After his 2023 performance, Demon 1 is considered the best player in the world, and it wasn’t something that happened overnight. Now in NRG, Demon 1 worked hard to get where he is right now. Being one of the best aimers in the game, Demon 1 has a fixed routine he follows for warming up his aim. Though many professionals don’t rely on aim training software, Demon 1 uses Aim Labs and Valorant’s in-game range to warm up his aim.
Demon 1’s Aim Labs Routine
Among the many training playlists in Aim Labs, Demon 1 has his custom playlist of tasks he uses to warm up. The first two tasks, Strafeshot and Headshot, are what matter the most here. For improving your tracking, Strafeshot helps your tracking aspect of the game. The task is pretty straightforward: place your crosshair on the ball and keep following it till the target disappears.
This task is crucial to improve your flick control. If we break down this task, it basically involves two steps. The first step is to flick onto the object, followed by the second step, which is a few seconds of tracking the target. In your head, the pattern should go by Flick-track, flick track, and so on. To sum it up, all Aim Labs tracks primarily focus on two major aspects of aiming, in this case, flicking and tracking.
Headshot
The next task he plays is headshot. As the name suggests, this task primarily focuses on keeping the crosshair at head level while eliminating small-sized targets. Since the targets are small, there is an added element called microflicking that comes into play. Micro-flicking is the final adjustment players make after aiming onto the target. In Valorant, micro-flicking is crucial to master guns like the Vandal, Sheriff, and Guardian. All these guns prioritize headshots, and the headshot task in Aim Labs purely focuses on that.
Apart from flicking, another mechanic called trigger discipline is also trained via this task. Trigger discipline is waiting for the right moment to pull the trigger and not spamming the left mouse button. After your initial flick towards the direction of the enemy, wait for the crosshair to fall on the target (microflick) and then click on the target. The discipline to make sure your shot is timed correctly is what trigger discipline is all about.
Valorant Range Practice
The downside of software like Aim Labs is the fact that it doesn’t implement movement and guns accurately. From recoils to run-and-gun penalties, Valorant has a ton of mechanics that have to be considered while taking an aim duel. The best place to get a hold of all such mechanics is the range in Valorant.
There are many exercises that you could do in the range, but since we’re focusing on Demon 1’s warm-up routine, we’ll be using the practice mode. Here, the focus is simple: move, stop, shoot two targets. Make sure every shot is on the head and implement strafing into the drill after every two shots. Do this exercise from multiple distances and use the Sheriff or the Guardian mostly.
Demon 1 repeats this simple drill for 5-10 minutes before he starts his Valorant deathmatch sessions. While it does seem easy, aim training does drain a lot of your energy and you should be aware of it. The focus is to warm up and get a grip of your mouse. These drills work best when you’ve had a bad day previously and just want to reset your aim in general.
The last advice on this drill would be to play music or talk to friends in Discord while warming up. This is a very underrated tip to improve your natural aiming and tune that muscle memory to function even while calling out strats in a match.
