How I would learn Valorant if I started over

Summary

In this video, Keki shares his journey to reaching Radiant rank in Valorant and offers strategies for players looking to improve their gameplay efficiently. He emphasizes building core skills like aim, movement, gun control, and decision-making through structured practice routines. Keki also discusses the importance of understanding risk-reward scenarios, using proper settings, and proactively learning from mistakes. For those serious about ranking up, Keki introduces his Immortal Roadmap coaching program, offering guidance from top-tier Radiant coaches and professional players to accelerate improvement.

Takeaways

• 🎯 Focus on fundamentals: Aim, movement, gun control, and crosshair placement are the foundation of improving in Valorant, and daily practice is key.
• 🏹 Effective aim practice: Break down flicking and micro-adjustments to isolate and improve both aspects of aiming.
• 🔫 Gun control: Focus on learning the spray patterns of the Phantom and Vandal, especially the first five bullets, to master consistent recoil control.
• 👟 Movement training: Practice peeking from cover to improve your movement, crosshair placement, and accuracy. Incorporate parkour sections to enhance fluidity.
• 🔥 Decision-making framework: Learn to balance risk and reward in game decisions. Play safe when the odds are even and take more risks when the situation is dire.
• 🧠 Focus on decision-making: Improve game sense by understanding the balance of risk, and reward, and adjusting your plays depending on the situation.
• 🏅 Coaching importance: Having an experienced coach can help accelerate improvement by pointing out weaknesses and guiding your progress.
• ⚙️ Optimize settings: Turn off ‘keep player centered’, enable HRTF audio, and activate tactical callouts to improve awareness and reaction time.
• ⚔️ Play proactively: Don’t be afraid to take aggressive actions and learn from your mistakes to grow faster as a player.
• ⏳ Apply the 80/20 rule: Spend 20% of your time watching educational content or analyzing gameplay to complement your practice and refine your skills.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video?

The main purpose of the video is to provide steps and advice on how to improve efficiently in Valorant, especially for players who want to rank up quickly and avoid mistakes that could slow down their progress.

What are the key fundamentals the video emphasizes for improving in Valorant?

The video emphasizes four key fundamentals: aim, movement, gun control, and crosshair placement. These are essential skills that players should practice daily to build a strong foundation.

How does the video recommend practicing aim in Valorant?

The video recommends isolating flicks and micro-adjustments while practicing in the range. It suggests being quick and snappy with flicks but staying relaxed for smoother micro-adjustments. Over time, players should combine these two components for faster, more accurate aim.

What is a good way to practice gun control in Valorant, according to the video?

The video suggests practicing gun control by shooting in bursts of five bullets at different ranges and learning to pull the mouse down faster during the fourth and fifth bullets, especially when using weapons like the Phantom and Vandal.

How does the video explain the importance of decision-making in Valorant?

The video explains that decision-making is crucial in determining whether a player wins or loses rounds. While mechanics are important, strong decision-making skills are necessary when facing equally skilled opponents, and players should learn to balance risk and reward during rounds.

What advice does the video give regarding practicing decision-making in Valorant?

The video advises players to set up a decision-making framework to simplify in-game choices. It highlights the importance of evaluating risk and reward in each situation, understanding when to take a fight, and using util and teamwork to gain map control safely.

Why does the video recommend getting a coach for improvement in Valorant?

The video recommends getting a coach because it's difficult for new or intermediate players to accurately reflect on their own mistakes and progress. An experienced coach can point out weaknesses and help players focus on improving specific aspects of their gameplay more efficiently.

What are some additional tips provided in the video for improving in Valorant?

The video provides several smaller tips, including optimizing game settings, refining playstyle, and watching educational videos to supplement practice. It suggests changing certain default settings to gain an advantage and ensuring that players play proactively to control the outcome of games.

What specific settings does the video suggest changing for a better experience?

The video suggests turning off 'Keep Player Centered' to see more of the map, enabling HRTF (Head-Related Transfer Function) for better sound awareness, and enabling 'Movement Error Graph' to improve accuracy by understanding bullet behavior during movement.

What is the 80/20 rule mentioned in the video, and how does it apply to improving in Valorant?

The 80/20 rule mentioned in the video suggests that players should spend 80% of their time playing and practicing and 20% watching educational content or analyzing pro gameplay. This balance helps players set clearer goals and improve more effectively.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Efficient Climbing and Coaching Success in Valorant

In this introduction, the speaker shares their journey to achieving the 'Radiant' rank and coaching thousands of students over the last four years. They reflect on the mistakes they made and inefficient practices they followed while improving their skills. The speaker aims to share tips that would help players improve faster and more effectively if they were starting again. They also promote their coaching program, 'The Immortal Road Map Program,' which guarantees improvement for players aiming to climb ranks like Immortal or Radiant.

05:02

🎯 Building the Fundamentals: Aim, Movement, and Gun Control

The speaker emphasizes the importance of mastering the fundamentals—aim, movement, gun control, and crosshair placement. These skills, essential for all ranks, should be practiced daily. They outline a practice routine with drills focused on aim improvement, flicking, and micro-adjustments. Tips on gun control, specifically managing recoil for Phantom and Vandal, and working on movement with Sage walls and parkour drills are provided. The speaker also discusses how to combine warming up with practice to avoid performance drops in ranked games.

10:02

🧠 Mastering Decision-Making in Valorant

The speaker moves on to the critical topic of decision-making in Valorant. Good decision-making is essential, especially when mechanics alone won’t guarantee wins. They explain how to balance risk and reward during rounds and make smart choices based on the situation. For example, playing it safe when the odds are even or taking calculated risks when in difficult situations like 1v4 clutches. They emphasize the importance of learning to assess choices and the value of having a coach to guide newer players toward smarter play.

🔧 Optimizing Settings for a Competitive Edge

This section focuses on the importance of optimizing in-game settings for better gameplay. The speaker recommends changes such as turning off 'Keep Player Centered' to see more of the map and enabling 'HRTF' for better sound awareness. They also suggest enabling 'Tactical Callouts' in chat to stay updated even if communication is lacking and using the 'Movement Error' graph to enhance shooting accuracy. By adjusting these settings, players can gain advantages in precision and awareness.

⚔️ Proactive Play and Learning from Mistakes

The speaker encourages players to adopt a proactive playstyle to learn and improve faster, even if it means making mistakes along the way. They advise players to try things out for themselves, especially through aggressive play, which can be particularly useful for Duelist agents. Players should focus on a small pool of agents to become more proficient and refine decision-making skills. The section also highlights the '80/20 rule,' which suggests dedicating 20% of time to watching educational content, reviewing gameplay, or studying pros, alongside actual game practice.

Keywords

💡Radiant

Radiant is the highest rank in the game Valorant, which is the subject of the video. The speaker has climbed to this rank and uses this achievement to establish credibility and share insights on how to improve in the game. The keyword is used to highlight the speaker's experience and the level of skill they have attained.

💡Fundamentals

Fundamentals refer to the basic skills required to play Valorant effectively, such as aim, movement, and gun control. The video emphasizes the importance of practicing these skills daily to build a strong foundation for gameplay. The term is used to describe the core aspects that all players should focus on to improve.

💡Aim

Aim in the context of the video refers to the ability to accurately point and shoot at targets in the game. It is a critical skill for success in Valorant. The script mentions drills to improve aim, such as practicing flicks and micro-adjustments, which are essential for precise targeting.

💡Gun Control

Gun control pertains to the technique of managing weapon recoil and maintaining accuracy during sustained firing. The video discusses the importance of understanding how different guns behave at various ranges and practicing to control their spray patterns effectively.

💡Crosshair Placement

Crosshair placement is the act of positioning the crosshair in a way that anticipates enemy movement or positions them for quick targeting. The video suggests that good crosshair placement can lead to faster and more accurate shots, which is crucial for winning gunfights.

💡Decision-making

Decision-making in the video refers to the strategic choices players make during gameplay, such as when to engage enemies or when to play defensively. The speaker discusses the importance of balancing risk and reward in decision-making, which is key to improving at a higher level of play.

💡Warm-up

A warm-up in the context of the video is a quick routine to prepare the player for games or practice sessions. It is distinguished from practice, which targets specific areas of improvement. The script advises keeping warm-ups under 20 minutes to avoid draining energy.

💡Practice

Practice, as mentioned in the video, involves deliberate and focused training on specific aspects of the game. The script suggests that practice should be targeted and time-efficient, with drills designed to improve specific skills like aim or movement.

💡Coaching

Coaching in the video refers to receiving guidance from more experienced players to improve gameplay. The speaker mentions their coaching services and the benefits of having a coach to provide feedback and direction, which can be invaluable for players looking to climb the ranks.

💡Deathmatch

Deathmatch is a game mode in Valorant where players fight against each other to achieve a certain number of kills. The video recommends playing Deathmatch to practice aim, movement, and gun control simultaneously in a more dynamic environment.

💡Settings

Settings in the video refer to the in-game options that players can adjust to customize their experience. The speaker suggests optimizing certain settings for a competitive advantage, such as turning off 'keep play centered' or enabling 'hrtf' for better audio cues.

💡Proactive Play

Proactive play is an approach to gameplay where players actively seek out opportunities and take initiative. The video encourages proactive play to learn from mistakes and have a greater impact on the game's outcome, which is essential for improvement.

Highlights

Climbing to Radiant rank involved many mistakes and inefficiencies, but valuable lessons were learned along the way.

Fundamentals such as aim, movement, gun control, and crosshair placement are key to success in Valorant and should be practiced daily.

A good practice routine focuses on consistent improvement of mechanics and building muscle memory for better performance over time.

Flick shots and micro-adjustments are critical in Valorant; mastering them requires isolating both components during practice.

For gun control, players should focus on mastering the first five bullets of the Phantom and Vandal, as the fourth and fifth bullets rise significantly.

Movement and peeking drills, like using a Sage wall for cover, help improve reaction time, accuracy, and first-bullet precision.

Understanding the balance between risk and reward during decision-making is vital, particularly when assessing fights and potential plays.

Good decision-making can compensate for mechanical deficiencies and is crucial when facing equally skilled opponents.

Warming up and practicing are different: practice targets specific skills, while warming up should be quick to avoid draining energy.

Deathmatch is recommended for improving multiple skills simultaneously, including crosshair placement, aim, movement, and gun control.

Decision-making frameworks help simplify choices during the game, ensuring a more confident and clear approach to each round.

Coaching can accelerate improvement by providing outside perspectives and pinpointing areas for specific focus and refinement.

Certain game settings, like turning off 'keep player centered' and enabling HRTF, can give players an advantage by improving map awareness and sound localization.

Playing proactively and aggressively helps players learn from mistakes and grow, especially when using duelists or agents that allow more freedom for experimentation.

The 80/20 rule: Spending 20% of your time on educational content, such as videos or pro gameplay analysis, alongside playing, can boost learning and set clearer goals.

Transcripts

I've climbed to radiant in the first

episode and I've coached thousands of

students in the last 4 years but before

I managed to even climb to radiant I

wasted a lot of time made tons of

mistakes and practiced things extremely

inefficiently hey guys it's keki and

though I can't roll back time I know

that if I could I'd be able to rank up

and improve so much faster than I did

originally that's why I wanted to use

this video to go over the steps that I

would take to learn Bor if I could start

all over again now I know most of you

guys aren't just starting out but even

if you're already a more experienced

player I'm I'm sure this video will help

to improve more efficiently from here on

out and before the video starts if

you're tired of being hardstuck and you

want to hit Immortal plus like hundreds

of our students my team of radiant

coaches and I will help you climb 500 RR

guaranteed all your money back inside

our premium 10we coaching program called

The Immortal road map program inside

you'll be getting live lessons scrims

and one-on ones from 1kr radiant coaches

and worldclass Championship level

coaches such as Comet who's a coach on

Vitality that just played in champ and

Milan who was a coach on Ascend when

they won Champs in 2021 we just opened

up signups for the 21st season cohort so

if you're serious about ranking up book

a free call with me or one of our

coaches using the link in the

description below now back to the video

okay so to start out learning valerant

all over again we need to build our

fundamentals aim movement gun control

and crossair placement are the building

blocks of any Valor player fundamentals

are the kind of skills that everyone

regardless of rank should try to

practice every single day think of how

Kobe would practice making th shots a

day regardless of how good of a player

he was therefore setting a good practice

routine that works on these skills is

extremely important both to get the

basics down as well as setting ourselves

up for the future by having a reliable

routine that we can continue to use over

time so let's dive straight into some

drills you can use to work on different

parts of your mechanics first for your

general aim since valer is so flick

heavy with a large focus on micro

adjustments I like to practice my flicks

with a simple drill in the range there I

make sure to isolate the flick and the

micro adjustment motions so that I

practice both parts properly first we do

a quick flick in the direction of a bot

and then we micro adjust to make sure we

are on Target and shoot a quick tip

about flicks is that you want to be

quick and snappy but not at the expense

of creating too much tension in your

hands try to relax your hand towards the

end of the flick so that your micro

adjustments can be smooth and accurate

and for your micro adjustments try to

use more of your fingertips instead of

your whole arm or wrist when you're

starting out you should clearly isolate

your flick and micro adjustments but

over time as you get better you can

combine these two components and speed

it up then for the next skill gun

control I recommend going to the area of

the range where you can pick the

distance and trying different shooting

Styles at different ranges important to

note here is that the first five bullets

of both the Phantom and Vandal are

pretty easy to control as all you have

to do is pull straight down but one

thing to take note of is that the first

three bullets of both the Vandal and

Phantom barely go up but the fourth and

fifth bullets jump up a lot so you want

to make sure that you end up pulling

down your mouse even faster towards the

fourth and fifth bullet of your spray a

good way to practice this drill is going

from left to right with five shot bursts

at 10 m of range the goal of this

practice is to develop your muscle

memory because the amount that you need

to pull down with your mouse is the same

for every distance that you take

gunfights in so no matter the gun and

distance try to get tight groupings with

your bullets and experiment with the

accuracy of different guns the more

familiar you are with the gun at

different ranges the better you'll be

able to use them in game after that to

practice your move M and peing you can

place a sage wall in front of you and

then peek around the wall to work on

your reactions crossair placement and

movement make sure your first bullet

accuracy is good here and try to

constantly move from left to right if

you're missing a lot of shots try to use

a gun like the sheriff or Guardian to

really force yourself to be accurate you

might be a little slow at first but

you'll be able to speed it up over time

then if you really want to be fluid with

your movement it also helps to run

through the parkour section until you

can complete it successfully with

relative ease some of the jumps will

require you to crouch jump and for a lot

of jumps you'll also need to midair if

you're really struggling it's not the

most important thing to focus on but if

some of the earlier drills are pretty

easy for you it might be worthwhile

spending some time to work on your

movement and to top the fundamentals off

it's a good idea to also play Deathmatch

in order to focus on your cross

replacement aim movement and gun control

all at once here I should mention that

it's crucial to understand the

difference between warming up and

practice practice like in sports should

Target specific areas of your game with

plenty of time dedicated to each drill

warming up on the other hand is a quick

routine me to get you ready for your

games or even before practice keep your

warm up under 20 minutes since anything

longer can start to drain your energy

and hurt your ing game performance many

players prefer to combine warming up and

practice which makes sense since

practicing for hours can get tedious but

remember if you spend 40 minutes to an

hour focus on every drill to warm up it

might cause you to underperform in

ranked games so taking that into

consideration you can try to shorten the

time you spend on each drill keep some

drills and take some out or completely

separate your practice and warm-up times

now that you know what the basic

mechanics are and what the drills we

need to practice them are now it's time

to move on to the next step working on

our decision-making skills that's

because decision making like mechanics

is absolutely crucial in determining

whether you win or lose rounds of course

if you have much better aim than your

opponents you can get away with

decision-making mistakes to an extent

but at some point you're going to face

players that are also strong

mechanically which will force you to

rely on game sense as well now this is

an area that's generally pretty hard to

grasp for newer players there are a lot

of different factors at play and the

there's a lot to think about as a new

player so this is where we need to set

up a basic decision-making framework to

help simplify our decisions in the game

so that we can play more confidently and

have a clearer idea of what we need to

do at any moment to figure out whether a

decision is good or bad you need to

understand the balance between risk and

reward at the start of the round when

both teams have full buys and solid

agent compositions the odds of winning

are pretty even this means you should be

looking for favorable tools for instance

dry swinging into an operator right at

the start is a huge huge mistake the

risk of dying is extremely high and

while the reward is decent it doesn't

outweigh the risk essentially your team

has around a 50% chance of winning the

round by playing it safe but by taking

that risky fight you're drastically

lowering your team's chances instead

it's smart to use your util and work

with your team to take map control

safely and engaging in more favorable

fights on the contrary when you're in a

desperate situation like a 1v4 clutch

the Dynamics change the risk of dying to

an operator is still high but because

you're already expected to lose a round

the risk is less significant if you only

have let's say 10 to 15% chance of

winning the round but taking a fight

with a 20 to 25% chance of winning could

actually improve your odds of winning

the overall round suddenly that fight

doesn't seem so bad of course if you

have a choice between a fight you're

likely to win and one you're not you

should pick the favorable one but just

because a fight looks unfavorable

doesn't mean it's a bad idea for

instance if your team is on an Eco with

sheriffs and you get a 1 V one against

an enemy with a vandal that's a good

fight to take even if your chance of

winning the duel might only be 25% it

can still increase your team's chances

of winning the round your team's chances

of winning the round without the kill

might only be 20% anyways so you don't

have much to lose but if you win that

duel and better yet you take a 2V1 fight

and win that duel and pick up the gun

your chances of winning the round could

double to 40% because now you have a man

advantage and a better weapon

understanding this concept early on is

crucial because it's key to grasping the

game at a higher level and learning more

effectively if you lose a 50/50 or even

a 4060 duel while you're trying to win a

one before clutch the lesson shouldn't

be that you took a bad fight and you

lost a round because of it the decision

to take that fight was good because it

increased your odds of winning the

overall round when you were already

expected to lose a round similarly

pushing into the enemy spawn and picking

up some Eco frags doesn't mean you

should take away that that was a good

play sure you technically took favorable

fights and you got a lot of kills but it

was actually a pretty dumb idea and you

took an unnecessary risk B is a

complicated game to learn since you can

get rewarded for bad plays and you can

get punished for good ones if you're

either above or below average when it

comes to mechanics and game sense it

becomes especially hard to reflect on

whether or not the decisions you made

were Justified which is why it's so

important to have a decision-making

framework in which you can evaluate your

choices however there's another thing

that's really important here since it's

really difficult to accurately reflect

on whether or not your choices are good

or bad especially as someone who doesn't

already have a lot of experience playing

the game at a high level it's extremely

valuable to have a properly trained and

experienced coach by your side once you

have the basics down and you no longer

need to worry about what each agent does

how you should use each weapon or where

enemies might be on specific Maps it's

all about honing in on your weaknesses

and working on specific things one by

one while keeping the fundamentals in

mind in the background simply said this

is something that's incredibly difficult

to do without having some sort of

outside support since you don't know how

to play like a pro or radiant as a new

to intermediate player by definition

it's impossible for you to know the

intricate difference between how you

play and how a more experience players

play in other words how can you teach

yourself to play like a pro if you

yourself don't already know how to play

like a pro now I think it's important to

mention that not just any player that's

a higher rank than yourself fits the

description of a good coach even many

Immortal players have plenty of bad

habits that they might teach you to make

as well and even if someone's a good

player that doesn't automatically make

them a good coach so we do Rec recomend

getting a coach that you know you can

trust like for example one at IRP but

even if you go with a different coach

having someone to point you in the right

direction is usually better than trying

to take a wild guess at what the right

direction is by yourself those three

points cover the big picture strategies

and if you focus on them I'm confident

you'll see a lot of success however

there are a few smaller tips I want to

touch on that are equally important and

can give you an extra Edge these include

optimizing your settings refining your

play style and even tips on watching

videos like this one to improve your

gameplay let's dive into the first tip

settings a lot of settings come down to

personal preference like whether you

prefer bodies or Holograms what color

you want your player outlines to be or

if you want to play left-handed or

right-handed but there are also some

settings that you should consider

changing by default as they do give you

a real Advantage for example turning off

keep play centered allows you to see

more of the map which is crucial

especially if your teammates aren't VCT

level communicators another important

setting is enabling hrtf under audio

settings this enhances your ability to

pinpoint enemy locations and if you're

using a stereo headset or

earbuds additionally toggling on

tactical call outs in chat ensures that

even if your team's communication isn't

top tier and you're not constantly

watching the map you'll still have

access to important call outs as they

automatically appear in the chat helping

you keep track of the round's progress

lastly a great setting tip to help you

with your shooting accuracy is enabling

the movement error graph setting this

tool shows you when your bullets are

accurate while strafing in gunfights

allowing you to better learn and control

your movement during gunfights now that

we've gone over settings let's go over

another really important tip which is

trying to play proactively to control

your games and have a larger impact on

the outcome of each round if you're

sitting back behind your teammates all

the time you won't have enough time to

try stuff for yourself and learn from

your mistakes of course playing

aggressively is difficult and you're

definitely going to lose your team

rounds by trying something failing and

dying because of it but that's how you

learn a mistake that's bigger than the

one that cost you the round is making

the decision to never try things at all

so if you want to improve you want to be

proactive always trying something out

making mistakes and learning from them

also in part because of that reason I

really recommend playing dualist if

you're just starting out they're ideal

for the aggressive play style and with

them you have more room for mistakes and

you also have more abilities to help you

succeed even if your teammates don't

know how or don't want to necessarily

help you then regardless of whether you

decide to play duel list or not it's

always a good idea to stick to a small

agent pool so that you can build up

experience with your kit and eventually

shift your focus away from ability usage

and on to more pressing things like

decision- making and as a final tip try

to take into account the 8020 rule of

course you can't spend all day playing

games but even if you could it's not the

most effective way to learn if you have

some downtime need a quick break or just

want to watch a video it's a good idea

to mix that in with your practice and

play time mindly grinding the game all

day every day isn't always going to be

most fruitful so taking about 20% of

your total time spent on valerant and

using that to watch educational content

or even analyzing Pro gameplay is a

great way to mix things up and giving

yourself clearer goals to work towards

and that's all you need to know for this

video thanks for watching