How To Go From An Average Player To A Worthy Opponent In CS:GO
CS:GO, despite having a lack of updates, is one of the hardest games to actually fully comprehend at a competitive level. With its complex spray patterns, boost spots, and smoke setups every shot you take can change the outcome of your game. Not the same as your average run and gun shooting game. You need to have good communication, game sense, and an overall understanding of the maps you play. Some people choose to have fun while others want to play with the best. To do this, you must master the basics every player needs to win. For some, this might take longer than others to learn. Just know that you must practise your craft if you want to top frag with any gun you pick up throughout your matches.
BASICS OF SHOOTING AND COMMUNICATION
The first thing is shooting and understanding when to spray, burst, or tap. These are three very different patterns that everyone who plays CS:GO should learn. This also includes a bit of trigger discipline, as well. A great example of when to tap is when your opponent is head glitching—a form of taking advantage of cover to only show your head. Spraying or bursting in this situation is really a game of luck. It’s always best to tap someone on a head glitch. That’s why the best crosshair is a small dot. Simply stand still and tap taking one second between each bullet. Another option is to crouch and take an average of two shots per second.
Bursting is great for long-range fire when you’re capable of shooting your enemy from the chest up, allowing your shots to quickly drag upwards causing the most damage once they've reached the head. A great time to do this is from B short to deep connector on mirage. Now for everyone's favourite, the complete spray pattern. Any time you're at a close to medium range feel free to spray. Crouching while doing so will help with accuracy and staying slightly hidden from your opponent's fire. The Steam workshop offers maps that provide spray pattern lessons which are extremely helpful. Most importantly, everyone should know how to use their main ARs and at least two SMG patterns. When defending a site spraying is the best option.
Something that a lot of players lack is good communication. That includes learning all callouts, mentioning footsteps, utility thrown, or sightings of enemies. Staying quiet helps nobody and can even lead to costing a round win. Callouts are key points of the map allowing you to tell your teammates where an enemy is located. Providing a trail of clues to help win the round. Don’t mix this up with backseat gaming. Most people will agree that there’s nothing more annoying than someone yelling in your ear in a clutch situation. It’s important to trust your teammates and support them despite the rounds outcome.
Click to enlargeUTILITY AND GAME SENSE
Proper use of utility is a must-have. Smoke spots and flashpoints are super important for the T side. Being able to block an opponent's vision creates a pathway to planting the bomb. Flashpoints also disrupt sight, which can lead to a free kill. Chucking a smoke or random flashes don't help. It only wastes money and nothing more. Every player should know at least four smokes per map. That’s essentially two for each bomb site. Fire-based utilities should be used to block areas but most importantly when someone is pushing to plant. No point dumping a bunch of utility in the first ten seconds of each round. Decoys are really underrated and often used for the wrong purposes. Their best qualities include fake flashes or dropping one when AWPing. Confusing your enemy of the weapons reload time resulting in a bad jiggle peak.
Trigger discipline and general game sense is some high tier work. It depends solely on the player to think about their situation from every perspective. When players rotate, they’re usually welcomed with someone hiding in a corner or lurking in the shadows. Anytime a player goes undetected they can either take the first shot or let the enemy team flood in. Game sense is a case of studying the maps. Knowing every possible entrance, someone could walk through. Walking is the best way to win any clutch round. Once you start running, you’ve openly given away your position.
After these tools have been mastered, it’s time to put them to work. Check out websites like FACEIT or ESEA and play with people at your skill level. Learn new things from better players and study your defeats rather than ignoring them. This way, you can earn the possibility of playing with a team as a player or streamer, eventually leading to a career. Or just continue to crush people in pubs. At the end of the day, these tips will make anyone better at the game and enjoy their CS:GO experience.
Images via Valve