Backlog report, updated 14 October 2026. April was about removing friction before the next tactical fight. Patch 12.07 rebuilt the PC settings screens and began rolling out Discord account linking and lobby invitations; Riot said the Discord features would expand globally with 12.08. Patch 12.08 then introduced Skirmish: Ascension, an experimental ranked 1v1 and 2v2 mode with a separate leaderboard, while Ascent entered Competitive and Deathmatch and Bind left. Premier returned on PC for Act 3.
The TGN read
My favourite change is the least flashy: a faster route from “who is online?” to a five-stack. A good competitive game loses players in its menus long before it loses them in a round. Skirmish has the opposite job: give us a quick, skill-forward test that can survive beyond launch-week novelty. A leaderboard can make a mode sticky, but only if the duels still feel fair once players learn every angle. And yes, moving Bind out just as people got comfortable with it is extremely VALORANT.
This is a retrospective read of Riot’s notes, not a claim that I tested every April feature. If you want a TGN Skirmish session or a practical settings walkthrough, tell me which one is useful.
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