Overview
VALORANT Patch 13.06 went live on September 22, 2026, delivering what Riot Games called its "biggest patch of the year — maybe the last few years." The update ships five major changes at once: a new scoped rifle called The Warden, the complete removal of Average Combat Score (ACS) in favor of a new Performance Score, a full replacement for the Agent Gear system with Agent Mastery, a new 16-player mode called Gauntlet: Glitched, and access to the Practice Range while in queue.
The timing is notable. Patch 13.06 landed two days before VALORANT Champions 2026 begins its group stage in Shanghai on September 24 — today. Players heading into Ranked are adapting to a new scoreboard system at the same time pro teams are locking in their final preparation.
Sources: Official Patch Notes — Riot Games · Hotspawn Breakdown · Esports.net Analysis
At a Glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Patch | 13.06 |
| Live Date | September 22, 2026 |
| New Weapon | The Warden — automatic rifle, 2,900 credits |
| System Replaced | ACS → Performance Score (0–500) |
| Progression Replaced | Agent Gear → Agent Mastery |
| New Mode | Gauntlet: Glitched (16-player 2v2 tournament) |
| New QoL | Range access during matchmaking queue |
| Anti-cheat | 90,000+ boosting accounts banned since July 20 |
| New Regions | VALORANT Console now live in Australia & New Zealand |
The Warden: A Third Rifle at 2,900 Credits
The Warden ends the six-year Vandal/Phantom duopoly at the 2,900-credit buy tier. It is an automatic rifle with a built-in 2x magnification scope and a flat damage profile that does not drop off with distance.
Warden Stats
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Price | 2,900 credits |
| Magazine | 18 rounds (36 reserve) |
| Body Damage | 50 at all ranges |
| Head Damage | 200 at all ranges |
| Leg Damage | 42 |
| Fire Rate | 6.5 per second |
| Reload | 2.5 seconds |
| Scope | 2× ADS |
| Wall Penetration | Medium |
Warden vs. Vandal vs. Phantom
| Stat | Warden | Vandal | Phantom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 2,900 | 2,900 | 2,900 |
| Magazine | 18 | 25 | 30 |
| Body Damage | 50 (no falloff) | 40 (no falloff) | 39→29 (falloff) |
| Head Damage | 200 (no falloff) | 160 (no falloff) | 156→117 (falloff) |
| Fire Rate | 6.5/s | 9.75/s | 11.0/s |
| Scope | 2× ADS | None | None |
| Suppressed | No | No | Yes |
The Warden's 50 body damage at all ranges actually exceeds both rifles up close and maintains that number at distance where the Phantom falls off sharply. The tradeoff is the smallest magazine (18 vs. 25/30) and the lowest fire rate of the three, making it less forgiving in multi-target spray situations or close-range duels.
Its natural home appears to be long-range chokepoints — Icebox A-main, Pearl B-long, or Haven's C-long — where holding an angle with the 2x scope outweighs the smaller mag.
“"Introducing the latest automatic Rifle to join the Vandal and Phantom in the 2900 credits tier — the Warden. Built to offer a new tactical choice, the Warden brings a distinct long-range option to your arsenal." — Riot Games
Competitive ruling: Riot has confirmed the Warden will not appear at VALORANT Champions 2026. Its first pro appearance is expected at the Game Changers Championship next month.
Performance Score Replaces ACS Across All Ranked Modes
Average Combat Score is gone. Performance Score (0–500) now determines MVP and scoreboard position in Competitive, Unrated, Swiftplay, and Premier.
The key change is scope: where ACS primarily reflected damage and kills, Performance Score is designed to capture a broader range of contributions. Riot has not published a full breakdown of what feeds into the score, stating they will "keep a close eye on feedback" and continue updating the formula.
What changes with Performance Score:
- ▶MVP and scoreboard order are now determined by this metric
- ▶End of Game screen shows what impacted your score and where to improve
- ▶Historical ACS data is not converted — the new system tracks forward from Patch 13.06 only
Two new companion systems launch alongside it:
- ▶Accolades: Track personal bests (MVP count, highest kills in Competitive, etc.) for the current Act and across your lifetime. Tracking begins now — prior match history does not count.
- ▶Rank Legacy: A running counter of every rank you've achieved across your career. Each rank can increase your counter once every three Acts.
Agent Mastery: Agent Gear Is Gone, Everyone Starts at Zero
Agent Gear is fully retired. In its place, every Agent now has a dedicated progression track under Agent Mastery, built around two independent layers:
| Track | Resets? | What It Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Act Levels | Every Act | Seasonal portrait upgrades |
| Lifetime Levels | Never | Sprays, voice lines, player cards, poses |
Progress is earned through playtime and performance bonuses with each specific Agent. A new Agent ID hub lets players display mastery level, customizable stances, backgrounds, and cosmetics.
“"All players will start with zero Act Level and Lifetime Level progress on each Agent." — Riot Games
The zero-start is intentional: Riot wants everyone to begin the new journey together rather than carry over data from a different system. Players who had invested in Agent Gear contracts will not see that progress reflected in Agent Mastery.
Gauntlet: Glitched — New 16-Player Mode
Gauntlet: Glitched replaces Retake in the mode rotation and introduces a format unlike anything else currently in VALORANT.
Structure:
- ▶16 players enter as 8 duos
- ▶Each round, your duo faces another in a 2v2 match
- ▶Losing a round drains your team's shared health pool — hit zero and you're eliminated
- ▶Eliminated teams can requeue immediately without waiting for the match to end
Ability Draft:
Instead of picking an Agent, players draft abilities from a randomized pool between rounds, building a hybrid Robo-Agent kit. Abilities can be upgraded as the match progresses and glitches can cause familiar abilities to behave in unexpected ways — by design, not error.
Matches run across four arenas remixed from existing map spaces, built for shorter complete games rather than full Competitive length. Queue solo or with a partner.
Anti-Cheat Update: 90,000+ Accounts Banned
“"So far, we've banned 1600 accounts per day. That's over 90,000 accounts, since July 20! And we're just getting started." — Riot Games
The anti-boosting detection system rolled out earlier this year has now surpassed 90,000 account bans since July 20. Riot says the detections are proving effective against both smurfs and boosters, with continued enforcement planned.
Community Reaction
Community response has split along predictable lines:
The Warden is generating the most discussion. Skeptics point to the 18-round magazine as a dealbreaker in any spray-heavy engagement, while defenders argue the flat damage profile is genuinely novel and could shake up map-specific buy strategies at higher levels. The Hotspawn comparison piece concluded: "The Warden isn't trying to dethrone the Vandal or Phantom outright, and its stats back that up."
Performance Score drew positive reception from support and Initiator mains, who felt consistently undervalued by ACS. The lack of a published formula is a source of concern — players want to understand what they're being graded on before trusting the number.
Agent Mastery's universal zero reset divided opinion. Players who had deeply invested in specific Agent Gear contracts voiced frustration, while others welcomed the clean start on a system designed differently from the ground up.
What Comes Next
Riot has confirmed several follow-up changes already:
| Upcoming | Patch |
|---|---|
| Mode Select interface update | 13.08 |
| Map Rating system | 13.08 |
| Competitive Flex | 14.00 |
| Radiant rank experience updates | 14.00 |
The Warden will remain unavailable in competitive play through Champions 2026, which runs in Shanghai through October 18.
GamePeak Take
Patch 13.06 is legitimately unusual. Releasing a new weapon, replacing the scoring system, retiring a progression system, and launching a new mode simultaneously is not how major titles typically ship. Whether the Performance Score lands well depends entirely on whether the formula accurately captures what players consider a "good" game — Riot has built in room to course-correct, which suggests they know it will take iteration. The Warden's viability will be clearer in two to three weeks of ranked data. For now, it represents a genuine third option at a tier that has been binary since VALORANT launched.