I switched from high elo CS to Valorant a month ago and as a former awper im surprisingly maining jett, im one win away from diamond 3 now and i get match mvp most of the times, but i really struggle against people who have strong util usage that deny me any form of duels that allow me to bully them aim wise, I just got familiar with the basic util of every character but i still dont know how to study util outside of the game, for example there were youtube videos in cs how the meta works and how to play in and against it. If i look for how to get better in valorant a lot of stuff is basic like crosshairplacement and dont tilt and stuff thats useful for low elo players, but how do I actually get better at the game outside of raw mechanics because im scared that once i hit immortal and i play people with similar mechanics + good game knowledge im gonna plateau and lose motivation, anyone has any suggestions or some other people who switched from higher elo cs to valorant who had some similar issues and how to fix them, thanks in advance
Getting better in Diamond
There is a Spanish streamer that has a webpage with combos of utility used in proplay but you have to sub in his twitch channel to acces those videos but you can download blitz it's free and there is guides in every agent utility and watch pro games and play a lot . better if u can play custom games with high elo players you will get used to their utility usage and u won't get caught of guard after that's what I did and I feel more comfortable now
immortal here, im gonna be completely honest with you, i read half way through your message and all your other comments, pro play does not equal ranked play in the slightest so theres very little you can actually take from it (especially in diamond where theres not even pro caliber players). my best advice is to work on yourself first, expand agent pool on smurfs/unrated/comp whatever, learn atleast 3 agents that do different things so you can have multiple playstyles, VOD review YOUR OWN GAME (find friends if you have, if you dont have ill be glad to help you), and then from there you can expand on things to do. goodluck.
edit: still watch pro play because you can take things for yourself to do/learn, but dont try to replicate pro play because it wont work, its not the same game/ if anyone needs advice or help my discord is kwaii.#6000 id be glad to help you however i can
thats just a meta comp, but my point is you can copy agents(not really copying imo its just the meta agents) and setups (some) but a diamond player would never be able to fully utilize the setup or agent in the way sentinels (for example) can. also coordination which is why it works so well in pro play wont happen in diamond, etc. also if you copy too much it can hurt you since you cant utilize it the same way
the only problem i have with the agent pool in valorant is, that after playing as an dedicated awper for 6 years in teams in cs it gets really tough for me to play other agents since the awps not viable on them, also my playstyle doesnt really fit other agents than duelists, for example: i really like viper and try to play her but i end up looking for fights and searching for entries or kills, so i kinda question if its worth it to really switch up my whole playstyle or if im just gonna stick to aggressive characters like jett and skye and try to look for a team where i can play that role im useful in, regarding the VODs, is there a way to download them like in cs? i somehow dont find that option
people usually just record them with OBS in valorant since you cant download them but yea, you can definitely stick to aggressive characters (skye is a good non duelist. so is omen) but you can be aggressive on any agent if you play correctly with its util (killjoy is a good example), and you wont be able to get very far by just awping on jett, theres just too many jetts who awp. you will also probably have to learn how to rifle properly just if you want to get further. in comparison to cs i feel like valorant you need to be more fluid in playstyle and have many ways to play.
im pretty good at rifling since its easier than in cs but im still mainly using the op and as i said above ultimately looking to play in a team as a main awper again, i just want to get as far as possible in MM to look for people with similar skill so i dont want to adjust to much to the matchmaking landscape, im just looking to become better at what i am doing not really looking to switch up my role or style
if you are really confident in the role you play and style you have already then i would just suggest VOD reviewing with other people, and once you find the problems in VODs you can really pinpoint and work on those exact things by playing MM alot. although im a firm believer in the fact that valorant will probably be flushed of one dimensional play (as weve already seen in the past) and youll need to learn to play many different ways, just my opinion though.
yeah the vods will help me a lot, the only thing is that i dont know how to play around certain util, should i just look in my vods what im most vulnerable to and then try out different things or keep looking at pro play to see how they deal with it? and i dont feel like my play is one dimensional, im pretty fluid and unpredictable and have a pretty good read on fundamental tac shooter situation eg start of the round, defaults, playing a 5v4 4v5 etc, my problem is that in comparision to CS where its basically only fundamentals, there is an extra variable in valorant with the util and im particulary looking to get better at reading and reacting to util and thats the facet i want to add to my game and i dont feel like there is a lot of guides for doing that
you probably arent as fluid or unpredictable as you think, obviously i cant tell because ive never watched you play but 99% of people who have aggressive playstyles are very readable since they are the most common player. you should watch your own vods first always since youll be able to pin point the problems (what util, what situations, etc) then you can use other resources like pro play or streams to see how to deal with those issues, it all depends on what type of learner you are, if you are a visual learner, less pro play more streams of players who play similar to you, if you are physical learner get in the server and figure it out while it happens, etc
im not aggressive in a way where i just push and shoot, what i mean with aggressive is that i always seek engagements and try to turn the round in the teams favor by getting a kill or creating space, creating chaos, and disrupting T side defaults while im playing CT, as I said, playing fundamental rounds and playstyle wise I dont have any issues at all with the level of players im playing with right now and i didnt have them in cs which should still be stronger than eu valorant, my problem is that the only thing im getting countered by are certain utils that put a question mark in my brain as a cs player, for example a viper wall or ult, and how to get better and understanding when why and how they are gonna be used by the enemy to figure out the optimal way to play around it
okay, im not gonna argue whether or not your a good player im just suggesting things to look for, you should still do what i said in VOD reviewing yourself, figuring how you learn the best and then using what you find to improve in whatever way best suits you. for some people itll be just playing MM until you learn how to perform in every situation, for some itll be watching streamers and seeing how they deal with those issue
I will tell you a simple but an effective trick, go and watch tutorials for most of the agents.
watch average jonas (sova) , peak (cypher), bjor ( kj) and many others. (most people use these lineups and setups even in radiant).
my theory is it will give good knowledge about the game, for example you will know most of sova dart positions so you can pre smoke it ( with jett) and you will also know where the sova was when shot the dart, cypher setups requires the player to be in specific position in the map to play by his traps and cages, recognizing omen one way smokes and where to pre-fire the angle they will be holding, etc etc.
Just watch the tutorials but you dont need to do any of the lineups, just recognize them and be familiar with the util usage.
hope that was helpful
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