So last year (around September) I started playing Valorant - I was almost fully new to competitive FPS games (though I have played other games extensively). To make a long story short - it didn't go too well. I didn't understand many core mechanics of the game.

I managed to reach Bronze 3 - in hindsight this was most likely due to pure luck. I stopped playing in December (my duo stopped playing and I thought it was boring after that).

3 weeks ago I picked Valorant up again - I wasn't too good at first, but this time I put time into watching guides (agents, general gamesense, aim improvement etc.). I immediately felt an improvement, and 2 days after picking the game up again I had reached Bronze 3 again (was b2 after placements). But once there, I got stuck. I fell to b1 (though I was almost constantly getting match MVP). The week before Act 4 ended I got back up to b2.

With the start of Act 5, I once again got placed in b2. However now I had started warming up before comps, and I used comms much more frequently. Within 2 games I was in b3. Two days later I had reached Silver 1 - something I had never done before.

With a K/D ratio of 1.24, winrate of 62,5% (this act), and consistent match/team MVPs - I am now 1 or 2 games away from Silver 2. The feeling you get when you notice improvement in this game is great.