How to Rank Up in CS2
It’s safe to say that CS2 is a highly competitive game, and ranking up is no easy task. It takes a combination of skill, strategy, and team play to advance to the higher ranks. Safe to say, if you don’t know what you are doing ranking up can be extremely difficult. However, with persistence, and dedication to the game ranking up can become easier.
With that said, there are practices and habits you can build to make the journey easier. So, here are some tips to help you along your ranked journey. These tips don’t cater to specific ranks but can apply to players of all skill levels. Whether, you’re a novice just starting out, or someone has poured a significant amount of time into the game, you can use these tips to improve your game.
Mechanics
While mechanics aren’t the only factor in improving your overall performance, they do play a significant part. For this reason, you need to train your mechanics to be sharp and precise. It not only makes you a threat for the enemies to deal with but also makes you confident in your decision-making. When it comes to mechanics in CS2, it can be divided into two categories.
Aim
Ultimately, CS2 is a first-person shooter that relies heavily on your aiming capabilities to perform well. Of course, aim isn’t something that’s mastered in a day or two. It takes time and a lot of practice to make it consistent. Before we get into how to improve your aim, we need to first declare the fundamentals of aiming in CS2.
- Flicks
- Tracking
- Reaction
- Crosshair Placement
If you want to make your aim better you need to focus on these fundamentals. We will list how you can train each of these fundamentals below.
Flicks and tracking can be easily trained in an aim training map like Aim Botz. Flicks are mostly muscle memory, so invest time into killing the bots with as much accuracy as you can. For Tracking, turn on the bot’s movement and try to track its body or head as it moves. You can check out our Aim Botz training routine to help you start.
When it comes to reaction, deathmatch is the most optimal way. Because of the chaotic nature of gameplay, you will always be fighting enemies. This will help you train your reaction time. It’s highly recommended to play with your headphones on instead of blasting music. As it helps practice your hearing too.
Crosshair placement isn’t a mechanic, but a habit. It’s the habit of always keeping your crosshair at head level. If you have good crosshair placement, it will reduce the amount of mouse adjustment you have to do when you see an enemy. Deathmatch is also a great way to practice this as well.
If you are new to aim training, we recommend opting for a proper aim training course, like our Metronome Aim Training Course. It gives you a progressive roadmap to improving your fundamentals.
Movement
Movement is the second most important mechanic you need to master. A player with good movement is better than a player with good aim and bad movement.
It’s quite common to see players mistake movement for flashy things like bunny hops. They are only part of the bigger picture. It also includes clearing angles, strafing, and more.
For starters, hop into a deathmatch and build the habit of checking every angle. Secondly, start practicing on your peeks. After every death, question yourself and understand what you did wrong.
Next, practice strafing, it will be your biggest help in duels. Aim botz is a great map to practice this. Try moving left stop shoot, then move right stop shoot, or vice versa. Keep practicing until you can do this in one motion. When you have practiced the fundamentals, you can move on to more advanced mechanics like bunny hops, long strafe jumps, etc.
Game sense
Game sense is what separates the pros from the average player. It’s the ability to make fast decisions in stressful situations, have a strategic plan of execution, and read the enemy team.
It’s not something that you can learn from watching YouTube videos. The best way to improve gamesense is to play the game and identify your weaknesses. But, before you go into improving your gamesense, you need to have a strong understanding of CS2 itself. The maps and their callouts, the economy, weapons, etc.
The fastest way to improve your gamesense is to watch your demo replays. Try to identify your shortcomings. Ask yourself questions about your positioning, aim, and decision-making. Once you have identified your weaknesses, try finding a solution to fix them.
Teamplay
At the end of the day, CS2 is a team-based game. This means that to succeed, you have to be a team player. You need to have solid communication and a positive attitude towards the team. Here are some habits you can build to be a good team player.
- Always communicate, and give your team information. Let your team know what see, hear, and are about to do.
- Have a positive attitude. Even if you are having a bad day, don’t take it out on your team.
- Plan together on your strategy. This could be as simple as coordinating utilities to plan a whole site execution.
Utility
Utility is often not properly used. This is especially the case for the lower ranks. You never know how a smoke or grenade can end up winning you a round. The surprising thing is mastering utilities is relatively simple.
All you need to do is learn a handful of good lineups on every map and coordinate with your team. For example, you could ask your teammate to smoke one angle while you smoke the other. Or, ask for a flash if you are peeking at an angle.
Little things like this can make your overall team’s utility usage much better than the enemy, resulting in you winning more matches and ranking up.
Watch the Pros
If you truly want to be the best, then learn from the best. Watching professionals play is already entertaining; why not learn from them? The situations you face in your matches will also be similar to what the pros face. Seeing how they deal with it can also apply to your games.
Study how they clear angles, use utilities, execute plants, and defuse. You can also learn lineups from them or how they approach a fight. Watching and applying all these things will ultimately help you rank up in the long term.
