What is ego peeking in Valorant? How can it help players climb ranks faster?

Valorant is a game that demands discipline, confidence, and patience on the player's part. One wrong move or over-peeking could spell victory for opponents.

Ego peeking is a way to engage in battles in the game. While it is generally frowned upon, it can be incredibly advantageous if a player does it right.

Ego peeking has been around in competitive FPS since its inception. It basically means picking a fight with an enemy player who clearly has an advantage over you. For instance, if a Valorant player decides to peek at an enemy who is on higher ground and has an Operator, they would be ego peeking.

Most players who are not confident with their aim tend to lose fights while ego peeking. This is because they are preoccupied with second thoughts, which causes them to lose focus. This is much more common among lower-ranked lobbies and is one of the main reasons for inconsistent performances in the game.

Players have used ego peeking in a plethora of competitive shooters, including Counter-Strike and Rainbow Six Siege.

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Valorant's senior competitive designer explains how ego peeking can help players climb ranks faster in the game

According to Valorant's senior competitive designer, Jonathan “EvrMoar” Walker, avoiding higher-ranked opponents does not help a player climb ranks in Valorant.

Riot Games has developed a very simple system that affects the MMR during games. If a player is matched against higher-ranked opponents and they manage to win the match, they will gain a large number of rank points. Similarly, if their performance is not up to the mark, they will gain fewer rank points.

For this reason, EvrMoar is encouraging players to pick more fights and ego peeks during Valorant match-making. This will ensure that players are trying their best to initiate duels without hesitation. If they manage to win the fight as well as the match, they can take back much more MMR with them when they leave the lobby. This will also allow players to get better at the game.

In a Twitter thread posted last month, EvrMoar explained:

"If you can take out a higher ranked player, you will gain more MMR from them than if you were to defeat the lowest skilled player on the enemy team.

"Defeating a silver player only shows you’re silver. But defeating a Diamond helps show that you are Diamond. AKA go ego peek those high ranks. This will also increase your performance bonus — you will get it more often and get a bigger RR bonus from it."

According to EvrMoar, this is how players can build up their confidence and reap a hefty amount of rank points in the game.

Overall, ego peeking requires a lot of practice, and if a player lacks proper game sense and experience, they will be in for a string of losses.