Valorant Starts Testing New Smurf Detection Feature In North America

Smurfs have always been a pain point for competitive games. They may be less of a problem than hackers and cheaters but a problem that needs addressing nonetheless. Riot Games is currently testing a smurf detection system that will, in theory, match up wolves in sheep’s clothing with players equal to their skill level.

The team has begun testing the new feature in North America with the release of Patch 5.01 at the top of the week. “This addition to our smurf detection systems is designed to make sure that new players (that means all new accounts) are matched up with players of the correct skill level, much faster than before,” said Riot. “We’re testing this change in North America first, to make sure everything is working correctly before a global rollout.”

The patch also comes with a balance pass for several Agents, including Phoenix, Yoru, and KAY/O. Phoenix has been buffed with a longer Curveball flash duration and faster windup time. He’ll also be able to equip his weapon faster after he stops bending his wall and his ultimate will now respawn him with the shields he had when he cast the ability.

The duration of Yoru’s Dimensional Drift has also been increased from 10 to 12 seconds and its unequip time reduced from 1.2 to .8 seconds. This should give players more time to pull off their sneaky plans while the ultimate is active.

KAY/O’s grenade, however, has had its damage radius reduced but will now deal damage to enemies even when they’re not in his line of sight. The audio cue for his ultimate has also been changed to only give enemies a more subdued audio cue when he’s being revived similar to that of tapping the spike.

Another noteworthy change is that Twin Hunters in the Spike Rush game mode will now deal damage to destructible walls. The full patch notes can be found on the Valorant official site.