tarik kicks off Valorant 10-man lobbies with top pros as crypto betting runs rampant

Valorant’s biggest steamer, tarik, has started 10-man lobbies amidst rampant crypto betting and throwing in ranked games.

For a few months, it seems as if all Valorant streamers talk about are players throwing their ranked games, and for good reason.

From pro players such as Tenz, Fns, and Shazam, even to streamers like Kyedae and tarik, random players in their lobbies seem to be intentionally running it down or going AFK to throw matches. The reason being a recent surge in crypto bets on ranked Valorant matches. The issue has been so bad, tarik even pitched the idea of his own pro-league to avoid throws on the ranked ladder.

So when tarik tweeted out if any pros or high elo players would like to form a 10-man Discord server to skirt around throwers, everyone wanted in.

The first of many 10-man lobbies was streamed by tarik and pro player Curry. It included many of NA Valorant’s biggest names, such as s0m, BcJ, and zekken.

Although it is still on a first come first serve basis, feedback from viewers and players has been positive. One of the participants, Version1 player florescent, tweeted that the 10-man games were fun. And viewers have said it’s a better viewing experience. “You can tell a lot of them are trying harder as a result, comming more, etc…” said a redditor in a thread discussing the 10-man lobby.

One of the first mentions of crypto betting was a tweet by NA pro player Wedid from 16 Aug 2022. The tweet showed a screenshot of a crypto betting site allowing people to place bets on streamer’s games.

But betting on ranked games isn’t new in the competitive scene. For years, games with a ranked system and high elo levels such CS:GO, League of Legends, and Rainbow Six Seige have had problems with betting on ranked games and subsequent throwing to profit from it.

Which is why platforms such as Faceit Pro League have catered to the top levels of ranked play for CS:GO and R6 to avoid throwers. And Riot introduced Champions queue for LoL for pros to avoid throwing. While nothing is yet official, we also know Valorant’s own in-game tournament mode is on the horizon too, perhaps this will remedy the issue.

As of writing this, Riot has not commented on the growing crypto betting problem.