The main focus of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and the bread and butter of its gameplay is competitive matchmaking. The game was made with these 5v5 matches in mind, where players compete against the opposing team, trying to eliminate their opponents.

To make sure that there’s an even playing field between all players, the game uses a ranking system to individually measure every player’s abilities and put them in appropriate skill groups. Players can then advance (or fall in the ranking system) as they play, depending on their in-game performance.

Although everyone’s skill is measured individually, it’s everyone’s goal to reach the highest rank, Global Elite. Here’s everything you need to know about the Global Elite rank in CSGO.

How Do The CSGO Ranks Work?

The ranking system in Counter Strike: Global Offensive gives every player a CS:GO rank based on their performance in competitive matchmaking. After players reach level two by playing casual matches and get their account to prime status, they will be able to start playing their placement matches.

When you unlock competitive matches in CSGO, you must first play ten matches, which will decide which rank you will start with, known as placement matches. This means that if you’re a good player, you will start up with more skilled players from the get-go. Placement matches, however, are the worst skill bracket, since there are smurfs abundant. In order to cull their numbers, Valve introduced some limits to how fast you can get your rank. On any one day, you can only score two wins toward your placement matches and will have to wait before you can try again. Overall you will need to gather 10 wins this way, and your average performance will then define your rank. This feature was introduced to discourage people from creating throwaway accounts which were commonly used for smurfing.

Once you complete your placement matches, based on your performance you will be placed in one of the many ranks available in CSGO. The CSGO ranking system is divided into the following skill groups, from lowest to highest:

  • Silver I
  • Silver II
  • Silver III
  • Silver IV
  • Silver Elite
  • Silver Elite Master
  • Gold Nova I
  • Gold Nova II
  • Gold Nova III
  • Gold Nova Master
  • Master Guardian I
  • Master Guardian II
  • Master Guardian Elite
  • Distinguished Master Guardian
  • Legendary Eagle
  • Legendary Eagle Master
  • Supreme Master First Class
  • Global Elite
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The higher rank in CSGO, the more difficult it will be to climb. The rank system lets players go up or down, and every competitive match puts the player’s rank on the line. If you lose too many matches in a row, you might drop to a lower rank. Paradoxically, in the lowest ranks it’s also difficult to climb up, since your teammates might drag you down even further. Because of this, many players who fall too low simply abandon their accounts and create new ones.

What Is The Highest Rank In CSGO?

The number one rank when it comes to CSGO skill is the legendary Global Elite. According to the CSGO rank distribution, the Global Elite rank includes less than 1% of all CSGO players. The three countries that house the most Global Elite players are Finland, Sweden, and Estonia.

To reach Global Elites you must either be very lucky, or possess a game sense that is above even the pro players. As a matter of fact, not many pro players even on this level. Any player who wants to take their shot at reaching Global Elite, has a lot of climbing in the competitive ranks to complete before they can make it to this legendary first rank.

Although getting to Global Elite is the dream for many CSGO players, those who watch pro games from the lower ranks often don’t imagine the problems that Global Elite players have. Some of them are:

  1. Boosted Accounts

One thing that you should know is that measuring the actual rank distribution at higher ranks in CSGO is difficult to do accurately. Many players in these skill groups are simply boosted accounts, where the user has paid a better player to score him the rank, while they don’t have the same level of skill.

  1. Communication Issues

Since the higher ranks include such a small number of players, you might be forced to play with gamers who don’t understand your language. This is already a problem at Legendary Eagle Master or Supreme Master First Class, so you can only imagine that this gets even worse at Global Elite. You can easily encounter a team of 5 people, where no one can communicate.

  1. Player Attitude Doesn’t Improve At Higher Rank
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Many players who are stuck in Silver Elite Master or other lower places of the CSGO ranking system often blame this on their teammates, claiming that they’re dragging them down. And although CSGO is a team game, the attitude of players in the competitive mode never improves, no matter the skill group. You can always expect teammates that will tilt, even at Global Elite.

How To Get To Global Elite?

If your private rank doesn’t satisfy you, and you feel like you can make it in the big leagues, you can try taking your shot at reaching the Global Elite. Although making it is far more difficult than reaching any other average rank, it’s certainly not impossible. If you think you can do it, consider some of the tips that can significantly help you:

  • Watch CS:GO pro games
  • Tweak your CSGO settings for more optimal ones
  • Practice different guns in the arms race
  • Check out different practice workshop maps
  • And most importantly – don’t tilt

To Sum Up

Here is everything that you need to know about CS:GO competitive ranks. If you ever need more CS:GO knowledge, or just want to trade CS:GO (CS2) skins, be sure to head over to Skinsmonkey!