CS:GO – Ranks guide

Whether you are just swinging with the noobs or soaring high with the pros, CS:GO’s ranking system is one of the best ways to gauge and evaluate your skills compared to others in the competitive matchmaking mode. Let’s see the CSGO ranking system!

CSGO ranks (the full name of the game: Counter-Strike Go) range from novice to elite players, similar to other e-sports games. And this ranking system will offer you a roller coaster of emotions for as long as you play it. You will feel the high once you start ranking up and also explore the contempt when you get de-ranked. The novice players will try to fill your head with their nonsensical ignorance while the elite will throw useless tantrums on their talent.

However, CS:GO takes a lot of pride in this ranking system. It represents the countless hours that you have spent learning the game and then applying it along with your teammates to emerge victoriously. No matter how high or low your rank is, two things are for sure – you will want to invest more time in the game and improve your ranking to make CS:GO a more enjoyable experience.

Similar to other Valve shooter games, the rank system in Counter-Strike Go is hard to wrap your head around while figuring it out. There is very little explanation that can help you figure out and get started with CSGO ranks. Here is a brief guide to help you understand this not-so-complicated ranking system.

The player hierarchy at Counter-Strike Go comprises 18 ranks; each one above means that the player is more skilled than the one below. These ranks are displayed in the following order and sorted according to the bottom-most position to the top-most.

• Silver I
• Silver II
• Silver III
• Silver IV
• Silver Elite
• Silver Elite Master
• Gold Nova I
• Gold Nova II
• Gold Nova III
• Gold Nova Master
• Master Guardian I
• Master Guardian II
• Master Guardian Elite
• Distinguished Master Guardian
• Legendary Eagle
• Legendary Eagle Master
• Supreme Master First Class
• The Global Elite

What Is Rank In CS:GO?

From the above, we understand that the Silver I is the lowest rank while the Global Elite is for the top-tier players who engage in competitive Counter-Strike. If you are a decent player, you can probably land among the clusters of Silver and Gold rank; to reach higher tiers like Master Guardian or Legendary Eagle, you will have to be extremely good at the game.

CS:GO Ranking System

As mentioned above, players are classified into tiers. Mostly, players in the same ranking category display similar behavioral and gaming instincts, with some exceptions here and there. For instance, The Master Guardian rank category players, or MGs, are quite familiar with the system for the initial four rounds, so they require minimal team communication.

Similarly, the ‘Silvers’ are the lowest ranks in the system. This category mostly comprises of players who are new to the game and have a minimum or no strategy involved in the gameplay. Additionally, this category also includes the ‘smurfs’; smurfs are high-ranked players who are playing in the Silver category with alternative accounts, mostly for fun. So if you do not know how to play the game, it will be quite difficult for you to escape the Silver division; this is because the smurfs make it extremely challenging to do so.

‘Novas’ is a group of players in the middle of the CSGO ranking system. They are much well-versed than the gamers in the Silver category and know more about the game like pop-flashes, smokes, spray patterns, and the economy. The upper Nova rank signifies being above-average players. But, while these gamers might know how to aim and shoot, they often lack the gaming sense needed to finish the job.

Finally, the Master Guardian categories are the highest ranks in CSGO. They are much more advanced, and the gamers with this rank have a lot of knowledge of retake coordination, site execution with utility, economic buy trends, and sprays. They also have perfected their skills and prefer teamwork rather than the ‘lone wolf’ tactic.

Trust Factor Wingman

The Trust factor can be described as a value in the Counter-Strike Global Offensive games that will impact your matchmaking experience. You will be able to improve or make your game worse by behaving good/bad (respectively) in-game.

It should be taken into account that it is not only Counter-Strike Go that influences your Trustfactor but also your activity in other Valve games on Steam. Valve has specified no exact information that gives us an idea of what has an impact on it.

So, how does Trustfactor work? Trustfactor is evaluated if you play a ranked match, like a Wingman ranks match (2v2) or Competitive (5v5). If your Trustfactor is better than anyone of your teammates, you will see their Trustfactor in the team chat. The Trustfactor is based on your number.

However, if it does not show, there might be two possible reasons. One, there might not be a lot of difference between your Trustfactor and theirs, and will not affect your matchmaking experience. The second reason is that your Trustfactor is in a lot worse shape than theirs and will jeopardize the matchmaking.

Yellow Trustfactor means that it is a bit lower than yours and will affect the matchmaking process only slightly. Red Trustfactor indicates that it is a lot lower than yours and will majorly affect the experience. If you manage to queue alone, you will notice that your teammates and the enemy team will have similar Trustfactor to yours. Green Trustfactor means that you are matched with friendly, legit, and experienced gamers.

Trustfactor is used to improve the matchmaking because you have a chance to work for the ranks and accomplish the mission of reaching them if you play well enough. If your Trustfactor is low, you will mostly be pitted against cheaters, boosted beginners, and trolls; this is because they also have a terrible Trustfactor.

However, one negative aspect is that legit players tend to get annoyed, since they are trying to improve their rank in the game, but they keep getting destroyed by the cheaters.

How CS:GO Ranks Work

Here is a brief idea of how CSGO ranking works.

To earn your first rank, you need to win a minimum of 10 placement matches. The maximum attempt is two per day. It will allow the ranking system to determine your overall caliber. However, unranked players will not be able to queue with players ranking Master Guardian 2 and above, unless queuing with a five-member full team.

Once you win these ten matches, you will be assigned to one of these ranks, based on your performance. While the restriction on the number of events you can play is lifted, you will only be able to queue with players within your ranking range (+/-5).

Based on the number of times you win or lose, your rank will be adjusted at the end of the match and placed higher or lower than your current standing, respectively. The only safest way to improve your position is to win as a team.

If you do not play any matches for a month, your rank could disappear from the listing and would require a draw or win to return to it. Of course, you will no longer be able to play with ranks above than the Master Guardian 1 until you earn it back.

How to Rank Up in CS:GO

Consistently earning MVP statuses and getting kills is just a small part of your quest to rank up in CS:GO. It is because Counter-Strike Go’s matchmaking system is based on chess ranking systems like Glicko-2 and Elo. However, it soon became clear that the 1v1 ranking system was not working to its full potential in the 5v5 shooter game, thereby profoundly impacting the win/loss ratio of the players and their ranks.

Another critical aspect of the game’s ranking system is whether your team should win or lose the match, based on the collective matchmaking ranking, or MMR. If your side is facing off a team with a much higher MMR, your team could gain more numerical value if you win, compared to winning against a team that you were expected to beat.

Perhaps, the fastest and the best way to increase your rank in CS:GO is to secure wins. You also have the option to mitigate the de-ranking by maintaining your kill/defeat ratio. If you wish to rank up quickly, it is recommended that you join a team of like-minded individuals who want to win just as bad as you and have a clear and concise idea on how to reach the Global Elite status. It also means that you need to stay away from griefers (people who intentionally lose the match) and trolls.

If you are serious about your rank, you should avoid playing solo. You will be at risk of running into griefers. Additionally, solo queuing is often associated with de-ranking due to the competitiveness of the gamers.

Overall, the ranking system is not everything. It is just an arbitrary name that gives other gamers of your gaming prowess and status. If you divert your attention and focus simply on becoming a better Counter-Strike player than winning, then you will be able to rank up almost seamlessly.

With about 18 ranks, you have quite a long road to getting ranked. Then, there is the endless task of improving your position. If you want to know how to rank up in CSGO, make sure that you follow the rules and regulations of the game and not use any cheat codes.