gold as the most common tier at about 22 percent, followed by Silver (about 21 percent) and Platinum (about 18 percent). Diamond holds about 12 percent, Ascendant about 6 percent, Immortal about 1.4 percent and Radiant about 0.05 percent.

A May 2026 vstats.gg breakdown cited by PC Gamer shows a similar shape, with Gold the largest tier at roughly 23 percent. Figures shift every act, so treat them as a snapshot. In practice, that snapshot means reaching Platinum puts you in roughly the top 37 percent of ranked players.

Ready to climb? Now that you know how the ladder works, our guide on how to rank up in Valorant covers the habits, practice routine and weekly checklist that turn it into a climb.