Valorant testing new “Cascade” Agent selection system after player feedback

In a move that is proving to be divisive within the community, the development team behind Valorant is currently testing a sequential ‘Cascade’ Agent selection system.

Riot Games are consistently tinkering with their biggest titles. Balancing, rebalancing, and adding or removing features that work or flop is a huge part of what keeps the player base engaged year after year.

As part of an upcoming change, tests for a new ‘Cascade’ Agent selection system was leaked via ‘ValorLeaks’ on Twitter, a reputable source for behind-the-scenes information with Valorant.

Beyond just an announcement, the account followed up with a tweet explaining the Cascade system in greater detail. “Each player has 10 seconds, after 10 seconds the next player will be able to choose their Agent and so on.”

Finishing up the explanation of the new Agent selection system, ValorLeaks added: “Riot sent out surveys for players to give their feedback on the system, in its current form. As mentioned above, all can change as this is not final.”

This system is much more in line with how Champion selection occurs in League of Legends games, a fact not missed by fans, who were not particularly pleased in their responses.

“Valorant implementing cascade pick won’t do any good,” one player responded. “Unlike League where every role has more structure, this will just force players to throw if they don’t get their characters because the first two players lock Duelists.”

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Arguing against the idea that the system change has come about as a response to player feedback, one user tweeted “did a single soul ask for an Agent select cascade system or think it’s a good idea?”

In response to the question, one kind soul tried to answer the need for a cascade system in defense of the dev team. “It prevents/reduces the incentive for toxicity and throw picks after someone gets their character picked,” they explained. “[It] also prevents instalocks which generally aren’t that healthy for the game.”

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Long-term effects on the game are still to be seen, especially with no set release in mind for Valorant’s live servers. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on the effect of the cascade system both in casual and professional play when the time arrives.