The recent release of Episode 6 Act I in VALORANT has sparked questions about the inclusion of the Lotus map in Competitive play. The latest patch introduced a variety of new features, including a battle pass, a skin bundle, and the Lotus map.
As Competitive play is a major aspect of VALORANT, it’s natural to wonder how the latest patch will affect this area of the game. Find out more by exploring the answer to the question, “Is Lotus in Competitive VALORANT?”
The release of Episode 6 Act I in VALORANT has led to questions about the availability of the Lotus map in Competitive mode. The latest patch introduced a battle-pass, a new skin bundle, and the Lotus map, and many of VALORANT’s design choices are intended to support Competitive play.
Currently, the Lotus map is not available in Competitive mode. However, before a new map is added to the Competitive pool, it is given its own queue for a period of time to allow players to become familiar with it. Normally, a new map’s exclusive mode would remain in place for at least two weeks, but in this case, the period is shorter.
According to the VALORANT Episode 6 Act I patch notes, the Lotus-only queue will be available in Swiftplay mode for one week before being included in the competitive and Unrated map rotation in Patch 6.1, scheduled for release on January 17th. This is still enough time to learn the map and its strategies.
To ensure fairness among players, Riot Games prevents new maps from appearing immediately in Competitive mode. Therefore, players can test out Lotus and its various agents and strategies in Swiftplay before it becomes available in the rated and unrated modes.
