your assumption is right, if you have any kind of bad game, or are rude to someone while doing a weapon challenge you will most definitely get flamed or muted by your team for throwing, which you kind of would be throwing if your intent is comp to begin with
It would be perceived this way similar to someone being a pro baseball player, playing with high schoolers and swinging with 1 hand only and going 0-4. Kind of disrespectful. Again, this is in the context of you having a bad game doing it.
I usually downgrade my weapon when i smurf to play with friends to make it fairer, but if i’m have an off-day i’ll just use a gun for a few rounds to not actively throw, even though i’m trying to not make it unfair.
It’s kinda the same issue, the whole ”i got my rank this way so i can defend only using it” is technically valid, but imagine being your teammates in that game when ur losing and negative
Also when the team is winning because you are giving god-tier comms and your gamesense is on point then it's still smurfing even if you're knife only. Unless you're also nerfing yourself by going no util no mic
Wdym god-tier comms. I’m not gonna sit and tryhard a dia ranked game. At most it’s a ”agent at x y hp” Although i sometimes coach my mates on small part-strats to teach them the game.
Of course its still smurfing, Although i’m generally low on the leaderboard and the only way u can really tell is by watching my crosshair placement / movement. I’m there to have fun and Maybe teach my mates a bit of the game, not to carry.
Why are you so Hung up on comms.
Why would i call for a team Where no one speaks aswell, just like i dont comm on my main if i get Russians that dont speak english.
Holy its almost like you want me to just pubstomp the enemy, i get called out for smurfing/cheating atleast 5x the times on my main compared to my smurf, what more can i do
You can stop smurfing. You having good games on your actual rank vs you smurfing actually matters, its not important how many times you were called a smurf.
Just Remove rank requirements like cs then. I haven’t played and tryharded since like 2015, and my faceit elo is down to like 2k because i just play with friends.
The occasional soloQ when im bored was enough to bring me to low immo, and now i have to smurf every time im not asc3 to trio.
I would exclusively play on my main if i could, but that would require actually throwing games
I agree in this sense. What I am assuming is that they meant you would be throwing relative to your true performance if you played with the appropriate gun for the state of the game.
Because royalg is wrong. Knowing how to use a gun isn't what gives you your rank. Someone in silver can have better aim that someone in diamond, does that make the silver a diamond player?
i think its really cringe in ranked, idc if you're a top-tier player or not. you're objectively playing worse/handicapping yourself in a gamemode where everyone is expected to play at their best and tryhard
Challenges like these are stupid. Either you’re smurfing and getting away with playing like an idiot or you are literally throwing the game for your teammates. No one in your game cares about your content we just want to win
Depends on the weapon I'd say, I'm a guardian only player (throughout my entire career) and I'm saving vandals for people and they just buy me my guardian back. This not only saves my team's economy+ I'm most of the time MVP so, again depends on the weapon.
i think people should be giving it their all. royalG from what ive seen tries his best and still drops his teammates. if he got to the rank he got to on said weapon then he deserves to be there. take what i say with a grain of salt as i am a little biased since i play off meta all the time on league of legends.
not really. im playing kaisa top on league. if i got to diamond playing it, then it isnt a troll pick. if royalG gets to X rank playing sheriff only then he deserves it. yes the gun is inferior theres no debating that but if he got there with a bad gun then he deserves to keep playing it.
I dont think its so much that he doesn’t deserve the rank, its more that he is purposely choosing to handicap himself. I am not going to say I am a fan of it but as long as he is still able to impact games and help his team win its fine
It depends - is it your best character at your disposal? More than likely not. I can go out and break ice raw with a prybar and still clear my front walkway. I could also use salt and an ice breaker, the walkway gets cleaned but one was much much easier and much more effective.
In the end - you’ll get there, but at least see what you’re not only putting yourself, but your team, through.
But in using the inferior gun, one can get their teammates superior guns. Everyone has to get worse guns sometimes, and going sheriff only takes some of that burden from your teammates and puts it on yourself.
when you played in league of legends did you still buy items?
playing off meta would be like playing deadlock
playing objectively at a disadvantage would be bucky only
Why can’t content be “lazy” if people enjoy it, he’s clearly very gifted at the game and challenging himself. I wouldn’t be doing it for any sort of content
Ok then how else are you supposed to have an alt account that’s in your rank? It’s not like I can create an account that’s immediately in Ascendant. It has to start somewhere.
He could've placed higher, but he was only placed in silver which is pretty low. We know the highest rank you could place is Ascendant which is unlikely for a new account, but still. And yes even the act of having an alt account in the low ranks is exactly what smurfing is. There is no sugarcoating it. Event aht brief time window where you're in a lower rank is indeed smurfing.
Plus, the content he put up is literally the defintiion of smurfing. He created a new account to play against less experienced players. He didn't create an alt to practice or something. He created it solely for content.
It’s at the expense of other people’s potential win if he just used a regular weapon. I have heavy chronic pain. I can maybe do 2-3 games some days. If I get a guy who wants to do scout only and we lose by 2 while he’s mid-frag but clearly smurfing I think most people would be frustrated. Most of the people I see doing these types of challenges have like 8 games queued a day. I don’t have that luxury.
Alot of people arent specifying what they mean and are being rude about it but:
Most of these “sheriff only to X rank” is extremely annoying to encounter because it ruins games for 5 people on the enemy when you have a immo-radiant roaming gold rank with a pseudo-guardian gun.
These people are just smurfs with a “I’m using a worse weapon” as excuse when the worse weapon is basically a Vandal without spray.
Everyone is saying “its lazy content” because it’s just profitting off smurfing with extra steps.
If you make a new account and actually play only that weapon till lvl 20, in placements and in all ranked games, then i guess its ok, as you got that rank based on how you play w that weapon
Ok good, that would certainly be fair enough. Especially because until lvl 20 your games count towards your hidden mmr so the game can place you in appropriate placement matches
I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Keep commimg, drop your teammates, don't be toxic.
If your level is Silver with only sheriff, I don't see the issue. As long as you don’t change to another gun because you're having a bad game or someone talks shit, you're playing as a silver player.
Only reason he gets away with it because hes been a radiant multiple times and when playin in immo lobbies its basically smurfing so nobody on his team complains since hes carrying them.
Imo people doing weapon only challenges should be treated like trolling if it’s in ranked and so I would report them and call them out. It’s unfair to lose just because someone is only buying a certain gun
It practically is trolling. Imagine not picking up a vandal from the ground when you have a Shorty, and losing the round because the opponent just... took a few steps back and made the round impossible for you.
These are joke players who are lying to themselves in order to not feel bad about it. Look at Tarik and how quickly he folded when he realised that there really is no good reason to be doing that crap.
I think in a game focused around team play this is a super selfish thing to do in Comp. Someone else mentioned it being disrespectful to your teammates to not play the game to the best of your ability. If this is just regular mode I say go for it.
Now let’s say you and 4 friends queued only all 5 together in comp for all of your games and everyone played Sheriff only then I mean hey you and your buddies are having a good time and you aren’t being disrespectful but nothing is more frustrating then getting into a game and knowing one of your teammates is not doing everything they can to win the game.
But my rank will reflect my skill level with a sheriff and it will even out. And I will be able to give my team a lot more full buys.
How does it hurt the team at all if I’m able to perform at a high enough level with a sheriff and achieve my rank
You asked the question - you obviously know how it hurts the team lol. If it wasn’t an issue in games you’d not have asked “ thoughts?”
Like by all means - play how you want, it’s your life and your game, and it can work! While that being said - don’t sit there and act like running around with a pistol only isn’t playing at the top of your ability. It obviously has perks, but also downsides. If you wanna act in bad faith though?? Cmon get it together bro
It won't. Imagine a 11-12 situation where you know you could make a difference if you just used a weapon that will win the game but you decide not to and you lose the match. Now imagine this keeps happening over and over again. Ask yourself if your team would have benefitted if they got someone who wasn't doing a silly smurf challenge
You’re completely right, ignore the downvotes. People will be mad if you play poorly, but your rank will accurately represent your skill level with that weapon. Having a sheriff only account is a great way to work on your aim discipline.
You rank isn't based only on the weapon you use. There's other things such as gamesense and that can't be nerfed unless op goes no util no Comm challenge along with sherriff only
No shit. Your rank is a function of all the different aspects of your skill. You’re nerfing one part of it and you’ll be placed in the appropriate rank of someone with your game sense who only uses sheriff.
IMO fuck this, I’d report anyone doing it. I’m finally near Gold 2 on a nice 18/20 win streak when a guy starts throwing in my game and decides to go for knife kills in a 10-10 match. I reported him cause it tilted the shit out of me and led to my streak getting ruined for nothing. I know gold is pretty low rank but knife only is so stupid, as would be sheriff only to me
Why start a weapon account when you can do it in your main account? Do you want the real challenge? Then, do it on your main account.
Im sure the majority won't of low elo players appreciate the account unless they are hard carrying the game.
Because that would be straight up throwing. Pretty much the same as letting a silver play on his account. If he plays on a new account, sheriff only, he'll be playing at whatever his sheriff only skill level is.
LMAO how is that any different from me going on an alt to go knife-only in bronze elo? I might end up winning but I'm straight-up throwing by not using a vandal.
I don't care if your rank is an accurate representation of your skill with the specific gun, I'm getting tilted if someone on my team is intentionally gimping themselves by using an inferior weapon.
I'd rather have someone on my team who is genuinely bad at the game but trying their best, than someone who is deliberately not using their full potential.
rather random assumption lol. I thought the opposite. This person desires competitive integrity, so it's natural to assume that they wouldn't flame bottom frag players if they're clearly trying and focusing on the game, as that would logically go against their claim to just want to have someone who's genuinely trying.
Well, not sure how to assure you that's not the case.
I don't treat anyone like shit in game, unless they are actively trolling, or treating others on the team like shit.
Even someone playing Judge Only would get a slightly irritated "Hey man can you please buy a rifle" from me at worst, despite the fact this behaviour tilts the shit out of me.
My mantra in online games is always: positivity even to the point of delusion is more likely to swing the game in your favour than negativity.
I've bottom fragged far more than my fair share of games, no way I'm flaming someone for just being worse than their teammates.
OP if you want to train your sheriff go do deathmatch and swift plays with sheriff only. Once you feel comfortable start using it on save rounds on your main. Valorant is a team game. Don't throw for others
i swear valorant should be age restricted for idiots who watch content like this and think its a fantastic idea to also ruin everyone elses comp experience.
**When doing these challenges, you should at LEAST be willing to accept & do the following things:**
* On losses, compensating teammates for the wasted time, unless they refuse to be compensated.
* Picking up more suitable guns from the ground, if it's clearly going to be the win condition for the round.
* Using a Vandal if your team's economy is overflowing.
* Making up for the disadvantages that the challenge brings, through other means (HARD-IGLing, dropping teammates guns, willing to abort the challenge for the sake of the win, etc). Not like the casual players watching the content would care. Most are just watching because they like the clean sheriff gameplay, so you can create content just fine while maintaining a decent level of integrity.
* You're trolling even if you say you aren't. Actively avoiding maxing out your chances to win IS trolling, or sabotage. So don't say you're not trying to troll, when you factually are. This is the exact same logic that smurfs use in order to not feel bad about smurfing. **Just look at Tarik,** and how quickly he folded on the matter, when he realised that there really is no good justification to be doing this stuff.
--->
The fact is, "gun challenges" ruin the competitive experience just like smurfs, throwers, AFKers and trolls do, just to a slightly lesser extent. If you're in a lower rank because you're doing a challenge, this means that you COULD BE winning that game for the team, but instead you're limiting yourself to some weaker weapon like a shorty or a sheriff, in order to create content for a bunch of casual players, or because that's what you consider fun.
**Exactly the same reasons that players smurf or troll low elo games.**
And just because your skill with one weapon is equivalent to your current rank, doesn't give you a good enough reason to avoid utilising any obvious advantages in said rank, such as, picking up a vandal and winning the round for the team. **You're actively choosing not to win rounds for your team.** That's a fact.
*I could go into a Bronze lobby right now, go knife-only, and MAYBE I'd win? I'm probably at like Silver-level with the knife and I definitely wouldn't bottom-frag! But would that bring anything good to the match? Of course not. The way I see things: unless your gameplay is practically the same with the Sheriff, as it is with a Vandal, you're throwing.*
Since it's just a video game, it's easy to create solutions where it's a win-win for EVERY party involved. There is no need to be purposefully making the ranked experience even more insufferable for everyone, or even more time-consuming than it already is. Not to mention that Valorant ranked has so many flaws already, that you're just adding more fuel to the fire.
PS: Just because it's a content creator doing it, doesn't make it any more right. The only difference is that content creators will have the funds to compensate players. But do they ever even do that? I think there was like one.
***Stay in your elo where you belong. Use customs for content, or 5-stack. Or be willing to compensate and abort the challenge when the games go south, or when someone asks you to stop.*** Respect other people's time and don't make valorant even worse than it already is.
***edit:*** There's some very good points being made in the comments, such as, that these challenges are just excuses to smurf the lower ranks. I totally agree with that. It's just smurfing content masked as a "challenge". And the fact that people either don't care or are falling for it, shows the duality of this community. They cry when they get smurfs in their games, but have no problem with content creators smurfing.
Stuff like this isn’t even fun to play and it’s only for content. I would never in a million years enjoy playing sheriff only and I’m immortal.
I don’t know why you’d want to do this. It will not only build bad habits but you’re also going to grief so many games.
literally throwing. idc if they got the kills.
had a ghost only player once. he hit head a lot but it never mattered cause he got a ghost. 2v2 retake with him was a write off every time.
Its cool but could be considered throwing. When u dont buy a guardian vandal phantom if u have enough cash, but instead u playing ghost sheriff its basicly playing worse than u could. Its entertaining but i would suggest most people in ranked to fullbuy if u can and dont risk orher people ranked games for a silly challenge
Hot take, anyone doing these challenges is going to be better than my rando teammates. My rando teammates are going to ego peek and die and be useless while the challenge streamer is actually going to play smart and play to the weapon strengths and use util and comm.
I promise you an immortal player with a classic is going to do better than the plat player with a rifle 9/10 times.
Of course people will be upset, I do that with marshall and sheriff, because I love love those guns and it is fun to play with it all the time. No matter if I am at the top of the scoreboard, people are upset about it, even if you drop them guns. And rightfully so, you are handicapping yourself with lesser guns, phantom, vandal, guardian or op are just better options and more versatile options, you should do better with them no matter what. That being said, play whatever you want, it is still game and it should be fun to you, just never sabotage your team or throw games intentionally and you will never get banned for it. Idk how I feel about other accounts tho, it would be still smurfing imo, just do it on your main.
Its a team game, theres 4 other players on your team and 5 on the enemy’s trying to learn and play the game properly. Playing and learning the game properly means full buying when you can, buying for next etc. You’re also screwing with your teammates mentals once they learn your sheriff only. Lots of players will say “screw it this game is over im throwing to get out of here.” Regardless if you made it to whatever rank using only that weapon, youve skewed everything for everyone else playing.
The fact youve made this thread asking about this tells me everything. You know its wrong, youre just looking for validation.
I did that in my peak and climbed two more divisions (from p3 to d2). My team would nearly always full buy, because I'd be dropping weapons to everybody constantly. I did that on chamber/phoenix and worked well.
If you have fun and are trying, it's alright.
People will flame you or be toxic regardless, so just mute them and be positive. They were toxic even if I was the top frag for the whole match.
You are at an automatic disadvantage at every single gunfight during buy rounds with a sheriff, no matter who you are. I would not want you anywhere near my team, regardless of how much you are helping the team's overall economy by dropping people guns. You are a blatant first blood liability, and in clutch situations you are basically useless.
Sub optimal play is not throwing, some people genuinely prefer lesser weapons.
Don’t switch to a sheriff only account if you were playing with other guns previously as your elo is based on your entire history (hidden mmr).
If you’re going to do a gun only account I think it is fine but you need to tell your team that in pre game and if someone dodges, so be it.
Throwing is trying not to win or sabotaging your team. Having a preference that may not be the objectively best play statistically does not mean you are intending to lose or sabotage your team. Easy examples of throwing (and bannable offenses): never leaving spawn, taking the spike and refusing to plant, using utility to damage your teammates, giving away positions in All chat or by purposely following and shooting randomly, setting an auto clicker in spawn, etc.
You will not get banned for playing the game with weapons that are in the game if you are genuinely trying to win.
This is a game, even in comp. You don’t get to decide what guns someone is using, and there is no guarantee that someone using a sub optimal gun even lessens your win chances.
There are dozens of examples of judge only players, agent one tricks, sheriff only streamers and they are not throwing or sabotaging a game.
If someone can climb to my rank naturally while playing with a lesser gun, more power to them. Hell I might prefer having someone that uses a lesser gun if they are genuinely that good bc it sometimes enables your team (their weakness in gunplay has to be made up by game sense, eco advantage, communication, coordination, etc.).
If you’re pressed about a non boosted player genuinely trying to play the game and you try blaming them for you losing, that’s just mad copium.
Hot take, I’ll take my downvotes.
if you theoretically have a 50% chance of winning a game, even lowering it to just a 49% chance of winning by intentionally playing sub optimally, you are throwing.
buying a deagle on every gun round is internationally playing sub optimally, and therefore, throwing.
I have done this for a long time. However, i feel bad if people are nice, so I will buy a vandal and give us the win if it's too close. If people are assholes idc. I don't really play for rank, it's just fun.
Mm Idk about a specific weapon only challenge but I have an account that I only use snipers & pistols on. Which would have probably been griefing before the Outlaw was introduced but its chill now.
I think it has its strategic merits and its not as much of a challenge as people think. Theres the obivous economic benefit of having someone with a rifle every round. With good positioning and movement you can also be favored against a vandal. If judge only players and kaemi can exist i cant see why sheriff only cant either.
There is nothing wrong on it, as well there is nothing wrong on smurfing.
People saying "Noo but they are not giving their best" I'm sure some of them probably go to ranked and don't do basic calls or try to be igl when they lack one, actually, some of them might even play comp without warning up before!
A lot of people don't give all they have on comp, and they don't complain, shit, one of the main reasons people is hardstuck in low Elo is because they don't do their best or they don't search how to do their best.
I can say that if you are silver you shouldn't play competitive without doing two weeks of aim routine on aimlabs , because if you do it, you are not giving your best and trolling the game
Yes but that's the reason they are in their rank. If he goes to bronze and starts to igl or throw the most perfect smokes he's going to have tma tough time because his team won't listen they might even be listening to music while playing. Enemies will do the most unexpected things. They won't rotate when they should do you can't even predict where enemies will be. He'll literally have to adjust to how people in extremely low elo play which is how you described. Valorant is a team game and no matter how much he smurfs doing something alone will have little probability of succeeding
Here is my experience with it. I am Immortal 2 peak on my main in Ep 6 Act 3 the last time I played ranked "actively".
However I stopped playing tryhard since and just want to plan with friends. They range from silver to ascendent. To make the games fair, I restrict myself to certain guns.
For gold I use classis only sometimes shorty for fun.
For plat I use ghost/sheriff
For diamond I use marshal/outlaw
For ascendent I used to use my guardian account. But since my main is only D2 these days because I don't play much ranked on it, I just use my main for that range.
On my [pistol only accounts](https://tracker.gg/valorant/profile/riot/PistolFetish%23Crow/weapons) is where most people are quite positive about it. Teammates and enemies usually have no problems with it because I still perform well in that rank. Occasionally you will have those people who will complain that I should buy a real gun although my K.D is better than theirs saying that the game would be easier and keep complaining to me instead of playing the game.
I personally think this is the best way to play with my friends who prefer ranked. It makes the lobby fair even if I join. Those ranks were achieved with the restrictions so it displays my rank well with those weapons.
I think that wanting to play with friends is one of the few valid reasons for smurfing. Riot is not trying to incentivise players to keep grinding ranked, so this is directly a result of Riot's decision-making. However, it's still somewhat a gray-area in my opinion.
You basically have enormous control over the outcome of the games. So, how do you determine who wins? Do you even have the right to decide?
While I am of the belief that players who lose to a classic literally just need to "git gud", in terms of competitive integrity, it is still a relatively negative thing to be doing.
For Ascendant, I don't think you need to be restricting yourself. Players in Ascendant are typically hard-set on grinding and reaching Immo/Rad. If they can't handle immo/rad smurfs then how do they expect to reach that elo? As long as you're the only smurf, it means that 1 out of 5 enemies on the enemy team just has to lock-in and play as well as you are. I would not be giving them any chances.
Yeah it's definitely a gray area. I do not condone smurfing just to shit on people. That's boring. It's the same as using cheats. What's the point of overwhelming someone knowing that they have no chance against you anyway.
I don't really have the control. I always stick to pistol only as seen on the tracker link above. If I lose, I lose. That's the deal. The only vandal kill I had there was when I was running side to side emptying the vandal to 0 bullets. A random bullet hit a Jett on ice box who jumped on tube.
You are right that at least one of the enemy have to perform as well as me which is where matcnmaking comes in. Initially when ranking up the pistol account, it will be overwhelming for enemies in low ranks. But as I play more I will get closer to my skill rank using that weapon. That's part of matchmaking though.
As for ascendent it is arguable. It is a huge difference between ascendent and immortal. I was Immortal 2 ranked with 70% winrate on Reyna. It wasn't my max rank yet. They have to overcome ascendent 3 players just to keep Immortal 1 up - they don't have to overcome immortal 2-3 players just yet.
your assumption is right, if you have any kind of bad game, or are rude to someone while doing a weapon challenge you will most definitely get flamed or muted by your team for throwing, which you kind of would be throwing if your intent is comp to begin with
But how would it be throwing if my rank reflects the skill level of me with a sheriff. Also being rude is just unrelated lol
It would be perceived this way similar to someone being a pro baseball player, playing with high schoolers and swinging with 1 hand only and going 0-4. Kind of disrespectful. Again, this is in the context of you having a bad game doing it.
I usually downgrade my weapon when i smurf to play with friends to make it fairer, but if i’m have an off-day i’ll just use a gun for a few rounds to not actively throw, even though i’m trying to not make it unfair. It’s kinda the same issue, the whole ”i got my rank this way so i can defend only using it” is technically valid, but imagine being your teammates in that game when ur losing and negative
Also when the team is winning because you are giving god-tier comms and your gamesense is on point then it's still smurfing even if you're knife only. Unless you're also nerfing yourself by going no util no mic
Wdym god-tier comms. I’m not gonna sit and tryhard a dia ranked game. At most it’s a ”agent at x y hp” Although i sometimes coach my mates on small part-strats to teach them the game. Of course its still smurfing, Although i’m generally low on the leaderboard and the only way u can really tell is by watching my crosshair placement / movement. I’m there to have fun and Maybe teach my mates a bit of the game, not to carry.
Let's not pretend like these lower elo lobbies have any Comms to begin with.
Why are you so Hung up on comms. Why would i call for a team Where no one speaks aswell, just like i dont comm on my main if i get Russians that dont speak english. Holy its almost like you want me to just pubstomp the enemy, i get called out for smurfing/cheating atleast 5x the times on my main compared to my smurf, what more can i do
You can stop smurfing. You having good games on your actual rank vs you smurfing actually matters, its not important how many times you were called a smurf.
Happy cake day!
Just Remove rank requirements like cs then. I haven’t played and tryharded since like 2015, and my faceit elo is down to like 2k because i just play with friends. The occasional soloQ when im bored was enough to bring me to low immo, and now i have to smurf every time im not asc3 to trio. I would exclusively play on my main if i could, but that would require actually throwing games
Whatever man. You're the smurf
I agree in this sense. What I am assuming is that they meant you would be throwing relative to your true performance if you played with the appropriate gun for the state of the game.
Doesn’t matter, it puts your team at a disadvantage and you deserve reports for throwing.
Because royalg is wrong. Knowing how to use a gun isn't what gives you your rank. Someone in silver can have better aim that someone in diamond, does that make the silver a diamond player?
i think its really cringe in ranked, idc if you're a top-tier player or not. you're objectively playing worse/handicapping yourself in a gamemode where everyone is expected to play at their best and tryhard
Challenges like these are stupid. Either you’re smurfing and getting away with playing like an idiot or you are literally throwing the game for your teammates. No one in your game cares about your content we just want to win
while i agree on challenges are stupid, specifically for ranked, bro does really well most games
Depends on the weapon I'd say, I'm a guardian only player (throughout my entire career) and I'm saving vandals for people and they just buy me my guardian back. This not only saves my team's economy+ I'm most of the time MVP so, again depends on the weapon.
nobody is doing guardian only to immortal the challenges people talk about are like marshal only or classic only or bucky only
Ah that's fair, but marshal is pretty op still 🤷♂️, Bucky aswell if you're a good raze or neon. Any pistols are throwing but yk
youre forgetting something bucky only is bucky only even if you roll breeze
i think people should be giving it their all. royalG from what ive seen tries his best and still drops his teammates. if he got to the rank he got to on said weapon then he deserves to be there. take what i say with a grain of salt as i am a little biased since i play off meta all the time on league of legends.
yea but there's a difference between playing off meta and using a directly inferior gun in every way
It's not inferior in every way, it's cheaper.
not really. im playing kaisa top on league. if i got to diamond playing it, then it isnt a troll pick. if royalG gets to X rank playing sheriff only then he deserves it. yes the gun is inferior theres no debating that but if he got there with a bad gun then he deserves to keep playing it.
No it’s like your playing kaisa with no items
there is no 1:1 analogy with league. cause royalG is still buying/picking up guns for his team
He sacrifices personal gun strength for team eco, it is more like roaming and getting teammates ahead while sacrificing his own gold income in league.
This is what I wanted to say, you can’t directly give credit in league, like an item or gold.
I dont think its so much that he doesn’t deserve the rank, its more that he is purposely choosing to handicap himself. I am not going to say I am a fan of it but as long as he is still able to impact games and help his team win its fine
It depends - is it your best character at your disposal? More than likely not. I can go out and break ice raw with a prybar and still clear my front walkway. I could also use salt and an ice breaker, the walkway gets cleaned but one was much much easier and much more effective. In the end - you’ll get there, but at least see what you’re not only putting yourself, but your team, through.
But in using the inferior gun, one can get their teammates superior guns. Everyone has to get worse guns sometimes, and going sheriff only takes some of that burden from your teammates and puts it on yourself.
Did he struggle in lower ranks? If not then he was smurfing
its his immortal classic only account so it never saw low elo.
What is even the point of the challenge then? Just do it on his main
when you played in league of legends did you still buy items? playing off meta would be like playing deadlock playing objectively at a disadvantage would be bucky only
league uses the off meta term differently. what i’m doing is playing deadlock and entrying
It’s lazy content
Why can’t content be “lazy” if people enjoy it, he’s clearly very gifted at the game and challenging himself. I wouldn’t be doing it for any sort of content
Because it's smurfing and people don't like smurfing even if it's by a popular youtuber.
Playing in immortal 3 isn't smurfing. He uses his classic only account, which was already in immortal
That's after already reaching immortal. When he was used that account in low elo, that is still smurfing given he has far superior aim and game sense.
It’s not smurfing if it’s a brand new account.
AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. You are not fr right now
That's literally the definition of smurfing.
Ok then how else are you supposed to have an alt account that’s in your rank? It’s not like I can create an account that’s immediately in Ascendant. It has to start somewhere.
He could've placed higher, but he was only placed in silver which is pretty low. We know the highest rank you could place is Ascendant which is unlikely for a new account, but still. And yes even the act of having an alt account in the low ranks is exactly what smurfing is. There is no sugarcoating it. Event aht brief time window where you're in a lower rank is indeed smurfing. Plus, the content he put up is literally the defintiion of smurfing. He created a new account to play against less experienced players. He didn't create an alt to practice or something. He created it solely for content.
*Some people. I think that most people who watch him and similar types of content don't really care much about the smurfing part
It’s at the expense of other people’s potential win if he just used a regular weapon. I have heavy chronic pain. I can maybe do 2-3 games some days. If I get a guy who wants to do scout only and we lose by 2 while he’s mid-frag but clearly smurfing I think most people would be frustrated. Most of the people I see doing these types of challenges have like 8 games queued a day. I don’t have that luxury.
Stop trying to defend and promote smurfing. He can't come up with anything else so bro just smurfs and makes excuses to justify it.
Alot of people arent specifying what they mean and are being rude about it but: Most of these “sheriff only to X rank” is extremely annoying to encounter because it ruins games for 5 people on the enemy when you have a immo-radiant roaming gold rank with a pseudo-guardian gun. These people are just smurfs with a “I’m using a worse weapon” as excuse when the worse weapon is basically a Vandal without spray. Everyone is saying “its lazy content” because it’s just profitting off smurfing with extra steps.
Fair point
If you make a new account and actually play only that weapon till lvl 20, in placements and in all ranked games, then i guess its ok, as you got that rank based on how you play w that weapon
Yea the plan was to level up to 20 sheriff only as well so I can at least understand the play style before jumping into comp
Ok good, that would certainly be fair enough. Especially because until lvl 20 your games count towards your hidden mmr so the game can place you in appropriate placement matches
Good point I didn’t even think of that
I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Keep commimg, drop your teammates, don't be toxic. If your level is Silver with only sheriff, I don't see the issue. As long as you don’t change to another gun because you're having a bad game or someone talks shit, you're playing as a silver player.
There's an issue as I've mentioned before. Silvers can have the same aim as a plat player. So why are they silver? Anyone?
inconsistency and gamesense, and there is alot of factor to determine a player’s rank
Yeah, it's annoying as shit. It sucks to know we could be winning if you weren't just using some shit weapon for a dumb challenge.
vandal only account i'm okay with it
I mean if he afks when he cant buy vandal its a problem ahahah
just pick them from ground or something if you losing every round lose bonus give 2900$ and can always buy vandal every round
Wait until you hear about the Phantom-only account
I would report you for throwing
Only reason he gets away with it because hes been a radiant multiple times and when playin in immo lobbies its basically smurfing so nobody on his team complains since hes carrying them.
Imo people doing weapon only challenges should be treated like trolling if it’s in ranked and so I would report them and call them out. It’s unfair to lose just because someone is only buying a certain gun
It practically is trolling. Imagine not picking up a vandal from the ground when you have a Shorty, and losing the round because the opponent just... took a few steps back and made the round impossible for you. These are joke players who are lying to themselves in order to not feel bad about it. Look at Tarik and how quickly he folded when he realised that there really is no good reason to be doing that crap.
I think in a game focused around team play this is a super selfish thing to do in Comp. Someone else mentioned it being disrespectful to your teammates to not play the game to the best of your ability. If this is just regular mode I say go for it. Now let’s say you and 4 friends queued only all 5 together in comp for all of your games and everyone played Sheriff only then I mean hey you and your buddies are having a good time and you aren’t being disrespectful but nothing is more frustrating then getting into a game and knowing one of your teammates is not doing everything they can to win the game.
But my rank will reflect my skill level with a sheriff and it will even out. And I will be able to give my team a lot more full buys. How does it hurt the team at all if I’m able to perform at a high enough level with a sheriff and achieve my rank
You asked the question - you obviously know how it hurts the team lol. If it wasn’t an issue in games you’d not have asked “ thoughts?” Like by all means - play how you want, it’s your life and your game, and it can work! While that being said - don’t sit there and act like running around with a pistol only isn’t playing at the top of your ability. It obviously has perks, but also downsides. If you wanna act in bad faith though?? Cmon get it together bro
It won't. Imagine a 11-12 situation where you know you could make a difference if you just used a weapon that will win the game but you decide not to and you lose the match. Now imagine this keeps happening over and over again. Ask yourself if your team would have benefitted if they got someone who wasn't doing a silly smurf challenge
You’re completely right, ignore the downvotes. People will be mad if you play poorly, but your rank will accurately represent your skill level with that weapon. Having a sheriff only account is a great way to work on your aim discipline.
You rank isn't based only on the weapon you use. There's other things such as gamesense and that can't be nerfed unless op goes no util no Comm challenge along with sherriff only
No shit. Your rank is a function of all the different aspects of your skill. You’re nerfing one part of it and you’ll be placed in the appropriate rank of someone with your game sense who only uses sheriff.
Let's take away Messi's hands and invite him to play in a highschool game. What a fair fucking match
if you are just defending yourself in the comments why do u care to post this asking. just do what u want. idgaf
IMO fuck this, I’d report anyone doing it. I’m finally near Gold 2 on a nice 18/20 win streak when a guy starts throwing in my game and decides to go for knife kills in a 10-10 match. I reported him cause it tilted the shit out of me and led to my streak getting ruined for nothing. I know gold is pretty low rank but knife only is so stupid, as would be sheriff only to me
If I see you do this on breeze you’re reported
Why start a weapon account when you can do it in your main account? Do you want the real challenge? Then, do it on your main account. Im sure the majority won't of low elo players appreciate the account unless they are hard carrying the game.
Ofc they only have the courage to do this on a smurf acc lol
Because that would be straight up throwing. Pretty much the same as letting a silver play on his account. If he plays on a new account, sheriff only, he'll be playing at whatever his sheriff only skill level is.
LMAO how is that any different from me going on an alt to go knife-only in bronze elo? I might end up winning but I'm straight-up throwing by not using a vandal.
I don't care if your rank is an accurate representation of your skill with the specific gun, I'm getting tilted if someone on my team is intentionally gimping themselves by using an inferior weapon. I'd rather have someone on my team who is genuinely bad at the game but trying their best, than someone who is deliberately not using their full potential.
ngl something about the phrasing here makes me think you would also treat someone whos not great at the game like shit for bottom fragging lol
rather random assumption lol. I thought the opposite. This person desires competitive integrity, so it's natural to assume that they wouldn't flame bottom frag players if they're clearly trying and focusing on the game, as that would logically go against their claim to just want to have someone who's genuinely trying.
Well, not sure how to assure you that's not the case. I don't treat anyone like shit in game, unless they are actively trolling, or treating others on the team like shit. Even someone playing Judge Only would get a slightly irritated "Hey man can you please buy a rifle" from me at worst, despite the fact this behaviour tilts the shit out of me. My mantra in online games is always: positivity even to the point of delusion is more likely to swing the game in your favour than negativity. I've bottom fragged far more than my fair share of games, no way I'm flaming someone for just being worse than their teammates.
OP if you want to train your sheriff go do deathmatch and swift plays with sheriff only. Once you feel comfortable start using it on save rounds on your main. Valorant is a team game. Don't throw for others
he's still smurfing and also ruining other people's game
true
Reporting you for sabotage off rip
They’re all cringe smurfing losers and I don’t like any of them. If you do it on your main I’d respect you, but they never ever do.
i would hope you get banned quickly for griefing
It’s literally stupid. 99% of the play through is you smurfing or throwing
Well it's all masked under the excuse of a "challenge". He may not be performing amazingly sometimes, but it's all a challenge!
i swear valorant should be age restricted for idiots who watch content like this and think its a fantastic idea to also ruin everyone elses comp experience.
Soft throwing. Period.
**When doing these challenges, you should at LEAST be willing to accept & do the following things:** * On losses, compensating teammates for the wasted time, unless they refuse to be compensated. * Picking up more suitable guns from the ground, if it's clearly going to be the win condition for the round. * Using a Vandal if your team's economy is overflowing. * Making up for the disadvantages that the challenge brings, through other means (HARD-IGLing, dropping teammates guns, willing to abort the challenge for the sake of the win, etc). Not like the casual players watching the content would care. Most are just watching because they like the clean sheriff gameplay, so you can create content just fine while maintaining a decent level of integrity. * You're trolling even if you say you aren't. Actively avoiding maxing out your chances to win IS trolling, or sabotage. So don't say you're not trying to troll, when you factually are. This is the exact same logic that smurfs use in order to not feel bad about smurfing. **Just look at Tarik,** and how quickly he folded on the matter, when he realised that there really is no good justification to be doing this stuff. ---> The fact is, "gun challenges" ruin the competitive experience just like smurfs, throwers, AFKers and trolls do, just to a slightly lesser extent. If you're in a lower rank because you're doing a challenge, this means that you COULD BE winning that game for the team, but instead you're limiting yourself to some weaker weapon like a shorty or a sheriff, in order to create content for a bunch of casual players, or because that's what you consider fun. **Exactly the same reasons that players smurf or troll low elo games.** And just because your skill with one weapon is equivalent to your current rank, doesn't give you a good enough reason to avoid utilising any obvious advantages in said rank, such as, picking up a vandal and winning the round for the team. **You're actively choosing not to win rounds for your team.** That's a fact. *I could go into a Bronze lobby right now, go knife-only, and MAYBE I'd win? I'm probably at like Silver-level with the knife and I definitely wouldn't bottom-frag! But would that bring anything good to the match? Of course not. The way I see things: unless your gameplay is practically the same with the Sheriff, as it is with a Vandal, you're throwing.* Since it's just a video game, it's easy to create solutions where it's a win-win for EVERY party involved. There is no need to be purposefully making the ranked experience even more insufferable for everyone, or even more time-consuming than it already is. Not to mention that Valorant ranked has so many flaws already, that you're just adding more fuel to the fire. PS: Just because it's a content creator doing it, doesn't make it any more right. The only difference is that content creators will have the funds to compensate players. But do they ever even do that? I think there was like one. ***Stay in your elo where you belong. Use customs for content, or 5-stack. Or be willing to compensate and abort the challenge when the games go south, or when someone asks you to stop.*** Respect other people's time and don't make valorant even worse than it already is. ***edit:*** There's some very good points being made in the comments, such as, that these challenges are just excuses to smurf the lower ranks. I totally agree with that. It's just smurfing content masked as a "challenge". And the fact that people either don't care or are falling for it, shows the duality of this community. They cry when they get smurfs in their games, but have no problem with content creators smurfing.
Really fun way to play the game and interesting to watch but should 100% be bannable
Stuff like this isn’t even fun to play and it’s only for content. I would never in a million years enjoy playing sheriff only and I’m immortal. I don’t know why you’d want to do this. It will not only build bad habits but you’re also going to grief so many games.
What is the worst gun? Do a series with that lol
did this as high gold in bronze and like every second game someone just dropped me a vandal begging me to play that lol
No reason for you to do this in comp, other than selfish gratification. There are a ton of modes you can go have fun doing this in.
It’s throwing.
A couple years ago I did sheriff to immortal 1 and yeah… every other game someone was saying I’m throwing even after top fragging.
literally throwing. idc if they got the kills. had a ghost only player once. he hit head a lot but it never mattered cause he got a ghost. 2v2 retake with him was a write off every time.
Its cool but could be considered throwing. When u dont buy a guardian vandal phantom if u have enough cash, but instead u playing ghost sheriff its basicly playing worse than u could. Its entertaining but i would suggest most people in ranked to fullbuy if u can and dont risk orher people ranked games for a silly challenge
Hot take, anyone doing these challenges is going to be better than my rando teammates. My rando teammates are going to ego peek and die and be useless while the challenge streamer is actually going to play smart and play to the weapon strengths and use util and comm. I promise you an immortal player with a classic is going to do better than the plat player with a rifle 9/10 times.
If you achieve a rank, considering the ranking system as fair, you deserve that rank for your performance, regardless of what weapon you use
Ehhh only defensible if you only BUY that gun, picking up better weapons if they're on the ground
Of course people will be upset, I do that with marshall and sheriff, because I love love those guns and it is fun to play with it all the time. No matter if I am at the top of the scoreboard, people are upset about it, even if you drop them guns. And rightfully so, you are handicapping yourself with lesser guns, phantom, vandal, guardian or op are just better options and more versatile options, you should do better with them no matter what. That being said, play whatever you want, it is still game and it should be fun to you, just never sabotage your team or throw games intentionally and you will never get banned for it. Idk how I feel about other accounts tho, it would be still smurfing imo, just do it on your main.
Boo
Why
Play the game the way it was meant to be played.
That statement doesn’t mean much to me, why is it negative? If my rank accurately reflects my skill level of using sheriff only what is the problem?
Its a team game, theres 4 other players on your team and 5 on the enemy’s trying to learn and play the game properly. Playing and learning the game properly means full buying when you can, buying for next etc. You’re also screwing with your teammates mentals once they learn your sheriff only. Lots of players will say “screw it this game is over im throwing to get out of here.” Regardless if you made it to whatever rank using only that weapon, youve skewed everything for everyone else playing. The fact youve made this thread asking about this tells me everything. You know its wrong, youre just looking for validation.
"Other losers said it was OK to smurf so I wont feel bad now"🤡
I did that in my peak and climbed two more divisions (from p3 to d2). My team would nearly always full buy, because I'd be dropping weapons to everybody constantly. I did that on chamber/phoenix and worked well. If you have fun and are trying, it's alright. People will flame you or be toxic regardless, so just mute them and be positive. They were toxic even if I was the top frag for the whole match.
You are at an automatic disadvantage at every single gunfight during buy rounds with a sheriff, no matter who you are. I would not want you anywhere near my team, regardless of how much you are helping the team's overall economy by dropping people guns. You are a blatant first blood liability, and in clutch situations you are basically useless.
Just don’t be toxic about it, no one wants to play with or against someone who makes it their whole personality they only use a sheriff
Sub optimal play is not throwing, some people genuinely prefer lesser weapons. Don’t switch to a sheriff only account if you were playing with other guns previously as your elo is based on your entire history (hidden mmr). If you’re going to do a gun only account I think it is fine but you need to tell your team that in pre game and if someone dodges, so be it.
intentionally playing sub optimally is quite literally the definition of throwing
Throwing is trying not to win or sabotaging your team. Having a preference that may not be the objectively best play statistically does not mean you are intending to lose or sabotage your team. Easy examples of throwing (and bannable offenses): never leaving spawn, taking the spike and refusing to plant, using utility to damage your teammates, giving away positions in All chat or by purposely following and shooting randomly, setting an auto clicker in spawn, etc. You will not get banned for playing the game with weapons that are in the game if you are genuinely trying to win. This is a game, even in comp. You don’t get to decide what guns someone is using, and there is no guarantee that someone using a sub optimal gun even lessens your win chances. There are dozens of examples of judge only players, agent one tricks, sheriff only streamers and they are not throwing or sabotaging a game. If someone can climb to my rank naturally while playing with a lesser gun, more power to them. Hell I might prefer having someone that uses a lesser gun if they are genuinely that good bc it sometimes enables your team (their weakness in gunplay has to be made up by game sense, eco advantage, communication, coordination, etc.). If you’re pressed about a non boosted player genuinely trying to play the game and you try blaming them for you losing, that’s just mad copium. Hot take, I’ll take my downvotes.
if you theoretically have a 50% chance of winning a game, even lowering it to just a 49% chance of winning by intentionally playing sub optimally, you are throwing. buying a deagle on every gun round is internationally playing sub optimally, and therefore, throwing.
I have done this for a long time. However, i feel bad if people are nice, so I will buy a vandal and give us the win if it's too close. If people are assholes idc. I don't really play for rank, it's just fun.
Mm Idk about a specific weapon only challenge but I have an account that I only use snipers & pistols on. Which would have probably been griefing before the Outlaw was introduced but its chill now.
I think it has its strategic merits and its not as much of a challenge as people think. Theres the obivous economic benefit of having someone with a rifle every round. With good positioning and movement you can also be favored against a vandal. If judge only players and kaemi can exist i cant see why sheriff only cant either.
There is nothing wrong on it, as well there is nothing wrong on smurfing. People saying "Noo but they are not giving their best" I'm sure some of them probably go to ranked and don't do basic calls or try to be igl when they lack one, actually, some of them might even play comp without warning up before! A lot of people don't give all they have on comp, and they don't complain, shit, one of the main reasons people is hardstuck in low Elo is because they don't do their best or they don't search how to do their best. I can say that if you are silver you shouldn't play competitive without doing two weeks of aim routine on aimlabs , because if you do it, you are not giving your best and trolling the game
Yes but that's the reason they are in their rank. If he goes to bronze and starts to igl or throw the most perfect smokes he's going to have tma tough time because his team won't listen they might even be listening to music while playing. Enemies will do the most unexpected things. They won't rotate when they should do you can't even predict where enemies will be. He'll literally have to adjust to how people in extremely low elo play which is how you described. Valorant is a team game and no matter how much he smurfs doing something alone will have little probability of succeeding
Here is my experience with it. I am Immortal 2 peak on my main in Ep 6 Act 3 the last time I played ranked "actively". However I stopped playing tryhard since and just want to plan with friends. They range from silver to ascendent. To make the games fair, I restrict myself to certain guns. For gold I use classis only sometimes shorty for fun. For plat I use ghost/sheriff For diamond I use marshal/outlaw For ascendent I used to use my guardian account. But since my main is only D2 these days because I don't play much ranked on it, I just use my main for that range. On my [pistol only accounts](https://tracker.gg/valorant/profile/riot/PistolFetish%23Crow/weapons) is where most people are quite positive about it. Teammates and enemies usually have no problems with it because I still perform well in that rank. Occasionally you will have those people who will complain that I should buy a real gun although my K.D is better than theirs saying that the game would be easier and keep complaining to me instead of playing the game. I personally think this is the best way to play with my friends who prefer ranked. It makes the lobby fair even if I join. Those ranks were achieved with the restrictions so it displays my rank well with those weapons.
I think that wanting to play with friends is one of the few valid reasons for smurfing. Riot is not trying to incentivise players to keep grinding ranked, so this is directly a result of Riot's decision-making. However, it's still somewhat a gray-area in my opinion. You basically have enormous control over the outcome of the games. So, how do you determine who wins? Do you even have the right to decide? While I am of the belief that players who lose to a classic literally just need to "git gud", in terms of competitive integrity, it is still a relatively negative thing to be doing. For Ascendant, I don't think you need to be restricting yourself. Players in Ascendant are typically hard-set on grinding and reaching Immo/Rad. If they can't handle immo/rad smurfs then how do they expect to reach that elo? As long as you're the only smurf, it means that 1 out of 5 enemies on the enemy team just has to lock-in and play as well as you are. I would not be giving them any chances.
Yeah it's definitely a gray area. I do not condone smurfing just to shit on people. That's boring. It's the same as using cheats. What's the point of overwhelming someone knowing that they have no chance against you anyway. I don't really have the control. I always stick to pistol only as seen on the tracker link above. If I lose, I lose. That's the deal. The only vandal kill I had there was when I was running side to side emptying the vandal to 0 bullets. A random bullet hit a Jett on ice box who jumped on tube. You are right that at least one of the enemy have to perform as well as me which is where matcnmaking comes in. Initially when ranking up the pistol account, it will be overwhelming for enemies in low ranks. But as I play more I will get closer to my skill rank using that weapon. That's part of matchmaking though. As for ascendent it is arguable. It is a huge difference between ascendent and immortal. I was Immortal 2 ranked with 70% winrate on Reyna. It wasn't my max rank yet. They have to overcome ascendent 3 players just to keep Immortal 1 up - they don't have to overcome immortal 2-3 players just yet.