https://reddit.com/link/rm6m3a/video/k12ezzlfv3781/player

How it started

This compilation comes with a story: In the past I've gamed a lot. And with 'a lot' I mean like really a lot. I played Counter Strike on a fairly high level (1.5/1.6). I attended my last tournament in 2006, where I played against teams like SK.swe, MYM, Begrip. Haven't touched CS or any (FPS)game since then.

Around a year ago I needed some distraction. I didn't see my friends very often, and I had no (social) activities going on cause of all the lockdown restrictions. That's why i've decided to build myself a PC and start gaming again. My brother told me that I should give a Valorant a try. He knew I liked the Warcraft 3 mod we had in the past with CS 1.6 (anyone remembers this? :D).

I'm kinda enjoying this game

I bought myself a Pro Intelli mouse, picked up a steelpad QCK+ to make it feel just like in the old days. Booted up Valorant and started my first deathmatch game, and wow: It immediately felt very familiar. The Sherrif. The operator. The whole game meta. Even after all those years. People who come from CS probably know what I mean.

After my placement games I got placed in bronze 3. I remember myself ranking up to gold without having immersed myself in all the abilities. Jett was my go-to agent. Dash in like an idiot and just rely on my old and rusty aim but mostly on my game sens. This went well up until gold 3 / plat 1. Now things started to get a bit more interesting. I really enjoyed the game casually, but now I wanted to approach the game a bit more in a competitive way. It was at this point where I’ve set the bar to reach Immortal.

The grinding starts

I realised reaching Immortal would be a tough job as a 32-year-old, with a fulltime job. In addition, we just bought a house that still needed some work and like this wasn’t enough already, my wife and I got pregnant for the first time. This all resulted in being able to play around 10 matches a week.

Episode 2 was my first full episode where I was placed somewhere around Diamond 2. I also switched from being a Jett to Brim main.

Almost there…

For a long time, I was stuck in the diamond rank with sometimes being really close to Immortal. I often played together with my brother who’s mid/high Plat. I did all my other matches solo.

As my wife was getting closer to her due date, time was slowly running out for me, because after birth I would have no time at all yet there I was: hard stuck in diamond 1, with only a few days to go.

A big big BIG thank you to the community

After a long day at work, and the necessary chores around the house, I really needed some time to empty my head and Valorant really helped me a lot with this. I met the nicest people during games which gave me the right amount of energy to be there for my wife when needed. Unlike other stories here about how toxic the community can be, my experience is completely different.

If you have any questions or need some tips when switching from CS, or starting to game again after many many years just let me know. Even if you have questions about combining a kind of hectic life together with focussing well in this game. It's the least I can do.

I'm there. She's there. All good.

Our daughter decided to stay in my wife’s belly for two more weeks. Maybe she knew I needed the extra time to achieve my goal? I dunno. Big thanks to her for sure.

In the last week I had a good run with many wins. On Breeze and Icebox I switched from Brim to Viper resulting in an ≈90% winrate on those maps (Really wish I did this earlier). My tip for everyone: even if you don't feel comfortable with switching to a new agent which has a clear advantage on certain maps: just do it. You won't regret it.

On November 19th I finally reached Immortal (tracker link). The same evening my wife started to get contractions. After a long day at the hospital our daughter was born. She definitely deserved this romper! :D