Premier replaced the old skill groups with a single number and a colour. The number moves after every match, the colour is just a band the number falls into, and almost every argument about whether a rating is good is really an argument about which band it sits in.
The bands
Ratings are grouped in blocks of 5,000, each with its own colour on the scoreboard:
- 0 to 4,999, grey. Learning the game, or an account that has only played a handful of placement matches.
- 5,000 to 9,999, light blue. The largest group by population in most regions.
- 10,000 to 14,999, blue. Solidly average to slightly above.
- 15,000 to 19,999, purple. Above average, and the point where individual mechanics start to separate people.
- 20,000 to 24,999, pink. Strong players, usually with real map and utility knowledge rather than only aim.
- 25,000 to 29,999, red. A small slice of the population.
- 30,000 and up, gold. Very rare, and in the upper reaches you are looking at semi professional and professional players.
So a short answer to the question: above 15,000 is good, above 20,000 is genuinely strong, and past 25,000 you are in the tail.
Why the peak matters more than the current rating
Your current rating tells you how the last stretch of matches went. It sags after a bad week and it decays if you stop playing. The peak is the highest the account has ever reached, and nothing takes it back.
That is exactly why it is the number to look at on somebody else's profile. An account sitting at 8,000 with a peak of 26,000 is not an average player having a rough patch. It is either an experienced player on a smurf account or someone who has thrown a great many matches. Either way the current number alone would have told you the opposite of the truth.
Comparing across regions and seasons
Two caveats worth carrying. Ratings are not perfectly comparable between regions, so the same number can mean a different level of opposition depending on where the matches were played. And ratings reset between seasons, which is why a peak is best read together with which season produced it.
Seeing it without leaving the profile
Premier rating is not shown on a Steam profile by default. Pulse adds it, current and peak side by side in the colours from the scoreboard, along with Faceit ELO and the in-game rank, with no account and no setup. More on checking Premier rank, or see the panel.