Counter-Strike 2 guides
Plain-English explainers for the numbers you see across ranks, stats and fair play — written to make CS2 easier to read, not to pad a word count.
Ranks
FACEIT ELO math: the ten level thresholds and how a win or loss is priced
FACEIT's ten CS2 level thresholds with the ELO width of each, how a win or a loss is priced against the other team's average with worked examples, calibration on a new account, why level 10 has no ceiling, how levels relate to Premier and Competitive, and FACEIT's inactivity rules.
Updated October 8, 2026
Where does your CS Rating sit? Premier rating percentiles from 935 tracked players
Premier CS Rating percentiles and color-band shares from 935 players tracked by CSRun, what players in each band do per game (K/D, damage per round, preaim), how many points a win or loss moves you by band, and what that arithmetic means for climbing.
Updated October 8, 2026
Stats
What's a good Leetify rating?
What Leetify Rating measures, how the aim, utility and positioning sub-ratings work, what counts as a good rating for your skill level, and how to read your own numbers.
Updated July 10, 2026
Leetify rating, HLTV 2.0 & CS Rating compared
How the Leetify rating, HLTV 2.0, Valve's Premier CS Rating and FACEIT ELO differ: what each measures, its scale, why the numbers don't convert, and which to trust for which question.
Updated August 12, 2026
What's a good ADR in CS2?
What ADR measures in CS2, why 100 damage equals one kill, the rough bands from 60 to 95+, how role, side and map shift the number, and what it means when ADR and K/D disagree.
Updated August 12, 2026
What's a good K/D in CS2 — and when it lies
Why a 1.0 K/D is break-even in CS2, when the number flatters baiters and punishes entry fraggers, why kills per round is steadier, and which stats to cross-check it against.
Updated August 12, 2026
Improve
Preaim, reaction time & crosshair placement — the numbers behind aim
What preaim degrees, time to damage and spray accuracy actually measure in CS2, why crosshair placement beats raw reflexes, the habits and drills that move each number, and what to fix first.
Updated August 12, 2026
How to win the map veto in CS2
Why the map veto is the first round of a CS2 match: finding your real permaban, reading the enemy's likely picks, Bo1 vs Bo3 ban logic, float maps, and checking both teams' map form live.
Updated August 12, 2026
Guides
How to spot smurfs & cheaters in CS2
The public signals that hint at a smurf or a cheater in Counter-Strike 2 — account age, VAC status, cross-platform rank gaps and stat anomalies — and how to weigh them without jumping to conclusions.
Updated July 10, 2026
CS2 bans reference: the cooldown ladder, Steam's ban fields, FACEIT ban durations and appeals
A working reference for every CS2 ban: Valve's exact competitive cooldown ladder and escalation rules, the GetPlayerBans fields Steam exposes and how CSRun shows them, how ban waves look on a profile over time, FACEIT's ban categories and published durations, trade and economy bans, what can be appealed, and how to read a banned profile fairly.
Updated October 8, 2026
Which CS2 queue should you play? Competitive, Premier and FACEIT, with the data
The Competitive skill-group distribution across 38,117 players tracked by CSRun and what each group does per game, the Premier rating that Silver, Gold Nova and Global Elite accounts typically hold, the maps each Valve queue actually plays, what FACEIT adds, and a queue recommendation per type of player.
Updated October 8, 2026
Tools
CS2 demos: how to get them, watch them, and what they reveal
Where to download your CS2 demos — matchmaking, Premier and FACEIT — what share codes are, how to watch a replay well, and what automated demo analysis pulls out of a match.
Updated August 12, 2026
Why stat sites can't see your CS2 stats (and how to fix it)
Which Steam privacy settings hide your CS2 stats from trackers — profile, Game details and the playtime checkbox — how to make them public step by step, and what going public actually trades away.
Updated August 12, 2026