You’ve seen the meme. If you play Valorant, you’ve definitely seen it. That grainy, wide-eyed orange cat staring back at you from a screen that should be displaying tactical shooters and weapon skins. It’s weird. It’s the Night Market El Gato, and honestly, it has become the unofficial mascot for the most stressful two weeks in any Valorant act.
There is something inherently funny about a high-stakes competitive game being hijacked by a cat meme. Riot Games didn't put it there. You won't find it in the official patch notes. Yet, every time the Night Market rotates back into the client, social media gets flooded with photos of monitors featuring that specific feline. It represents the collective "luck" of the community. Or, more accurately, the lack thereof.
The Weird Intersection of Luck and Night Market El Gato
The Night Market is a recurring event where players get six random weapon skins at a discount. It’s basically a digital lottery. Sometimes you get the Prime Vandal for 40% off, and sometimes you get six different green-screen skins for weapons you never use. That’s where the cat comes in.
The Night Market El Gato phenomenon started as a simple "luck ritual." Gamers are superstitious people. We blow on cartridges, we mash buttons during loading screens, and in Valorant, we place images of "El Gato" (the "Maxwell the Cat" or "Dingus" meme) over our Night Market cards before clicking them. The logic? If the cat is happy, the skins will be "bangers." If you get a bad market, it's clearly because you didn't show the cat enough respect.
It sounds ridiculous because it is. But in a game where a single skin can cost $20 to $50, the desperation for a good discount is real.
What the Night Market Actually Is (Minus the Memes)
Stripping away the internet culture, the Night Market is a clever piece of psychological marketing by Riot Games. It appears roughly once every two months, usually toward the end of an Act. You get six cards. You click them to reveal a skin and a discount percentage ranging from 10% to 50%.
There are rules, though. You are guaranteed at least two "Premium" edition skins unless you already own most of them. You won't see skins from the current or previous act. And you definitely won't see "Ultra" or "Exclusive" tier skins—so don't go looking for the Radiant Entertainment System or the Spectrum Phantom here. Those aren't coming. No matter how many cats you post.
Why El Gato Became the "God of Luck"
Memes like Night Market El Gato thrive because they fill a void. Valorant's RNG (Random Number Generation) can feel cruel. You might wait six months for the Reaver Karambit to show up in your daily shop, only to see it never arrive. When the Night Market opens, it feels like your one big chance to "win."
The specific cat used—often referred to as "El Gato"—is actually a cat named Jess who became famous on Imgur and later as a 3D spinning model. Why this cat? It has a vacant, judgmental stare. It looks exactly how a player feels after spending $50 on VP only to reveal a "Smite" knife in their market. It's the face of "I expected nothing and I'm still disappointed."
Community Rituals and "Manifesting" Skins
If you browse TikTok or X (formerly Twitter) during a Night Market cycle, you'll see thousands of variations of this. Some players literally print out the cat and tape it to their monitors. Others use "luck" filters.
- The "El Gato" Prayer: Posting the image with a caption like "Like for good luck in your Night Market."
- The Ritual Reveal: Opening the cards from left to right, slowly, while playing the "Maxwell the Cat" theme song.
- The Blame Game: Posting a screenshot of a terrible market (full of Bucky and Judge skins) and captioning it "El Gato failed me."
It's a way for the community to bond over the shared frustration of the "Blue Market"—a market where every single skin revealed has a blue background (Select tier), which is the lowest rarity available.
The Math Behind the Market
Let's get technical for a second because people often think their market is "glitched." It's not. It's just math. Every account has a pool of eligible skins. This pool includes Select, Deluxe, and Premium skins that were released at least two Acts prior.
If you have a "stacked" account—meaning you’ve already bought a lot of the good skins—your Night Market pool actually gets worse. Why? Because the game can only pull from what you don't own. If you own all the Vandal and Phantom skins you actually want, the game is forced to offer you the stuff you’ve been ignoring. This is why veteran players often have the "worst" luck, and why the Night Market El Gato meme is so prevalent among high-level players. They are the ones most likely to see the "garbage" skins.
Can You Actually Influence the Drops?
Honestly? No.
There are a lot of "methods" circulating online. Some say you should play a match with a specific agent before opening. Others say you should click the cards in a specific pattern. None of it works. The skins are predetermined the moment the Night Market button appears in your UI. You can’t "trick" the server. The cat is just a psychological cushion for the inevitable reveal of a Convex Sheriff.
How to Handle a Bad Night Market
So, you opened your market. You didn't use the Night Market El Gato for luck, or maybe you did, and it didn't work. You’re staring at a 12% discount on a skin you wouldn't use if it were free. What now?
First, don't panic-buy. The biggest mistake players make is buying a "mid" skin just because it's on sale. A 20% discount on a skin you don't like is still a waste of money. If it's not a "must-have" for your collection, let it sit. The Night Market stays for about two weeks. Use that time to watch skin showcases on YouTube. See how the skin feels in-game. Sometimes a skin you hated at first glance actually has a great sound profile or finisher.
Second, remember the cycle. If this market was a bust, the next one is only about 8 to 10 weeks away. Riot is very consistent with these.
Actionable Steps for the Next Night Market
Since you can't change the RNG, the best way to handle the Night Market El Gato season is to prepare your account and your expectations.
Check your eligibility. If there is a specific skin you want, make sure it’s actually eligible for the Night Market. If it’s an Exclusive tier (Gold circle) or Ultra tier (Yellow diamond), it will never appear. Don't waste your hope.
Manage your VP (Valorant Points) ahead of time. If you see a "god-tier" skin at a 45% discount, you don't want to be fumbling with credit card errors while the market is live. If you know you're going to buy something eventually, having a small balance ready can save the stress.
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Don't fall for "Account Luck" scams. There are sites and people claiming they can "reroll" your Night Market for a fee. This is a 100% scam. Your market is tied to Riot’s servers. No one can change those six cards once they are generated.
Lean into the meme. At the end of the day, Valorant is a game. If your market is terrible, take a screenshot, find a picture of Night Market El Gato, and post it. Join the community in the ritual of complaining about bad luck. It makes the "Blue Market" a lot more bearable when you realize everyone else is seeing the same Gallant Marshall you are.
Wait for the next rotation. Keep an eye on the official Valorant X account for the "glitch" teaser that usually precedes a Night Market announcement. Usually, it’s a small graphic change in the store or a cryptic tweet. That's your signal to get your cat memes ready.