I miss being new to VALORANT

In 2021, I decided to download VALORANT because a couple of my mates were playing it. Back then, I still remember I played with an eDPI of 1000, was placed in Iron 3, and had absolutely no idea wtf I was doing.

Every match felt new and exciting learning about all the different maps and agents. I played a ton of 5 stack ranked with my mates, where we did a ton of stupid shit for fun without caring about winning or losing.

I still have this core memory of getting my first Ace on Icebox which I swear was 80% pure luck, because I simply didn’t have any idea what I was doing and was praying that the enemies would walk into my crosshair.

Fast forward to today, where I’m currently ranked Immortal. And you know what? I would literally do anything to go back to Iron again. This game simply doesn’t hit the same anymore.

In higher elo, you get punished for the slightest mistake, which makes deaths even more frustrating (and teammates would absolutely flame you for it). And sure, it’s fun to hype yourself up after hitting some nice shots, but it feels like every player in Immortal+ is an aim demon nowadays so what does it even matter. And the worst part is, I find it almost impossible to be consistent in this game. I could literally go 30/8/12 in one game and then go 6/22/9 in the next game. This part is probably on me, I know. But if I were to summarise my thoughts and feelings: the game is starting to feel more like work rather than, y’know, a game meant to be played for fun.

I don’t even know why I’m writing this post; I guess I’m just rambling to nobody in particular. But I hope there’s someone out there who shares the same sentiments about the game.