Smurfing is a popular thing to do in many games. Even though this practice is used by people wanting to harm other people’s experiences, others hire professional smurfers to get low-ranked accounts higher. Some even smurf to play with friends, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Whether smurfing is morally right or wrong depends on who you ask. Some defend this practice whereas others don’t like it as much.
Most competitive games, however, have taken serious measures to prevent people from smurfing. Riot Games is one of the developers actively fighting smurfing.
Is smurfing allowed in Valorant? While the simple answer is “no,” there are a few things to consider about that. We’ll talk about everything you should know here.
What’s Smurfing?
Simply put, smurfing involves creating an online account to play against low-ranked players. In other words, anyone who creates an alternate account to play an online game can be considered a smurfer.
Technically, those considered smurfers are only players with a high skill level. People without much experience in a game having alternate accounts aren’t usually considered harmful smurfers.
Let’s use an example. Player A has an account that’s in the Immortal rank. They then create a new account to play against Iron, Bronze, or Silver players. Due to the huge skill gap, the player will likely breeze through the ranks.
Other people smurf to play with friends who may not be in higher ranks.
Smurfing As a Service
Not all players create alternate accounts for the sake of having one. Some people, for example, lost their accounts and want to create a new one. However, they don’t want to go through the hassle of leveling up their accounts again.
Depending on how good the player is at the game, they could take months (if not years) to get to the rank they were in before. This is when “account boosters” come into play.
Professional boosters (like the ones at BoostRoyal) are people who can level up your account as safely as possible. You won’t have to worry about losing the account or spending time being frustrated from your initial ranked matches.
The Controversy Surrounding Smurfing
Even though smurfing doesn’t sound too bad on paper, it comes with a few problems.
The most severe problem is the fact that low-ranked players may have a worse gaming experience when facing a smurfer. New players tend to get frustrated easily, and not being able to defend themselves against a skilled player might make their matches uncomfortable and not fun.
Another issue surrounding smurfing revolves around the competitive scene. Some people smurf in professional gaming leagues, which may be seen as unfair.
Most of the time, leagues are split based on player skill, so those in lower ranks don’t have to compete against players in the higher ones. Of course, if a smurf were to play in a low-rank league, they’ll have a much higher chance of winning, which isn’t right.
Why Isn’t Smurfing Allowed in Valorant?
Riot Games has taken a serious stance against smurfing in the past years, especially in League of Legends and Valorant.
Valorant specifically has something called “Systems Health Series,” where developers talk about their latest efforts to minimize cheating in the game.
Back in 2022, Valorant implemented an “Automated Smurf Detection” feature, which affects MMRs. It also caused 5-stack changes. Simply put, that means that the more smurfs there are in the team, the lower the MMR they could get.
Even though Riot Games isn’t specifically trying to fight those trying to play with friends, they are still being affected by the measure.
In other words, you’re not necessarily getting banned for being a smurf, but Riot Games has made it harder for these people to rank up.
Other measures made by Riot Games include:
- Refining the queue system
- Rank disparity limitations
- Account verifications
If you still want to rank up your account but don’t want to lose too much time, you could try hiring a booster.
Bottom Line
Smurfing is (and will probably always be) a controversial thing to discuss on many platforms. It mostly depends on why you’re doing it.
Those smurfing for the sake of leveling up their accounts or playing with friends instead of making fun of lower-ranked players aren’t usually frowned upon.
Whether you’re looking for Valorant or LoL smurfs, make sure to look for a reputable company that can offer the protection you deserve.
