Vanguard On-Demand is a Riot Vanguard mode launched on June 24, 2026: the anti-cheat loads only for the duration of a Valorant match, not continuously from the moment the computer starts, but this saving is only available to those who pass Vanguard Pre-Check - Windows 11 25H2 or newer, with Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, VBS, HVCI, and IOMMU enabled. At the same time, Riot tightened the check on DMA memory readers through forced IOMMU, and for owners of PCIe capture cards this turned out to be far more serious news than the change in driver loading mode.
At ForgeCheats we broke down exactly what changed over the past two months, who it directly affects and who it doesn't, and why the current cheat options for Valorant, gathered on the game hub, don't depend on these restrictions. Below is the specifics on patch dates, a breakdown of IOMMU mechanics, and a practical conclusion for those choosing software for the 2026 season.
Vanguard On-Demand: what actually changed for the player
Before June 24, 2026, Vanguard started together with Windows and remained in memory around the clock, regardless of whether you were playing Valorant or not - for years this was the community's main complaint about the anti-cheat. The new On-Demand mode flips the logic: the driver loads right before the match and unloads immediately after it ends. On paper this sounds like a relief, but access to it depends on a strict set of requirements. Vanguard Pre-Check checks the Windows 11 version, no lower than build 25H2, the Secure Boot status, the presence and activity of TPM 2.0, enabled VBS (Virtualization-based Security) and HVCI (Hypervisor-protected Code Integrity), as well as hardware IOMMU.
According to Riot itself, about 35% of players pass Pre-Check right away, without a single change in the BIOS - typically these are owners of relatively fresh builds with motherboards from the last two to three years, where the listed features are enabled by the manufacturer by default. The rest have to manually go into UEFI and enable Secure Boot, TPM, and IOMMU: for some older motherboards certain options are simply absent from the firmware, and in that case On-Demand is unavailable in principle, and Vanguard reverts to its previous permanent loading.
Beyond the offloading itself, On-Demand is presented by Riot as a response to years of complaints about background load: previously Vanguard constantly monitored the system even when Valorant wasn't running, and some players linked this to FPS drops in other games and background services. Now the driver loads only for the duration of the match, but this doesn't reduce the depth of checks within the match itself - it remained the same and even intensified due to additional hardware Pre-Check flags, which are now treated as a launch condition rather than a recommendation.
Forced IOMMU and DMA readers: May 2026 timeline
On May 19-22, 2026, Riot enabled forced IOMMU checking for accounts showing signs of using DMA memory readers - referring to PCIe capture cards costing $1,000 and up, which physically connect to the motherboard and read the RAM of the Valorant process from a second computer, remaining invisible to software scanners on the main PC. This exact scheme was considered for years one of the most detection-resistant, because all the cheat software operated outside Vanguard's field of visibility.
The mechanics are simple and harsh at the same time. When IOMMU is enabled, and after Pre-Check it's mandatory, the operating system isolates process memory through address translation tables at the chipset level, and the DMA card physically loses direct access to the game's memory for the duration of the match: the PCIe controller receives a read request but sees different addresses than the cheat expected to get. IOMMU can't be disabled after that - without it Vanguard Pre-Check doesn't pass, and Valorant refuses to start at all, rather than just warning about a ban risk.
Riot officially commented on the situation: the devices don't physically fail, they simply become useless specifically for reading Valorant's memory while forced IOMMU is active on that particular PC. The cheating community picked this up faster than the official press release - a viral tweet with a photo of a stack of several DMA cards was captioned "$6k paperweight," and the screenshot spread across specialized forums as a symbol that the season of DMA readers for Valorant hasn't closed completely, but has become a noticeably less predictable investment.
Why this doesn't affect software cheats and external overlays
There's a detail even experienced players confuse: blocking via IOMMU concerns specifically hardware DMA access through PCIe, not software in general. A cheat that works as an external overlay, drawing ESP or a radar over the image without directly accessing the Valorant process's memory through the PCIe bus, physically doesn't use the channel that IOMMU blocks. The same applies to loaders with injection: Vanguard catches them a different way, through monitoring driver signatures and suspicious calls in ring 0, and this is a separate, much older race, not connected in any way to the May news about DMA.
We tested our catalog of cheats for Valorant after both updates, both the patch introducing Vanguard On-Demand and the wave of May bans of DMA accounts, and didn't see a single case where our loaders or external overlay lost functionality due to IOMMU. This makes sense: not a single product in our catalog is built on PCIe memory reading from a second computer, so Riot simply has no technical foothold that would work against such a scheme.
| Cheat operation method | What it does | What Vanguard reacts to | Affected by the May IOMMU update |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMA reader (PCIe card) | Reads Valorant's memory directly from a second PC via the PCIe bus | Forced IOMMU blocks addressing to the game's memory | Yes, memory access is lost for the duration of the match |
| Injection via private loader | Loads a module into the Valorant process on the same PC | Monitoring of driver signatures and ring 0 calls | No, IOMMU doesn't check this vector |
| External overlay (External ESP) | Draws ESP and radar over the image without accessing memory via PCIe | Not separately classified as a DMA threat | No, the IOMMU channel isn't involved |
The practical conclusion here: the May update precisely closes one specific attack vector, not cheating in Valorant as a whole. Riot took targeted aim at hardware that had been considered almost undetectable for years, but software schemes remain a separate story with their own update race and their own bypass methods.
IOMMU isn't the only hardware barrier Vanguard has deployed in 2026. In parallel, the check of the TPM hardware fingerprint used for issuing HWID bans has been strengthened, and this is a separate topic with its own access-recovery mechanics: a detailed breakdown is available in the article HWID ban and TPM in Valorant.
What to choose for Valorant after the Vanguard On-Demand and IOMMU updates
The main practical conclusion from May-June 2026 is this: betting on a DMA rig for Valorant is a decision with growing risk, given that the entry price for such a scheme starts from $1,000 on hardware alone. The software options in our catalog sidestep this problem from the start, because they aren't tied to PCIe memory reading.
- Need clean ESP without the risk of losing hardware: UNNAMED - an external overlay marked EXTERNAL and STREAMPROOF, from $8, doesn't touch process memory via PCIe and doesn't depend on the IOMMU status on your PC.
- Need a full set for ranked - aim, ESP, trigger: MEMEZ FULL - a loader with legit aim, ESP for all five opponents, and spike alerts, from 479 rubles/day.
- Need a minimal footprint for streaming or demo recording: DASH - clean skeletons and StreamSpoof, from 289 rubles/day, designed for situations where it's important not to get caught on match recordings.
- Just getting started and want to test the format: budget catalog items like MEMEZ TRIGGER or MEMEZ AIMBOT + TRIGGER give access to individual features without overpaying for the full set.
- Mainly playing in tournament or streaming conditions: look first at the STREAMPROOF label on the product card, a guarantee that the overlay won't be caught in screen capture.
Current cheat options for Valorant with prices, undetected status, and updates after every patch are gathered on the page Valorant cheats →. The list is reviewed after every Riot patch, and the protection status for each product is visible right on the product page before purchase.
If you're not sure which format, external overlay or loader with injection, suits your hardware configuration, ask the community: Telegram (200+ members) and Discord (637+ members).
Frequently asked questions about Vanguard On-Demand and DMA in Valorant
Can IOMMU be disabled to restore DMA card functionality?
No, after the introduction of Vanguard Pre-Check, disabling IOMMU simply prevents the game from launching, because this parameter is part of the mandatory checklist alongside Secure Boot and TPM 2.0. Riot did this deliberately to close off the very possibility of rolling back settings for the sake of cheating hardware.
Does IOMMU physically break a DMA card?
No, the device remains fully functional and continues to work in other games without such protection. Riot explicitly confirmed: it's only about losing access to Valorant's memory specifically during the match, not about hardware damage.
What happens to the account if the motherboard doesn't support IOMMU?
Vanguard Pre-Check won't pass, and On-Demand mode will remain unavailable: the anti-cheat will revert to the previous scheme of permanent loading from the moment Windows starts, but the game itself usually still launches if the other requirements are met.
Does Vanguard On-Demand reduce system load outside of matches?
Yes, if the PC passed Vanguard Pre-Check: the driver unloads immediately after the match and doesn't run in the background until you launch Valorant again. This resolves the community's long-standing complaint about the anti-cheat's constant background load, but doesn't weaken checks during the game itself.
Does the ForgeCheats catalog have Valorant cheats without DMA?
Yes, all ten items in the Valorant cheat catalog are built on external overlays or injection via a private loader, not on PCIe memory reading, so the May IOMMU update doesn't directly affect them.
Is it worth buying a DMA rig for Valorant in 2026?
We wouldn't recommend making this your number one bet: an investment of $1,000 or more in hardware that risks becoming useless specifically for this game only makes sense if you need DMA simultaneously for several other projects without this kind of protection.
