I cameback to CS after 2-3 years break after CS:GO, with 5 pre-made I was around GE rank, solo queuing was hard to go past Supreme. In CS2, I noticed the ELO rating is flawed and will take much longer to reflect actual skill/game sense levels, 20k+ = soooo many cheaters. Without knowing the lineups, smokes, nades etc. I'm stuck between 15-17k - I don't have as much time, or people to play with now-a-days... so I only solo queue, I don't recommend this.
The peekers advantage, smaller hitboxes, new engine, latency, pings etc. is all messy ATM, playing stretched res seems to be less of an advantage and more of a disadvantage with CS2. The amount of videos that showcase the unregistered shots with animations/sounds of hits are so relatable, I can see why so many Pros quit CS and moved to other games, re-learning the same game over and over isn't easy and its so frustrating! The amount of detail the maps have now, makes it harder to spot enemies and adjust the crosshair, I keep adjusting it and it either gets lost in the textures or its so outstanding to the point its distracting. Decline in player base is the perfect factual proof that the game is in a poor state, I can't wait to see what the major in March 2024 brings, seeing a few matches recently highlights the flaws to the point where the commentators can't ignore them and comment on them.
I could rant about the game for longer, but I CBA anymore, been playing CS for 20 years now. I stuck with 1.6 throughout the time when Zero and Source was released, only switched to GO after Valve made the update which broke it... BTW If you want to check, if someone is cheating, I highly recommend using
Faceit Account Finder it shows loads of info like how many of their friends are on VACation and their Faceit level, unless they don't have any (red flag). I only really noticed cheaters on 15k+, lower ranks are mostly smurfs or higher ranks from CS:GO that are coming back into CS.
If anyone wants to play and try to hit higher ELO, I'm up for the challenge!