Every single Valorant player knows the pain. You load into a competitive lobby, and within 0.2 seconds, two of your teammates instantly lock Reyna and Jett, refusing to communicate or play controllers.
For years, the community has begged Riot Games for a solution. It appears the developers have finally listened. Leakers have uncovered the code for a brand-new valorant instalock penalty system set to deploy in Episode 9. This controversial new matchmaking update will allegedly punish players who refuse to fill team compositions. Here is a complete breakdown of how the ‘Cascade Pick’ system works and why Reyna mains are furious.
- Table of Contents:
- The ‘Cascade Pick’ System
- The SR (Skill Rating) Penalty
- 💡 Expert Comments: Will it actually work?
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1. The ‘Cascade Pick’ System
To stop the 0.2-second instalocking, Riot is allegedly copying a system used in League of Legends: Wild Rift. In the upcoming patch, all 5 players will not be allowed to pick at the same time. Instead, the game will randomly assign a pick-order (Player 1 through Player 5).
- Player 1 gets 10 seconds to lock their agent.
- Then Player 2 gets 10 seconds.
- This continues down the line. If Player 5 wanted to play Jett, but Player 1 locked her first, Player 5 is forced to choose a different agent. This completely destroys the “Instalock” culture, as your ability to play a Duelist now relies entirely on RNG (Random Number Generation) placement in the lobby.
2. The SR (Skill Rating) Penalty
The leaks also suggest a controversial new behavioral tracking algorithm. If the system detects that you play Duelist in 90% of your matches, but you have a negative Win Rate and low Entry-Frag statistics, the game will quietly label you as a “Harmful Instalocker.” Players with this hidden tag will allegedly receive less RR (Ranked Rating) for a win, and lose more RR for a loss, forcing them to learn other roles (like Initiators or Controllers) to repair their hidden MMR.
🛡️ EXPERT COMMENTS: DODGE PENALTIES
Will this increase lobby dodging?
Absolutely. If a “Reyna Only” player is placed 5th in the Cascade Pick order and Reyna gets taken by Player 1, the Reyna main will simply ALT+F4 and dodge the lobby, wasting everyone’s time. To combat this, the leaks state Riot is increasing the dodge penalties severely. A first offense will no longer be a 3-minute warning; it will allegedly jump straight to a 30-minute queue ban and a heavy loss of Ranked Rating.
