Along with gameplay improvements, visual upgrades, and map redesigns, one major addition that entered Counter-Strike with CS2 is the new game mode called Premier. If you don’t know anything about this game mode and want to learn more, you’re at the right place. Here’s a complete explanation of the new Premier game mode in CS2.
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Expert Take
“If you’re looking for a true competitive environment in CS2, there are really only two options—Premier Mode and Faceit. The old Competitive mode is becoming less popular as it’s more for practice now. Premier offers the structured competition most players are looking for, and Faceit remains a solid choice for those who want to test their skills at the highest level.” – Pawel ‘Biegan’ Bieganowski
Gameplay
Let’s start by discussing the gameplay and rules of the Premier mode. The rules of a Premier match are the same as those from the Competitive game mode. Two teams of five compete, and each team has to either eliminate the other team or plant or defuse/prevent the plant, depending on the side. Each team must win 13 rounds to win the match, and the sides switch after 12 rounds.
One thing that differentiates the Premier game mode from the Competitive mode is the map ban phase. As you might already know, you can select particular maps before searching for a match for the Competitive mode. The game will only load one of the maps you selected.
However, that’s not the case with the Premier mode. Players do not get to select specific maps before searching for a match. Instead, players can ban maps they don’t wish to play on at the start of each Premier mode match. All players have a say in which map gets banned, which makes the gameplay experience fair.
At random, players on one team get to vote on two specific maps from the pool, which will get banned for that match. After that, players on the next team get to vote on what three maps get banned next, and then again the first team gets to vote, leaving one map, which is the one the match will take place on.
Rank/Leaderboards
Now, let’s move on to the most important thing, which is why most people play Counter-Strike. As you might have guessed, we are talking about the ranking system. You might be familiar with the conventional ranks you get after playing the Competitive game mode. That ranking system is different from what the Premier game mode operates on.
Instead of traditional ranks, the Premier game mode in CS2 uses Leaderboards, where the skill level of each player is represented by a number called the Premier rating. You can check who the top player on the Leaderboards of your particular region is by going to the Premiere section in CS2.
How To Unlock Premier Mode?
Unfortunately, when you create a new account and launch CS2 for the first time, the Premier game mode will be locked for you. This is done to prevent hackers from creating multiple new accounts. To unlock the Premier game mode, you have to purchase the Prime status upgrade. Sadly, there is no way to unlock the Premier game mode simply by playing the game and clocking in hours, without first having bought the Prime status upgrade.
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Conclusion
There you have it, gamers. Ranging from how to unlock it to the gameplay rules, now you have a much better understanding of the Premier game mode. If this is your first time trying it, make sure you use a warmup routine and get some practice to get a higher placement on the Leaderboards.
