HLTV Rating is the most widely used player evaluation system in competitive Counter-Strike. Understanding what each number means helps you compare players, evaluate performances, and understand why some players are ranked above others despite having similar raw kill counts.
A Brief History of HLTV Rating
HLTV introduced its original rating system in 2010 alongside the first version of its competitive coverage. The system has been updated three times since then:
- Rating 1.0 (2010): Based on kills per round, survival rate, and multi-kills. Criticized for being too similar to Kill/Death ratio.
- Rating 2.0 (2017): A major reform adding KAST, Average Damage per Round, and Impact rating.
- Rating 2.1 (2024): Adapted to CS2, introducing penalties for passive sniping and over-saving.
- Rating 3.0 (2025): The biggest update since 2017, introducing economic adjustment and the Round Swing metric.
HLTV Rating 3.0 – Sub-Metrics Explained
Rating 3.0 is calculated from six sub-metrics, each measuring a different aspect of a player's performance:
- Kills: Adjusted for the opponent's weapon and armor. Killing an enemy with a full buy-round loadout is worth more than eliminating a pistol-round opponent.
- Damage: Average Damage per Round, also adjusted for economic context.
- Survival: Surviving difficult situations is now rewarded more heavily than in previous versions.
- KAST: The percentage of rounds where the player killed, assisted, survived, or traded. Adjusted for the probability of impact in a given round.
- Multi-Kills: A separate sub-rating for explosive round-winning moments. High multi-kill rounds have outsized weight.
- Round Swing: The new metric showing how much a player's actions changed the team's probability of winning the round.
What is ADR?
ADR stands for Average Damage per Round. It measures the total damage dealt divided by the number of rounds played. A professional CS2 player averages around 75 ADR. Elite fraggers like s1mple and ZywOo routinely post ADR above 85, while support players may fall in the 65–75 range.
What is KAST?
KAST measures the percentage of rounds where a player had a meaningful positive contribution. A round counts if the player earned a kill, got an assist, survived the round, or traded a teammate's death by eliminating the killer within 5 seconds. An average KAST for professionals is around 70–75%.
What is Round Swing?
Round Swing is the new centerpiece of Rating 3.0. It calculates, round by round, how much the probability of winning changed based on the player's actions. A player who kills a key opponent in a critical round where the team was statistically unlikely to win contributes enormous Round Swing. This metric captures clutch performance and high-value kills that simple ADR or K/D cannot measure.
What is a Good HLTV Rating?
The average HLTV Rating across all professional players is calibrated to 1.00. A rating of 1.10 or above indicates a player performing consistently above the professional average. Ratings above 1.20 are considered elite, and s1mple's career average of approximately 1.23 places him in the highest tier of all time.