After a long time grinding SoloQ, I finally made it to Diamond from Bronze/Silver! Thought I'd post as documentation of what I did to get here, and hopefully it helps some of you poor hardstuck schmucks too.

My Act Triangles:

My Tracker:

1. Background

• I've played CSGO, Overwatch, and CoD, though never too competitively. I played in the Valorant Beta, but hated the flow of the game, so I never really got into Valorant until this Episode. I originally started in Bronze in Episode 2, but I did start from Silver 2 this Episode, and this is where I started my grind.

2. What Characters did I play?

• In silver, I played a lot of fill. Never duelist though. My go-to's were Brimstone and Killjoy. I also played Kay-O when needed, but never actually learned how to properly play him.
• In gold, I played a bunch of Brimstone/Fill, sometimes switching off to Killjoy. I find that getting used to a controller lets you understand the flow of the game a lot better, and lets you IGL. Also, since almost no one wants to play controller, you can get used to the singular character and stop thinking about util as it become second nature.
• In plat, I played almost exclusively Killjoy. I found that lurking on Attacker side/taking Mid control/taking the opposing site and letting my team rotate back as her was very easy. On Defender side, I could play on-site with my setups and hold by myself, allowing the other site and mid to be stacked. I would also anchor, where I'd rotate off site into mid, within range of my util, to ensure the enemy team never got free mid control or site control.
• Also, I still don't know a single line-up. Just get used to using all your util to some effectiveness every round, line-ups can come later (they're kinda just gimmicky, and a waste of time until your fundamentals are solid).

3. My Playstyle

• I'm a very lurk-heavy player, and I value information over frags for the most part.
• I find IGLing for your team is invaluable (calling for rotates, calling for people to play for their life, calling coordinated pushes for retakes, analyzing economy, etc).
• I'm All Brain, No Aim. Legit, my aim feels worse than some Silvers. I play weird. Off-angles, flank, anchor, off my util, etc.
• I find that reading the enemy team's playstyle is also really helpful (like if they push a lot, if they rotate quickly, which agents play which site), as many teams don't adjust their playstyle unless they tilt/lose confidence.

4. Advice that Helped Me

1. Play less games. I only played 1-2 games per day usually, sometimes 3. It prevents you from tilting, and it helps you maintain progress instead of going on huge loss streaks.
2. Warm up. This might be controversial, but I NEVER deathmatch (check my tracker). My warmup routine is as follows: Practice Range/Elim 100 with Strafe/Armor ON. For the first 60 bots, use the Phantom and go for headshot bursts while strafing. Go slow and deliberate. Then, for the next 30 bots, switch to the Vandal, and go for body bursts/sprays while strafing. Finally, use the Vandal for the last 10 bots and go for deliberate headshots in between strafes. This is all I did for warmups, and it's served me well. It warms up your eyes to track heads, gets you ready for recoil, and tunes your hands to not shoot while moving, etc.
3. Play for your life. You're more valuable alive with 1 pick than dead with MAYBE 2. If I ever got a pick, I'd immediately back up to my team. If I get a pick on lurk, same thing, I'd immediately run back to my team. If you're getting rushed down on Defense, try and get somewhere safe and use all your util. Stall with jiggle peeks. Your mindset at this point isn't to get kills, but to buy time for your team to get into position. But this doesn't mean bait your team. Swing if they're going to swing.
4. Be a team player/don't be selfish. Realize that your personal performance doesn't matter, as long as you end up winning. Recognize when you're doing bad, or when you're at a major disadvantage. If you're like 3/12, offer to buy your top frag. If you're at like 40 or less health, drop your guns and offer to entry/bait. Always swing with them, and at least trade them out.
5. Have comms. Be a hype-man, never flame. Always hype up a good clutch, a good shot, or good positioning. If you have nothing good to say, don't say it at all. Also, when you're dead, if you have a good headset, play around and try to call for audio cues, not everyone has a good headset. Call out for your teammates that don't have a mic.
6. Watch your minimap. Make note of what agents are where, who they saw, how many, etc. That can dictate rotates, if you're willing to IGL. Also pay attention to your own positioning at all times. Make sure you have cover at all times, and that if you die, you'll at least give your team the opportunity to trade you out.
7. Pay attention to crosshair placement. Don't put it right up to the wall, but it a little bit off of the wall where it's more reasonable for your reaction times.
8. Play weird. Off angles, rat spots, switch it up every round. Valorant's a mind game. I have dogshit aim and a terrible headshot percentage, but I play weird angles and swing off utility, so I normally don't have to hit headshots.
9. If you're a Sentinel: LURK on attack. Take mid control. Take site control. Come up from behind. Tilt the fuck out of the enemy team.
10. Analyze the enemy. In map-loading, check their comp. Do they have a sentinel to watch flank? If they don't maybe get ready to be a lurker/flanker. Do they have flashes? If they don't, hold angles for picks. Etc etc. Also analyze how they push/rotate. If they're super aggro and push everything, buy Odins or cut noise and play for picks. If they're super passive, play back sites/play for retakes on defense, and bait util/take mid control on attack. There's a lot to be said about figuring out the enemy, and if you do, it'll be very easy to tilt them.
11. It's always winnable. This game's economy is so incredibly forgiving for loss streaks, I've come back from 1-11's before. It's always winnable, never give up. ESPECIALLY never forfeit, you lose so much more RR, just play it out.
12. It's always losable. On the same vein, don't get cocky. Someone can always 1v5. You can lose 11-1's. Never get too comfortable. The amount of rounds I've lost because someone goes for a knife kill and then the enemy 1v3's is atrocious.
13. Don't be afraid to use your ult. Stop hoarding it.

This is just the stuff off the top of my head that I can think of that really helped me climb. I think my approach (better gamesense, better attitude, flexibility, more mind games) is a bit different than most (improve mechanics, get better aim, carry as duelist). I think that playing for your team and using your brain more is much more consistent in the long run. Hopefully it helps someone out, and I'll try and edit more things as they come to mind.