Riot Games have officially announced the newest addition to the ranked system. The Ascendant rank will be placed between Diamond and Immortal.
The ranked system of Valorant has always had issues with over-populating. This has been dealt with by resetting MMR and buffing and nerfing agents to try to even out the spread of players.
Riot are still having issues with overbunching in certain ranks so have decided to add a new rank to the mix.
What is the new Rank?
Ascendant will sit comfortably between Diamond and Immortal. It is represented by a green diamond and will also have three levels just as every other rank does.
Riot explained in patch notes 5.0 that "We believe our lower ranks have a few too many of you, especially Bronze and Silver.". So by adding another higher rank, there will be more space for diamond players to move up. Creating space in the lower levels too.
How does Ascendant affect MMR?
The addition of Ascendant will mean that diamond players will have more space in the higher levels of the game. This means that the skills involved to be Diamond or Ascendant can be categorised way easier.
However, this also affects the MMR of a player. All ranks below Ascendant will have their MMR decreased, meaning it is easier to climb. But all ranks above Ascendant will have their MMR decreased, making it harder to progress.
Sage's Ascendant title has had to be renamed to avoid confusion in-game. It has now been called Dauntless which not only avoids confusion but shows the agent's personality and theme much easier.
This is a big change for the Valorant ranked scene, but hopefully, one that will help lower-level players get out of the hell hole this is bronze and silver.