Oh, great, another map. 🙄 As if we needed more places to get headshot by 12-year-olds who somehow have the reaction time of a caffeinated cheetah. Riot Games and VALORANT, in their infinite wisdom, have bestowed upon us Corrode, launching June 25th, revealed at VALORANT Masters Toronto 2025, because apparently, watching pros play is more important than fixing the actual game. 🤷♂️
With patch 11.00 dropping on Wednesday, prepare for the usual “balance changes” that will inevitably make your main unplayable and buff the agents you hate the most. Riot Games and VALORANT unveiled Corrode, the 12th map, at VALORANT Masters Toronto 2025. TWELVE MAPS! 😫 Who even remembers all the callouts anymore? Corrode is supposed to have “intricate aspects” (read: more corners to get camped in) and a “simple mid lane” (aka a sniper’s paradise). CGMagazine will be testing it out, so get ready for a totally unbiased review. 😉
Streamers tarik and Disguised Toast debuted the map at the VALORANT Masters Toronto 2025 grand final showmatch. Oh, joy! 🎉 Watching millionaires play a game we’re all addicted to. Corrode features “medieval streets repurposed with industrial equipment.” So, basically, a map designed by someone who couldn’t decide between Assassin’s Creed and a factory. Here’s a list of Corrode’s key features:
● 2 Spike Sites (because one wasn’t enough suffering)
● 3 Lane Layout (get ready to be flanked from every direction)
● Layered defenses and fall-back positions (more places for cowards to hide)
● Reduced overwhelming ability aggression in map design (yeah, right! We’ll see about that, Riot!)
For those of you who actually care about the lore (lol), the map is set in a French castle town turned into a radianite salt mining facility. Because why not? 🤷♀️ Corrode is on Omega Earth, making it the third map there. Daniel McGowan said they wanted to show how First Light changed the climate. Great, so now we have global warming in our video games too. 🌎 Thanks, Riot!
Riot is giving us the usual map launch “benefits,” like losing less RR when you inevitably get destroyed on Corrode. How generous! 😇 Swiftplay will have a dedicated Corrode queue, so you can suffer in short bursts instead of full-length matches. 🏃♂️
Lead Map Designer Joey Simas said they wanted to “solidify everything we’ve learned.” 🤔 I’m not sure what they’ve learned, but it probably involves making maps that favor campers and OP agents. He also mentioned addressing “overwhelming Agent utility.” Don’t make me laugh! 😂
Without playing Corrode (because who has the time?), it “looks balanced.” Sure, Jan. 👍 A Site is for Attackers, B Site is for Defenders. Groundbreaking! Cypher cams will be “useful.” Yeah, until they get shot out in 0.5 seconds. ⏳ There’s a mix of open and tight spaces, which means you’ll either get sniped or shotgunned. 💥
This act also gives us the 1,000 VP Phaseguard Collection, for all you whales out there. 🐳 It includes skins for the Vandal, Outlaw, Ghost, Bulldog, and a new melee skin. Because spending money is the only way to feel good about being bad at the game. The new Battlepass has the “5 Years: Kill All Radiants” card, which is ironic since you’ll probably just get killed by Radiants. 💀
VALORANT Season 2025 // Act IV is live on June 25. Check back for our “analysis” of Corrode, which will probably just be us complaining about how much we hate it. 😠 And follow us on socials, @cgmagonline, for “exclusive footage” of us getting stomped by better players! 🤡
Pixel P. Snarkbyte, widely regarded as the “Shakespeare of Sh*tposts,” is a video game expert with a unique knack for turning pixels into punchlines.
Born in the small town of Respawn, Pennsylvania, Pixel grew up mashing buttons on an ancient NES controller, firmly believing that “blowing into the cartridge” was a sacred ritual passed down through generations.
Pixel P. Snarkbyte: proving that life, much like a buggy open-world game, is better with a little lag-induced chaos.
