This one goes out to all the players who just bum rush rounds thinking they are "free" or don't matter.

Given Valorant is a best of 25 and win by 2 scenario, the importance of each round becomes much more apparent when compared to CS:GO which is a best of 30. The importance of each round is highly dictated by the economy game (which is changing in 1.11) as economy highly affects whether or not a round is won or lost.

So which rounds are important? The first 3 rounds of each half are typically the most important rounds that need to be played with the most care. Ironically these rounds are often the ones that are largely ignored in ranked queue (especially soloq).

First round: Winning pistol round is a huge factor, and should be played with as much intent as the first gun round. Winning the pistol round most likely secures the next round as a "free win".

Second round: The biggest mistake in this round is not taking it seriously. The fact is, even for players saving, there is a possibility of making a huge impact. The losing team faces most likely one of three scenarios. A full buy (Full armor and spectres), a half buy (some players will buy more heavily to carry), or a light to no buy (light armor with pistols). If the losing team is able to win against the first 2 scenarios, they will actually cripple the economy of the opposing team for the next round nearly guaranteeing a round 3 win. Given this is the case, the team that won Round 1 need to understand the importance of correctly trading out and not giving a free gun and round to the losing team which can turn the tide.

Third round: If all else goes to plan, this is typically the first full buy for both teams. There isn't much to say here except whichever team wins this round, typically will win the next round as the economy should be crippled for the other team.

All in all, winning the first 3 rounds, should pretty much guarantee 4 round wins on each side. That's 8 total wins out of a possible 13 that a team needs to win an entire game, well more than half.