Hello everyone. This is my story of going from Iron 1 to Immortal. I primarily soloqueued at every rank, with a bit more duo queueing in diamond. I am also a laptop player. Please don't take this post as me bragging about my achievement; I am just proud of my journey and would like to let people know that with enough work, anyone can get to the rank they want to be.

[Ep1/Act1] I started playing Valorant on an old Lenovo Thinkpad laptop with no prior FPS experience. 30 fps/lag spikes on top of complete lack of game sense/aim resulted in me being placed in Iron 1. Even though the game wasn't very enjoyable, I loved learning and watching the game. I was able to end the season in silver 2 by relying on my crosshair placement, making cheesy plays, and supporting the team with sage and brim utility.

[Ep1/Act2] With improved aim and game sense, I was able to get to gold on my craptop. I saved up enough money to buy a Razer Blade 15 gaming laptop, which I still play on. 144hz, consistent frames, and less ping spikes allowed me to improve much quicker and enjoy the game more. I ended the season in gold 2.

[Ep1/Act3] I started focusing a lot on aim training in Aim Labs and the range. I watched a lot of guides and vod reviews of higher ranked players. I learned to play around my team more, rather than make selfish decisions. Above all else, I always focused attention on my crosshair placement. I ended the season in plat 1.

[Ep2/Acts1-3] My rank was reset to silver 2, but I quickly climbed through gold. I spent most of Act 1 stuck in plat, even dropping back to gold a few times. My aim became pretty good, and I got used to playing fill agents (mostly Omen). I had some good win streaks and ended the season in diamond 2. Acts 2 and 3 were plat/diamond hell. I went up and down a lot, and I eventually stopped caring about my rank as much. I focused on improving my comms and ability usage. I learned to strafe and tap more in gunfights.

Progression in episodes 1-2.

[Ep3/Act1] My rank was reset to plat 1. The climb back to diamond was quick, but then diamond hell began once again. At this point, I knew I had spent enough time in diamond. I was confident that I had the aim to get to immortal. I just needed to overcome the mental battle. It's difficult to describe the discouragement of losing very winnable games. It's one thing to lose because of bad teammates and things out of my control, but it's another thing to lose because of my poor performance, misplays, and things completely within my control. It also sucked that a bunch of games were 50/50s. I either hit my coinflip, or I don't. I learned to be more coordinated with my team and keep the team atmosphere positive. About a week before the season ended, I finally hit immortal.

Nooo 1 more red triangle :(

My tracker: https://tracker.gg/valorant/profile/riot/Yama%239815/overview

And heres a montage I made of the most recent act! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QWw0N24j0M&ab_channel=Yama

Some tips I have for those on the competitive grind:

• Try to keep a positive mindset at all times. If you mess up, realize your mistake and improve yourself. If you lose a round, focus on winning the next. If you lose a game, go next.
• Be polite and respectful to your teammates. Instead of getting mad at teammates for a bad play, politely let them know what you think would be better. Not all people can take criticism, so be careful with wording to not sound aggressive or toxic. And always encourage them make a mistake or try to clutch!
• Communicate as much as you can! You will rarely ever meet someone with TOO MUCH communication. Besides calling out enemy locations, it helps to let your team know what you plan to do or what you want to do. If you're going to flash something, call it out so your teammates can capitalize on it. If you want to lurk or separate from your team, make them aware of it.
• Remember to have fun. Prioritize your mental health. Don't play if you don't get any enjoyment out of the game. Take breaks. And don't worry about rank too much. As long as you improve, you will rank up.

Thank you to anyone that took the time to read this long post.