Speaker 1: Your team is always garbage. In the history of Valorant, you've never had a single good team in your life. Hey, this is your favorite Radiant Zero, here to tell you that you're not alone and in my climb to Radiant, I've had plenty of dogsh** teammates. But don't worry, because in this guide, I'll thoroughly explain how to deal with throwers, toxic players, and every other type of bad teammate you can imagine. So without wasting any time, let's hop right into the video. The first thing you need to realize is that bad is a very general term, and there are in fact a variety of bad teammates you might encounter. Firstly, there's the new player, who does not understand the mechanics and has very limited game sense. In lower ranks, these players are the most prevalent, which is one of the main reasons gold players claim they're trapped in elo hell. With these kind of players, it's crucial to not be toxic if they make incorrect plays, as it will certainly ruin the entire team's mentality, greatly decreasing your chances of winning. Instead, give them constructive criticism and advice on how they can improve. Say things like, try aiming higher, try playing further back on site, or use your abilities while retaking, and etc. Phrases like, try doing this, or I recommend that you play like this, will make them more likely to listen to you as opposed to screaming, why are you so trash? Remember that everyone starts somewhere, and you were in their shoes at one point as well. The next kind of bad teammate is the one that understands the mechanics of the game, but purposely throws with the intent to lose the game. These players either think the game is unwinnable or don't care enough to win. However, in reality, everyone wants to win, no one genuinely cues with the intent to lose a game. So when dealing with these types of players, it's best to convince them to want to win the game. Give them a reason to win. Explain that the game is still winnable if everyone works as a team. You can accomplish this by offering them roles you'll think they'll prefer, such as lurking or entering. Adapting to their often aggressive playstyles may also be necessary. For instance, if they like to push up and take aggressive fights, you can bait them and get their trade, which ultimately helps you take control of the site. Even by pushing on defense, they can give your team valuable information or set up flanks very early into the round. So always try to use these throwers to your team's advantage because they can oftentimes be way more helpful than you think. The next type of bad teammate is the good player that's simply having a bad day. It is clear they're making good decisions and are playing with the team, but are completely whiffing their shots. With players like these, it's important to make an effort to encourage and hype them up. Valorant is a mental game as much as anything else. If a player thinks they're playing like trash, then they will keep playing like trash. So even if they get a few kills, it's important to compliment and encourage them, which will hopefully get their mindset back into the game. Considering if they are still not playing well, assigning them support roles may be very beneficial. If their aim is lacking, they can make up for it in other aspects of the game, such as in providing the team with smokes, flashes, or even help in setting up baits and crossfires. There is so much value they can bring to the team without getting frags. It's crucial to understand that it's not about getting the most kills. It's about working together and communicating. Just remember that strong teamwork will make a confident team, and a confident team is always more likely to win. The last type of bad teammates is arguably the worst type. I'm referring to the toxic players who go after everything and everyone. They constantly argue and complain, which often ruins the entire team's mentality. Despite being very hard to deal with, there's a variety of things you can do to hopefully get them back on your side. The absolute best way to deal with toxic players is to agree with them and absorb their negativity. For example, if they start saying, bro, how are you guys dying so early on? Don't go ahead and say, yeah, you're dying too, shut up. Because this will create even more negativity. It will create this toxic environment where you can't concentrate properly. Instead, say, yeah, we definitely got some room for improvement. Because these types of reactions essentially disarm these ultra toxic players, since all they want to do is just argue and create this negative environment. By agreeing with them, in a way you are taking away their power to create toxicity. Then you can try to flip the environment by bringing back some positivity. These toxic players are likely on a huge loss streak or tilted from previous games. But what's important for you is to start filling the team with some positive energy instead. Remember, you can't fight fire with fire. And the last thing you want is to be fighting not only your enemy, but your own team as well. Before you apply this to your teammates in ranked, it's essential that you apply it to yourself first. As a member of the team, it's key that you do not drain the team's morale yourself. If someone on your team is underperforming, telling them that they are playing bad is pointless as 99% of the time they already know that. In reality, you're oftentimes not as good of a teammate as you might think. A simple checklist you can use to determine if you're being a bad teammate is asking yourself these three questions. Am I always giving good callouts and actively IGLing? Am I constantly giving out constructive criticism instead of being toxic? And lastly, am I aware of my teammates and the plays they want to make? Keeping these three concepts in mind is fundamental in order to be the best teammate you can possibly be. First, let's discuss the importance of giving proper callouts and having good communication. If your team seems lost with no direction, make sure you communicate while taking up the role of the IGL or in-game leader and make all the calls for your team. It's impossible for your teammates to read your mind, so many times the most obvious calls are the most important ones. Making some of the most basic callouts like break the drone for me or can you smoke this can be the difference between an insane round winning play and a loss. Keeping your callouts short and sweet allows for your teammates to receive the information while still being able to focus on their own gameplay. Quick callouts like the amount of players seen, the damage dealt, and abilities used are helpful without being excessive since we all know that backseat gaming can be annoying. Another great method of communicating is using countdowns. For example, counting down 3, 2, 1 peek or 3, 2, 1 flash. This is key as it tells your team what you want and it gives them time to respond. Also, don't forget to make the callouts for your teammates who don't come often. If there is anything we can learn from the pros, it's that great communication and decisive IGLing can transform your team from a bunch of headless chicken into an organized and cohesive group. This brings me to my next point which is to give constructive criticism instead of just being toxic. First, it's necessary to create a positive environment by saying hello in the beginning of the game and using phrases such as nice try or well played. At the same time, when giving criticism, it's important to not sound like you're blaming the person. Instead, point out the problem and offer possible solutions. For instance, instead of saying why are you losing B site so easily, say our B hold is weak and we can improve by having the sentinels change sites, by playing further back, and etc. This strategy has a higher chance of succeeding because it doesn't sound like an attack against the person, making them more likely to listen. It's vital that you are ready to accept criticism that your team gives to you as well. With all this said, always remember to ask yourself, am I offering helpful solutions instead of just being toxic? Although it's difficult to constantly be aware of your teammates by knowing the plays they want to make and the utility that they have, it can notably improve coordination if you're always on the same page. For example, if your Jett is AWPing, keep in mind everything you can do in order to support them such as breaking the recon darts, drones, skydogs, or even holding them in case they get pushed. Also, keep checking your team's economy and if you have extra money, you should offer to buy your Jett an AWP, as well as deagles for the team when you're in eco rounds. If a teammate likes to take aggressive fights early on, such as peeking out of hookah, instead of letting them do it by themselves where they can get picked off or traded, you can offer to flash out and peek with them in order to secure the first blood. In general, always remember to be mindful of your teammates positioning, economy, and playstyle as it helps the team make round winning plays. All things considered, although it's easier to focus on what your teammates are doing wrong, you have to realize that unless you're actively helping them out, you won't be able to climb to the rank that you deserve. This brings me to my next point of properly baiting your teammates. Sometimes the best way of taking advantage of bad teammates is to actually bait them. You may be saying, but Ciro, I thought we were supposed to play as a team? Well, there's the right way to bait and the wrong way to bait, and by properly baiting your bad teammates, you could actually give your team a big advantage. The first concept that you have to understand is the idea of playing anti-flash. So whenever you're pushing up as the attackers, it's very common for the enemy team to flash at choke points such as long B on bind to catch your team off guard and get some easy kills. This is where the idea of anti-flash comes into play. Instead of everyone pushing up, have one person stay back behind cover, ready to peek. Once the enemy flashes, the teammate can peek out and kill the enemy. So in this case, by baiting your teammates, you're able to kill the opponent and take control of the choke point easily. You can also play anti-flash by running backwards or sideways away from the flash, but you will still be blinded for a fraction of a second, so it can be a bit risky. The next way to bait your teammates is by peeking off their contact. It's very common for throwers and tilted players to not work with a team and instead play more aggressively. This can be used to your advantage because if they're constantly peeking first, you can easily bait them and get some free kills. Of course, base and crossfires are just as important when you have good teammates, but make sure to let your team know that you're baiting them so that everyone's on the same page. Keep in mind that the most important aspect of baiting is getting your teammates straight, because if the kill goes untraded, then it ends up leaving your team at a pretty big disadvantage. Although baiting has a negative connotation, remember that when done correctly, it can create substantial value out of bad teammates, ultimately helping you rank up. Speaking of ranking up, many people think that the goal is to win the game or to get to the next rank. However, the real goal is to get the highest rank possible. You don't want to just go from silver 2 to silver 3. The goal is to reach diamond, immortal, or even radiant. This mentality is very fundamental since it helps you realize that the current game isn't actually very important. Instead, what matters is that you learn from the game and genuinely improve. Many players complain that they are losing even though they're matching VPing, but that's the completely wrong mindset. When players match MVP, they think they played perfectly and therefore shift the blame on their teammates for losing the game. There are two main takeaways here. First, if you match MVP and lose, instead of being upset that your teammates are holding you back, you should be happy that you are playing well because if you keep playing at that level, you will eventually rank up. Do you really think pro players never had bad teammates while climbing? Although they lost some games where they match MVP'd, since they were so consistently good, they were able to rank up regardless of these losses. The second takeaway that you need to understand is that if you are stuck in a certain rank for a while, even if you are match MVPing, it's not your teammates fault for you not ranking up. Unfortunately, getting the most kills doesn't mean you are good enough to rank up. There is definitely something you are missing in your gameplay, whether it is communication, teamwork, game sense, or something else. In reality, you are stuck because you are not improving. By blaming your teammates, you are focusing too much on your teammates' mistakes while completely forgetting what you are doing wrong. By disregarding your own mistakes, you are significantly limiting how much you can improve. Even if you are top fragging, try to think, hey, I'm aiming pretty well, but are the kills I'm getting helping my team win the game? Remember that one game across an entire act doesn't mean anything, so don't stay fixated on the results of a specific game and instead focus on what you can learn and how you can improve. Learning to bait properly, being a positive team player, and focusing on long term improvement will help you overcome any bad teammates and increase your chances of ranking up significantly. Shoutouts to everyone who recently joined and boosted my discord server, links in the description below. If you are struggling to win piss arounds, consider watching my in-depth piss around guide. If this guide was of any help, consider subscribing. Thank you all for watching. Peace.