FACEIT vs Premier in CS2
FACEIT and Premier are two separate ladders with their own ranks. Here's how they compare and which one to grind.
Two different systems
Premier is Valve's flagship in-game ranked mode and gives you a single CS Rating number. FACEIT is a third-party platform with its own client, its own servers, and a 10-level skill ladder (Level 1 to Level 10) layered on top of an Elo number. They do not share a rank — your CS Rating tells you nothing about your FACEIT level and vice versa.
Servers and anti-cheat
The most-cited reason players move to FACEIT is the platform: 128-tick servers (historically) and its own anti-cheat client. Premier runs on Valve's official matchmaking and anti-cheat. Both have improved over time, and tick-rate matters less in CS2 thanks to sub-tick updates, so this gap is smaller than it used to be. Treat platform preference as a matter of community and habit as much as raw tech.
How the ranks compare
There is no official conversion between FACEIT level and CS Rating, and any mapping is a rough community estimate that shifts over time. As a loose guide, mid FACEIT levels (around 4–7) tend to overlap with the middle CS Rating brackets, while FACEIT Level 10 players usually carry high CS Ratings. Don't treat any single number as a precise equivalent.
- FACEIT: one Elo across the pool, shown as Levels 1–10.
- Premier: one CS Rating across the pool, shown in coloured brackets.
- Competitive: separate skill group per map (a different system again).
Which should you play?
- Want everything in-game with no extra client? Premier is built in and feeds Valve's leaderboards.
- Want a dedicated platform with leagues and a long-standing competitive scene? FACEIT is the usual choice.
- Want to climb fastest? Pick one and stick with it — splitting time across both slows progress on each.
For how the in-game ladders relate, see Premier vs Competitive and the full rank distribution. To check your in-game percentile, use the rank distribution tool.