There has been a lot of housekeeping at Valve recently, a latest layer of onion peeled off to make the game more upto the modern standards. But what has changed throughout this time you ask? An essential part of the game that matters to almost all of its player base : The matchmaking ranking system is what changed.
That’s right, we are taking a look at the ranks in CS2, weighing them against what was used in the legendary CS:GO. All CS2 matchmaking platforms will be covered starting from premier to FACEIT and to vanilla – competitive. If you are someone who’s looking to understand where you stand in the matchmaking ladder, we’ve got you covered.
But wait, what are CS2 ranks ?
Meanwhile, ranks are just a way in the game to match you with players of similar skill level so that you don’t get that one AFK teammate who comes late into the round and goes to the wrong bombsite. Like seriously, why not disconnect ?
But yes, that’s why its important that ranks are assigned as close as possible to the skill level, ensuring that the balance is just right. The new system has seen a few adjustments compared to CS:GO, and we believe they are here to stay. There’s even one entirely new CS2 ranking system, which is deployed in parallel to another but we will get there when we get there.
Let’s follow the plan, unlike your teammates in every solo PUB.
A guide to the Ranks
The grey gang : Silver 1 – Silver Elite Master
There’s no shame in being a silver, everyone has to turn on their monitors someday while playing. But jokes aside, there is a 11 in 10 chance that your aim is bad, and you do not plan your utility and do not necessarily know the best angles on every map. We also see you, you hardstuck Master Guardian smurfs.
It’s all good though, since once you start playing more, you learn more. Sounds cliche, but at this rank people will flame you, but eventually ignoring the noise will help you keep improving.
Keep using the Aim Trainer maps to warmup, hone your skills and you will be out of Silver in no time!
Light Blue gang : Gold Nova 1 – Gold Nova Masters
At this point you are in too deep. You’ve already wasted a good amount of money that you feel guilty about. You probably play with your smurfing Master Guardians and think you are too good for your fellow gold novas. Don’t worry, aiming is not the problem anymore, but you need common and game sense to understand why CS2 is a strategy game that needs execution.
Dark Blue gang : Master Guardian 1 – Distinguished Master Guardians
Okay, you’ve moved up the ranks. The best thing to do here is very similar to life – nothing. Just be patient and grind through the matches. Every once in a while a smurf will remind you why the road only gets tougher from here. Don’t be angry, see what they are doing different and please stop calling everyone who kills you – a hacker.
Also at these ranks in CS2, you’re still in the average skill ceiling for the game, but once you make it out of MGE, congratulations. You’re parents will officially hate you for playing this game for too long, but now you are in the top 20 percentile. Above average.
Legendary Eagle – legendary Eagle master
Sweaty. That’s how the players are here. Folks who care about their stats and performance, flaming you in a random language after you die for not matching their standards of play. But don’t worry, as long as you have learnt crosshair placement, decent map knowledge and everything else from above, you are at the pinnacle of the CS2 ranking system where it matters enough but you can still have fun. Consistency is something that comes with time.
Supreme Master First Class to Global Elite
Congrats guys. You’re officially a nerd. Stop calling yourselves SMFCs. Noone cares. But jokes aside again, SMFCs will trash Global elites on the server and the skill ceiling is hit here. Everyone is good. Every mistake counts heavily on match outcomes. Once here, if you are Global Elite on a few different maps, it might be time to move to the CS2 premier ranks, or even FACEIT. You can seriously train for honing your skills even more in either one of these options.
But if you want to be a CS2 pro, you got to have consistency as only a Global Elite rank isn’t going to cut it.
Coming to premier ranks
The CS2 ranking system saw a complete overhaul when the premier game mode was introduced. It was not given the recognition it deserved back then, but now is seen as the way to play the game.
CS2 premier ranks assign you a number between 1 to 30k and above, called CS rating.
Only a select few can reach the 30,000 numbers with only certain names making it in the world as of today.
There are colors for every MMR band, and here they are :
| 4,999 and below | Gray |
| 5,000 to 9,000 | Light blue |
| 10,000 to 14,999 | Blue |
| 15,000 to 19,999 | Purple |
| 20,000 to 24,999 | Pink |
| 25,000 to 29,999 | Red |
| 30,000 and above | Gold |
What makes this rating special is that it ranks you on the leaderboard, so that you get carpal tunnel syndrome by being sweaty in every match. A highly volatile board, where you got to be the best to climb up the ranks.
Here is a simple chart to compare the rating numbers to CS:GO to know where you stand.
| 1,000 to 2,800 | Silver I |
| 2,800 to 3,800 | Silver II |
| 3,800 to 4,200 | Silver III |
| 4,200 to 4,700 | Silver IV |
| 4,700 to 4,999 | Silver Elite |
| 4,999 to 5,600 | Silver Elite Master |
| 5,600 to 6,500 | Gold Nova I |
| 6,500 to 7,400 | Gold Nova II |
| 7,400 to 8,400 | Gold Nova III |
| 8,400 to 9,400 | Gold Nova Master |
| 9,400 to 10,000 | Master Guardian I |
| 10,000 to 10,900 | Master Guardian II |
| 10,900 to 12,000 | Master Guardian Elite |
| 12,000 to 13,100 | Distinguished Master Guardian |
| 13,100 to 14,200 | Legendary Eagle |
| 14,200 to 15,500 | Legendary Eagle Master |
| 15,500 to 18,000 | Supreme Master First Class |
| 18,000 to 30,000+ | Global Elite |
CS2 Ranks for every map
One of the biggest lightbulbs that valve had for the CS2 game were that ranks would be assigned based on performance in every map. Vertiglobals (only global elites on Vertigo), we are looking at you.
For each map, you’ll begin as a rankless player. You have to then win 10 matches, before being assigned a rank on that map. With 8 maps in the game, you have to play a lot to get your badges everywhere.
CS2 FACEIT
Premier isn’t for you? for overachieving pricks, there is another ranking system that’s right up your alleys. FACEIT is a third party client that allows you to play with some of the most skilled CS2 players with intrusive anti-cheats and higher skill ceilings that go way higher than what premier ranks did. Which is why, ipso facto all pros play majority of their matchmaking games here.
There are 10 levels in FACEIT and the ELO required to reach each tier is :
| 100 to 500 | Level 1 |
| 501 to 750 | Level 2 |
| 751 to 900 | Level 3 |
| 901 to 1,050 | Level 4 |
| 1,051 to 1,200 | Level 5 |
| 1,201 to 1,350 | Level 6 |
| 1,351 to 1,530 | Level 7 |
| 1,531 to 1,750 | Level 8 |
| 1,751 to 2,000 | Level 9 |
| 2,000+ | Level 10 |
But wait, I saw that my rank is gone suddenly
Of course, they have you ignorant silver. You need to keep playing the game, else over time your rank gets decayed gradually. This is to ensure the integrity of the competitive mode is present. Of course you already suck at the game, but imagine your skill level when you come back to the game after a year without practice!
Thanks for sticking till the end, and we hope all the light hearted humor is taken exactly the other way – as serious jabs at the players. You know what else you could jab? The follow button on our Instagram page to stay updated on everything CS2.
