Despite the level of skill of a certain player possesses, it is essential to test those skills in a new environment. Players playing in a controlled or known environment with a group of friends do not exactly know their strengths or/and weaknesses until and unless they are faced with an unfamiliar scenario. The situation where intentionally or unintentionally a player has to play with a different group of players that have a different set of skills that they are unaccustomed to, is known as solo-queuing.

And like everything in this world, solo-queuing has its risks (cons) and rewards (pros). Though, a decent Counter Striker: Global Offensive should be able to play with any kind of players but solo-queuing can at times really test the nerves of a certain player if they are teamed up with smurfs, hackers derankers or/and trolls.CS:GO.

Smurfs are experienced gamers that are posing as lowly ranked ones (rookies). At times, they are a group of gaming enthusiasts that use smurf account to reach and play at a certain rank on CS:GO which is below their usual expertise. They create these csgo smurf accounts to either have fun or so others can buy it from them at websites such as www.ibuyrank.com. While it may be easy to detect a smurf, it is nearly impossible to spot a hacker. A hacker is a gamer that uses various cheats to complete their tasks and can go to any hacking extent to win the game. Derankers, on the other hand, are expert gamers that usually play in a pair with a friend, to avoid being kicked out of the game. They are only stuck at a certain rank because they are too lethargic to give it a real go. Lastly, are trolls. This self-explanatory term represents players that are only in the game to have fun with no aim to win. The non-serious attitude of derankers and trolls towards the game results in a poor team showing.

With risks come rewards. Solo-queuing can highlight the strong and weak aspects of a certain player's game. Playing with friends or a group of known gamers can have a few problems. A person can become overly dependent on others simply because every player is well-aware of their partner's gaming skills and are always there to cover their shortcomings. A person may have their roles predefined so they are not able to play or not tested at playing at a different spot. Lastly, getting to play with players with different behaviors and attitudes can polish the team coordination skills and leadership skills of the player.

Once in a while a CS:GO player must solo-queue in order to understand and know the true extent of their techniques and this way they may also be able to learn new tricks of the game.