In 1943, American psychologist Abraham Maslow published "A Theory of Human Motivation." In it, he introduced the idea of a hierarchy of needs for human motivation (pictured below). His theory proposed that humans had to satisfy certain needs before others in a linear fashion. And he was right. Any mature adult can confidently say that the hierarchy of needs accurately reflects the psychological growth of a typical human. But how does this apply to Counter-Strike? It turns out that we can apply this linear hierarchy to the growth of the typical CS:GO player.

Image courtesy of Simply Psychology

Just like Maslow's hierarchy, we can see that the most basic requirements for CS:GO's version are the "base" of the pyramid and the first needed. Eventually, we move to the top of the pyramid. The final step is one that can never be completed because it's a constant cycle of improvement and refinement. So without further ado, let's break down CS:GO's Hierarchy of Skill... And for your practicing pleasure, I've sprinkled in links throughout this article so you can dive deeper into topics of interest!

Step 1: Aim & Mouse Control - CS:GO: How to Improve Tracking Aim

Shooter games are one of the easiest genres to pick up, but one of the hardest to master, especially CS:GO. The main reason is the mechanic of aiming and shooting. Although mouse control can be boiled down to "point and click," many new players find it difficult. In CS:GO, the high skill ceiling magnifies this issue. It doesn't matter if you can point and click on a head. What matters is how fast you can execute the series of motions it takes to hit a shot. This difference in speed is the main distinction between newbies and veterans. Because of that, aim and mouse control is often the first thing a player recognizes as one of his flaws. The progression of a player's aim is very linear: discovery, confidence, and proficiency are the key themes of aim.

Beginner:

Sensitivity and eliminating jerkiness

Initial exposure to tracking aim

Controlling nerves and shakiness

Introduction to spray control of the main rifles

Introduction to AWP flicks

Gaining crosshair awareness (See this article on crosshair placement )

) Identifying firing types for distances (tapping, bursting, spraying)

Have to hold far angles

Intermediate:

Consciously maintaining crosshair placement

Refining sensitivity to encourage muscle memory

Adjusting for distance and movement when spraying

Controlling a typical 5 bullet burst

Tapping is consistent, but not proficient

Flicks are near constant

Can hold tight angles

Advanced:

Off-screen position detection (from sound cues and callouts)

Accurately controlling 90% of the spray pattern for ~5 weapons

Can consistently hit reasonable spray transfers

Increasing flick range

Tapping is proficient

Bursting is reliable, accurate, fast, and reflexive

Can hold extremely tight angles

The base of the hierarchy is mechanical skill (steps 1, 2)

Step 2: Movement & Keyboard Control - Movement in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive



Once a player has managed to consistently frag in lopsided fights, the next immediate problem is his movement. Suddenly, the player realizes that holding W and swiping his mouse to and fro is not an efficient solution to traversing the map. Upon this realization, a world of opportunities is suddenly opened up, ranging from simple A-D strafing to the more difficult bunny-hopping and surfing. Strong movement and precise control of the character model are key characteristics of many professional players. The progression of a player's movement is more sporadic than aim; players can choose to never consciously practice movement, dedicate the majority of their time to gamemodes such as surf and KZ, or occasionally fine-tune their most important of movement.

Beginner:

Eliminating clunkiness and bumping into walls

Varying movement patterns (crouching and jumping)

Beginning to understand the nuances of rollouts

Doesn't know how to walk

Has no knowledge of advanced movement or tries too hard and fails

Holds W, hardly ever utilizes strafe keys

Stopping before shooting is a chore

Intermediate:

Stopping before shooting is subconscious

Understands the basic situations in which to walk and run

Understands the basics of bunny-hopping

Understands the basics of surfing

Knows a few common "map jumps"

Mostly uses strafe keys to maneuver

Jiggle peeking is often predictable, but solid

Advanced:

Air strafing is consistent and smooth

Can almost always hit bunny-hops

Can almost always hit surfs

Can often hit map jumps to gain an advantageous position

Very tight control of strafe-firing

Use of W key is minimal

Jiggle peeking is and "fake-peeking" is rehearsed

Game skills: Utilizing knowledge of CS:GO's game mechanics to gain an edge

Step 3: Communication - The Importance of Team Communication

After playing a few competitive matches, a new player will soon realize that it is not the same as deathmatch. A quiet solo-DM session turns into an energetic frenzy of callouts, strategies, and NEIS's shared with complete strangers. At the first, a player might not have the confidence to make simple position calls, but soon, he will be offering emotional support to his teammates, rallying a demoralized team to victory, calling strategies, and even outright leading the team. But, he can't just let his tongue run wild. Ensuring that every bit of essential information is relayed to the team must be balanced with clean, concise, and uncluttered comms. The progression of a player's communication is a tough one: teammates will complain about his lack of calls and then whine about his incessant talking until the perfect balance of detail and terseness is achieved.

Beginner:

Gaining the confidence to communicate in-game

Making basic calls of location

Still using hotkeys to communicate

Frequently spams chat and/or floods the comms

Occasionally interrupts clutcher

Tone of voice is poor, can't control emotions

Intermediate:

Maintaining team morale (see this article on maintaining team morale )

) Occasionally calling too much or too little

Able to relay own position to coordinate with the team

Does not use microphone or text chat excessively

Provides only essential information to clutcher

Controls emotions, save a few instances

Advanced:

Clearly articulates what could happen or what is happening

Concisely calls location, health, weapon, and any other valuable information of an enemy

Effectively calls his/her in-game actions without flooding the comms

Can ask for aid calmly and specifically

Can effectively rally a team from a severe deficit, using tone of voice

Provides quick information to a clutcher

Controls emotions and never clutters comms with unnecessary commentary/banter

Step 4: Gamesense & Advanced Mechanics - Developing Your Game Sense

Step 4 is the continuation of "game skill" in the hierarchy after step 3's communication. Step 3 includes solely communication, while step 4 revolves more around the gameplay aspect of gamesense and coordination. At its core, step 4 focuses on knowledge. Knowledge of the game is essential. It ranges from knowledge of the economy and decision-making to positions and grenades. The progression of a player's gamesense/knowledge is based heavily on tiers. For example, understanding the economy of CS:GO can be as elementary as knowing when to buy, force, or save. But, when you are an IGL of a team and have to consider many factors, such as reading enemy economies and the impact of saved guns, it gets exponentially more difficult.

Beginner:

Learning basic grenades

Often blitzkrieg-rushes sites with the team

Peaking is often wide and unfocused

Shoots when sees an enemy

Often can not clutch without luck

Positional memory is lacking

Has little to no warmup/training routine

No hearing

Intermediate:

Learning more complex grenades for executes

Can effectively work picks in a default (See this article on working picks )

) Can prefire most common angles

Peaking is deliberate, but often lacks variation

Takes primary factors into account when clutching, usually executes the most obvious play

Proficient positional memory

Has a solid warmup/training routine

Can hear audio queues

Advanced:

Knows difficult run/jump/crouch grenades in case-by-case scenarios

Can create and capitalize upon slight advantages when working picks in a default

Prefires angles where enemies are known, frequently lands shots

Instinctively knows how to peek an enemy depending on weapon, health, positioning, and context

Takes almost all factors into account when clutching, can come up with extremely unique techniques

Instinctual positional memory and can predict individual players' moves with ease

Can accurately and honestly review individual and team demos (See this article on reviewing demos )

) Has an efficiency-maximized training routine (See this article on maximizing the effectiveness of training maps )

) Can analyze and manipulate sound queues to gain an advantage

The tip of the hierarchy revolves around step 5: teamplay

Step 5: Teamplay - Understanding Basic Teamwork and How to Be a Better Teammate

In the midst of improving and practicing, a player will eventually come to a roadblock. At this block, he will think, "I'm improving, hitting my shots, and making great plays. But why am I not winning matches?" The missing keystone is simple: teamwork. After all, CS:GO is not an individual game. It revolves around coordination, tactics, and cohesion. And the progression of this final stage is the most "never-ending" and intricate of them all. A player could simply be working on his trade-fragging (ties into step 4), improving his tone of voice (ties into step 3), or even working out personal strifes with real teammates. The situations are endless, ranging from silver matchmaking to professional teams.

Beginner:

Implementing basic fundamentals of trade-killing

Can call basic strategies and grenades

Can provide basic motivation/encouragement to teammates

Can occasionally support teammates with utility

Is aware of most chokepoints to watch

Can buy, force, and save with the team

Intermediate:

Can actively support teammates with utility

Instinctually knows which angles are left open and which are watched

Understands the economy thoroughly to be able to drop efficiently for teammates

Occasionally quarrels with teammates or is too passive

Can trade kill and play any role to fit the team's needs (See this article on roles)

Advanced:

Team chemistry and cohesion is superb (has no ceiling)

Very familiar with teammates and consider them friends

Trust among teammates is very high, making doubts low and clarity high

Works as a single unit in almost all scenarios

Listens to IGL without complaint, but will suggest his own ideas at times

With this Hierarchy of Skill, you'll never run out of things to practice. You can also see where you stack up!