How does CSGO Ranking actually work?

I am sure we have all spent hours trying out to figure the best ways to rank up faster in counter strike GO. And sure, there are a ton of tips and tricks that tell you to do this and avoid that but guess what, CSGO has one of the most complicated rank systems that even the most professional players haven’t been able to crack down.

However, there are some promising theories out there on the internet that I am going to go over to try and simplify how the ranking system actually works. So without any further ado, let's get cracking…

How Does it Work?

When it comes to CSGO’s ranking system Valve hasn’t been talkative. Unlike other competitive shooters like Valorant or Rainbow Six Siege that you can get from Gamecamp, players don’t actually know how the ranking system in CSGO works but man, It sure works! And I think that’s pretty cool because it makes you play the game without having to think about ranking faster, which we just can’t help. But now knowing how the ranking system works, gives you less to worry about when playing the game and not constantly trying to “push” it.

But as far as we know, CSGO utilizes two not so common systems namely, ELO and Glicko-2. 

Let’s first try to break down how the ELO system works in the game. An Elo Rating System is based on the idea that each player has a rating. Consider it in terms of points: if two players compete, the winner will deduct points from the loser. The number of points they take is determined by the number of points they each have at the beginning of the game. Better players are expected to have a higher chance of winning, they will win less points from worse players and vice versa, you get the point.

Then we have the Glicko-2 system, which is a lot more complicated than the first one. But let me try and simplify things for you. The Glicko system actually is a more complex version of the ELO system. Every player in a Glicko system has an Elo-style rating, but they also have a rating deviation alongside it and player consistency value which keeps track of how consistent you are in the game. The idea is that instead of thinking about a player's skill as a single number or a rating, it's better to think of it as a range of numbers.

If the rating deviation is higher, the range is also higher, indicating that we are unsure of the player's true skill level in the game, meaning the player is more unpredictable in his matches. If the rating deviation is lower, the range is also lower, implying that we have a better idea of the player's actual skill, meaning that we know if the player is a pro or an absolute noob.

But Don’t get me wrong the system can be way more complex than that, they could be tracking your performance along with the performance of all your teammates to determine where you stand in your team and also where your team stands against the rival team. And based on that, the game would determine how well you performed considering your skill sets in your team. One thing’s for sure here, don’t try to chase the rank, instead be consistent with your playstyle and I am sure the rankings will follow.