CS2 ranking system explained: How do ranks work in 2024?

CS2 is easily the most competitive game in the entire franchise thanks to a ranking system overhaul in 2023, which ensures that the grind doesn’t stop at a rank badge.

When Counter-Strike 2 first came out, Valve raised the stakes by demoting ranked mode as the lesser competitive mode. In its place, Premier was introduced as the new cut-throat mode, which forced players to compete beyond the rank badge. This is in addition to ranks for specific maps, which give players more to master. Due to the changes, the ranking system in CS2 can be difficult to understand for both new and old players.

Here’s all you need to know about it before jumping into a game server.

How do ranks work in CS2?

In CS2, ranks work by assigning players a badge that displays their rough skill level.

Each player is rewarded a map-specific rank based on their performance. This is in contrast with the previous CS2 ranking system, where a single badge reflected a player’s overall skill across all maps. Players must win at least two games per match to see a rank in CS2. This means grinders need a total of 22 wins to unlock ranks across all maps in CS2. Progress is also separate for all 11 maps in CS2 competitive mode.

Here are all the ranks in CS2 in ascending order.

• Silver 1
• Silver 2
• Silver 3
• Silver 4
• Silver Elite
• Silver Elite Master
• Gold Nova 1
• Gold Nova 2
• Gold Nova 3
• Gold Nova Master
• Master Guardian 1
• Master Guardian 2
• Master Guardian Elite
• Distinguished Master Guardian
• Legendary Eagle
• Legendary Eagle Master
• Supreme Master First Class
• Global Elite

CS2 ranking system explained

Premier takes things up a notch by introducing a digit-based ranking system instead of CS2’s normal badges. Players gain a certain amount of rank rating for each win and vice versa.

Rank rating in Premier is pretty straightforward, but players must understand a few things before diving into this uber-competitive ranked mode. These points cover the fundamental knowledge fans need to have about CS2 rating.

• Win 10 games to receive a placement rating
• The minimum CS2 rating is 1,000 and goes to 30,000+
• Each 5,000 Elo bracket is represented by a different color
• They’ll be informed about rating gain and loss before the start of a Premier match
• They eed to have a CS2 account with Prime status to play Premier mode.
• Top players within a region’s RR benchmark will appear on a public in-game leaderboard

Here are all CS2 RR groups and their CSGO rank equivalent.

• 1,000-4,999: Silver
• 5,000-9,999: Gold Nova
• 10,000-14,999: MG – MGE
• 15,000-19,999: LE – LEM
• 20,000-24,999: SMFC
• 25,000-29,999: Global Elite
• 30,000+: The best players in CS2

It’s worth noting that the rating gained or lost after each win depends on how well players have performed in their recent games. If a player performs below their personal best, they may lose more rating and gain less when they win. Conversely, if they surpass their own best, they’ll see a corresponding increase in the rating they gain. This is the system’s way of pushing grinders into their deserved MMR, an invisible system that queues them with players of similar skill levels.