How to Improve Your Game Sense and Rank Up in Valorant

Game sense is the difference between having a great aim day and actually being a strong Valorant player. If you want to rank up then you need more than just good crosshair placement. Improve your game sense by consistently making smarter plays, cleaner reads, and having better overall round tempo.

Understanding Game Sense

Game sense means knowing what is about to happen before it does. Whether that be tracking common enemy tendencies on a specific map, knowing what sounds to react to before peeking, or coordinating with your team faster to pick off the opposition.

Game sense sounds like something you can only get from playing a lot of games, but you can train it. Watch rounds slowly to understand how they play out. Look for enemy habits and learn from your deaths by watching your own mistakes. All of this will help you make better decisions to complement your aim and impact.

●      Take note of common flanking spots after your team pushes early utility.

●      Learn to distinguish who is securing safe space on a map and who is just over-extending.

●      Understand how enemy weapon choices impact what they can and cannot do.

●      Learn what sounds to react to before you peek or rotate.

●      Keep an eye on your minimap at all times. Try not to only glance at it when you die.

All of these things will become second nature with enough practice. When playing feels easy because your game sense is guiding your decision making, that is when you’ll start climbing ranks without feeling like you’re overly tilted or slump randomly.

Why Maps Feel Easier When You Read Them

The better you understand a map, the more information every round gives you. Instead of relying on hoping you’re not getting shot at, you learn to narrow down where the enemy could be based on applied pressure, rotations, wasted utility, andAlive teammates.

Reading a map also allows you to control wasted movement. If your team is showing on one side of the map, defenders are likely to rotate or stack on the other side. When you can identify where a team is moving without them instantly catching your alive teammate, you can create a clear path for your team to take space or regain control of a rond.

●      Identify if enemy teammates are missing when lanes go quiet.

●      Know where the spike is relative to how many enemies could be left.

●      Recognize when utility is being saved for a later forced buy.

●      Understand if enemies are playing for map control or just giving away free spaces early.

●      Use dead teammate positions to immediately adjust your pathing.

You will never feel like you need to dive into a bad fight if the map is already telling you valuable information. Once you start trusting what you know is happening based on the map, your gameplay will calm down and it will feel easier to convert rounds into wins.

How to Improve Decision Making

Asking yourself what does this round need? is the first step to making better decisions. Is your team straight up gunning for a take? Or do they need time to rotate defensive utility? Do you even know where the enemy team is positioned right now?

The best way to improve your decision making is by learning from your deaths. If you died, did you have enough information to peek? Could your utility have been used earlier to save your teammate? Was your position actually benefiting the team? Fixing small mistakes will have a big impact because bad habits will happen every game.

●      Make a conscious effort to delay peeking or taking unnecessary fights.

●      Ask yourself if your death is giving the enemy team good information.

●      Play the game that supports the current round’s objective instead of playing for highlights.

●      Respect enemy trade potential so your team can capitalize as a 4v5.

●      Don’t be afraid to hold back on soloing if it doesn’t have a tactical advantage.

Once you learn how to make every round have a purpose, you will improve faster. If you know why you are going a certain place, you will stop rushing into meaningless fights and start creating scenarios where your aim has the biggest impact.

How Economy Influences Good Game Sense

Economy is something that impacts every player at every rank. Whether you realize it or not, your game sense should understand when a force buy is appropriate and when it’s better to save for the next round.

You don’t have to know exact numbers in your head to have good economy awareness. You simply need to have a general idea of what both teams can afford. If you know what your enemy can and cannot buy, you know how aggressive they will likely play each round.

●      Keep track of if the enemy team can buy rifles or if they will need to upgrade.

●      Identify if your team needs to full utility or if picking up a weak buy will set you back.

●      Don’t waste your weapons in low probability scenarios.

●      Use saving rounds as an opportunity to become even stronger in future rounds.

●      Play around bonus rounds instead of mentally throwing them away.

The better you are at respecting economy, the less likely you are to make low percentage plays. Knowing when to save and when to push allows you to enter important rounds with a better advantage while your enemy is stuck making questionable decisions that your team can punish.

What Makes Great Players great?

What makes great players different? If you asked ten players you would get ten different answers. However, one thing great players all have in common are habits that apply to every game they play.

Great players don’t win because of /luck/ or superior mechanics. They create habits that give them an edge. Whether it be how they move, where they aim, or how they communicate. Great players make an impact because their game sense works for them in every situation.

●      Pre-aim defensive angles based on where defenders are likely to stand.

●      Learn to reposition after you trade instead of dying standing in one spot.

●      Be as specific as possible when calling enemy positions.

●      Pay attention to enemy ultimates that could change the course of an entire round.

●      Evaluate if your death is going to forfeit your team’s utilities or vision.

The reason why building good habits will help you climb faster is because they help you learn. Once these good habits become ingrained into your brain, you’ll have less cognitive stress focusing on basics and you can focus on making smart adjustments during the round.

Taking Notes on Your Deaths

Deaths only feel like a waste of time if you don’t learn anything from them. Whether you lost a 1v1 or your whole team got caught in a planted Spike, there is always something to learn after every death.

Ask yourself why the opponent was able to get the better trade. Were they supported by better positioning from their teammate? Did you move into the fight without knowing where your other enemies were? If you know what you did wrong, you’ll prevent yourself from making the same mistake more than crushing down on the Undo button.

Efficiently Reviewing Your Vods

Reviewing VODs doesn’t have to be some time consuming, stressful situation. You can learn just as much by watching 1 hour of focused review as someone who spends 4 hours trying to memorize every little detail of their day.

Try to review your important rounds where you either lost or won the round. What information did you and/or your team have before the opposing team made their play? Instead of trying to find something you did wrong, search for patterns. Like if you constantly overpeek after spike or rotate too early without hearing anything.