Rank-up Guide

So you just got into ranked mode, and you're not quite sure whether it's your cup of tea. Either that, or you are stuck in a rank and really wish to get better. If you are one of those people, that read closely. In the upcoming page, I'll tell you my experience with "requirements" for being a certain rank, and what it takes to grow out of a rank to a higher one. I'll also be covering ways to maintain rank better (not getting as many cracks).

Rank C-, C and C+

All players, once they reach level 10 through turf war can enter ranked mode, given a starting rank of C- after playing your first game. If you haven't quite figured out why ranked mode is so fun and different compared to turf war, check out my new player guide. 

Now, you've started off playing some matches. You notice that most players are either your level, or not all that good. This makes sense, it's the lowest rank you can get, and most players are still figuring out the game. No worries, we're going to get you out of here. 

The basic 'skills' you need to have in order to get to the next rank, B- (or higher C ranks) are quite minimal, and any player regardless of intentions should be able to achieve this. 

• You require basic knowledge of controls, and the ability to use them without having to actively think about what button you should be pressing. This means, you should not need to think about pressing "ZL" to swim, you just press it without putting any thought into it. 
• A basic aiming ability is also useful. You don't need to aim perfectly, but being able to shoot at a testing dummy in the testing range without too many issues is sufficient.
• There is no need to use motion controls if you are not comfortable with them (yet). Stick aiming is fine for a couple of ranks. Keep in mind that if you strive to reach high ranks (A, S and X), you do benefit a lot from practicing it now that you can still make minor mistakes (and not get punished for it).

Now that you've become the master of C rank, let's hop onto the next level.

Rank B-, B and B+

You've entered B- and you notice the people seem to react a lot better to your movements that in C rank. This is good. Better opponents make better practice, right? In B rank, you can expect players to have more comfort with playing the game, not to mention a little more experience. However, people in B ranks usually do not have the greatest skill levels yet (no offense B-rankers ;-) ) and can be easily outplayed by a more skillful player. You are going to be that player. To achieve that status, you need to be able to do at least the following

• Expect opponents. You need to be aware of things that happen around you. This means you know when a teammate is in a fight, so you might help out and assist so you both survive.
• Basic objective knowledge. You will want to know what the current state of the objective is. This is for example: Who has the lead, and by how much; If your team is currently on the tower, or carrying the rainmaker. These are some simple things you need to know in order to help you win.
• Knowing what your weapon is good at. Sadly, this is a little hard for some. The idea is that you can see what tasks your weapon excels at, and what it's vulnerabilities are. This does not mean you need to know every minor detail, like good positions to hold on a map, but rather, what your range is, and when you should best use your special. 
  

Rank A-, A and A+

Well done! You are officially among the best 50-60% of all players! Getting better is going to be more and more difficult, and you might notice you will rank down a little more than you would like. This is okay, as long as you know how you can improve. A good way to do that is by reading this page, and hey, you're already doing that. Now, the next goal is S rank, which is no easy feat for sure. You'll need to be adept at a lot of things now.

•  Comfortable use of motion controls. Motion controls become almost necessary at this point. Some people can manage really well with just sticks, but realistically, every high level/pro player uses motion controls. Motion controls open up a lot of new tricks that are not possible without. For example, reflexes, which you have trained on for a while now, work well together with motion. Also, the rotation velocity of sticks at +5 settings is still rather slow. Motion controls allow you to do a 180 degree turn in a few frames, whereas sticks would take you half a second at best.
• Basic knowledge of weapons and kits. You need to start being able to identify the capabilities of the weapon your opponent uses. For example, say you use the tentatek splattershot, and you face a forge splattershot pro. You should know that the pro out-ranges the splattershot, and therefore will try to hit you while you can not hit them. You might consider throwing a bomb at them, or use the inkjet if you have it (and the situation allows it). If you are really good at this, you might be expecting a sneaky suction bomb from the opponent, or they might use bubble blower as protection.
• Positioning and map awareness. You need to know where your weapon performs best on each map and mode combination. This does not mean you need to try every spot and see what works, noting down your observations. You're a gamer, not a scientist. You should know what 'kind' of positions your weapon likes and what those positions are on a map. You can simply deduce this every match. For example, if you play splat charger, you will most likely enjoy being high up, or behind some kind of cover. On Blackbelly skatepark, you might want to stand on the tower in the center of the map, or behind the cushion near your spawn.

Rank S and S+

You now enter the realm of people who really want to get better. You're at the gateway to X rank, and it is a though one. S and especially S+ is know for 'unfair' rank downs and bad matchmaking. Luckily for you, this is not actually true. There are a lot of players 'stuck' in S+ because they are simply not practicing, but just playing, hoping they will magically rank up. This will not happen (unless you're a talented legend). The skill gap is not that high from A rank however, so use your time here to really train. Do not simply enter a match, think about what aspect of a game you want to be improving on. To name a few:

• Knowing what gear fits your weapon. By now most players have a favourite weapon or weapon class. Usually, maining a weapon in this game is a bad idea, however, using a weapon a lot can make you really comfortable with it, and make you use it as a fall-back it experimenting with another weapon doesn't work out. It is wise that you start working on a gear set that is more functional than it is pretty (though you could manage both). A front line weapon might enjoy gear with swim speed up, quick respawn, stealth jump and comeback. A back line weapon might enjoy special charge, quick super jump and respawn punisher. Of course, there is no reason to not choose things you like. You might however start tweaking your build with ability chunks. The notion of 'Pures', a piece of gear with all the same sub abilities, is generally something you should avoid. Due to the way gear works, every additional ability you apply, the less extra effect if gives. Therefore, for example, trading a 7th sub ability of swim speed for a single sub ability of special saver might really change up your game.
• Map and player awareness. You need to know what areas of the map are turfed. If you have most ink in mid, you might consider pushing. In this, you need to keep in mind the amount of players of your team are alive or dead/respawning, and the same for the enemy. After all, going into a 2v4 is a bad idea. You will really need man-advantage (more players alive than your opponent) to really get something going. On the other hand, if you are the last player alive of your team, you might jump out, or hang back to provide super jumps for your team (often called anchoring).
• Expecting opponents. Somewhat hand in hand with the previous bullet point, knowing what weapons your team uses and how much ink is on what areas of the map might help you predict where enemies are going to be. This skill is arguably the hardest to learn, and many X rank players still do not master it, so don't worry if this doesn't come too quickly. 

X rank

You've finally done it, you officially are in the highest rank of the game. The only thing you need to do is not lose too much, and play somewhat regularly to maintain your rank. The goal of X rank is to get a global leaderboard position. You can become the #1 player in the world if you practice. A lot. From here on out, getting better is (grand)mastering every skill named before, along with a couple of other things. These, I will not explain, but a quick google might reveal what they are.

• Sub-straving. By cancelling your movement with a quick sub-weapon activation, you can quickly strave and instantly gain maximum swim speed.
• Ledge cancelling. Releasing and repressing "zl" allows you to quickly cancel a ledge when simming up a wall.
• Aiming. Perfectly. Every time.
• Special awareness. Knowing what specials your team and the enemy has and if they have it and what it means for your position in the current game.
• General awareness. Knowing who is where and what they are trying to do, and countering that if necessary.
• Habit awareness. Knowing what other players (friend and foe) like to do and playing accordingly.