​

My Valorant journey and how long it took:

- From Silver to Gold (~ 5 months): You're reading it!
- From Bronze to Silver (~ 1 week): Read the post here!
- From Iron to Bronze (~1 month): Read the post here!

...wow. That took way longer than expected. 5 months ago, I somehow managed to speedrun from Bronze all the way to Silver in just a week. Looking back, I sure was way too optimistic about how long it would take for me to get into Gold LOL. I expected it took a month at most, and maybe some refinement of my skill. Boy was I wrong.

Just like all the other previous posts, I'm going to list down all the major things I learned that I believe are what got me out of my previous rank, and the usual disclaimer: These tips helped me specifically, and they can't apply to every rank climber in general. As always, I hope you guys learn something from a fellow elo-climber :)

1. Oh lawd. Aim trainers really do help. You'll need additional help though. I originally made a post about how aim trainers didn't help me all that much, and that I suggested to use more in-game training methods to train. In the last month or so of my climb, I've learned just how wrong I was about aim trainers. I still used them throughout, however what I didn't know was that I was using them wrong. Generally, the base Aim Lab tasks do help sort of establish a baseline skill as well as serve as somewhat of a benchmark, however actually improving might be better left off to those who know how to make you improve. I've tried both Revosect and Voltaic as benchmarks and training, and following their guides on improving aim are just *chef's kiss*. Their aim training tasks provide a more "personalized" experience and can introduce improvement at a level that you can perceive and build off of. I personally use Voltaic more since I find their tasks fun, but I think either one could work.
2. Learn to IGL. In-Game Leadership (IGL) is such an important NEW skill that I learned that pulled me out of this elo. If anything, this is the only skill I learned that wasn't a refinement of my already-existing skills. To keep it short, IGL-ing is the act of providing communication and strategy to your teammates. This means providing damage values, information gathering, providing attack and defense strategies, etc. I found that this helped me since it made me realize that nearly everyone in this elo is just kind of going with the flow, playing mindlessly until an opportunity they recognize shows itself. There's plenty of guides on how to do this, so go look them up!
3. Become mentally unbreakable. Obviously this is an absolute, but do try to just remain positive throughout your climb. This means keeping a positive "improvement" attitude with every game, and becoming immune to trashtalking. Time and time again it has been proven to me that even the worst 2-12 game can be turned around into a 14-12 provided that everyone's spirits are lifted. And honestly, it means praising people even for the smallest of efforts. This video by Sero is what I used specifically to learn how to make my mental state top notch.
4. There really aren't that many smurfs in Silver. Once you hit silver (and start getting golds in your queue for that matter), most player performance tends to work more consistently. Which means, that one player with the seemingly unbeatable level of skill is more likely to just be another player that belongs in Silver. How? Most of the time, it's just a player having a good game. Other times, that certain player probably is good in certain aspects (aim, movement, etc). However, they still belong in Silver because they lack in other skills. Perhaps they rush in without thinking, knowing that they can just out-aim everyone. This means they still have weaknesses you can exploit, you just need to find it. How? Well that's where the next tip comes in:
5. Watch for patterns in behavior. Each player has their own certain playstyle, which, if you pay attention well enough, leaks through every single round. Maybe their Sage walls mid on Ascent every single time then leaves. Maybe your Jett spams all the abilities on rush whenever they enter site. If you figure these out, you can begin to exploit them. You can break Sage's wall and establish mid control and leave both sites defenseless at the same time. Maybe you can use Jett's ability spams as an opportunity for you to push site, or maybe you could advise the Jett to wait for proper util so they can enter site much easier. At its heart, Valorant is a strategy game, and strategy, combined with even just a little bit of raw skill, can beat a team of all-skill-no-brain players.
6. Start learning about map-specific strategies. Each map in Valorant has unique aspects which require different playstyles and skills in order to utilize effectively. It's the reason why you play so trash on Breeze, but absolutely dominate on Split. Now would be a good time to watch videos on certain map strategies, at the very least on the maps that you're bad at. My least favorite map is Fracture, until I learned that Fracture favors the defenders if they push forward and take space. Knowing these things should make these maps more tolerable and hopefully improve your winrate on these maps.
7. The long term is important, not the short term. Winning a few games then losing a few games definitely does suck. However, what is important is that you learned from those games and improved yourself as a player. It may have taken me 5 months to get from Silver to Gold, but I can definitely say that my skill level is definitely that of a Gold player. If you never really learned, and just somehow ended up on Gold, then you're definitely not gonna last long at that elo and you'll just drop back down to your original rank.
8. Lastly, know when to take a break. Sometimes, the largest of improvements occur when you're not playing the game. People aren't machines, and that means they can't maintain peak performance all the time. They can't instantly absorb certain skills either. What I mean by this is that if you've already played a lot of games, and you're starting to feel tired, stop playing immediately and take a break. For the rest of the day preferably. If you play at below your peak, that winstreak will probably break, or that losestreak will just continue compounding, putting more work on your future self. This tip also means that you shouldn't try to overload yourself with as much information and training at once. You need to give your brain and body time to absorb what you learned. Rome wasn't built in a day, and TenZ didn't become a pro in a day either (maybe he did idk). One thing I noticed was that most of my improvements occur after I take a break. This tip doesn't just apply to Valorant, but pretty much everything in life really.

In conclusion... Valorant really does teach you a lot of things. It teaches you various strategies, it teaches you how to deal with other people, it teaches you how to deal with yourself. Understanding this, I've learned that Valorant really is more than just "some stupid game I play for R&R". If you're really serious about climbing the ranks, you really need to realize that climbing isn't just about becoming more skilled. It also needs you to become a better person in the process. Good luck to all my fellow climbers, and see y'all in plat!

o7