How to climb Rank in Valorant

1 – LEARN HOW TO PEEK

One of the most important things is that you shouldn’t shoot while moving, as it causes a loss of accuracy. But of course, you can’t stand still all the time. That’s why you have to Strafe and Counter-Strafe while peeking corners. 

When your enemy is further away from the angle than you, he will be able to see you first! That’s why knowing how to peek is very important if you want to climb rank in Valorant.

There are different methods of peeking. All of these methods strive to achieve different goals. Due to Valorant’s huge peeker advantage you should know all of these methods!

Learn more about [How to Peek in Valorant like a PRO]   

2 – REMEMBER HOW RANKING SYSTEM WORKS

Players can skip tiers and divisions if they build up enough MMR. MMR is hidden so you never know how close are you to rank up. Winning games is the most important factor when gaining rank so always try to focus on that – remember, kills are not as important, the main goal is to win the game. Focus on winning as a team, not on personal results.

If you want to rank up faster try to win with a big point difference. It’s way better to win 13:4 than 13:9 with a “Match MVP” badge. Every single round is important, so try to be focused all the time – don’t troll or make risky plays just because you have a decent start.

If you are losing a game, never give up. Win as many rounds as possible, even if your team is trolling or playing poorly. Having “Team MVP” or “Match MVP” badge and losing with a small point difference might not decrease your MMR. 

3 – KNOW THE META

To climb rank in Valorant you need to understand which Agents are the best for each map!

Check out our new article about  [Valorant Meta and Best Characters]

A Tier Champions are also very good – for example Sova is strong but mainly on Bind and Haven (check our Sova Guide). B Tier Champions can be useful but only in specific situations.

C Tier Champions are not good when trying to gain rank in Valorant. You can pick them if your rank is very low, but it would be way better to play with the best Agents from the beginning – this way you will be able to climb rank in Valorant faster!

4 – COLLECT INFORMATIONS ABOUT OPPONENTS

To win a lot of games and climb rank in Valorant you don’t have to only rely on your own skills. It’s very important to collect as much information about your enemies as possible, find their weak points, and take advantage of them. How to do it?

Firstly check which Agents are in the enemy team. Do they have a good competitive setup? Do they have too many offensive Agents? There are a lot of conclusions you can draw from the enemy team lineup.

Another way to collect information about the enemy team is checking the scoreboard all the time. This way you can find out their economy and which Agents have their Ultimate ready.

5 – LEARN HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH TEAMMATES

If you will not play with your 4 friends then you will be paired with random people. You can’t improve nor control them. The main goal is to win a game, so you have to work with what you’ve got.

Try to figure out the general skill of your teammates, their mood, communication skills, or game sense – gather as much information as you can. After the first 3/4 rounds, you can start to analyze what happened.

Your IGL decisions were bad? Let someone else lead the game. Your teammates keep dying at the beginning of the round? Ask them to take a slower pace. If you are losing and you have to give advice, don’t advise an individual, address the team. 

6 – UNDERSTAND HOW THE ECONOMY WORKS

Knowing how the economy in Valorant works will really improve your gameplay making it easier to climb rank! It is insanely important to track how much credits your and the enemy team have after every single round!

Based on how the economy of both teams look like you can make crucial decisions on how to win the game. You need to know when to play eco rounds, force or half buy, while also being able to predict what your enemies will do.

Learn more about how the Economy in Valorant works [Valorant Economy Guide]  

7 – WARM-UP BEFORE PLAYING

Warming-up is probably the best thing you can do to improve your play. Doing it will not only prepare you for the day but improve your aiming and movement skills in general. Strafe shooting is effortlessly trained while warming-up in Practice Mode. Also, crosshair placement can be efficiently trained while shooting in The Range. Winning the first game of the day is very important to keep a good mood and climb rank faster! Warming-up will help with that a lot!

Before you will jump into the game you should also warm-up your wrist (here you can find some quick 6 minutes daily routine). Next, you can also warm-up in aim trainers like KovaaK’s FPS Aim Trainer (I made a video about how you can train your aim – turn on English subtitles) or Aimlab.

The key is to develop a daily routine that you will use every single day before playing Valorant. You should never rely on your motivation to take you through your warm-up routine. Discipline is what keeps you going after you have lost your motivation. It’s that important.

8 – LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES

We are all just people and we all make mistakes. What distinguishes the best players from the average ones is the ability to notice their mistakes and constant work fixing them. Don’t blame the game or other players: improve your own gameplay instead!

A very good way to learn from your mistakes is making notes after every single of your deaths and rounds that your team lost. Why you died? Because you over picked, your aim was bad, your positioning or crosshair placement were terrible? Why your team lost? Because your communication skills were bad or your opponents countered all your tactics? After a few games check your notes and try to work on a mistake that you made the most. Find and repair your mistakes, one by one!

An even better way to improve your game is making VOD Reviews – rewatching your gameplay that you recorded before. Check it minute after minute, round by round. Try to find as many mistakes as you can. The best would be if you could ask someone, who is experienced in making VOD Reviews, to do that with you. Start improving yourself today, and you will climb rank in Valorant super fast!

9 – TRAIN ON CUSTOM SERVER

How to climb rank in Valorant? The easiest answer would be to train, train and train even more! Create a Custom Server. Go there, pick your main Agent or the Champion you would like to play during ranked games and try to do a couple of things:

• Try to find some good lineups for Viper smoke, Sova Recon or Shock Bolts, Sage Slow Orbs and Brimstone or Phoenix Molotovs.
• Try to find some good one way smokes for Viper, Cypher, Omen, or Brimstone.
• Try to find good places to flesh or stun for Breach.
• Try to find places where you can jump in or teleport with Jett and Raze or Omen abilities.
• Try to find some good places to boost yourself with Sage wall.
• Try to work on good pop flashes for Phoenix in the most popular angles on the maps.

Working on these things will allow you to surprise your enemies or to predict their moves way better! Especially when playing with 4 friends, you should train your tactics in Custom Server together.

10 – DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO STAY FOCUSED

Especially in games like CS or Valorant, where games are long and every single second of the match is important, being focused is super important. In theory, many people know about that but in practice, most of them make basic mistakes that disrupt them in their Valorant  ranked climb.

Here are some simple tips that will help you stay focused:

• Sleep well – around 6 to 8 hours. Lack of sleep will negatively affect your reaction time.
• Sit comfortably to maintain correct body posture.
• Clean your mouse, mousepad, desk, and keyboard – those are your work tools.
• Warm-up before playing to feel confident during the game.
• Mute chat – there is no point knowing what the enemy team is typing.
• Take small breaks between games, especially after the bad ones – it’s better to calmly think about what went wrong and prepare yourself mentally for the next one.
• Drink a lot of water and stand up after each game to restore circulation throughout the body.

These were 10 tips that should help you climb rank in Valorant! For those who want to reach a much higher level of mastery, I invite you to  check out personal [Valorant Coaching]. I will be happy to share much more detailed knowledge!