A player has consistently played CS:GO solo for 8 years and recently reached one of the highest ranks. Now he explains how he achieved that.
Who is it about?
- “SunsetRaindrop” is a Reddit user and player of Valve’s tactical shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
- On Reddit, the player shared a remarkable achievement: he reached the third highest rank in CS:GO, the “Legendary Eagle Master” (LEM), in solo queue. This means he only played with random teammates and not with friends or teammates.
- SunsetRaindrop writes in his post that he has consistently played CS:GO for nearly 8 years until he achieved LEM in solo queue. On his main account, he played with friends and often felt like he was being carried and didn’t deserve the rank.
- In total, only about 3.20% of all players are represented in LEM, and only 3.39% have a higher rank.
In the comments of the post, a user asks if SunsetRaindrop has any tips. The player then listed 10 tips that he believes everyone can implement into their gameplay.
What tips does the player have? The player’s tips are partly very general but can still make a difference. They focus on improving game understanding and general gameplay behavior in CS:GO.
Here is a brief, translated summary of the 10 tips that SunsetRaindrop shares on Reddit:
- Crosshair Placement – You should consciously pay attention to where you place your crosshair even outside of a gunfight. If you combine this with good map knowledge, you often only need to “pull the trigger” or make minimal adjustments when you see an opponent.
- Communication – Communication and coordination are important, even with random teammates. SunsetRaindrop also points out that it can help to break the ice and initiate a friendly conversation.
- Teamplay – SunsetRaindrop emphasizes that playing as a “lone wolf” is one of the biggest mistakes he sees. Instead, if you play in a team, there is ideally the opportunity for a refrag. This helps even if you can’t win your gunfights.
- Entry – SunsetRaindrop urges not to be afraid to make the entry – even if you lose. Map control is important, and an entry is essentially the door opener of a match. It creates space for the whole team.
- Dynamical Gunfights – Spray control is good according to SunsetRaindrop, but if you spray too much, you’re doing something wrong. It’s more important to be dynamic in duels and to shoot in bursts at the right moments.
- Utility – The handling of common utility should be learned. SunsetRaindrop mentions that he uses some one-way smokes as an example.
- Analyze Mistakes – When you die, you should ask yourself why you died and if you could have played something differently according to SunsetRaindrop. This helps to recognize your own mistakes. After that, you can try not to repeat them.
- Take a Break When You’re Angry – If you notice that you are angry and potentially making poor decisions in the game because of it, you should take a break and continue playing the next day.
- Recognizing Timing and Strategies – When you get a feel for your opponent’s strategies, according to SunsetRaindrop, it improves your game sense.
- To train this, SunsetRaindrop suggests the following exercise: When you are dead, think about where the remaining opponents could be. Then check if your assessment was correct and how you could have anticipated your opponent’s position even better.
- Distance – Keep some distance from your teammates and avoid standing directly behind them. If you’re behind a teammate, take a step to the side. Your teammate may not see you in these situations, and you don’t want to accidentally shoot him.
The first kill of a round is the so-called entry frag. In some e-sports titles, teams have selected players responsible for the “entry,” meaning the opening play. Players designated to achieve the first kill of the round are often referred to as “entry fraggers.”
Any kill that follows another kill is a “refrag” and thus the response to a frag. In practice, this is the case, for example, when an opponent shoots a player from your team, and then gets shot by a player from your team.
What do other players say about the tips? Although SunsetRaindrop’s post did not receive significant attention on Reddit, the tips did receive some support.
The user mad_vanilla_lion wrote, for example, that he has consumed many CS:GO tips, but these are the best he has read so far. Another praises the advice to be more dynamic in gunfights as “just right.”
Many of the tips can also be transferred to other shooters and could be helpful in Counter-Strike 2 as well when the sequel to the popular tactical shooter is released in the summer.
Counter-Strike 2: Release, Beta and changes for the successor to CS:GO
