So I saw a lot of post about this and decided to share my experience with reaching ascendant. A little background is I was global in CS and rank A in ESEA in 2016. I stopped playing these games for about 6years and started up again in 2022 with the intention of hitting immortal in Val. My progression per 4 acts is as follows: Bronze, Gold, Diamond, Ascendant(still climbing). My aim is pretty shit, I don't top frag every game, yet I climb pretty fast. Below I share my findings.

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• Why Solo:
  • Forces you to adapt to a variety of different teammates and play styles
  • High/Low Rating: You will be consistently changing as the top rated and lowest rated player on your team which means you will have games were you need to step up and also games where you need to play smart because you are meant to get rocked. This teaches you to analyze the best course of action for every game. In a consistent five stack you will hardly improve in this sense as you have a place in your teams ladder.
  • Consistent MMR base: You will improve at your own pace without the impact of balancing duo/5stack team MMR.
• Climbing Strategy
  • 30/30/40: I do believe that in only about 40% of games played are you the deciding factor. Below are my thoughts on the upper and lower bounds.
    • In 30% (Games you will Lose) you need to ask yourself how can we gain more rounds? The more rounds you gain even in a loss will contribute to less MMR lost, and thus more rr gained per win for future games. If you just ff because it is that losing 30% you are doing yourself a huge disservice and also lowering your 40% of games that you determine the winner of. Take for example you have 4 players who are great at trading but too scared to push. Would you sacrifice your KD to be bait for your team? It doesn't matter that you went 4-16 if you're the reason your team got a few more rounds. Don't get tilted, let your team flame you. Be what that specific team needs in that moment regardless of how it makes you look. But do realize, you are meant to lose this game. Just because you're sacrificing yourself doesn't mean you'll turn this into a win every time. You'll simply be reducing the mmr loss and thus increasing your future rr gains.
    • 30% (Games you'll win) We've all been the guy who wants to frag out in a game you're already up 7-0. They have an eco round every so often and we just push like no tomorrow. Just as it is in your lower 30% you need to win as many rounds as possible despite your teammate doing as I just described. Be the smart player. Instead of telling your teammates to not peek ask them to hold a cross angle with you. If your team is swinging put yourself in a position to assist them but also know when its better to stay back.
  • Play only when you're fresh. I'd say you only want to play at the most 3-4 games per session and take a long break in between. Playing for too long makes your brain feel complacent and a great way of refreshing this is by playing a different FPS game which uses different aiming mechanics. Apex for example is great for tracking. Another thing is stamina, you need to understand when your body needs a break. Some days it can be after one game others you may not need a break because you're in the zone. NGL my max in the zone is probably around 7-8 which is pretty excessive but I know for my body that I can do that occasionally.
• Warm Up
  • Before my first competitive game I shoot
  • 50(x2) targets strafing, shooting from the starting platform (while moving)
  • 100(x2) targets strafing, standing dead center of where they spawn. Spinning and trying to increase my speed for close range combat while maintaining HS placement.
  • Move to the distance dummy and shoot at max range to ensure that I can kill within the first 5 bullets for about 3 minutes.
    • I displace(verts) my crosshair while facing backwards, then 360 and side strafe from one wall onto the target. Spin, repeat using other wall to strafe, fire.
  • I don't DM before my games. I think slight refresher and go in. This gives the best performance for me. If I fixate on the warm up I get in my head and end up not performing well.
• Aim Train at the end of each Comp Session. Only once a day, if I play two sessions I do this only after the first.
  • 100(x3) Long range strafing targets
  • 100(x1) close range
  • Medium Mode Bots (x2)
  • Do this 2 or 3 times depending on how I feel. If my aim is off (usually cause of fatigue) then I just hop off. If I feel good but don't feel like I'd make it through another game I may go for 4-5 rounds of aim train.
• Dealing with AFK, toxicity, etc.
  • When there is an afk I always like to joke with my teammates if they're game. Maybe its making fun of the other team for losing a 4v5 round if that is what gets your teammates excited or playing dumb strategies like 4 man rushing with shotguns. If your team is having fun you can likely push for a few more rounds. Keep their motivation high while you are still playing for as many rounds as possible. You can work with your team playing a bit troll because the other team usually lightens up and plays recklessly. You can capitalize on that and convert a few more rounds per game.
  • Toxicity: Honestly, if someone is making the game super uncomfortable for other people and yourself. Mute that person and don't worry about them. Comfort the person who is getting bashed. End of the day this is a video game and you shouldn't support the toxic player just because he is top fragging. When you're playing for improvement, you're going to get that rr back. Be the good person here and the wins will come.
  • Just for reference I probably play about 10-15 games a week and have about 3 afks and 3 flamers. With AFKS the biggest thing to understand is although you lose rr you take a lower hit to mmr. So as long as you push for those rounds in a game with an afk you will keep getting high RR wins despite these losses. Devs confirmed this point.
• Final Remarks
  • I think it would be smart to say that despite being global in CS my aim is far from perfect. Cross hair placement and utility usage are my bread and butter. In any game that the other team has some crazy kovac freak I play back, utilize utility, and set up crossfires. I only play for early frags when I've felt the other team out and know I can make an impact.
  • I always fill but select my agent preference immediately at the start of the round. This way if someone wants to select the missing role they will do so, if they do not I simply hover over the next needed agent. Never type that you are filling, simply ask what everyone wants to play and adapt accordingly while hovering your preference to start. My agent pool is quite large, I'd recommend adding all agents with simple utility to your roster and then focusing on a few high level utility agents afterwards.
  • Demotions and Promotions: If you are D3. The way I look at it is you are in a range from D2-A1. Don't think about where you are currently. Instead focus on your peak and potential range. MMR is the true secret indicator and it will get you to the fair rank by higher rr wins or higher rr losses. Do what you can in every game to change your MMR and you will see progress.

Thanks for reaching the end of the post. Let me know what you think and if you struggle in solo Q. Do you have any other thoughts on MMR or tips that would help me reach immortal?