Three months ago, at the start of June, I decided to play ranked seriously and found myself placed in Silver 1. Just last night I reached Ascendant 1. While on this ranked journey, several of my friends asked how I was able to climb so much, so I made a list of things I did during my climb that in my opinion helped me rise quickly. (I also decided to post it to Reddit.)

The first thing is to have an improvement-oriented mindset. Thinking more critically about decisions you make, other things you could have done that might have worked, or even just watching an eSports VOD can help you improve in nearly every aspect of the game. However, while in game you don’t need to overthink everything. I’ve found that sometimes no matter what; the issue may just come down to aim.

Play more deathmatch. I know this advice is given a lot, but it definitely works. I played two deathmatches before I even considered touching ranked, just to make sure my aim is up to par, and that my reaction times are ready. Also, use deathmatch to train your aim. Because I use deathmatch to train my reactions, aim, and crosshair placement, I usually play music or turn my volume off so I am not relying on audio to get kills. Making sure as many of your kills as possible come from pushing your aim to the limit will definitely make your aim better. The last thing about deathmatch is to play it after you’re done with ranked. I refer to this as a “cooldown DM” as it helps you improve your aim and stamina as you’re done climbing for the day.

Play fewer games. This sounds counter-productive, as more games = more RR (if you win), but I’ve seen all too often that people queue themselves into the ground with this, oftentimes fatigued from earlier defeats and not having their head in the game. We all get tilted, and playing tilted almost always leads to failure. I played roughly two or three games a day, sometimes one, and sometimes none at all. You don’t need to play every day, but on the days I didn’t play I did deathmatches or customs to stay in practice. You want quality games, not a large quantity of games.

Have a duo partner. I cannot stress this enough; but your duo partner should NOT be a smurf, nor should you be expecting a carry. My duo partner and I were the same rank for nearly the entire climb, occasionally one of us ranked up (or deranked) without the other, but we both hit Ascendant 1 on the same game. We had a mutual understanding throughout the entire climb, and once we hit Diamond we started playing two-person strats that required coordination you can’t find with randoms and began to play in complementary ways. We both learned early on that playing alone hinders your chances of climbing drastically.

The last thing is more of a personal thing but don’t main one or two agents for every map. I did the opposite, where I mained a different agent for nearly every map and found that having an agent that helped me play the way I wanted to on the given map was much better than having a comfortable character in an uncomfortable situation. This isn’t to say maining a small pool of characters doesn’t work, as my duo did it, but I found sometimes having a ‘bad map’ was simply an issue of agent choice.

While I’m sure none of this is new advice, I’m here to advocate for what I’ve said above, as it worked for me, and I’m sure it can work for others. I see all too often people on this reddit complain about certain factors ruining their climb, but I want to assure people that putting in the effort will let you reap the rewards.

If you want to look me up on Valorant Tracker (not sure how far back it goes though) my user is Clarivoyance#6321. (The tracker is not up to date, still displays my rank as Diamond 3, but when it updates it will show Ascendant 1) Don’t send me a friend request on Val though as I only accept IRLs since it’s an alt account I made to get a beta key xD. (it is my main Valorant account though)

(Couldn't find a good spot to fit this into the post but the only Pearl game I’ve won since it came out was my rank-up game, so even if the game may seem doomed, always play to win.)

Edit: TL;DR

Be improvement-focused as you play.

Play more deathmatch.Play less games, don't tire yourself out.

Have a duo partner, the game is basically unplayable alone.

If you find yourself losing on certain maps, try and find an agent to help you play comfortably on that map, rather than using a comfortable agent in an uncomfortable situation.

I think this advice is genuine and works, my Val Tracker is Clarivoyance#6321 (don't add me on val)