I was new to competitive FPS when I started playing at the beginning of Episode 2 Act 1. I originally landed in iron 2 and have finally just made it to Silver 1.

For those wanting to know how much grinding it takes to get better, this is how much I have played :

315 Competitive matches,

219 Deathmatch matches,

91 Unrated

Sadly time in the shooting range is not tracked but I really really spent a lot of time in there working on my mechanics.

I know silver is still garbage in the grand scheme of things but I also know there are a ton of players hard stuck in Iron and Bronze so it really does still feel good to make it out.

I think the most productive things are watching pro games, high level streams, and just making sure you are playing at least 3 competitive games every day(more on days you have time) and spending at least a few minutes in the range for warmup. I did play a little aim lab when I was still in iron but I had 1 coaching session with a top 100 NA player and he told me to just use the range because practicing in game is going to be most beneficial.

I know a lot of people will not like this but what really got me to the next level was to just start 1 tricking an agent. I think there is a lot of validity in learning different roles but I think while us low elo players are still learning the game it's best to stay on one agent until we have gotten better at all the other aspects of the game.

I also watch ton of educational Valorant stuff on youtube, some of my favorite sources are : Bumpah

Dragonmar

RealDom

Valorant Ascended

Eggwick

Chala7an

Ron Rambo Kim

Also I'm on the older side(Hiko's age) so if you are thinking you're getting too old to get good at the game, its not true.

https://imgur.com/a/FMuWCk8 (Edited to add imgur link)

https://tracker.gg/valorant/profile/riot/Blast%E7%88%86%23X9X9/overview?playlist=unrated