Shroud stunned by CS:GO matchmaking rank despite dominant return

Michael ‘Counter-Strike: Global Offensive hasn’t gone away, as he returned to the game for the first time in months. 

The former professional player has been retired from competitive play for well over a year now. Yet, that hasn’t stopped dabbling in Valve’s popular title even now and again.

However, as is the case for all CS:GO players, if you end up being inactive for quite some time, you’re going to find that your matchmaking rank has been significantly lowered. That unfortunate fate was realized by shroud during his May 6 stream, as he was left dumbfounded by his brand new rank.

Shroud spent three years as a member of Cloud9 but couldn’t win that elusive Major title.

Shroud loses his rank

“I’ve never had this rank in my life chat,” shroud said, seemingly teasing a terribly low level. “I’m a double AK player now boys,” he jokingly added, after revealing he had been de-ranked all the way to Master Guardian Elite.

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Despite that, his matchmaking ranking isn’t a true reflection of his skills – seeing as he was once one of the top CS:GO pros around. Yet, that ‘shame’ of being an MGE wasn’t going to stop his, albeit brief, return to the game.

That ability never goes away and it was on full display as shroud bounced around a few hours of the game, playing by himself in matchmaking, and alongside former teammate Tyler ‘Skadoodle’ Latham in Faceit matches.

Without even taking part in a warm-up, shroud dove right into a matchmaking game and lit up the game with some highlight clips. He ripped right through a pistol round alongside random, racking up an incredibly quick four-kill streak and showing why, even as a retired pro, he’s still a force to be reckoned with.

Even when he stepped up to take on a higher level of players in Faceit games alongside Skadoodle, his ability to wreck pistol rounds was still on show for all to see.

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He may not know Vertigo – which was recently added to the Active Duty map pool – like the back of his hand just yet, but he certainly still remembers where to place his crosshair – taking down enemies by snapping on to their heads with rapid precision.

His highlights were not just confined to pistol kills, though, as the popular streamer showed that he is still just as deadly with a rifle in his virtual hands as he ever was.

Shroud saved a tight round for his matchmaking team by picking up back-to-back headshot kills, despite only seeing one player. He didn’t flip out or celebrate at that time, as he expertly controlled his spray to kill the last remaining enemy who was hidden in a smoke grenade.

Will Shroud return to CS:GO?

Fans who are desperate to see more CS:GO content from shroud probably shouldn’t get their hopes up too much. The former Cloud9 man has an on-and-off relationship with the game since quitting competitive play.

Yet, there is still something magical about seeing him ruin pistol rounds with his almost aim-bot like precision – even if it only ever happens once in a blue moon.