Getting To Platinum - A Guide With Yukeo

7 Mar 20

Guides

Wolfii

Getting To Platinum - A Guide With Yukeo

What do you need to do to get to that platinum rank? Yukeo helps to answer this big question.

The Platinum rank in Rocket League is a rank that many players struggle to reach. But what exactly should you be working on in order to reach this level? I get the help of Maurice "Yukeo" Weihs to answer this question and a few other questions that players below Platinum may have regarding the topic.

Gold versus Platinum

So, what is the biggest difference between the Gold rank and the Platinum rank? Well, according to Yukeo, he says, "There is not a huge skill gap between Gold and Platinum players. At this stage of the game, it's more about trying to master all the mechanics while being consistent."

Mechanical ability is something that players in these ranks should definitely start to consider. As the games get tougher and tougher, it only makes sense that a player should improve themselves more and more to adapt to the difficulty of each game. To be more precise, Yukeo expands by saying, "Preferably all of them, but I would focus on air dribbles, double touches, bounce dribbles, flicks, bounce shots, and ceiling shots. Reason being, they are the most effective ones in those ranks."

Getting to Platinum is really all about how you master these mechanics mentioned by Yukeo. For example:

  • Practicing air dribbles in Free Play
  • Doing custom training for double touches and dribbles
  • Attempting ceiling shots and the like in your actual ranked games

We see these difficult mechanical skills in even higher ranks like Diamond, Champion, and Grand Champion, but it doesn't hurt to start practicing them now. After all, if you can master them now, you're already far ahead of other players in Gold who are wanting to reach for that Platinum rank.

It's important, though, to remember the basics too. As Yukeo rightly states, "Mastering the basics are super important too. You want to make sure you target your weaknesses and always push yourself to improve, that's why I believe you should already practice advanced stuff."

If you want to learn how to start working on these advanced mechanics, such as ceiling shots, check out "Ceiling Shots: A Rocket League Guide" for a deeper understanding of this mechanic.


Rotations

Rotations, as a quick summary, are where you position yourself on the field in a good place at all times for maximum efficiency. So, for example, if two players are up on offense, you should be further back on the chance that the opponents hit the ball past the two attacking players. Equally, if a player is returning back to net and your other player has the ball, you can push up the field to assist the play.

Below is a diagram of what a good rotation should look like.

(Credit: Effective Movement and Positioning: Rotation in Rocket League)

It's an aspect to the game that all players eventually must learn. When asked if good rotations is key to reaching the Platinum rank, Yukeo replied, "Rotations are definitely super important, but I personally would rather focus on mechanics first and make sure I'm consistent with them, before I focus on only rotation. I recommend watching rotation videos on YouTube though, you will have to learn it at some point anyway."

The coach of Dignitas' Rocket League team, Virge, made a fantastic video regarding rotations and what (and what not) to do. This is a video I highly recommend to begin learning rotations, and if you are a striving for Platinum player, you will definitely want to take notes.

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bk-1ut6CEb4" width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

(Credit: Virge - Youtube)

As Yukeo says, though, mechanics are the more important aspect of the game to focus on before rotations if you are wanting those higher ranks. Yukeo elaborates by adding, "A lot of people just ballchase in lower ranks, so it could become frustrating. So, I would recommend to just focus on getting better at mechanics and being consistent with them first."

Working with Your Teammates

This may be a difficult part of the game in lower ranks such as Silver and Gold. This is purely down to the fact that, as Yukeo claims, "Out of experience, I know that in lower ranks there are a lot of selfish people out there." This basically means that the majority of players simply want to keep possession of the ball and ultimately ballchase around the field.

So how do we get around that? Yukeo suggests, "Make sure you let your teammate do what he wants and just adapt to what he is doing. If you ignore what your teammate is doing and just double commit with him you will have a hard time to win, because they are most likely going to tilt as well."

The best thing to do regarding your teammates is to let them do their thing. If you see them holding onto the ball every chance they get, it is best not to interfere with that, and instead play a more defensive role. If you and a teammate continue to push for the same attack, this completely ruins rotation and your teammates are likely to spam that quick chat with "Okay" and "Wow!".

As Yukeo adds, "The Awareness of your teammates positioning are important because you are going to be able to cover different space. You don't want to cover the same thing as your teammate, because that makes it easy for the opponents to punish you."

Regarding team plays, then:

  • Allow your teammate to go for the ball if they look like they want to.
  • Make sure you are aware of where your teammates are on the field and position yourself accordingly.
  • Adapt to the playstyles of your teammates. If they are ballchasing, stay back. If they are always in net, push forward.

What it really boils down to is your ability to be aware of what your teammates are doing. You cannot afford to make silly plays just because your teammate has had possession of the ball for all of the game, for example. Make sure that you position yourself in a smart way and only go for offensive plays when you find the window of opportunity to do so.


The Main Mistakes in Gold

So in general, then, what are the main major mistakes that players below platinum face? Yukeo says, "Only focusing on the ball and not having good enough mechanics or game sense yet. Being too inconsistent. You have to choose wisely what to go for and when. Not giving away ball possession for free is also a huge tip."

If you can make yourself aware of what you are messing up on, this will be your biggest tool in order to become a better player. As Yukeo points out, there are multiple things that players in these ranks need to work on to hit Platinum. One major piece of advice would be to save your replays and watch them back regularly. Check if you are pushing for an attack at a time where another player on your team is too. Check if you are positioning yourself correctly, if there are any players in defence at all times. Check if your mechanics are up to scratch, including the basics.

Yukeo's Top Tips:

When asked for his top tips for reaching Platinum, Yukeo responded, "My top tips for Gold players are, focus on not giving away ball possession for free, learning advanced dribbling, playing a lot of 1s. Make sure you always push yourself and learn all the advanced mechanics in Free Play and training packs, but make sure to only use them in ranked when you feel like you mastered them to a certain level and can do them consistent enough to not get punished."

As a summary, to reach that Platinum rank, you have got to:

  • Work on advanced mechanical skills
  • Begin learning how to rotate
  • Position yourself well at all times
  • Do training regularly, using Free Play and Custom Training
  • Be aware of your teammates and what they are doing
  • Do not double commit regularly, as this gives up possession.

It might seem a lot, then, to reach that higher rank. But when it comes down to it, all these things become engraved into your gameplay naturally over time. As with anything in Rocket League, whether it be mechanics, rotation, or striving for the ultimate rank of Grand Champion, it all comes down to time. As you play more and more you will begin to notice what adjustments you need to make to keep climbing that ranked ladder. I assure you, though, if you continue to do this, you will not only hit Platinum, but many, many ranks above that too.

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