When playing Counter-Strike Global Offensive competitive matches you will be given a rank that represents your skill level. The game will try and make sure that you play with other players who have a similar rank to you to try and make a fair game where one amazing player doesn’t single handedly win it for their team.

While the exact numbers behind the ranking system have never been revealed, the basics are pretty simple to understand.

In total there are 18 ranks in CS:GO, loosely grouped into four main groups of Silver, Gold Nova, Master Guardian and Legendary. You can see the full list of ranks in the order you progress through them below.

• 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
  
• The Global Elite

To get your first rank in CS:GO you will need to have played some casual matches to get your account to the point where ranked matchmaking is unlocked, one of these requirements is the prime status, this requires you to spend real life money on the game. (At the time of writing 15$).

When the ranked mode gets unlocked you will then need to win 10 ranked games to achieve your rank, however only your first two wins of each day will count, so you will have to do it over a period of at least five days.

Once you have been given a rank you can rank up by winning games and performing well. Wins don’t guarantee a rank up, but get a few in a row with some good performances and you should be getting a new rank sooner rather than later.

Getting a low rank doesn’t make you a bad player, as most players will start below their actual skill level and have to rank up to prove they should be at that level.