Edit: I'm not trying to say that this post will magically fix toxicity. I'm well aware that toxicity will forever be a part of competitive online multiplayer, but that's not to say that the issue can't be improved. The main subject of this post was that simply giving up and venting on reddit won't do anything. Griefers and smurfs aren't invincible, and even if you just improve a few games you're in, you're already making a much larger difference than you think. Yet I already can hear people making the point that the toxic player will simply do the same thing in the next game, and that's correct. The player will continue to be toxic for as long as they choose, and there's no stopping that, but, even if you help with one game, that's a win. Toxicity will never go away, regardless of our efforts, but giving up and doing nothing about the issue is a much larger mistake than trying and failing.

Let me start this post by saying that toxicity is a large problem with the Valorant community. Bullying, smurfing, and throwing and all large problems. I'm not going to pretend this issue is nonexistent. In countless of my games, I've seen people been hurt by this community, but we aren't working in the right direction to fix this issue. I understand that when you encounter a smurf, thrower, or just an irritating person in general, it can be extremely frustrating. I've been there myself too many times to count, but the solution is not to make countless posts about how terrible this problem is; the solution is to act on it. Report throwers and bullies, stand up for your teammates, and most importantly, don't be a jackass for no reason. The frustration and irritation from this toxicity is huge, but if we choose to complain about it rather than act against it, it won't go away. I find it similar to some people who advocate for climate change: they spend all their time talking about how bad climate change is, yet they don't change their lifestyle to minimize their impact. Just talking about how terrible an issue is won't fix it, that can only be done by actively pushing back against said issue. So in summary, stop just talking about the issue of toxicity, and start helping stop toxicity. This won't be easy, but it is the only way we can solve this problem, and if we don't, Valorant's future may be dimmer than we previously thought.