What’s the average CS2 (CSGO) rank?

Let's look at the largest part of the community— the average players. What rank does an average player have, what skills do they possess, and what makes them different from below-average players?

What is an average CS2 (CSGO) rank?

The average rank in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is Gold Nova III. Having this rank means representing approximately the top 50% of all players and puts you right in the middle of the ranked distribution.

That said, you are favored to win 50 out of 100 CS2 (CSGO) duels. While this may seem counter-intuitive, if you have a rank higher than Gold Nova III, you are classified as an above-average level player!

What skills does the Gold Nova 3 player represent?

Generally, Gold Nova III players should have no problem with the basics of the game. They should the rules of the game, what the map objectives are, how to buy weapons, etc.

These things may seem obvious to many, but keep in mind that the entire Silver division (Silver I — Silver Elite Master) consists of players who have trouble with this.

To summarize, besides knowing the general gameplay rules, Gold Nova III players usually:

• Know the basics of in-game economics (When to play an eco round, when to buy, when to force)
• Warm up in some way before the game
• Have a good idea where certain places on the map are
• Know CS2 (CSGO) slang at a relatively good level
• Have other in-game settings than the standard ones (crosshair, aspect ratio, viewmodel)
• Know some basic grenade lineups
• Know how much playing in a premade squad gives

However, many of the average players treat the game as entertainment, and the skills represented by them are far different from what we can see at the major tournaments.

Usually, the Gold Nova III gameplay is still far from perfect, and you could spot many fundamental mistakes, but still — most average players don’t consider it a problem because most of them is just chilling.

The second most popular rank in CS2 (CSGO) is Gold Nova 2. Still, honestly, representatives of this skill group do not differ much from their colleagues from Gold Nova 3 or even Master Guardian.

RANK	RANK ICON	RANK DISTRIBUTION
Silver I (S1)		3.9%
Silver 2 CS2 (CSGO) (S2)		4.23%
Silver III (S3)		4.37%
Silver IV (S4)		5.21%
Silver Elite (SE)		6.44%
Silver Elite Master (SEM)		7.78%
Gold Nova I (GN1)		8.76%
Gold Nova II (GN2)		8.79%
Gold Nova III (GN3)		9.05%
Gold Nova Master (GNM)		8.08%
Master Guardian I (MG1)		7.55%
Master Guardian II (MG2)		6.61%
Master Guardian Elite (MGE)		5.24%
Distinguished Master Guardian CS2 (CSGO) (DMG)		4.15%
Legendary Eagle (LE)		3.25%
Legendary Eagle Master (LEM CS2 (CSGO))		3.20%
Supreme Master First Class (SMFC)		2.64%
Global Elite CS2 (CSGO) (GE)		0.75%

What divides a Gold Nova III player from a pro?

Well, the thing that plays an important (if not the most important) role here is the time commitment. Most gamers treat CS2 (CSGO) as a from break their daily routine, where for these pros, it's virtually a full-time job.

For example, one of the Counter-Strike pro scene’s most prominent veterans, Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund, has over 10,000 hours played on his Steam account, which gives a total of 416 days spent. And that’s just in CS2 (CSGO), without counting the older versions of Counter-Strike.

If you want to get to The Global Elite, be ready for a lot of work and sacrifices, just like in any other sport. 

Now you know precisely what the term “average player” means in CS2 (CSGO). However, if you have a rank lower than Gold Nova III and are worried about being below average — easy, it takes time. If you want to get better at the game, we would surely recommend you to try some of the best aim training maps.