SoStronk, India’s own version of FACEIT, an alternative to Valve’s rudimentary matchmaking have dropped another major update for their app. The most significant part has been SoStronk Ranks, the match making systems and the MMR reset.
The recent update brings about a reset in the ranking system, which, according to their own data team was skewed to say the least. In other terms, the ranks weren’t justified, flawed even. Gamers who were queuing up with three or more or getting boosted were having unfair advantages over solo players. Thus, a change was indeed anticipated.
Sostronk introduced a Ranking system in its match-making in 2017, which fuses the CSGO matchmaking concept with additional concepts to make it more refined. Now, any gamer will tell you how seriously Ranks are taken, so much so that it becomes a d*ck measuring contest in many cases and the response to many in-game taunts or quarrels.
SoStronk Ranks
The Ranks at Sostronk are an additional feature to the statistics that appear on a user’s ID.
So what are the ranks at Sostronk? How does it relate to the Ranks in CSGO Matchmaking? Let’s take a look.
Unranked
This is what shows up against a user’s name and ID immediately after he registers on Sostronk. This is similar to CSGO’s legacy matchmaking in the form that the user has to play a given number of matches (5 on Sostronk and 10 on CSGO) and accumulate wins in order to open desirable ranks.
Naturally, a player who is unranked represents one that is new to the platform. This is not mostly true due to the concept of smurfs but Sostronk is trying hard to significantly reduce, if not eliminate them from the platform.
Wood Chicken
The rock bottom of the pecking order at Sostronk, Wood Chicken signifies a player that is either new to the mechanics of CSGO or is simply not good enough. Given that performances also play a huge part in defining the ranks at Sostronk, one could safely say Wood Chicken are the Silvers of the Platform.
Silver Chicken
Slightly better than a Wood Chicken, one could still equate the Silver Chicken rank to that of a Silver on CSGO Matchmaking, with just better mechanics or knowledge of the game.
Cock
This is where one could say players start to get a hang of things as far as csgo is concerned. The user is improving and learning slowly and could match up to Novas in the CSGO Matchmaking.
Public Advisory: If you get a Chicken or a Cock in your game, don’t give them a hard time. They know they are not good enough and are either trying to just enjoy the game and the platform or striving to do better. Remember, Constructive criticism works. Help them help you.
Bronze Serpent
This is where fellow players start to take you semi-seriously. The bedrock of the Ranking System and in fact, part of the most common Rank structure on Sostronk, Bronze Serpents are players beginning to reap the effects of putting hours in the game but are aware there is still a long way to go.
Silver Serpent
You could find similarities in Serpents when compared to the Master Guardians in CSGO Matchmaking. Silver Serpents are players who are continuing the grind on a serious note, know a handful of smokes and flashes on each maps and are tactically trying to become sound enough to be helpful to the team.
King Cobra
The precipice of elite at Sostronk. There is a notion that Badgers are considered as the entrance gate to respect on the platform and King Cobra is right on the doorstep of it. A king Cobra is usually good enough to be a Badger but has some adjustments left to make to their gameplay. Quite similar to a Distinguished Master Guardian on CSGO Matchmaking, a King Cobra knows how to bite.
Bronze Badger
The ranking adjustments made by Sostronk after the April Fools’ rank reset affirmed what we mentioned above as far as Badgers being the entry-gate of respect is concerned. A Bronze Badger is someone who has a good clue of how Sostronk IR works and how to stand out without bringing the rest of the team down, which is what you could say about a Legendary Eagle on csgo matchmaking.
A Bronze Badger is getting accustomed to the daily Sostronk grind and like the name suggests, is slowly becoming nocturnal.
Silver Badger
A Silver Badger slowly starts to realise that the new update to Sostronk means it is better to avoid 3+ lobby queues and starts to go for more duos and solos. Silver Badger has inched closer to completely donning he nocturnal theme and is dedicated to the grind.
Silver Badgers have gained knowledge of most of the common strategies, peeks, smokes and flashes but are yet to perfect the timing of when and where to use them to their full effect.
Honey Badger
A rarer species of Badgers, a Honey Badger only plays solos and duos and is rarely seen in packs on Sostronk. A Honey Badger has statistics envied by others and on a personal note, has the coolest rank icon design on Sostronk.
Honey Badgers usually have a pinch of ego in them, with the rank quite tough to achieve, especially after the Rank Adjustments were introduced. Honey Badgers can’t tolerate being talked down, more so by ranks lower than them and are confrontational to a certain extent.
PUGMASTER
The creme de la creme of the Sostronk platform in their own words, A Pugmaster represents the best of players on the platform. Ideally, A Pugmaster is one that can infuse his own individuality and still be a team-player; even with randoms; specifically with randoms.
The % of Pugmasters among the members on Sostronk might actually be lesser when compared to that of Global Elite as regards to players on the csgo matchmaking and rightly so.
Days and Nights have become one for Pugmasters by now, what with the world in Lockdown right now. They know the most convoluted of strategies, smokes and flashes and have the judgemental capacity to discern between situations where those should be used.
Earlier, the rank did not signify the same, unfortunately due to lobby queues. But, the adjustments made to the Rank System will ensure that is a rare occurrence and that the rank represents the absolute best. Perhaps, this is not the first time SoStronk have reset ranks of its users. In the year 2018 and subsequently in 2019, the MMR were expunged. The prime relevance to the multiple ranks revamp has been the invariability of rank-ups.
Public Advisory: A higher rank than your teammate or opposition on Sostronk in a said match does not give you the right to be toxic towards them. There is a difference between banter and toxicity. Don’t put them down when they miss a shot or smoke or when they fail to understand a call. Remember how you got to the rank and that Constructive criticism works. Be considerate, not callous.