[Update #2]: Newest update has buffed Viper, nerfed Raze, and rebalanced Brimstone.

[Update]: Riot has now released their plans for Valorant's future content updates.

If you've been playing Valorant over the past few weeks, you've most likely noticed that the balance in Unranked matches is all over the place. Sometimes you'll face off against enemies that seem to have dedicated their entire life to playing Valorant, other times you'll have players that move like they have never gripped a mouse before in their life, and occasionally you'll even get both groups at the same time!

Thankfully, all of this nonsense is now over. The newly launched patch 1.02 has finally brought in a Competitive Mode that will separate players across a wide variety of ranks, thus ensuring that you'll always face off against appropriately challenging opponents. That said, there is a bit of a catch. Not only is the patch currently available only for the US region, but the Competitive Mode won't be going online before Riot is happy with the server performance and stability.

The update has also added some much needed buffs for Viper, as well as the long-requested Surrender option. You are able to surrender at any point in the match, though all five players will be required to vote 'yes' in order for it to actually go through. So while I expect a slight increase in toxicity when there's a mismatch between the team and how they feel the game is progressing, I think this is still a solid step forward for Valorant.

You can also expect to see small tweaks to the maps themselves, performance improvements, UI changes, and the list goes on for a while. You can check out the full patch notes, as well as keep an eye on Valorant moving forward, over at the official website.

Good luck with ranked once it goes live!