Shroud claims Valorant Ruination skins are “pay to lose”

The Ruination bundle contains arguably the most extravagant skins in Valorant yet, but top streamer Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek thinks the League of Legends crossover skins are in fact “pay to lose” in-game.  

The Ruination skin bundle is – in every sense of the word – mega. Containing four upgradeable guns and a slick melee, each with color customization options, the skin line is Valorant’s biggest yet, rivaled only by the dragon-themed Elderflame line released in Episode 1.

Gun upgrades, which are purchasable through Radianite Points, are a crucial part of a player’s customizations options, as they provide the opportunity to grind and invest in weapons by working through the battlepass.

But shroud thinks that these upgrades, which mostly consist of tweaks to sound effects and animations, can actually be detrimental to a player who wants to perform at the highest level.

When discussing the new Ruination bundle, shroud explained how the added VFX and SFX on skins like Ruination can make weapons less player-friendly.

“Using these kinds of skins is definitely pay-to-lose, that’s why I use so many basic ones,” he explained, before showing off a collection containing more stripped-back skin lines such as Junkyard and Kingdom.

But that didn’t stop shroud from splashing 8700 Valorant Points on the bundle anyway. “It looks too f***ing cool, so I’m buying it,” he added.

Shroud then expanded on why he thinks these skins are actually detrimental to players, claiming they are too loud and too visually noisy to be effective.

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He explained: “These skins are cool, but you’re not getting an advantage. All you’re getting is a mental “this skin looks cool”, but you’re getting a disadvantage because it’s so loud, it’s so annoying, it’s so in your face with the visual effects and sh*t.”

And when testing the guns in the range, he showcased exactly why he doesn’t like the upgradeable VFX and SFX on the weapons. He tried out the Ruination Guardian, which contains an added “lingering” sound effect when fired.

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“If you don’t think that’s pay to lose, you’re out of your mind. Any normal Guardian doesn’t have this lingering effect when you shoot it. Listen to how long that lingers for. That’s like four seconds.”

It will be interesting to see if Riot has opted for a more shroud-friendly minimalist style with the Sentinels of Light bundle, which is set to drop on July 21, or keeps with the extravagant designs displayed in its Ruination counterpart.