Silver player matches with master guardians, wins dramatic 1v5

What happens when you take a silver-ranked Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player and drop him into a game with a bunch of master guardians? Silliness. And sometimes, an improbably victory.

One player recently had this happen with a silver IV player somehow getting matched up against a group of master guardians. Naturally, the game went poorly for the overmatched player but they did manage to have one shining moment.

Faced with a one-on-five clutch situation on Nuke, the silver player dug in near the lobby entrance. Despite facing long odds, the player managed to gun down all five opponents to steal the round away. Though it does come with a bit of an asterisk in how poorly the opposing team handled the situation, with each member of the team effectively walking in one-by-one, it was still an impressive feat by the player.

Not only that, but the silver player actually performed well in the game as a whole. Following the clutch play, his side had a 14-4 lead while he boasted a 16-8 K/D with five assists and 95 ADR. That’s a strong stat line by any measure, but it’s also one that begs a few questions after the fact.

How are CSGO ranks determined?

CSGO uses a Glicko-2 rating system that algorithmically assigns ranks to players based on their in-game performance. Glicko-2 rating systems are used to rate players based on “reliability” based on their standard level of performance without overly rewarding one-off strong performances or punishing occasional bad games.

The exact formula is unclear, but it’s known to draw from all the standard stats that are recorded in CSGO including kills, deaths, assists, and damage done. It’s also believed to use other stats including MVPs, bomb plants, and defusals. It’s unclear if there is a specific area that players should focus on in order to improve their rank, whether it’s fragging out and getting as many kills as possible or focusing on successfully handling the map’s objective.

As for this particular game, it’s unclear why a silver-ranked player would have performed this well. It’s possible the silver player was new and was underrated by the ranking system. No matter the reason why, it’s yet another odd example of matchmaking in CSGO.