Premier is Counter-Strike 2’s new ranked mode, letting players experience more than just the regular competitive matches thanks to its pick-ban system. You can climb the leaderboards and compare yourself with your friends, and fortunately, it’s easy to unlock Premier in CS2.
In CS2, ranking is divided into two branches: a rating in Premier mode and ranks for each map in the Competitive mode. Premier has become the go-to mode for many competitive players.
Here’s everything you need to know about Premier in CS2.
CS2 Premier mode rating explained
In CS2, you earn points for winning games in the Premier mode. These points elevate you on the regional, seasonal leaderboards. It’s transparent, as everyone can see how many points they (and everyone else) have gained so far in a season.
Your Premier rank has a color that’s determined by your rating:
- Gray: 0-4999
- Light Blue: 5000 – 9999
- Blue: 10000 – 14999
- Purple: 15000 – 19999
- Pink: 20000 – 24999
- Red: 25000 – 29999
- Yellow: 30000+
The Premier mode features MR12, meaning each half will have a maximum of 12 rounds, with teams needing 13 in total to win the game. In case there is a 12-12 draw, a six-round overtime will be played.
How to unlock Premier in CS2
You can unlock Premier in CS2 in a few simple steps:
- Buy the Prime Status Upgrade from CS2‘s Steam page.
- Launch CS2.
- Reach level 10 in-game by completing matches in other game modes.
You can play Competitive, Wingman, Casual, Deathmatch, and Arms Race to earn XP. To check your account’s progress, click on your profile icon on the home screen and hover your mouse over the white icon next to the level meter. If you’re worried about why you’re gaining low XP, it’s because you’ve capped out your weekly XP earned.
Differences between CS2 Premier and Competitive
CS2 Premier can, in some ways, can be seen as Competitive+, but there are some key differences between Premier and Competitive. Here are some differences you may want to keep in mind:
| Premier | Competitive | |
| Ranking | CS Rating | CS Ranks |
| Leaderboards | Regional, Global, and Friends | N/A |
| Map Selection | Pick/Ban phase | Map-specific queues |
| Console Damage Reports | Disabled | Enabled |
CS2 Premier leaderboards
There are nine different leaderboards for Premier in CS2, and they go as follows.
- Friends – This leaderboard tracks players on your Friends List.
- World – the top 1,000 players in the world.
- Africa
- Asia
- Australia
- China
- Europe
- North America
- South America
Premier mode was first featured in CS:GO for a few years, and it was the most competitive environment in the game. When choosing Premier, both teams ban maps from the seven currently in the competitive map pool until one is left, similar to professional matches.
CS2 Premier mode rating distribution explained
While there’s no official access to see how rating is distributed among CS2 Premier mode players, some data websites have been collecting data since the game’s release on Sept. 27, 2023.
On March 2, Leetify shared its data on CS2 rating distribution, recorded from Feb. 1 to Feb. 22. From the first glimpse, it’s quite obvious most players have found themselves somewhere between 9,000 and 14,000 points, which isn’t a significant variation when compared to CS:GO, where Legendary Eagle Master had the highest percentage of players.
The average rank rating has also increased from 7,000 in November 2023 to 12,000 in February 2024. While the cheaters running rampant in CS2‘s Premier can certainly explain the sudden and significant boost in average rank, it’s possible the previous scores were low due to the players establishing their base ratings.
CS2 skill group system explained
CS2 features a similar rank system for the Competitive mode in CS:GO with rankings like Global Elite, Master Guardian, and so on. In CS2, the pre-existing skill groups are calculated on a map-by-map basis. For example, if you play and win a lot on Mirage, you can have Global Elite there, but this rank is specifically for this map.
