---
title: 'Game-Changing Advice that Would’ve Saved Me in Low-Elo'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=tJPaSJFXgRs'
video_id: 'tJPaSJFXgRs'
date: 2026-08-03
duration_sec: 851
---

# Game-Changing Advice that Would’ve Saved Me in Low-Elo

> Source: [Game-Changing Advice that Would’ve Saved Me in Low-Elo](https://youtube.com/watch?v=tJPaSJFXgRs)

## Summary

The video offers game-changing advice for players stuck in low ELO in Valorant, based on the creator's personal experience climbing to Radiant. Key tips include taking personal responsibility, prioritizing in-game mechanics over raw aim, mastering counter-strafing and dead zoning, and maintaining proper posture to avoid injury.

### Key Points

- **No One Is Coming to Save You** [00:02] — Stop blaming teammates or the matchmaking system. You must be the determining factor that shifts the odds from 50/50 to 55/45 or better. After 100-200 games, the ELO system accurately places you where you belong.
- **Aim Matters, But Only Up to a Point** [02:07] — In lower ranks, aim is a get-out-of-jail-free card, but as you climb, opponents punish mistakes. More importantly, focus on in-game mechanics (movement, crosshair placement) rather than just raw mouse control from aim trainers.
- **Understanding Movement Error and Gun Accuracy** [04:34] — Bullets have randomness. Standing still gives zero movement error; running adds 6° inaccuracy, walking 3°, crouch-moving 8°. The crosshair circle shows where bullets can land. Use this to your advantage.
- **Counter-Strafing and Dead Zoning** [06:02] — Counter-strafing lets you stop on a dime and shoot accurately, enabling jiggle peeking and pre-firing. Dead zoning exploits the brief stop when changing directions. This is more versatile than simply letting go of the key.
- **Two Forms of Pride** [08:18] — Avoid both grandiose pride (ignoring feedback) and self-deprecating pride (obsessing over flaws). Measure success based on inputs, not outcomes, to maintain confidence and growth.
- **Consistency Over Cramming** [09:38] — Learning takes time; your brain consolidates skills during sleep. Don't expect to implement everything in one match. Consistent practice over time yields better results than cramming, like in bodybuilding.
- **How Much to Practice and Review VODs** [11:10] — Do so much work that it's unreasonable to think you wouldn't improve. For VOD review, clip the last 60-90 seconds of rounds where you died or got outplayed, rather than reviewing every round.
- **Posture and Injury Prevention** [12:07] — Poor posture can lead to repetitive strain injuries. Ensure your desk and chair are adjusted so your arm is at ~90°, avoid hunching, and take breaks. The creator suffered a shoulder injury from bad setup.

### Conclusion

Improving in Valorant requires a shift in mindset, focusing on mechanics, and maintaining physical health. By taking responsibility, mastering movement, and practicing consistently, you can climb ranks effectively.

## Transcript

that I wish someone told me when I was silver. Okay? And if I knew these tips I needed to focus on when I was starting out in the game, I think I would have saved a lot of trouble for myself. I did
climb to radiant relatively quickly, but who knows, it might have even shortened that even more. And hopefully the tips that I share with you guys today can avoid or well can help you guys avoid uh a lot of the pitfalls that I've fallen
I've seen a lot of other students that I've coached uh fall into. Okay, so let's get started. The very first tip that I have for you guys is that no one is coming to save you. Okay, no one is coming to save you. I think when I
played a lot of other competitive games like [music] Counterstrike, League of Legends, Overwatch, I was like perma hearts like silver or gold and I remember a lot of times I would get frustrated being like, "Oh my gosh, my
team is ining again or this guy's not listening, you know, like all all sorts of excuses basically, right?" But it's not your duo that's going to save you. It's not your team that's going to save you. It's none of that. Like you
literally have to be the determining factor that allows you to consistently that's the only thing because that's how the matchmaking system works. Like people complain a lot about how the hidden MMR systems like broken or like
comp is broken, like all these things. But to be honest, it does a pretty good freaking job of putting you into lobbies where you actually deserve. Okay? Like I'm going to be straight up with you because if you play at least 100 200
games, that's enough data for the whole ELO system to know where to place you in. And [music] the only thing, right, the only thing that's going to help you guys get out of your rank is [music] you becoming that determining factor that
makes a big enough impact that shifts the odds from just like a 50/50 to 55, 45, 60 to 40. You know, the next thing that I wish someone told me when I was that I wish someone told me when I was silver is your aim matters the most, but
only up to a certain point. And I think you guys heard that and you guys might you hear that. Okay. Yeah. Like that's true. You know, like, but I cannot emphasize you guys enough. Like in lower ranks especially, your aim is like a get
if you watch a lot of VODs or you might have experienced it yourself too, like like just like completely whiffs on you and you're like, "Oh, I have a lot of obviously like as you get higher up in rank, the opponents are going to have
better aim than you. They're going to punish you a lot easier and so you're not going to be able to get away with it. But the nuance that I want to share with this tip too is even though aim matters a lot, it also depends on what
what aspect the the the aspect of aim that you're actually spending the most amount of time training. Now, before I go into that, if you're stuck in low ELO and you want to finally rank up without trying to figure out everything on your
own, I can help you out. My team of Radiant and BCT coaches can give you feedback inside our stepbystep and week coaching program. Our average student gains 500 RR in 10 weeks. And we have students hitting immortal and radiant
every season. And students see these results because we offer 100 plus hours of personalized hands-on coaching with one-on- ons, custom mechanic drills, and coach facilitated scrims. And we're so confident in our coaching that if you
don't rank up at least 500 RR in 10 weeks, we'll give you a full refund. We only have a few spots for each season of the program. So, click the link down below in the description to book a free call with me or one of our coaches so we
can go look at your tracker together and see if we'd be a good fit. A lot of pull up a YouTube video, they're like, "Okay, I want to get better at Valer try getting better at this game." But when you're just starting out, your
actual mouse control is important. But what matters even more in my opinion is the actual like in-game mechanics that you use like on every single round,
every single gunfight that you take. Because when you go on aim trainers, a Grid Shot or like pull up a random playlist from like a pro player, right? and just brute force their way through aim training. the the only only skills
that they that I think it's like really useful for is flicks, micro adjustments, tracking, click timing. Did I say tracking? [laughter] Um, and I guess with like crosshair placement and and that is part of tracking as well. But
you can work on those skills simultaneously in game while working on explain what I mean by that. A lot of times when you're just starting out, I wish I wish someone like clearly explained how even like movement error
and like gun accuracy like all of that works. There is an element of randomness to your bullets. But it all depends on how you use that to your advantage, the RNG to your advantage. Because right now, if I'm just standing still, I shoot
right? If I'm just standing still, you'll notice that on this on this right hand side where my mouse cursor is, there's a first shot spread, right? 22 2° and then ADS or aim down sight it's point uh 111.11 right and when I am uh
jumping this is when you get movement error so your shooting error is going to be all in orange and when you have movement error it's going to be in blue so when I'm running it's 6° of inaccuracy when I'm walking it's 3° and
when I'm crouching and and moving it's8 so notice how the circle changes Right? The size of the circle. That means when you shoot, your bullets have a random chance of landing in anywhere in that circle. Right? Just
like a shotgun, your bullets will land randomly inside the circle. Would you letting go of the keys? Okay, that is also another very very um important skill that I wish someone told me sooner. We're on the topic of shooting
air and movement error, right? So, the way the movement error in Valerant works is depending on how fast you're moving, it all affects where your bullets go. And the only time that your gun will have zero movement error is when you're
completely standing still. Another way though that you can abuse this mechanic, right, is through dead zoning, where in between changes of direction, you'll then smaller. [music] If you are changing directions, your character does
have to come to a complete stop. you have to go to zero speed before you start speeding up in a different direction. If you [music] can get the timing right, you can shoot accurately in between your strafs. [music]
And that's how counter strafing works. Yes, you can let go of your key and then shoot after because in this game, yeah, you do come to a stop pretty quickly as soon as you let go of your key. However, the only downside to this is that it
restricts your option and also doesn't let you build a habit of giving you the option to actually jiggle peak the angle and pre-firing it versus actually committing to the fight and spraying. Because if you just get really used to
you're not going to be able to just quickly take a shot and be very to take a shot or two and then get back into cover. Because counter shafrafing lets you tap the key and stop exactly on a dime. Whereas I've personally found
that it's a little bit in more inconsistent to just let go of the key. I think it's a lot easier to just tap and then come to a stop. So let's say like you're clearing an angle, right? Let's say you're clearing an angle. Most
you're just going to stop like this and shoot, right? And basically you're just committing to the fight each time. But if you know how to counter strafe, not only are you able to just come to instant stop like as soon as your
crosshair like comes in contact, but it also lets you go in and out of the corner and shoot accurately. This is a mechanic I wish I knew because mechanic I wish I knew because truthfully this comes in handy a lot
angles too. Like a lot of times people will just kind of like like run out like this. I mean don't shift walk like this, okay? This is really bad. There's just a picking mistakes that people make and it could all be fixed like if you counter
strafed and you know how to also eventually dead zone. What can I do to stop blaming teammates but also not talk negative about myself? That is a great question as well. And you know what? There are two forms of pride. Okay,
there's the type of pride and ego where you're like puffed up. You think you know it all and you don't take advice. You don't listen to anybody else, right? best, you know, which is just silly, right? Because that boxes you in, right?
That limits you as well. But the other form of pride is the self-deprecating type of pride. Like the first example that I talked about is you're so of yourself. You're thinking about yourself so much in like a grandiose way
that you shut down all feedback and you shut down what others have to say. And thinking about yourself and obsessing over yourself in the worst way possible, in a way that is self-deprecating,
yourself, that is self- condemning. And I think for me, like I fall into that where I'm like I tend to be very like self-critical. I don't know. Like maybe it's just like being Asian [laughter] and just and just growing up like I I
with that as well. It is good to acknowledge that you lack in certain ways. It is good to acknowledge that you suck in in [laughter] in some ways, right? Sometimes if if that self-deprecating form of pride is
getting in the way where it's making you less confident, then again like you need to take a [music] step back and measure your success based on the inputs rather implement everything that I'll learn in a single match? No. No. This is this is
a journey, my friend. This is a journey, right? Just biologically, right? Even like biologically if you learn something your brain learns it and stores it only when you sleep. Biologically speaking you need time but there is a way to make
that process [music] still efficient right and faster. But don't expect that one game you know it's not going to happen in just a single game or it's not going to just happen in a short amount of time because consistency really guys
is is what matters. Like this is esports right? Like it is a competitive game and [music] there is skill involved. If you want to get better at anything in life, you're going to go only so far if you just try to cram and squeeze everything
Let's say you're trying to enter a bodybuilding competition. You think that you can just eat however you want and then in the in the very last month, again. You know, you're going to start hitting the gym every single day like 8
to get the same results as someone who is didn't even work out like 8 hours a day, even like 30 minutes a day. Just see way better results. It's the same thing. How long do you have to practice
to actually get the lesson in the brain? I mean, that all depends. I think it depends on just how naturally smart you might be. But also at the same time, like no matter how smart or like dumb you are, I I think the the best mindset
to have is do so much work that it is unreasonable for you to think that you wouldn't be better than you were before. Just keep trying, keep learning, and How much time should I dedicate to Viewing? For me, I've gotten to a point
where I kind of get through it fast because I know which exact rounds and moments where I knew I made a mistake that I wasn't sure exactly what I could moments you kind of just want to skim to when I started out and what really
helped me is I would just clip the last like 60 90 seconds of a round or a moment where I like died. Like it could be a gunfight or it could just be like out macroed, like we just got out played. And I would just review just
have to go through every single round to know what you need to focus on the most. Another really important thing, guys, that is super underrated that I don't I don't hear a lot of coaches, YouTubers talking about is your posture. There was
talking about is your posture. There was a moment like 2 3 years ago where I had to get like a office space like out of my apartment because the apartment that I was staying in the place was really old. The building was really old. So the
old. The building was really old. So the internet was like old copper wire cable internet. The max download and upload speed that I would get is 1 megabyte. that wasn't even enough to play Valerant because the all the packets like being
sent back and forth from the server like like my game would literally it was just unplayable. And I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I just signed like a year-long lease and internet and I'm supposed to be playing this game and making videos and and
coaching people for a living. Like, I'm screwed." So, I had to rent like a little tiny office space and there I had a desk that wasn't adjustable. the desk height was too high and I was putting my whole arm on the desk to play while
and that really messed up my shoulder and I got a repetitive strain injury from that. So ideally when you are sitting down on your desk, you want this to be like sitting very comfortably almost 90° like your arm, you don't want
hunching back either, you know. I remember like I would try to like play monitor too and like my arm would be like really close. That that like messed it up real bad. I was so dumb, guys. I was so dumb. Oh my god. I could not type
on the keyboard. I could not sit up on my desk. And literally for like 2 3 weeks I had to work like from my bed and I got like a little tiny mini like iPhone just so I could like work and like type and like do all my meetings
was like it was miserable and I don't want you guys to experience the same thing. Like I I thought posture related injuries, gaming related injuries, like that's beyond me. It is possible. If you're already having issues with your
forearm, you got to you got to either lower the desk, right? or or raise a chair. It's like your body does not lie. Like your your body keeps record of all those things. I think I think we're good here.