Ranking up in Rocket League is a long and arduous task. How do you build your way up the leaderboards? Well, like this of course.
It's almost an infinite loop of bollocks: ranks, ranks, do you want some more ranks? Well we have some more ranks! What a whole lotta rank. Well, not really, because this is actually a key part of the Rocket League experience we've all come to love. One of the best ways to tell whether you aregetting better at Rocket League is whether you are building your way up the ranks. If so, why? Well, that's what we're here to discuss today.
Ultimately, Rocket League ranks are complicated as they are more than just MMR and Ranked Rewards. It's not just about getting to the next little bit of the Rocket Pass, or being placed in lobbies with players of a similar skill level (though that is part of it, of course), but more about where you sit on the overall distribution of players. Once you're aware of this, you want to maintain your level and, perhaps, build yourself up that ladder. How do you rank up, though?
When talking about how to rank up in Rocket League, there are a few things that you really need to do. The first is to read this article, of course. The second is that you should sit down and focus all of your attention on the multitude of guides available within our Rocket League Tips & Tricks page. The third? Well the third is, of course, to practice, practice, and practice some more. Let's get on with that first step...
Ranking Up in Rocket League
Rocket League has a very simple, yet oddly confusing, ranking system. The game is full of different systems, strategies and skills. To build yourself up those ranks, you first need to complete your placement rounds, and then you need to focus on those skills and systems. That's where we come in, though, because no matter where you sit on the Rocket League Rank Distribution, no matter the Disparity between you, your mates, and your opponents, we're here to help.
How Does Rank Placement Work in Rocket League?
The first step in your Rocket League ranks journey is completing your placement rounds. This works via a ten-match placement set that will assess your skills and success, placing you in a particular starting rank. From here, you can continue along your Rocket League journey, working your way up and down the hierarchy.
Don't worry too much about the placement rounds, as you don't need any specific advice to complete these. It is best to play naturally here, and not boost your skill unrealistically. Why? Well, if you land at a starting rank that is too high then you will struggle to maintain your position, may drop ranks, and certainly will not climb up the ladder. Complete the placement rounds realistically, and then take our advice for each subsequent rank.
How to Reach Silver in Rocket League
Reaching Silver is all about mastering the basics. We would, in particular, recommend making sure that you can dribble and wave dash. The most important thing is practicing these specific moves because, if you think about it, the most fundamental things that you need to learn in Rocket League are how to move efficiently and how to handle the ball accurately. In addition, we would recommend that you have maximized your Camera Settings and have certainly turned off camera shake.
How to Reach Gold in Rocket League
This is where you are going to want to bring fast aerials and other fancier moves into your repertoire. From silver-onwards, players are going to be building to more of a pro level, and will be a lot harder to better on the pitch. Make sure that your system meets the system requirements so that you don't run into issues with lag and packet loss, and continue to practice, practice, practice...
How to Reach Platinum in Rocket League
The road from Platinum to Diamond is a bit more complicated, though, requiring increased speed, accuracy and performance. This is where poor plays are going to start to have a very severe effect on your ability to continue to work through the ranks. Make sure that you can Speed Flip, make sure that you can Powershot, Half Flip, and Drop Kick. Without these skills, you might reach Diamond, but you're certainly not going to leave it...
How to Reach Diamond in Rocket League
Once you have reached Diamond, you're up for a real challenge. To reach Diamond, players need to specifically spend a lot more time in freeplay and casual games practicing more complicated maneuvers. There are no specific moves to master here, though the Musty Flick is surely something that would help, but it is more about practicing and making sure that you are good when playing off the wall.
It can be very easy to get trapped on the wall, using it as your primary method of maintaining and gathering both momentum and verticality in a match. You need to have perfect ball skills, or you are going to fail both in Platinum and Diamond, and certainly in the next few ranks. Work on your team as well, you are going to need a good team to rank up in anything over than 1v1.
THE PROTEUS MUSTY FLICK @Flakes_RL is actually a certified mad man. #RLCS9
— Rocket League Esports (@RLEsports) March 1, 2020
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How to Reach Champion in Rocket League
Getting to Champion is all about scoring goal, after goal, after goal. That's how you work your way out of Diamond, that's how you maintain a high-level rank, and that's how you defend yourself against opponents' wins. Why? Well, if you are scoring goal after goal, then your opponent is not. The biggest trick, though, is how do you achieve this?
We have a few suggestions. Firstly, get those Flip Resets in. That is incredibly useful as it is a remarkably effective way of getting goals in. Make sure you have studied our How to Get Better in Rocket League Guide thoroughly and are continuing to practice in free-play as much as humanly possible.
How to Reach Grand Champion in Rocket League
We have one trick for reaching Grand Champion: work your bloody butt off. This is the second-hardest rank to reach in Rocket League, and is unbelievably high-level. Remember that Grand Champion also has three different levels, but also that it is at the highest point of the distribution and represents less than 1% of all Rocket League Players. Work on your skills, and most importantly: practice again and again and again with some of the most skilled Rocket League players you know.
How to Reach Supersonic Legend in Rocket League
Grinding is the key to making it to Supersonic Legend. You need to have played at least 3000 hours, as we established in our dedicated Supersonic Legend article. From there, it is just about consistency, as you're never going to reach these levels if you regularly lose. A few losses here and there are okay, but you need to make sure that overall you are achieving wins after wins after wins.
That means all of the crazy tricks, and most importantly, it means playing with good teammates. It means making sure that your friends know what they are doing, you're working together well, and then you need to spend hours grinding away with them until you eventually reach that coveted, highest level in Rocket League, and can claim a few of the rarest Ranked Rewards in the game. Well done!
How to Rank Up in Rocket League's Extra Modes
Rocket League's Extra Modes all have the same ranking system as the standard competitive game mode. This determines, for us, that the best way to continue through the ranks of other game modes are to practice continually and use the skills described above. In Hoops (2v2), Snow Day (3v3), Rumble (3v3), and Dropshot (3v3), there are a number of other skills involved, however.
This is where we will finish up this long-as-fork article: if you want to rank up in Rocket League's Extra Modes, you want to read our guides on each individual mode as well as follow the guidelines set in this article. Thus, if you are playing Hoops, then you need to follow our guide. The same goes for Rumble and Dropshot, with a Snow Day guide coming soon. Keep yourself all up-to-date, ladies and gentlemen. Let's rank up!