Most of us have been there….are still there. You’re stuck in the Bronze to Platinum ranking and can’t seem to get out. No matter how much you play, communicate, ping, or carry, you still can’t reach that next rank. There are a few things you may want to look at to see why you’re stuck in “Elo Hell”.
Smurfs
For those that don’t know, smurfing is when a high-skilled gamer plays on an alternate account at a lower rank. Valorant is plagued with them. You don’t really know if someone in your lobby is smurfing until the match has already started and you’re 5 rounds deep. Developers tried to limit this action by requiring new accounts to win 10 casual matches but many players will endure this rather than play on their mains. To smurfs, it’s either sweat on their main accounts or casually stomp lower-ranked players. It’s a sad truth with no solution and may play a big factor in why you’re stuck.
You
Honestly, maybe it’s just you. No seriously! This doesn’t mean you still can’t get out of “Elo Hell”, it just means maybe you need to step back and look at yourself and your gameplay. Review clips or videos of past games to see what went wrong. Some things will never change that set good players apart from better players. These can include map awareness, callouts, counter-strafing, jiggle peaking, game-sense (when to and not to peak), or much more.
Now look, maybe you’re just a bad teammate. You’ve been solo-queuing for days top fragging for your team and still losing so now you decide to bait your teammates to get kills and clutch rounds. Maybe in a 2v2, 2v3, or 2v1 situation post-plant, you’re holding suicide angles to get a risky kill or running off-site to get the kill and you die. Now you’ve left your teammate to try and win the round. Who knows? That’s where you need to come in, swallow your pride, and see if you’re the problem.
It never hurts to check out updated tips and tricks for agent abilities, gun skills, and map plays.
Solo-Queuing
Yes, we love our friends but some of them are just bad. This leads us to solo-queuing and appearing offline so we don’t hurt their feelings. Or maybe your friends are higher ranked so you are left alone to grind. Give some of the Best Solo Queue Agents a try. A good alternative is to add the good players you meet during matches and queue together afterward. Help them help you reach that beautiful light at the end of the tunnel.
Teammates
We all get bad teammates, some of us more consistently than others. You can have bad teammate and still win. This is where communication comes into play. You may need to coach them a little and advise of better angles or post plant scenarios. Don’t backseat game while you’re dead and they are trying to clutch, but a few notes between rounds never hurt. As soon as one person turns toxic the whole game tends to spiral downhill. Nothing good comes from trashing on the people you need to win the match.
Matches Played
Playing 1 or 2 games a night or every few days may hurt you in the long run. There’s a reason it’s called a grind. The average diamond player will play 6-8 ranked games a day or every other day. Higher ranks will usually play much more than that. If you fall into this category then consider adding more games to your daily grind. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re on a bad losing streak then hop off and reset for the next time. Otherwise, don’t let that 2-lose streak bum you out. Hop into the next one ready to win!