Riot Games has just revealed a brand-new game mode coming to Valorant with its next update, and it’s likely the most interesting game mode the shooter has ever had.
Valorant’s next limited-time mode, Gauntlet: Glitched, pits eight teams of 2 players against each other, while stripping abilities away from their original agents and letting players build entirely new kits from scratch, round by round.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Gauntlet: Glitched game mode in Valorant.
Valorant Gauntlet: Glitched Mode Explained
As mentioned earlier, Gauntlet: Glitched drops sixteen players into eight duos, playing as “hybrid robo agents” with no fixed abilities.
Instead of picking an agent before the match, teams draft abilities over the course of the game. Each round opens with a randomized set of options, and players choose which ones to add to their kit, gradually leveling favorites from Level 1 up to a game-breaking Level 3.
The structure borrows heavily from the roguelike playbook. Every pick is a gamble, and players can opt to spread their points across a varied kit or go all-in on one ability and push it to its most overpowered form. For instance, a Level 3 Yoru Fakeout decoy can fire bullets on its own rather than just acting as bait. A Level 3 Skye Trailblazer wolf can kill enemies in a single bite. The draft is randomized every time, so no two matches end up looking the same.
The new Valorant game mode is reminiscent of Dota 2’s Ability Draft mode, where players similarly assemble custom heroes from a shared ability pool instead of picking a preset character.
Rather than a straightforward 2v2 all game, Gauntlet: Glitched runs as a rotating 2v2v2v2v2v2v2v2. Eight duos battle it out against other teams, and each round your team gets matched against a different pair for a single duel. Upon losing a round, you’ll lose a chunk of your health. If your health reaches zero, you’re eliminated.
Matches take place in four arenas built from familiar Valorant bomb-mode maps, stitched together with glitching seams. The maps have been optimized for 2v2 combat.
While a full competitive match in Valorant can easily run 40 minutes, Gauntlet: Glitched promises complete games in 8 to 15 minutes. It can be queued solo or with a friend.
Valorant Gauntlet: Glitched Release Date
Riot has confirmed that Gauntlet: Glitched officially launches alongside the Valorant 13.06 update, which will go live on September 22, 2026, just ahead of Champions Shanghai.
