The Definite Guide How CS:GO Elo Rankings Work

The whole point behind Elo and the ranking badges players can achieve is not just for bragging points. These ranks are used to split players into different performance categories which are then used for skill-based matchmaking. This creates a fair competitive environment for everyone as players will only queue with players similar to their skill level.

For example, if you are Gold Nova 4 then you will most likely queue with and against players that are Gold Nova 4 or close to this rank.

In CS2, Valve also introduced Premier, featuring a different rating system, but more on that later.

The ranking system in CS has 18 different ranks starting from Silver I and ending with Global Elite. In CS:GO, ranks were usually assigned per player, but since the release of CS2, ranks are tied to a map. So, if you’re Silver I on Inferno, you can be Global Elite on Dust 2.

Here’s a list of every rank in CS:

• Silver 1
• Silver 2
• Silver 3
• Silver 4
• Silver Elite
• Silver Elite Master
• Gold Nova 1
• Gold Nova 2
• Gold Nova 3
• Gold Nova Master
• Master Guardian 1
• Master Guardian 2
• Master Guardian Elite
• Distinguished Master Guardian
• Legendary Eagle
• Legendary Eagle Master
• Supreme Master First Class
• Global Elite

Now that you’re familiar with the ranks, let’s split them into different categories based on skill.

Beginner Skill Level

At the beginner level, you will usually see players from Silver I to Silver Elite. These are players that do not have a lot of experience with Counter-Strike so it’s likely they won’t be familiar with the maps in the map pool. They won’t be familiar with smoke lineups, flashes, or corners that need to be cleared. 

Silver players also still haven’t mastered the movement in CS, so without proper counter-strafing, it is difficult for them to hit their shots.

Intermediate Skill Level

The intermediate skill level starts at around Gold Nova I. These are the players that have started to get a deeper understanding of the game by learning the maps, and basic smoke lineups to successfully execute sites as Terrorists and have improved aim. 

This skill level ends at Master Guardian I. It’s also important to note that this is the skill level of the average CS player. In CS:GO more than 50% of ranked players were between these ranks.

Advanced Skill Level

This is the level of skill in CS that starts around Master Guardian II. To reach this point, players need to invest time to learn various strategies for each map, smoke lineups, pop flashes, grenade positions, molotov positions, and more.

These players should also have mastered the recoil of the most played weapons like the AK47, M4A1-S, and M4A4. Furthermore, MG II and up ranks should also know how to effectively clear every corner of a map to effectively take over sites.

This skill level ends at around the Legendary Eagle point.

Expert Skill Level

In the expert skill level are players with the following ranks Legendary Eagle Master, Supreme Master First Class, and last but not least, Global Elite. These are the three last ranks in the ranking system, with Global Elite being the most difficult to achieve.

At this skill level expect players that have mastered most, if not all weapons, with accurate pre-fires, and quick corner/angle clearing. These players should also know dozens of smokes, most pop flashes, timed grenades, and perfect mollies for every map in the map pool.

These players are some of the best players in the game. However it is important to mention that there is an even higher skill ceiling with FaceIt’s ranking system and FPL. While professional matches play on a completely different level compared to FaceIt Level 10 (FaceIt’s highest rank).

CS2 Premier introduces a completely new ranking system that is completely unrelated to the original CS:GO Skill Groups

CS2 Premier introduces a completely new ranking system that is completely unrelated to the original CS:GO Skill Groups. Instead of splitting players into 18 different divisions, players are assigned a rating number or MMR which is public and accessible through the leaderboards. However it’s worth mentioning that there are 8 different MMR categories marked with a color!

With every win players earn MMR or lose them with every loss. So, a higher MMR indicates a higher skill ceiling. 

Another big difference is that Premier has a map-ban system. So, with every match, both teams vote on which maps will be banned to find a decider map that will be played. This means that players don’t have complete freedom over picking their maps and will be forced to play and learn every map.

Premier Rating Colors

Now, let’s have a look at the ratings and with which color they’re represented.

Rating Distribution and Comparison to Competitive Ranking

• 1000 – 7500 – this is the lowest rating in the Premier game mode and it represents about 29% of the Premier player base. 

• 7501 – 11800 – this is the average Premier rating in CS2 since 33.6% of the people hover in this area. 

• 11,801 – 15000 – at this point in Premier, players are much more skilled and it represents 21.2% of the players.

• 15000 – 18400 – much higher skill level representing 12.4% of the player base.

• 18,401 – 19,999 – a rating that’s very hard to achieve and requires a deep understanding of CS2. That is probably why only 2.6% of the player base is at this level.

• 20,000+ – only 1.2% of the people playing CS2 are at this level because it requires expertise in every segment of the game.

If you want to know how your CS2 Premier rating fares against CS:GO’s competitive ranking system, here’s a quick overview:

With everything related to ranks out of the way, let’s have a look at some tips on how you can boost your Premier rating or get closer to Global Elite.

As a Counter-Strike player, there is always room for growth and it can be through improvements in aim, recoil control, map knowledge, or even communication. But, the first step to improvement is to acknowledge your weak points, inconsistencies, and the fact that you might be more wrong than right. No one is perfect!

Aim Training

This is the one thing every CS2 player should be incorporating into their training to become a better player. Global Elite, 20K+ Premier, and FaceIt level 10 players are consistently aim training to improve their flicks and their recoil control. Even some of the best riflers in the professional CS scene still make sure to do a bit of aim training every day.

There are a couple of methods for aim improvement:

• Aim maps – one of the best ways a player can train their aim is through workshop aim maps. One of the most popular options is Aim Botz – Aim Training as it provides players with easy access to all weapons and various settings for setting up the bots. Yprac prefire maps are also useful for training prefiring and response times.

• Deathmatch – deathmatch in CS:GO and CS2 is a staple for warming up your hands before a match and training your aim. It is not perfect as you can end up dying dozens of times in one match because of bad spawn positions. But, it does help with the prediction of natural/realistic player movement compared to hardcoded movements of bots.
• 1v1 Maps – for this one, you will need a friend, but it’s another very effective way to learn how to predict player movement, improve your response, and train one taps as well.

Learn Map Knowledge

If aim is one of the biggest factors that determines whether a player is good or bad, map knowledge is the number one biggest factor. Not only does understanding the map help with callouts, team strategies, and smoke lineups, but it also bolsters a player’s aim. Knowing when, where, and how to peek which significantly increases the chances of getting a kill is a benefit that comes from learning the map.

By learning the maps, you will certainly become a much better player which means you will quickly climb up the ranks. But, with 7 different maps in the Active Duty Map Pool, it can seem a little bit daunting.

However, CS has been around for more than 20 years, by now, there are all kinds of information that have simplified the learning curve of every map.

Here are some tips that you can do to learn the maps:

• Explore the maps – if you are a beginner in competitive Counter-Strike, then your first step should be to check out the maps in practice or deathmatch. Roam around the map and take note of all the nooks and crannies. Try to find out what’s the fastest way to get to A or B. Also, try to carefully look around both bomb sites and figure out where enemies can hide next time you play competitively.

• Watch professional CS2 games – the esports scene in Counter-Strike is quite active, so there are tournaments almost every month. If you want to learn more about the maps, and a lot more about CS in general, consider watching CS2 games more often. You can learn a lot from how pro players move around various maps.

• Learn smoke lineups – utility i.e. grenades are one of the most powerful tools in the game. This is especially true for smokes. They block off vision from your enemies, giving you and your team room to take over or protect bomb sites. However, randomly throwing smokes will get you nowhere. So, consider checking out smoke lineup guides. Learn a couple of smokes and you will immediately notice that matches are easier and that you’re climbing ranks.

Teamwork And Communication

While knowing how to take over bomb sites (map knowledge) and how to hit your shots are a necessity for competitive Counter-Strike, none of that matters if you are not a team player.

Counter-Strike is a team game and it requires players to work together to beat their opponent. However, if there is no communication and camaraderie between the players, the match will most likely end in a loss, which leads to a loss of rank.

So, if you’re serious about improving yourself in CS and climbing the ranks, you should also work towards being communicative. Try to remain calm and respectful throughout the whole match. Yelling at or insulting your teammates will only have a negative impact and worsen everyone’s performance. 

Additionally, you can work towards learning map callouts. These are essential for informing your teammates about the position of an enemy.

Movement Training

Movement is another huge factor when it comes to becoming a solid player in CS and if you want to boost your competitive rank. There’s peeking, boosting, counter-strafing, bunny hopping, air strafing, surfing, and more.

However, you don’t need to master every single movement type in CS to be good. You need to know the basics and that’s peeking and counter-strafing.

Peeking is the act of moving out from behind cover at the fastest movement speed possible to catch your enemy off guard and kill them. For the best peek, players need to account for the character’s acceleration time and move away from cover once maximum speed is achieved.

Counter-strafing is also part of the peeking process. Since Counter-Strike punishes movement with gun inaccuracy, your character should always move as little as possible to be accurate. Counter-strafing is a way we can quickly come to a stop to get that gun accuracy back. 

So, to counter-strafe, you want to move in one direction, let’s say right. Whenever you want to shoot, you let go of the right and immediately tap and let go of the opposite movement direction key, in this case, left. For training your counter-strafing, it’s probably best to do it through one of the aim maps we linked previously.

For the other forms of movement in CS like bunny-hopping or surfing, there are a lot of guides you can use. However, these won’t be as useful if you want to get to a higher rank in competitive CS.

In conclusion, Elo is all about categorizing players into different skill levels so that everyone can play on fairgrounds. And to get this elo, players need to consistently win and show a high level of performance in most matches. This is how one can climb ranks.

We hope that with this explanation of how Elo works and our tips on climbing through the ranks, you will be able to reach the top of the Skill Groups!