Lethal CS Guide Vol 2

Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 Click-able Table of Contents :

Preface Chapter I – Beyond Volume 1 - My config and information... - New ideas... - Some things you can’t avoid... Chapter II – CSRT and the CS puzzle Chapter III - What would you do? - Situation #1 (CT on Dust2)... - Situation #2 (T on Nuke)... - Situation #3 (CT on Inferno)... - Situation #4 (Defending against a save round strategy)... - Situation #5 (Entering a room or bomb site)... - Situation #6 (How to maximize your visibility)... Chapter IV - Strats for popular maps and why they work - de_nuke... - de_dust2... - de_inferno... - de_train... - de_cpl_mill... Chapter V - Playing at a higher level - Clutching... - LAN communication... - Aggression and momentum... - Changing gears... - The DE, revisited... - Multiple enemies at once... - Pegging your sensitivity... - Over thinking yourself... - The importance of cross-fire - Consistency, revisited... Chapter VI - Q&A - Q1 – Where do I aim?... - Q2 – What does ex_interp do?... - Q3 – Why do I go into a slump so often? How do I overcome it?... - Q4 – Why is my voice on Ventrilo garbled while I’m in game?... - Q5 – How do I find max Hz on my monitor given my resolution?... - Q6 - How do I “read” the opposing team? Index With support from :

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Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2

Preface

The general consensus is that sequels are in capable of surpassing their original counterparts.

I kept this in mind the entire time that I wrote this guide and I took all the knowledge of what people liked and disliked about the original and used it to make sure that the sequel surpassed the original.

Chapter I – Beyond Volume 1

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything as the last guide was quite the chore. After giv-

ing myself a few months off, I’ve decided to return with all the knowledge of what people liked and disliked about the original guide. It is my hopes that I can use this knowledge effectively to create an even more comprehensive guide than the original. While the over-all feedback was defiantly positive (over 90% positive), there were still a few un-answered questions that people still seemed to have. To be honest, when I wrote the first one I told myself I would do a follow-up guide because I knew that I could write another 45+ pages on the subject. There is so much to know and explain and there are only so many words in the English dictionary.

Last time I told you that good mechanics and repetition will make you a good player. This is

100% true, but it is also not the only thing that will improve your game. Overtime you have to eventually reach the point where your reaction time is quicker than your opponents. When you’re dealing with highly skilled players, most everyone has their mechanics down. What some of them may lack is a quick reaction time and good instinct. So how do you improve your reaction time? This is just one of the many topics discussed in the following pages. Also included is the #1 thing missed in the first guide, raw strats. I have also included a Q&A section that has questions about the game from players that I take a moment to answer. I hope it proves to be of some value to you.

My config and information

It came to my attention that some people were still unclear about my settings, so I’ll list them

again. Mouse : Microsoft IntelliMouse explorer 3.0 Mouse pad : DKT pad OS : Windows XP home edition

Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 Windows sensitivity : One notch lower than default, no mouse acceleration. In game sensitivity : 2.9 (it varies by .1 or .2 every few months) Zoom sensitivity : Default (1.2) ex_interp : .01 (more on this later) rate : 20000 cl_rate : 9999 cl_cmdrate : 101 cl_updaterate : 101

New ideas

Here’s a good lesson for you to apply in any area of your life, especially Counter-Strike. If

you’re having problems with any specific area of play (IE your movement, shooting, etc) there’s a good way to over-come the average learning curve.

Whenever you face a new challenge it’s a good idea to first break it down into small pieces

that once individually mastered, will yield the results you have been looking for. For example if you’re having trouble with your movement and shooting, you first need to strafe back and forth for a solid 10 minutes. This will help make this muscle memory. After you have the basic movement down, add shooting into the mix. Make sure of course you’re only shooting at the end of your movements (or strides as I sometimes refer to them). You can apply this to any area of your game, isolate and conquer.

With Volume 2 I hope to be able to go beyond what Volume 1 did (the raw mechanics, and

basics of the game) and delve into the more complicated areas of the game. A lot of things that will be discussed are theory and concepts, which differs from Volume 1 in which I taught you actual physical things. Of course there will still be plenty of those; but it’s important to know that to improve your game beyond the limits of just moving and shooting, you have to have a solid understanding of the underlying concepts. Concepts such as reading the other team (knowing when and where they will attack based on previous rounds), quickly reacting to different situations, knowing how to setup based on your teams abilities, adjusting your game to the way your opponents play, and much much more. These are just some of the underlying concepts of the game that are discussed in detail in the following chapters.


I want to take a moment now to talk about one important concept in particular. It has to deal

with the fact that one person can play X amount of hours of Counter-Strike and reach a certain level of play and understanding, while another person can play the same X amount of hours and make almost no progress. This is a concept I like to call differential progression. Basically it means that just because someone can play 100 hrs of Counter-Strike and reach the CAL-Invite level, that doesn’t mean 100 hrs is the definite time frame in which people could expect to achieve CAL-Invite status.

So this leaves the question, what causes differential progression? Why does it seem like some

people are progressing through the Counter-Strike scene faster than ever, while others are stuck playing lower levels for sometimes years? Like all complicated questions, the answer is pretty complex. It has to do with how well someone can understand a concept, and put it into effect. A big part of this is learning from your mistakes, and realizing that every time you make a mistake that means you never have to make it again.

People who progress faster : - Generally have a background of video gaming/computers. - Are able to train themselves to make quick decisions based on previous experiences. Usually this naturally becomes easier the longer you play. People that play sports in real life will have an easier time with this. A recent study found that people playing competitive video games emitted brain waves similar to the brain waves of people that played competitive sports. - Realize that it’s not all about quantity, but quality as well. My philosophy is that practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. Staying consistent with perfect practice is one of the best things you can do to progress quicker. - Play to the point of obsession. Usually the newer players on the scene tend to become a tad obsessed with playing competitively. However, this is not a bad thing if you are looking to improve faster than average. It may have an adverse effect on one’s social life, but with proper time management a proper balance can be found.

There are more factors that determine one’s progression and how fast it will be, but those men-

tioned above seem to be the most common.


Some things you can’t avoid

During your CS career things are going to happen to you in which you can’t control. If you play

long enough, all of these things have a good chance of happening to you. I have listed these things along with the best course of action after they happen.

- You’re going to play bad under pressure. Everyone cracks under pressure sometimes. Be warned, after you have played bad because of pressure you’re going to be very upset. Don’t let this affect your future games (IE when you’re at a tournament). Try to put the bad behind you and think about the next match. NEVER forget your mistakes, if you don’t learn from them you’ll keep making them. It’s ok if your performance haunts you for a little while, it’ll motivate you to play better. - You will be beat by a huge underdog. There are no words of advice that can help the feeling you have after one of these games. People will start losing their faith in you and your team, but fear not, it happens to every team from time to time. Just be prepared to bounce back. - Your abilities will be in question and legitimacy issues will arise. This happens to almost all up coming good players. Until you have a good game at a respected LAN tourney, be prepared for this to continue. I recommend rather than being nervous about playing on LAN for the first time, you use it as a driving force to play better. Use it to motivate you. - You’re going to lose a big game. Like losing to an underdog, you’re going to feel terrible after this game. Like I have said previously, you need to put it behind you the instant it’s done. Learn from the mistakes you made and don’t let them happen again. Don’t let one bad game ruin your chances of reaching your goals. - You’re going to lose in a clutch situation. After the round is over, your heart won’t be finished pounding until about 30 seconds into the next round. Make sure you don’t forget to buy and try to get your head back into the game as quick as possible, although at times I know it can be hard. One thing that separates the good players from the bad is the ability to move forward and at the same time not forget the mistakes they made. - You’ll go into a slump and want to quit. If you don’t believe me then you haven’t played long enough… you’ll eventually see what I’m talking about. This time period separates the men from the boys.

Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 - Your age. Age does play a big role in how good someone is at Counter-Strike. It’s not coincidence that the best players are between the ages of 18 and 23. I believe it has sometime to do with the maturity of the brain, but I’m not exactly sure. Now this is not to say there aren’t good young players (as I was only 15 when I started to play), there are just far less. If you’re young (below the age of 15) and these concepts aren’t coming easily to you, don’t give up hope. Within a few months things will gradually get easier.


Chapter II – CSRT and the CS puzzle

Counter-Strike is a game in which decisions must be made instantly. When I use the term

“instantly”, I use it literally. Within 3/10th’s of a second (the time it takes for a situation in game to reach your brain, and then for your brain to shoot a message down to your extremities) a decision on what to do must be reached and then executed. For the sake of this book, we’re going to call this time your CS reaction time or CSRT. The lower the CSRT, the better the player can become. Yes, it does take mechanics and good form to be able to be good at this game, but that is only one piece of the puzzle. Here we’re going beyond the basics of aim and shooting and deal with some theoretical aspects of how to get better. I will show you some tricks to improve your reaction time and overall in game judgment.

If you think of progressing in the game as a puzzle, you know that in order to play at a top level

you must have all the pieces together and in the correct place. - Correct mechanics (movement, shooting, etc) - Good judgment (knowing what to do in certain situations) - In-game reaction time (CSRT) - Experience (closely related with good judgment)

In the last guide, we went over correct mechanics so I’m going to assume from this point for-

ward that you have a good understanding of the proper way to shoot and move. The next piece to the puzzle is good judgment and good judgment is closely related with experience. As with most things, the more experience you have the better your judgment will become. To help yield proper judgment quicker, it is a good idea to run through hypothetical situations in your head. For instance, what should you do if you’re playing a bomb site and the opposing team takes the opposite site over? How will you flank? Should you save? The faster you can make these sorts of decisions in game, the better you’re going to be. To get quicker, you have to play a lot and see a lot of different situations, sort of like playing a lot of hands of poker will make you a better poker player, the same rules apply. A little bit later in this guide we’re going to run through a lot of hypothetical situations. It is my hope that you will study them and be able to apply them in game. This will help you gain valuable experience quickly and will ensure that instead of playing a situation badly and learning

Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 the correct way to play it (which is how we learn, from our mistakes) you can instead make the correct play the first time. It is extremely important however that if you do make a mistake, you learn from it and don’t let it happen again.

Reaction time is a very important part of your quest to become a better player. Let’s look at

some ways in which you can improve your in-game reaction time.

- Scout practice. One of the best ways to improve your reflexes is with the AWP. From the previous guide you know that one way to get good at the AWP is to practice with a Scout. 1v1’ing with Scouts is a great way to improve your CSRT. - Online reflex testers. Although this “reaction time” doesn’t translate directly into the CSRT, it is a good guide to see how quick you actually are and a great tool to make yourself quicker. See if you can reach about .12 seconds. - Driving. Driving is a lot like playing CS. You have to be able to scan the entire road with your eyes, picking out matters of importance. You also need to have the ability to react quickly and pay attention for long periods of time. It is my theory that people that drive are just better CS players. So next time you’re in a car, think about how you’ll use those skills to improve your CS game. - The “wall” method. I heard about this a long time ago and it’s been used by some professional players. It is a technique originally created by Mike “SmEeZ” Bell. It goes something like this. Stand facing a wall and pick a point on it (medium to close range should suffice). Now turn 180 degrees so you are facing the exact opposite direction. The object now is to turn as fast as you can and shoot the point you had picked out previously. It’s a little silly at first, but you will see that eventually you will become lightning quick at finding the spot you need to shoot, and extremely efficient at hitting your target.

Of course the key is always consistency. Stay consistent in your practice, and I am

positive that your CSRT will improve.

Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 Now that you know what helps your CSRT, you should also know what hurts it.

- Fatigue. Playing for long hours at a time

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for someone that isn’t used to it can wreak havoc on your game. Generally, you’ll start

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to notice fatigue first in your mind, and then

ing down (try to be as self-aware as possible while at the same time staying honest with yourself) take a break! Watch for fatigue to set in after about 3-4 hours of play. The

Fatigue

CSRT

in your body. When you see yourself slow-

8

6

4

2

graph to the right illustrates this point. The X axis is your time playing in hours, and the Y

0 0

1

2

3

4

5

Hours of play axis represents your CSRT. The good news is that like with most competitive activities, you can build stamina. Over time it will take longer to take fatigue to set in, and fatigue will start to have a smaller effect on your CSRT. - Nerves. Being nervous can dramatically effect your CSRT, for better or for worse. As discussed in the last guide with the Yerk-Doddson law, you do play at your top level while mildly nervous. However, being too nervous will cloud your judgement and will lead to a rapidly falling CSRT as your confidence goes with it. - Lack of confidence. Normally lack of confidence is a problem that takes advantage of the previous two items. It feeds on your nerves, and it feeds on your fatigue. It is a vicious loop in that once you start playing bad, your confidence falls, which keeps you playing bad, which leads to less confidence and so on and so forth. Although with lack of confidence there is nothing physical happening to you that is lowering your CSRT as the previously listed items are, the effects can be just as real. Lack of confidence sometimes is the worst thing of all because it is a mental problem, not a physical one.

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Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 - Distractions. Sometimes we don’t realize it, but our lives are abundant with distractions. They come in all shapes and sizes, and it’s not always easy to know exactly when you’re being distracted. However, it is something that can decrease your CSRT simply because your full mental capacity is not geared toward what you’re trying to do. Eventually you’ll get to the point where you can play with a minimal amount of distractions, but for now try to eliminate outside distractions while playing as best you can.

The last piece of the puzzle, experience, is the sum of everything that I cannot teach you. Your

experience will shine through after all of the previous pieces have fallen into place. There isn’t any magic command or piece of advice I can give you that will increase your experience, it simply comes from playing as well as seeing a lot of Counter-Strike.

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Chapter III – What would you do?

Let’s go over some hypothetical situations. You need to realize that there are an unlimited

amount of situations that can and will happen throughout the course of you playing this game competitively. It is impossible to go over every single one in the course of this guide. This being said, you need to apply these limited situations to broader scenarios. Use these situations as a guide and apply them to your game when they appear.

Situation #1 - CT on de_dust2 You are CT on de_dust2, watching the B bomb site entrance when the opposing team attacks long A. Your teammate that watches middle has already rotated to help your other 3 teammates defend the site. Should you stay and guard B or go help your teammates defend Step 1) Ask your teammates how many terrorists there are, and if any of them see the bomb. If the bomb is not at long A, do NOT leave your position. If they have a confirmation that the team is trying to push the bomber into the bomb site, you need to rotate quickly. Also, be careful when a teammate says “they’re all rushing here!”. Sometimes when bombarded with 4 of the opposing team, teammates will say they see all 5 when they actually do not.

Step 2) Hit tab and check your statistics. If your teammates are defending their site with ease, hold your position until bomb is called. If your teammates are in immediate danger of losing the site and they see the bomb, then obviously you need to rotate. Have your flanking route already planned in your head and notify your teammates which way you will be coming. If you are playing in B and most of your teammates are in the A site, I would recommending running to long A to try to flank the opposition. Be careful though as many teams will leave a man behind to watch for flankers. Quick flanks win rounds.

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Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 Step 3) If the site is taken and you are forced down to a 3v2 or worse with the bomb down and you and your remaining teammate have an AWP or is out of position, the smart idea is probably to save. It is important to always know how much money your teammates have because it will be a factor if you need to save a gun. However, if your team has been steam rolling the opposite team and the entire team can buy the next round regardless in order to setup a good defense, you must go for it.

Situation #2 - T on de_nuke You are a Terrorist on de_nuke and can’t seem to get a round. The CTs are being overly aggressive and are often pushing ramp and outer to flank the main holding room. What should your team do?

Step 1) There are two options you can take here depending on your team. One good way to fight aggression is with aggression. If the team is constantly pushing ramp room, you must hold inside for a few moments, and around the time the CTs normally push, you do a 5 man rush ramp. This will put the aggressive players in a different position than what they are used to. Instead of attacking and shooting people from behind, they will be bombarded with 5 guns on them at once and forced to defend their position rather than attack yours. It takes a lot of coordination, and if you can’t seem to pull this off there is another option. You can also fight aggression with a strong defense. The object of the CTs is to guard their bomb site and when they push on a terrorist team they invert the natural flow of the game. If they have become the attackers, you must become the defenders. Setup a strong holding pattern in main room and wait. Stay as quiet as possible but also communicate. For a team that constantly pushes, a team that sits back to wait them out will drive them absolutely crazy. If they have been pushing and winning, just hold and I promise they will try to push again. You just need a little practice before hand to assign spots to each major area that needs to be watched.

Step 2) If all else fails, you need to do strong rushes. If you find that rushing a certain area works, rush that area until they finally put an extra man in that position to help hold the rush. Once this happens, rush a different area. Flash-bangs are crucial in a rush, so make sure you make good use of them.

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Situation #3 - T on de_inferno You are a Terrorist playing de_inferno. Your team is currently down four rounds and during this round the bomb has been dropped in right halls. The CT’s are defending it in a 3v2 situation, not in your favor. What should you do? Step 1) Whenever you’re in a situation like this on T side, it’s important to stick together. You and your remaining teammate should be joined at the hip at this point. If you think about the strategy, there’s a good chance that all of the remaining CT’s are guarding the bomb. It’s now up to you to out smart them. (Please note that you wouldn’t save in this situation because your team is already down four rounds. Saving your guns will give you no advantage as your team will not be able to buy with you next round.)

Step 2) If the bomb is down halls and you have enough time left, you and your teammate need to go the opposite way that they will be expecting you to come. My advice here (time permitting) would be to run all the way through the enclosed A bomb site on the far left of the map, and run through CT spawn. As soon as you reach CT spawn start to walk.

Step 3) Now comes decision time. If all three remaining CT’s are watching the bomb (which they probably are) there’s a good chance there’s at least one flank they aren’t watching. For example, if they are setup with one CT in halls, one CT in window room and one CT in pit you have a lot of options. You could both walk quietly into window room without being seen from either the pit CT or the hall CT and shoot the one in window room in a 2v1 situation. You could also try the same thing against the guy in pit. It’s very important to get at least one kill here to force a 2v2 situation.

Step 4) Once you’ve forced a 2v2 situation, it’s time to steam roll. When it becomes 2v2, normally the CT’s group together to avoid being shot 2v1, so there’s a good chance the other two remaining players are in halls guarding the bomb. This is the exact reason why you need to act quickly. You need to try NOT to allow the CT’s time to regroup after you have given yourself a slight edge. Make your way quickly into window room OR halls to try to pick off one of the last two remaining CT’s quickly. (This is assuming one of them didn’t peak while you shot their 3rd player). 13

Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 Step 5) You won’t always win these, but if you use strategy to your advantage you give yourself a fighting chance. This is one of the hardest situations in the came for a T to have to win, but believe me, it can be done. The key to winning this round is what you do after you force a 2v2. If you can get in and get eliminate a 2nd CT quickly, my advice would be to grab the bomb and plant ASAP. Otherwise, you’re in for a gun battle and you have roughly a 50/50 chance of winning.

Situation #4 - Defending against a save round strategy This scenario is more general than the previous ones. You are a CT on de_dust2 defending the A bomb site. One of your teammates gets killed by a DE and it’s assumed that the opposite team is saving. What changes should you make in your play right away? Step 1) Protect the damn gun! Do not let the opposite team advance far enough to pick up your teammates colt. This could mean the difference between winning the round with all your guns in tact, or losing crucial guns and money.

Step 2) Unless the Ts are doing a DE save, there’s a chance that some of them may have glocks. When up against glocks it’s a good thing to stay long range which renders their guns virtually useless. Try never to get up close and personal with more than one glocker, unless of course you feel like losing your gun.

Step 3) Don’t over rotate! If they’re saving they’re probably either going to rush, or try a split to get the bomb down. If they’re not rushing you can assume they will try some sort of strategy that enables them to plant, giving them more money for the next round. As a CT it’s your job to make sure they never get the bomb down. This being said, please don’t rotate at the first sign of someone being killed.

It is important to note that you should always have a good idea before the round when the

opposite team will be saving. It’s safe to assume that if they’ve lost at least two gun rounds in a row, they will probably need to save. If they don’t save, there’s a good chance they’ll be using armor without a helmet, and the lower level guns (galil/famas). 14


Situation #5 - Entering a room or bomb site There are different ways to enter a bomb site (which in essence is just a really big room). While most of the common methods don’t lend a strategic advantage, there are some things you can do to increase your chances of getting in safely.

Step 1) Visibility is the single most important thing to consider before entering a new room. You want to first make sure that before entering you have made sure that those that can shoot you will not be to your back. This concept is illustrated below. The best thing about this spot is that the enemy cannot see you at all! You can see them perfectly, but they have no chance of ever seeing you. We’ll look more into this in the next situation where I give a better explanation of why angles are so important.

Since when you walk into the room you’re going to be facing towards hut, you need to check behind where you WILL be once you enter the room. This ensures you don’t have to be shooting two opposite directions at once. Always clear a room like this by sneaking around, checking all of it’s parts BEFORE entering. A lot of times you can use angles like the one above to shoot unsuspecting enemies. Step 2) Grenades will be the next thing to consider. If there is a high probability that an enemy is in the room/bomb site, and you don’t have the need to conceal your position any longer, a flash-bang or smoke could get the job done. There are situations when no grenades are needed, for example while you are flanking a position quickly, or entering a room which no enemies could logically be.

Step 3) Attack a bomb site with coordination. Make sure everyone is following steps 1 and 2, and go at the same time from various bomb site entry points. This is the most effective bomb site taking maneuver.

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Situation #6 - How to maximize visibility There are some methods to maximizing your visibility. Below I will list a few. Play correct angles - This is one of the most important concepts of this chapter. I went over this briefly in my last guide, but feel that it is so important that I should give a better explanation of it in Volume 2.

Playing correct angles is a way of giving yourself the best possible reaction-time (CSRT)

while standing/crouching near a large object (like a box, or a wall for example).

The first picture illustrates a point in time in which I’m trying to check to see if there is an enemy behind the box. The scary thing about it is, the player that is behind the box can already see me. It’s not until I go a few inches further that I can start to see the right half of his body. This is an important concept in that angles make a difference in “who sees who first”. The person hiding behind the box gave himself an advantage by not sitting in the corner where the box meets the walls, but rather by strafing out a few feet and sitting on the wall. This is how you play an angle correctly. For me to play the angle correctly, I would need to step back from the box a few feet.

Cut off part of the map - This is relatively easy, and can be done a few ways. My personal favorite is by using smoke grenades. Properly placed ‘smokes’ can limit the part of the map that you need to be worried about, thus improving your visibility. Smoke grenades can entirely cut off a vital CT choke point, which allows you a great advantage. This is the reasoning behind why you smoke grenade from CT spawn when you’re rushing up the ramp to the A bomb site on de_dust2. Watch smaller areas - Don’t get caught up in watching two places or choke points at once. Always watch one area at a time. It’s better to have a 50% chance of seeing your enemy than a 95% chance of getting killed. 16


Chapter IV – Strats for popular maps and why they work

Before we get into actual strats, there are a few things I need to explain first. There are two

types of clans. Passive clans and aggressive clans. On Terrorist, the passive clan likes to work different areas and pick enemies off and work the weak areas of the map. On the other hand, an aggressive clan prefers rushing and pushing up to picking off. This is not to say teams can’t be both passive and aggressive at certain times, teams are usually just more one than they are the other. I have included in the following chapter strats for pistol round and default for both passive and aggressive clans. Feel free to try them both out and find out which works best for your clan. Also, it is important to realize that just because your team is more passive than aggressive doesn’t mean that an aggressive pistol round strat is doomed for failure before you try it. Try a bunch of these, see which ones work for YOU and YOUR team.

For the sake of easy reading, when I refer to a certain number of players I will type the number

out rather than the word. For example instead of “Four CTs go left and one goes right” I will type “4 CTs go left and 1 goes right.” I will only type a number rather than the word when referring to a team of CS players.

I have also included pictures to help illustrate some of the strategies in the following chap-

ter. Let me explain to you how they work. In the guide, I have included them in thumbnail format as there is not enough room in the guide to include the entire full-sized picture. Instead I have made the thumbnails links so that when you click on them, your default web browser will open and you will be able to view them fully sized. For every map I have included the default CT setup (in which I clearly illustrate where your ‘nades should be thrown at the beginning of the round, the common wall spam spots, and names of all common areas), the CT Aggressive defensive strategy, and the CT passive defensive strategy. The blue dots indicate where your players should be, and the lines illustrate the path of fire (where that player should be watching).

But before we get to strategies we have to go over some things quickly. On the following page

I have included a table of how the normal game flow should work. It tells you what rounds to buy and what rounds to save and it is extremely important that if you do not already understand the following concepts, you memorize the following charts. 17


Pre-game flow chart Strategy Type Pistol round

Round commonly used 1

2nd round

2

3rd round Save Default

3 N/A 4-15

Description The pistol strat is the first you’re going to use. Make sure you have more than one because if the game goes into over-time, you’re going to need a different PR strat than the one you previously used. This strategy details who should buy what for the 2nd round (I suggest mp5/armor), and how your team will be cautious should the opposing team try a save rush. If your team wins 1st round, do NOT have single players buy AK’s on second round. N/A How your team will perform a save round. The default gun round strategy for your team. Should detail who goes where, and who buys what. Good idea to have a few defaults you can run (Default 1, Default 2, etc).

Actual game flow chart Round 1

Strategy Pistol round

If you lose the round... Save next two rounds

2

2nd round/Save

Save one more round

3

3rd round/Save

Buy regardless

4 5-15

Default In-game captain calls

Save one round N/A

Thoughts Be sure everyone knows the pistol round strategy before the round begins. Do a full save this round as well as next round if you lose the pistol round. Try to sniff out enemy setups while saving and use them to your advantage.

Keep the opponent guessing with your strategies Note : If you have to save during rounds 5-15 It’s important not to let those rounds go to total waste. Even though you are saving you can still sniff out enemy stacks and setups and use that knowledge to your advantage for when you can finally buy up.

Not too complicated. Once you feel you’ve got all this down (should take a few minutes if

you’re 100% unfamiliar with any of this) go ahead and move on to the first section of strats on the next page. 18


de_nuke Terrorist Strategies Your Clan Type Aggressive

Passive

Notes

Pistol Round Strategy 4 buy DE’s with ammo, 1 buys armor. The glocker goes ramp to distract while the 4 try to make it down the stairs outside. Once the team is downstairs, stay behind the glass doors as much as you can.

Default Strategy Depending on the type of team you are you can chose to have a quick default or a slow one. Some teams are just naturally better at rushing than they are holding back. If you chose to rush, make sure you switch it up between upper and ramp room often. Have assigned spots based on spawn as to where each member should attack. IE first two spawns go door, third go window, fourth go hut door, and fifth watch flank. A 3-2 outer rush upper (3 outside, 2 inside) is also a good strat for rushing teams. Have 2 buy DE’s and spam the roof A passive team likes to work certain while 3 hold inside (all 3 watching areas rather as apposed to all out hut door and ramp entrances into rushing. If you are a passive team lobby). Once you’ve made noise on it’s important to use AWPs in order the roof quietly start to walk ramp to clear ramp room and outside. A leaving one teammate in the dark normal default would be one AWP spot in hut. Rush ramp and flank picking ramp, two watching hut, one around to ladder dropping the bomb AWP looking through squeaky door to the person that waited hut in the to outside and one person holding upper bomb site and plant. the outside ready to move once the AWP picks his man. Aggressive strategy : It’s just as important to know how to execute this strat as it is to know why it works. If you can ever use a map’s features to your advantage, you should do it. You will hardly ever see a CT buy a DE first round which means you can safely assume that the CTs will have USPs that can’t penetrate the glass doors downstairs. If you can get behind the doors after the bomb has been planted in the lower site, you can sit right behind the doors and pick the CTs off without having any chance of them being able to hit you.

19


Counter-Terrorist Strategies Your Clan Type Aggressive

Passive

Notes

Pistol Round Strategy As with any pistol round it’s important to practice it with your team ahead of time over and over again. For an aggressive team it is a smart move to stack 4 ramp on the pistol round and have one teammate spot upper. If the Ts plant upper, have 2 flank hut and 2 go through lower vents to upper.

Default Strategy Sometimes it’s a good idea to play this round quickly, pushing all areas. However, if you’re going to do this you need to make sure that the opposite team is a passive team, and you have them ‘out-gunned’. The basic idea is to push through hut window, outside, and ramp room all at the same time. One of the main advantages of this strategy is that your team is able to quickly intercept and call where the other team is going, even if you lose a man. You can make up the loss of the CT by rotating quickly. The safest setup is to have 2 upper 3 upper, 1 watching garage, 1 watching hut and door, 2 ramp (with watching door from in the bomb site, one ready to rotate to window to and 1 watching hut entrance/spothelp outside) and 1 outside spotting ting outer. Put 1 ramp watching it to make sure they don’t go lower or with hopefully an AWP and 1 spotgo garage to upper. ting window/backing up ramp. Regardless of which strategy you decide is best for your team you need to understand that a solid rotation is key to winning pistol rounds. The quicker you can get players to a given site will be a huge factor in determining whether you win the round or not. If you are stacking ramp, be sure your teammates are ready to flank their respective positions on a moments notice.

Thoughts on de_nuke continued on the next page...

20


Thoughts on de_nuke

Nuke at first glance appears to be a heavily CT sided map, and although this is true, it also de-

pends greatly on the individual skill of the people holding the various bomb sites. In short, teams with a solid CT defense make the map heavily CT sided. The great thing about Nuke is that if you think about it, it seems so simple. In order for the Ts to plant, they have to either come from 3 places upper, one being a door, one being a hut with a door attached to it, and one being a garage. Later you’ll read that these points all have potential for high-volume killing.

One of the best things you can do for your team as CT is to be completely honest with your-

selves. If you want to put a man in garage to AWP outside, who is your best AWPer? Who on your team has the best rifle? He/She needs to be playing in the upper bomb site on the ground. Who on your team has an exceptional amount of teamwork? They need to be ramp. Just be honest when answering these questions, and your team will find the places they’re best fit to play.

As for T side, it sometimes can be incredibly hard, as well as incredibly easy. It really all de-

pends on how the CTs play their defense. The major advice I can give however is to make sure that you are using grenades to their full advantage. Click the link below to view some ‘nade spot pics I have included for teams having a hard time on T side.

Click here to view grenade spot screenshots

de_nuke map layout

de_nuke CT aggressive

de_nuke CT passive

Click the above thumbnails to view them full size with your web browser.

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de_dust2 Terrorist Strategies Your Clan Type Aggressive

Passive

Notes

Pistol Round Strategy Splits on this map win gun rounds. However, it’s important not to divide and conquer on the pistol round due to the fact that strategically placed CTs could eliminate a group of Ts leaving your team in a bad situation. For the pistol round you should run some type of 4-1 split. If your team spawns close to B it is a good idea to rush B with one T waiting in middle for flankers To be passive and still win a pistol round on T you’re going to need to fool the CTs as to which bomb site your team wants to plant at. Try doing the “roundhouse” in which you rush B halls then turn down tunnels into mid, up through mid, then out to long A to plant the bomb. It takes some coordination to do, but after a few practice runs your team will able to execute this flawlessly.

Default Strategy Rushes on this map should be mainly dependant upon where the team spawns. If your team spawns close to B and you can buy up that round, it’s a good idea to try to rush the site. If you spawn toward A, it’s probably a good idea to do a 3-2 split A. Either 3 catwalk, 2 long A or 2 catwalk and 3 long A depending on what works better for your team. One of the best passive strats I’ve ever seen works something like this. Previous to the round you need to be sure to assign each person their spots so when the round starts each teammate doesn’t need to waste any time. The setup is as follows. 1 stays at spawn and watches the push from long A, 2 people go middle (throwing smokes down to the double doors) and boost one man on top of the green box in T middle to watch for a catwalk push. The person that boosted then proceeds to walk down to middle while following the wall on the left hand side. While this is going on, 2 people are holding outside B to wait for a pushup. After about 30-45 seconds if no CT pushes their position, the players at B then try to pick off the bomb site. Once someone either picks off someone pushing or someone is picked off at B, regroup with your team and decide (based on the time left in the round) whether it would be smart to go to a particular site or hold your positions hoping to catch flankers.

Before you play a match on this map you should know all the common CT setups. When entering a site assign certain spots that each member will check (plan this out before hand). It is extremely difficult for 2 CTs in the B site to hold off a 4 man rush. In fact it is more likely for the CTs to stay outside the site and call for necessary backup rather than try to defend against 4 enemies. Planting the bomb in B is not the hard part, holding the site is. Have a definite plan of action once the bomb is down including having the middle guy come out mid double doors to shoot those CTs that have rotated from A in the back as they try to enter the site. It is also important not to get picked off at your position while exectuing a passive strategy.

22



Passive

Notes

Pistol Round Strategy This map is deals with one of the most important concepts of Counter-Strike. Due to the long rotation times, it is smart not try to take on 3 or more enemies at once by yourself. Instead, having one CT spot middle and one CT spot B will save your team from being at a huge disadvantage early on. If the Ts rush B on the pistol round, don’t try to be a hero. Fall out of the site and call for backup. Make good use of flash bangs and HEs, making sure none of the Ts exit the site into CT middle via the window or the door. A good setup at A would be to have 2 up close long A (prenade with HEs at the beginning of the round) and one spotting cat walk. The above strat works for both types of clans.

Default Strategy A nice pushing strat for CT side is as follows. Put 2 long A, and one spotting cat walk. If the Terrorists rush B, the two should flank through long A. One should be watching catwalk from ramp and the other two should be watching B and middle from inside the site.

When you are playing passive on this map, it generally means you’re just trying to spot an area and fall back while calling for backup. It certainly is a smart thing to do on this map considering the insane distance between the two bomb sites which translates into really slow rotation times. I recommend keeping all the players in the A bomb site, with players spotting long A and catwalk. The B players should be playing in middle spotting the B bomb site. This serves two purposes. If they Terrorists rush long A, they can offer backup from middle quickly. If the Terrorists rush B instead, the players can throw grenades and call for backup.

Spotting is a huge part of keeping your teammates in the game. You need to be able to call a rush accurately (don’t call a bomb rush if the bomber isn’t coming your way) and quickly. Fall back out of position and let the Ts enter the site. Once you have re-grouped, re-take the site with your high powered USPs vs the Ts lower powered glocks.

23


Thoughts on de_dust2

One of the most popular maps in Counter-Strike, this map was designed from the retired origi-

nal de_dust. De_dust2 for a long time was used as the CPL finals map and for even longer teams have struggled with it because of the long distance between bomb sites which translates into slow rotation times. As you know from above, the quicker the rotation/flank, the better your chances are of winning the round.

One of the main things to keep in mind on de_dust2 is to have a set rotation plan, and let your

team know about it. The idea is to flank the quickest route, while at the same time flanking a position which allows a strategic advantage. For example, as I have said in the past, you’ll have the best chance of taking a site back from Terrorists if you coordinate the attack with your team so that you are entering the bomb site from as many entrance points as possible. This being said, for the A site you want to try to attack from Long A, catwalk, and CT spawn (ramp) all at the same time once the Terrorists have planted the bomb. This will ensure that even if the Terrorists did a plant for long A pit, you’ll be able to lay down cover long A while the teammates that came up CT spawn ramp and catwalk defuse.

de_dust2 map layout

de_dust2 CT passive

de_dust2 CT Aggressive


24


de_inferno Terrorist Strategies Your Clan Type Aggressive

Passive

Notes

Pistol Round Strategy It doesn’t get much more aggressive than rushing B (hard left out of middle).

Default Strategy 1 quick AWP tries to pick B, 1 AWP tries to pick middle and the rest work middle/right halls. Object is to pick one quickly then fall back and rush the opposite site. A more thought-out approach to win- This is a tough map to be passive ning the pistol round calls for a little on at times depending on the type of more patience than the previous team you’re playing. For example, strat. To execute this you must all 5 if you’re an extremely passive team walk perfectly quiet into middle until and decide to play the pick off game either spotted (in which you will rush on this map, the CTs simply just and engage) or if you are not spot- have to wait back in the site and ted you proceed to walk up middle not peak. If you find yourself in this into CT spawn and hold. After 45 position, you must become more seconds you will then re-assess the aggressive. situation and determine whether it’d be a good idea to attack A or B. If you decide to pick off and are able to, the best advice I can give you on this map is to take it as slow as possible. Use smokes and flashes before you enter a choke point (IE middle) to strategically disable the defense. A good pickoff default would be 1 left with an AWP, 3 middle and 1 right halls. Aggressive : Make sure you have at least one flash bang to throw the defenders at B off guard.

Aggressive : Since the bomb sites are so far away, it’s pretty easy to get a CT to rotate out of their site by picking just a single teammate of theirs. After a few rounds you should have a good read on the opposite team to know how quickly they rotate. Passive : It’s going to take a lot of practice.

25



Pistol Round Strategy 4 rush banana hallway with HE grenades and USPs while 1 stays middle. If the 4 in banana are unsuccessful in stopping a middle rush, they flank through middle to A bomb site for backup. A variation on this would be an aggressive save round strat where 4 members rush middle with HE grenades and one stays banana hallway.

Default Strategy It’s risky, but if you feel you have a really strong AWPer on your team it’s probably a good idea to let him pick middle a few rounds. Picking one T early gives you a huge advantage in the round. Otherwise switch up your stacks and keep 2 in the right bomb site, and 3 on the left.

Passive

Normal setup as passive default.

2 go B (right site) and stack using cross-fires. The other 3 are in the left hand site. On the left (A bomb site) 1 watches halls from in the site while the other 2 stack/cross-fire middle.

Notes

The goal of the grenades is to damage the body armor of the glockers (as most Ts buy armor rather than a different gun). Make sure you get a good HE off at the first call of an enemy in middle.

Aggressive : I didn’t go into much detail about where you should play on the left site mainly for one reason. You need to switch it up and keep the Ts guessing. It’ll only take a solid 15 minutes of practice for the 3 teammates on the left side to come up with a few stacks that will allow them to cover the site efficiently. Passive : Getting picks at the start of the round is crucial. If you can get a guy setup in B quickly with an AWP you can hopefully get a good pick if the Ts come B. After you pick 1, always fall back. I don’t recommend picking the middle with an AWP as much as I do picking at B.

Thoughts on de_inferno continued on the next page...

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Thoughts on de_inferno

Inferno is a fun, but also unique map. What makes it so unique is that it isn’t like other maps in

which one side (T or CT) is heavily favored to win. For example, on the maps de_train and de_nuke, the CTs usually have the greatest advantage and it is usually assumed that most of a team’s rounds will be scored while playing as CT on those given maps. It is the opposite for maps like de_dust2 and de_cpl_mill where the T side is actually easier.

Through my experience I have seen inferno matches go both ways, and it is not uncommon

for teams to have both monster T sides and monster CT sides. I offer a few possible explanations for this. For one, CT’s have an advantage in the fact that even though the bomb sites are not close together, rotation can be done quickly and effectively without ever having to expose yourself. On a map like de_dust2, to rotate from A bomb site to B bomb site you have to travel through the middle where a T could be waiting to pick you off. This is not the case on Inferno. Rotation can be done quickly and easily through CT spawn where you have virtually no chance of being picked off by a camping Terrorist. I encourage you to make full use of the map’s rotational advantage. For Terrorists, the advantage comes once they have taken a bomb site. Inferno offers some of the best tactical advantages to teams that are able to consistently get the bomb planted. By using good setups, and the advantages that the map has to offer, once the bomb is planted the CTs have little chance of re-taking the site against a well mounted T defense.

If you are a T, if you plant the bomb in the A bomb site be sure to keep guys in pit, halls, and

window room. If you plant in the B bomb site, be sure to keep players in banana, back halls, and cross-fired in the site. These make a CT offensive nearly impossible once the bomb has been planted and your team has setup in the bomb site to defend.

de_inferno map layout

de_inferno CT Aggressive

de_inferno CT passive

Click the above thumbnails to view them full size with your web browser. 27


de_train Terrorist Strategies Your Clan Type Aggressive

Pistol Round Strategy

Default Strategy

The best aggressive pistol round strats are of course rushes. Since we’ve established the fact that you can only rush two places, inner or outer it makes the decision a little easier. If you’re going to rush outer I recommend rushing through the back alley where you can take enemies at close ranges (glocks work better against USPs at close ranges). If you try to rush outer there’s a good chance you’ll be no match for the long range capabilities of the CTs USPs. If you decide on the other hand to rush inner, it’d be a smart thing to rush both upper and lower inner at the same time.

There are only two places you can rush, inner or outer. However, there is more than one way to rush each of these places. A good way to rush outer is to do it by spawn. The general rule is to send the first spawns to the spots that are the farthest away. Using this logic, first two spawns go back alley, third spawn goes middle (he goes out of turn because he needs to flash early) and fourth and fifth go ladder. The reason the 4th and 5th players go ladder is so that after the middle CTs are distracted at alley and middle, the 4th and 5th players can catch them in the back a lot of times.

If you rush alley and make it through the alley killing at least one CT and can plant easily, it may be a good idea to run through CT spawn to inside and plant rather than take the easy plant outside.

If you decide to rush inner, try to smoke upper ramp to ensure an AWPer doesn’t pick you off from that position. If there is an AWPer upper ramp, those that rushed lower ramp need to HE grenade upper CT ramp.

Passive

To be passive on pistol round on this map would mean to slowly pick off. Try sending 3 inner with bomb, one down ladder to pick yard and one alley to distract/pick alley. Careful, don’t get spotted inside with the bomb. After 30 seconds of no action, the ladder and alley rush outer at the same time to give the appearance of a rush. After the CTs have rotated or the players outer have eliminated some of the opposing team, rush inside and plant.

If your team just can’t seem to get any rounds it’s a good idea to save for AWPs and have at least two members of your team using them. With AWPs, 2 backalley (1 AWP), 2 middle (1 AWP) and 1 ladder pick-offs normally work well.

Notes

.: When planting in lower be sure to face away from the train.

.: Nade upper CT ramp inside to kill AWPer without confrontation. .: When working alley slowly setup a cross-fire so that the people along the right side of the wall are watching the left side and vice versa .: When rushing back alley and planting outside, it’s a smart idea not to go left to peak CT spawn ramp unless you have an AWP. If you don’t have an AWP, try smoking the left side and rushing into the middle of the train yard via the right side.

.: Rushing works better when you have to engage an enemy with a glock vs. a USP at close ranges rather than far ranges.

28



Pistol Round Strategy 4 inside, 1 spotting outer. The 1 outside spots train yard while the other 4 push up through halls inside and flank to middle/ladder.

Default Strategy Having 1 person upper inside pushed up watching it with an AWP saves a lot of man power. The other player that usually plays inside can then rotate to outer. Another plus is that when an AWP is in that position, often he can call a rush quick enough to give you plenty of time to rotate to the site. 1 upper, 4 outer (2 watching back alley, 1 ladder, 1 middle)

Passive

2 CT ramp watching back alley, 1 lower inside ramp watching lower inside, 2 middle watching train yard.

A common default would be 2 inside (one watching upper, one watching lower); 1 ladder, 1 middle, 1 back alley.

Notes

Aggressive : Important to know that if you make it around to ladder, you should send 2 down ladder and 2 to flank middle. Passive : If the Ts rush inner, it’s an easy rotate for both sets of teammates (the ones in spawn and ones in middle). Good early calls are the key to success with this strat.

Thoughts on de_train continued on the next page...

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Thoughts on de_train

Good teams always enjoy a match on de_train. One of the main reasons is that personal skill

and teamwork is highly showcased on this map. A major key to winning on CT side is getting your grenades off at the start of the round. Everyone should know where to throw their ‘nades PRIOR to the scrim/match beginning. Every single round (with the exception of rounds that you can’t buy) ‘nades should be thrown into the main train yard. This is one of the single most important things on CT side. These grenades have the ability to stop an outer rush, or greatly delay it/hinder it enough to give your teammates in the inner bomb site time to rotate. It is NOT a good thing once the T’s take the outside train yard, and from there the round could go anyway.

A hard part of CT is a strong ladder/middle defense and I recommend a lot of practice with your

teammates to figure out the best setup for you. The setup that I personally like the best is the Aggressive strategy on outer in which one team member rushes into ladder room and sits below ladder. It doesn’t always work, so make sure you get your timing down if you’re going to try it.

As for the T’s on this map, the key to winning rounds is picking off. It’s not uncommon to see

at least 2 AWPs at a time on T side due to the fact that so much of the round relies on picking CTs off. Always be ready to rush if the team is together after a pick, as the CTs are already disoriented and short-handed at the spot you just picked.

de_train map layout

de_train CT Aggressive

de_train CT passive


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de_cpl_mill Terrorist Strategies Your Clan Type Aggressive

Passive

Notes

Pistol Round Strategy Bomber and 1 other person take the bomb sewers to far bomb site. 1 person buys full nades and distracts left. The other 2 wait until bomber is in position behind door and storm up the right side into the site as the person on the left distracts and flanks. The only type of passive strat you would want to do on this map is a delay rush. Try a few scrims out to see which is a better rush for your team, left side or right side.

Default Strategy 1 sewer with flashes, 2 left, 2 middle. When the person with the flashes gets to bomb site A grate he throws his flash and the team rushes A. A good setup to pick off on this map involves AWPs. The goal is to try to pick off a peaking CT from the farthest distance possible. You can try this by putting an AWPer on the left and right side both trying to pick off CTs at their respective bomb sites. The other riflers on your team need to remain alert for any push-ups at the beginning of the round. If an AWPer on your team dies, grab the AWP and don’t peak again.

.: Always watch for a random CT middle push, every round.

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Passive

Notes

Pistol Round Strategy A nice little aggressive pistol round strat is to send four guys left rushing through, while one stays back to guard A. Risky, but might be worth a shot if you think the team your up against may be more skilled. Back in GB we developed this strat as a solution to the problem we were having. The problem was that we kept getting over-run on the right site (site A) so we used the following setup to remedy this. 2 went left to cover the B site, 1 stayed middle near grates spotting far right ramp, and the remaining 2 did a stack in spawn (on each others head) to watch middle. Be sure that everyone buys up an HE grenade.

Default Strategy The normal setup is 2 watching right ramp, 1 middle, and 2 left. It is advisable to make sure you stack or cross-fire your positions.

Passive : Spotting middle from a boosted position with a USP is a huge advantage facing a T at the same range with a glock. This is one of the advantages of this strategy. If the Ts take the A site, regroup with your team and make sure you throw at least 3 HE grenades into the site.

Aggressive : Pushing at random times with this strat is what makes it effective with highly aggressive teams. Pushing middle and then setting up a cross-fire with at least 2 CTs is a good idea when pushing up.

Thoughts on de_cpl_mill continued on the next page...

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Most passive strats work the best when AWPers are setup in positions to hold large choke points on their own. CT on this map is no exception. When your team can afford them, it’s advisable to buy 3 AWPs. 1 watching left, 1 middle, and 1 right. The 2 remaining players should have colts and be split between the two sites, ready to rotate.


Thoughts on de_cpl_mill

I honestly like this map a lot. My favorite thing to do in Counter-Strike is pick off enemies in the

middle from left ramp as a Terrorist. One of the unique things about this map is that it has a sewer system that leads to both bomb sites. If used correctly, the sewers can become a powerful advantage to the T side. To correctly defend the sewers as CT, it doesn’t even require putting a player down there, it only requires that your team watches one of the only two points they can enter the bomb site from. To enter a bomb site via sewers, players must either A) come up the ladder and break the vent covering the manhole, or B) enter the enclosed site via the door.

These are very small choke points, and only one player can get through them at a time. While

it isn’t smart to dedicate a player’s full attention to watching either of these choke points, you cannot forget about them. Normally, when T’s use the sewers, they are doing some sort of coordinated attack and not doing a full-out rush.

If you’re going to use the sewers as Terrorists, try not to fit your entire team down into there

and only send one or two players to distract. If you’re distracting at the A bomb site you’ll be flashing up the ladder into the site, and if you’re distracting at the B bomb site (the enclosed one located to the CT’s far left) you’ll be simply opening the door and clearing the site. Note that when opening the door at B it’s a good idea to have one player lined up ready to shoot, while the other player throws his glock at the door to open it.

de_cpl_mill map layout

de_cpl_mill CT Aggressive

de_cpl_mill CT passive


33


Chapter V – Playing at a higher level

By now if you haven’t realized that doing anything “professionally” takes a lot of hard work and

dedication, I’m not sure you will ever become the player you want to be. I’m going to tell you a few things that I am 100% positive will happen during the course of your CS career. First, you’re going to get frustrated and want to quit. There was a time where I thought I was just wasting my time because I could never stay consistent. One day I was playing on the level that I wanted to, and the next day it seemed that I couldn’t shoot anything (playing in CAL-main, about to go to CAL-invite at the time with e7, I had serious thoughts about quitting the game). This will happen to you which will cause you to get frustrated and you’ll want to give up. It’s at this point in your ‘career’ that you’ve got to make the decision to either stop playing competitively all together and give up all the progress you’ve made, or to continue to pay your dues and keep playing. I chose to keep playing and I’m glad to say it worked out. All players go through this phase, it is the great equalizer. This time period is what separates the good from the great players.

You need to be able to motivate yourself. No one else is going to motivate you to do what

needs to be done. If you feel you need 3 hours of practice per day, do it. If you feel like you can play 12 hours a day and not feel the effects of staring at a monitor, go for it. As a general note, if you are playing for longer than 5 hours, please make sure you have a high refresh rate on your monitor (at least 100Hz if possible. Anything under 100Hz could cause headaches when playing for extended periods of time). When Israeli news site E-Srael asked Jason Lake how to create a successful organization, he replied, “Outwork your competition in every facet of your organization”. This must hold true for you.

Eventually in your career you’re going to be told you’re not good enough. For example, back

in one of my first good clans (Scope Resolution ::SR::) a player named “Warden” wanted to try out for the team. In order to make it he had to 1v1 sunman on de_aztec while the rest of the team spectated. After the 1v1 was over, sunman and Drax informed Warden that he just wasn’t what they were looking for and denied his request to join the team. Warden at that point could have gotten angry and quit, but he didn’t. It wasn’t until a few years later that me and Warden met again in GB. After a while we moved on to coL, and Warden is now one of the top players, if not the best player in the US. We all have times of trial and judgment, and it is how we deal with those judgments that determine how 34

Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 far we will really eventually go.

Clutching

Since I wrote the last guide, one of the top questions on people’s minds still is how does

someone consistently clutch a situation? For those of you not familiar with the term, clutching means to come up big in a pivotal situation. I went over this subject a little bit in my last guide with the 50 percent rule, but now I want to cover this subject in just a little bit more detail. To clutch you need to be able to keep calm. Even if your heart is beating out of your chest (which in some circumstances it will feel like it’s beating out of your chest) you still need to be in control of your extremities. It is a hard thing to do at first when the heart rate increases, but over time and through experience your hands will become steadier. If you ever find yourself in the position that you can’t seem to keep your arms still, envision in your mind storing all that nervous energy in your legs. When I play I usually subconsciously move my legs up and down, I don’t ever realize I’m doing it, but it sure helps my upper body stay steady. In the last guide I gave you some tips for controlling yourself if you’re overly-nervous so if you’re still having problems I suggest you re-read that section in Volume 1.

You need to keep a clear head and have a plan of action. If you are in a situation with the

bomb planted and there are two remaining CTs trying to defuse for the win, you need to have planned out in your head already what your next move is going to be. When you are in a situation like that it’s a good idea to either hide completely and wait until the defuse, or if the situation is worse (3 to 1 or greater) it’s a good idea to put yourself in a spot where you know a CT will be coming from and try to get a quick kill to even the score. It may give away your position, but your position will be blown soon anyway. While hidden, listen to footsteps to get a good idea as to where the CTs are coming from. It is very important that you realize that in a 2v1 situation with the bomb down, the CTs are always going to storm the site, making noise. When you hear the defuse you want to wait just a second before peaking. Before you peak remember that you’re not going to shoot at the diffuser, but rather his teammate (unless time permits of course). The reason for this is if you shoot the diffusers teammate and kill him (he will be the one guarding the diffuser) the diffuser will get nervous and may come off the diffuse. This could buy you some valuable extra time. If he does not come off the bomb, all you need to do from this point is continue to stay calm and shoot the diffuser. Shooting a man while he’s diffusing is simple target practice; just make sure you eliminate him quick enough. If he comes 35

Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 off the bomb to try to shoot you, hide again until you hear another diffuse. After you hear it, count in your head between 2-3 seconds then peak him. This will ensure if he comes off the bomb again he’s killed his chances at a diffuse and even if you are killed, you will still win the round. If he doesn’t come off the bomb, make sure to kill him quickly.

Defusal times 12

Defusal time in seconds

10

8

6

10 seconds 4

5 seconds 2

0 1

2

Without defusal kit

With a defusal kit

See why kits are so important? In a game where every second counts, one of the easiest and

quickest (not to mention inexpensive) ways to be quicker is to have a defusal kit. You’d be surprised how many times a kit can help you clutch a round, and how many times a round is impossible to win without one. I can’t stress enough the importance of them, and you should note that on every save round you should have one person buy a kit just incase someone is able to defuse the bomb.

36


LAN Communication

There’s much more to playing on LAN than just playing solid CS. It’s about the intensity, and

for a CS player playing on LAN with your team for the first time is one of the biggest thrills you can experience in the game. People that don’t play CS usually don’t understand why we would travel around the US just to meet with 4 other “strangers” and play a video game. Of course, there is a lot more to it than that.

When you’re on LAN you should usually play better than you do on-line. However, this isn’t al-

ways the case. I have found through my experiences LAN’ing with different teams (coL, iwa, GB, BiO and e7) that it is the intensity of the team that makes all the difference. Intensity separates the good LAN teams from the great ones.

The biggest piece of advice I can give to you is to not use your in game microphone (if pos-

sible) and scream all the calls. This is one way to get yourself as well as your team fired up. After your team comes up big in a clutch situation, it’s good to yell and act crazy as it serves two purposes. One, the more fired up you are, the better you’re going to play. Two, it is devastating to the opposite team to have just lost a huge and to hear the opposing team celebrating. It just rattles them even more. If you can get in your teammates heads, you have a huge advantage. Rival (now team GamerCo) would do this at the pre-CPL boot camps in Dallas. Needless to say they took home 1st at the boot camp and 3rd (I think) that year at CPL.

You need to get used to looking at your teammates screens while at the same time paying

attention to your own. Looking at a teammates screen is one of the best things you can do, as there is a huge amount of information about the round that can be obtained by just a glance rather than someone screaming out positions. For LAN play, it’s my advice that you should have the people playing opposite sites sitting next to each other. This way, you can see what’s happening on the other side of the map as well as your own. Tip : When you drop a gun for a teammate at the beginning of the round, don’t buy your gun until AFTER your teammate has picked up the gun you dropped. This will save you some money in the long run.

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Aggression and momentum

Properly timed aggression can set a good player apart from the rest of the crowd. There are

certainly times to be aggressive and times that you shouldn’t be. Here are a few of each of these times.

When you should be aggressive :

When your opponent is reloading. If they are reloading and not behind cover, use that to your advantage. When you have your opponent pinned down. If you are able to pin your opponent behind a box sometimes it is to your advantage to push on him. However when you are pushing on him make sure you stay at a good angle. When you’re struggling as CT. Sometimes brute force is the only thing that wins rounds. When your team has a huge player advantage. 3:1 or better. But be careful… being overly aggressive could do more damage than good. Remember that being aggressive still means that your team has to coordinate it’s attacks and think strategically. More often than not teams forget that last point.

When you shouldn’t be aggressive :

After you have planted the bomb. If the bomb is down, it’s better just to make the safe play and get some cover unless you have at least a 3:1 advantage. If you’re a CT and no bomb has been called. Try to fight the urge to rotate at the first hint of a gun battle. If I am holding a bomb site alone, I will hold my position until either bomb has been called or people on my team start dying.

Aggression also plays a big part in the idea of momentum. Momentum is what happens when

one team is simply steam rolling another, or when one team loses 9 rounds in a row and rallies back to win out. There are many things that effect momentum, and like how classical physics describes momentum with the equation p = mv, I will describe momentum with an equation.

Momentum equation : Momentum = (Money + AgGression) * Streak

38


Let’s start by breaking the equation down. Classical physic’s equation p = mv almost holds

true in CS. P being momentum, M being mass, and V being velocity. Momentum in CS is defined by how much money a team has (the ability to buy up) plus your aggression factor (how Aggressive your team is playing) and that entire quantity is then multiplied by your streak (rounds you’ve won in succession). Since the ability to buy up is something you can only achieve through winning rounds, the only variables you can change are your aggression and your streak. Let’s start by talking about your streak. Momentum can change at a moment when you stop doing what works, or when what has been working fails. For example, if you do a rush B 3 times in a row and take the site and win the round all three times, you have created a streak. When you change the strategy, you effect the streak, thus giving the possibility of a momentum switch. Streak’s can be more complicated, such as doing a 3-2 split, then a 2-3 split while hitting the same bomb site on alternating rounds. Your streak can also be changed and momentum flipped when what your doing fails to work again. For example, if you rushed the B bomb site three times in a row and taken the rounds, if on the fourth round the CT’s mount a defense and win, your streak is over and the momentum has a chance to switch the CT side.

Since whoever wins the round generally gets the most money, the momentum has a

greater chance to be on the side of the team that won the previous round. However, momentum is always on the side of the team that won the previous three rounds, as this gives them enough money to buy up even if they lose the next two.

Here’s how to use the formula. P = (M + A) S Momentum = (Money factor + Aggression factor) * Streak

Money Factor = This will either be 0, 1 or 2. 0 means you have no money, 1 means your team can buy up fully ONLY for the current round, 2 means your team can buy fully for the next two or more rounds.

Aggression Factor = This will either be a 0, 1 or 2. A 0 indicates your team is not aggressive at all. A 1 indicates you are rushing some of the time OR you are playing as CT’s, and a 2 indicates you are running mostly rushing type strategies.

39

Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 Streak = The number of consecutive rounds your team has won in a row.

Important things to remember – • If you’re playing on CT side, your aggression factor will be 1. • If you have not won any previous rounds, yet are very aggressive and can buy up fully, you still have 0 net momentum on your side. Now let’s look at some examples... Team A is on CT side of de_dust2. Team A has won the previous 3 rounds, and has enough money to buy for the next two rounds. What is their momentum?

P = (2 + 1)(3) P=9 Their momentum is 9. Team B is on T side of de_dust2. Team B has won 1 previous round, but is playing extremely aggressive due to the CT’s playing outside of the bomb sites. They have enough money to buy fully for one round only.

P = (1 + 2)(1) P=3 Their momentum is 3. Team B from the previous problem win their next 3 rounds, giving them a 4 round streak. What is their new momentum?

P = (2 + 2)(4) P = 16 Their momentum is now 16. Please note that their money factor changed to 2 due to the fact that they are able to buy up for the next two or more rounds.

Team C is on T side of de_inferno. They have won 10 rounds straight. What is their momentum?

P = (2 + 2)(10) P = 40 Their momentum is 40.

40

Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 Team D is playing Team C on de_inferno, what is their momentum?

P = (1 + 1)*0 P=0 Their momentum is zero.

The lowest possible momentum is a 0, and highest is a 60 (although this would mean your

strategies are mostly rushing, you have enough money to buy for multiple rounds, and you have won the previous 14 rounds straight). Any momentum calculated to be higher than a 10 is favorable., although this is only 1/6th of the total momentum possible. Hopefully you can see from those examples what momentum really means and how it is calculated.

So how does momentum actually affect your game? To be honest, there’s no scientific study

you can do like you can in classical physics. Everything beyond this point is my own speculation, and can never be proved right or wrong. It’s up to you to make up your mind if you want to trust my judgement and experience.

Momentum can win and lose matches. Although it’s not the MOST important thing, it certainly

plays a big roll in who wins and loses. One thing that momentum gives a team is hope. When momentum builds for a team that’s an underdog, or needs many consecutive rounds to win, it fires the players up and makes them actually think “we actually can win this”. This in turn leads to better playing, which leads to more rounds, which leads to higher momentum, which leads to a closer match. Even tough momentum many not actually win a round for a team, it effects a teams mentality enough so that they can play to their full potential. Either way, momentum and winning rounds are closely related.

41


Changing gears

The term ‘changing gears’ refers to the changes a player must make in their play style depend-

ing on different factors such as your opponents skill level, and various in game situations. As you’ve seen above, there are times to play aggressive and there are times to play passive, although totally changing gears effects much more than just being aggressive or passive.

When you change gears you need to take all things into account including aim and strategy. If

you’re playing a good team you need to play less aggressive, have smarter setups when defending a choke point, make good solid calls, and use good in game reasoning. On the other hand, if you’re playing a lesser team you need to change gears the opposite way. For instance if the team you’re playing is worse than you, what good would it be to assume they’re thinking on your levels? Chances are they’re going to make stupid mistakes that may sometimes catch you off guard, as you wouldn’t normally see the same play with a team of more experience.

You need to think below you, what

would someone with THEIR level of experience do in certain situations? Changing gears involves taking all of these things into account and adjusting your play accordingly.

I want to share something that happened to me recently during a scrim. The map was de_cpl_

fire and we were playing a very experienced, well known west team. I was watching far left hall of the A Bomb site on CT round when I decided to get aggressive one round. I pushed up only to see them flash the choke point I was rushing to, knowing I was probably out numbered I quietly crept back and waited. After waiting about a minute they smoked the site, and the bomber along with one other teammate entered to try and get the bomb down. Keeping this in mind, the next few rounds I rushed to outside the hall to listen for an early flash-bang. On the 5th round they tried the strat again, but because I positioned myself correctly and was able to hear the early flash-bang, I was able to tell one of my teammates to quietly rotate because the bomb would probably eventually plant at my site. It was a lot easier holding the halls 2v2 than 2v1, especially when you’re blind and smoked.

Moral of the story? Good players are going to think like good players. They’re going to be me-

thodical, performing each strat to perfection. Luckily in my case, I was able to find their “tell” and was able to adjust accordingly. Look for patterns when you are playing good players… you can out think and out maneuver almost anyone if you just try.

42


The DE, revisited

In my last guide the DE (or “Desert Eagle”) trick was by far the most popular piece of infor-

mation. Various people told me that the DE trick was worth the $8 alone, regardless of all the other valuable information. So to quench the publics’ infatuation with this incredible piece of machinery, I’m going to let everyone in on one of another of the DE’s best kept secrets.

Combined with the previous DE trick, integrating this should make you a DE pro. I’m not sure

how it works, perhaps it’s a bug in the HL engine, but all I do know is that this trick does work for everyone. If you want to be more accurate with your DE while moving (which is one of the only guns I recommend shooting while moving) there’s a valuable piece of information you should be aware of. Strafing normally while shooting the DE will yield a semi-inaccurate shot, putting a lot of guess work into shooting it. But if while strafing you hold the forward key so you move in a diagonal type direction, the bullet will always shoot dead on accurate. To try this, go into a private server and buy a DE. Start moving forward and backwards while shooting it at a normal rate. After you have observed this pattern of shooting, hold your forward key and strafe key at the same time while shooting. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how good your DE will become, especially when combined with the previous DE trick.

If you are shooting the DE long range follow these steps to be more accurate.

First, make sure you’re crouched. Second, use the DE trick to line up your shot accurately. Third, shoot at a rate of a little quicker than one bullet per second. With enough practice you’ll be able to shoot quicker than one shot per second and still be as accurate.

Multiple enemies at once

This is always a fun topic, because we get to talk about rounds in which you kill a good portion

of the opposite team, fairly quickly. There are a few things you should know when you’re shooting multiple enemies so let’s take a look.

In this scenario, you’re shooting at an enemy when another jumps out and begins to shoot

at you while you’re firing at his teammate. You need to try to fight the initial instinct to shoot at your biggest threat. If you’re already engaged, stay engaged. Don’t let up on one enemy until he’s dead, even if it means you’re going to die. When you find yourself in a situation like this, you’re as good as dead, and the only thing you’re trying to do is essentially “take one with you”. 43

Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 If two enemies are in a line, it’s time to crouch and spray. Never try to do your normal bursting in that situation. If two enemies are close to being in line, it’s time to crouch and let them have it, unless they’re extremely long range. In that case, the best thing to do is to fall back before you get your head taken off by one of them. Remember though, when you’re “spraying” you still need to keep your recoil in check by pulling down on your mouse.

Generally if you’re going to get multi-kills, it’s going to be in one of the following areas.

Bottle necks

Choke points

Flanks

Bottle necks are areas in which players must pass through which cause the players to clump

up. For example, the entry halls into bomb site B on de_dust2 is a bottleneck. When teams rush into B they get clustered in those halls, which is an opportune time for multi-killing.

Choke points are the smaller areas that lead to the bomb site and they are generally larger

than bottle necks. Catwalk on de_dust2 and Z halls on de_train are two examples of choke points.

Flank just means being behind the opposite team. If you ever find yourself in this position, be

sure not to take the previous advice and take your time while shooting. Make solid bursts with precision accuracy, and remember that hit boxes are a little different when shooting at someone in their back, especially while they’re crouched. Try aiming just a little bit lower than usual.

Tip : Try to avoid taking on multiple enemies at once at really long ranges unless you’re shooting them in the back. However, contrary to the above, the correct thing to do in that situation would be to burst and not spray.

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Pegging your sensitivity

A lot of players have trouble finding their perfect sensitivity. I talked about it some in the last

book, but I think I was a little too vague when talking about certain aspects of sensitivity. Let there be no mistake about it, there is no “perfect” sensitivity that will work for everyone. And let’s face it, if there was everyone would be using it and you’d probably already know about it. When you find the correct sensitivity, something clicks and you’re able to aim more accurately than you ever have before. I must warn you, try to find your sensitivity by only changing it by .1 or .2 at a time and once you find it, stick with it! Below I have compiled a list of steps to help you find your sensitivity.

First, Make sure mouse acceleration is off; see the last guide for help on doing this. Turning

mouse acceleration off will help you aim better since turning will now be more accurate and consistent. With mouse acceleration on, you never know how much you’re really going to turn when you swipe your mouse as it depends on the acceleration of the mouse (how fast the swipe was).

High vs Low sensitivity – Some players like high sensitivity, some players like low sensitivity.

When I first started playing I was an extremely low sensitivity player. To give you an idea of how low, it took me roughly 14 swipes across the mouse pad to do a single 360. After about 2 years of play, I started to wonder if I could keep the same accurate aim but use a higher sensitivity. When turning from flash bangs takes you 7 swipes, the game starts to become a bit tedious. After about 6 months I was fully transitioned over to a high sensitivity (only 2 swipes to do a 360). Let me state that I do not recommend switching from high to low or low to high unless you are prepared for a lot of slumps. Looking back, I do wish I could have started out with a higher sensitivity than I originally used as 14 swipes was ridiculous at times. My advice if you are totally lost is to find a sensitivity somewhere in the range of between 2 and 4 swipes to do a full 360 spin. This ensures the ability to aim accurately at long distance because the sensitivity isn’t too quick, and also allows the ability to turn from flash bangs efficiently. It seems to be that the lower the sensitivity the easier long range becomes, and the higher the sensitivity the easier close range becomes.

Trouble spraying – If while spraying at medium to close range (hopefully with a colt only) you

are having trouble hitting your opponents it could be due to the fact that your sensitivity is a bit too high. If you are positive it’s not your mechanics (IE you’re pulling down correctly and shooting the gun correctly) try lowering your sensitivity by about .2 or .3.

Feeling sluggish – Go 1v1 with a friend and concentrate on how your crosshair feels. If your 45

Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 teammate is able to properly move and you have trouble getting the crosshair to him (while he’s strafing back and forth you always seem behind him) there’s a good chance your sensitivity may be just a little too low. Use judgment here when adjusting your sensitivity, but try upping it by no more than .2 or .3 at first.

Too jumpy – If instead of the crosshair feeling sluggish, it feels too jittery and jumpy you know

your sensitivity is too fast. Lower it by .2 or .3 and see how it feels. Please do not mistake jumpy for inaccurate, as there may be other reasons your shooting is inaccurate (IE you’re shooting while you are moving)

A good way to help find a sensitivity that feels right for you is to have a friend stand at medium

range and strafe back and forth sporadically. Your job is to keep your crosshair directly on your friend at all times. It’s a good idea to record a demo of that so you can go back and look at it later, but it is not necessary. You should be able to feel right away what your crosshair is tending to do naturally. If it’s sluggish and lagging behind your friend, raise your sensitivity just a bit. If it’s jetting past your friend and too hard to control, lower it just a tad. Play around with small increments until you find a sensitivity that you like.

On the next page I have included a graph which shows the inverse relationship between sen-

sitivity and accuracy at certain ranges. As you can tell from the graph, the lower the sensitivity, the more accurate your long range shooting will be. The higher your sensitivity, the more accurate your close - mid range shooting will become. It is your job to find a happy medium, a sensitivity which you feel comfortable at all shooting ranges.

46


The inverse relationship between accuracy at different ranges and sensitivity

Accuracy level

Low sensitivity High sensitivity

12

High 10

8

6

4

2

Low 0 1 2 3 4 Long range

5 6 7 8 Medium range

Shooting ranges

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9

10 Close range


Over thinking yourself

In the last guide I talked the necessity to make everything muscle memory. You need to get

to the stage that you can shoot, move, and think correctly without actually having to stop and think about it. Sometimes when players go in to slumps (as well as myself) I have noticed that they try to over think themselves. This is something you shouldn’t do as it hinders all the progress we’re trying to make. You need to try to make instant decisions and follow your instinct. The longer you play and more experience you gain, the higher the chances are that the decisions you make will be correct. Over thinking yourself can be detrimental in two ways. It can slow down the decision making process and lead to a lot of frustration. When you have to think about moving and shooting, you obviously aren’t doing it correctly. I suggest going back to the basics and practicing them until they stick and you can execute all the maneuvers without thinking twice about them.

This concept also goes along with CSRT. When you over think yourself, your CSRT decreases

dramatically which is one of the many reasons you should try to avoid doing this. Please note that over thinking has nothing to do with criticizing. It is still completely possible for you to realize the mistakes you make while at the same time NOT over thinking yourself. They are two totally different animals and should not be lumped together in the same category in your mind.

Importance of cross-fire

A cross-fire setup can be used in many situations. I detailed some of them in my previous

guide, but now I want to talk about using a cross-fire not just to hold a bomb site after you’ve planted the bomb. Cross fires can be used in many effective ways that you may not have thought of, including 2v2 situations.

The term cross-fire can be interpreted in many different ways. For the sake of this section, I’m

going to define cross-fire at any time you and your teamate’s fire cross each other in order to gain a strategic advantage. For example, the bomb is planted at A and it’s just you and your teammate left in middle. Since it’s a 2v2 you decide to go for it. Here’s what that situation would look like with and without cross-fire.

48


Without cross-fire

With cross-fire

Notice here that a T standing directly to the left of the wall cannot be seen by either teammate.

Notice here that the same enemy, standing the exact same position now becomes directly visible by using a cross-fire technique.

When you don’t use a cross-fire you cut off a part of the map that could be easily visible. In situations like this it is always better to use a cross-fire technique while still advancing.

It’s important to keep the cross-fire while advancing. You can even do variations on this particular cross-fire such as a “high/low” cross-fire in which the player looking towards the elevated parts watches above you, and the other player watches the ground.

Cross-fires can be used for all sorts of things, while you are on the offensive or defensive. The

next time you’re in a situation like the one pictured above, remember to play your angles and maximize your visibility by using a cross-fire technique with a teammate.

Cross-fires do more than just help your visibility and over, they also help your defense. When

you cross-fire a bomb site (to do this simply place one person at one end of the site, and another person at the opposite end while at the same time staying in each others direct line of fire) you make it very difficult for a single enemy to kill you both. More often than not, a properly positioned crossfire can take out at least two to three enemies before one of the two players gets eliminated. It is ALWAYS advantageous to use cross-fires to defend when the opposite team must enter the bomb site/room and only has between 1 and 3 players left. Keep in mind you can cross-fire just about anything from a bomb site, to a room, to the bomb that the T’s dropped. Always be thinking of ways to better cover yourself and your teammates!

49


Consistency revisited

Let’s see if I can describe your personal play pattern accurately in the following graph. 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1

3

5

7

9

11 13 15 17 19 21 23

In the graph above, the X axis represents time playing, and the Y axis represents skill. The

long areas of horizontal movement represents consistency at the given skill level. The sharp drops represent slumps, the upward movement represent the times you’re trying to get out of slumps and times your skill is progressing naturally, and the extended horizontal lines after a sharp drop represents prolonged slumps.

Most people follow this pattern and while it is frustrating, there is a positive side about going

into slumps. As you can see from the graph, when you emerge from a slump you usually are better than you were before. Obviously you should be able to deduce that slumps are just part of getting better. You have to go through a lot of them in order to reach the top. Just think of them as paying your dues as sometimes they do seem to cause a lot of anguish. So next time you go into a slump, just remember that it’s part of the game and everyone has to go through them to get better.

Confidence is a huge part of slumps as well. Slumps often cause you to lose confidence in

your play, something that’s hard to play without. Try not to think so negative because the less confidence you have, the longer the slump will be. Tip : After a bad game it’s normal to not feel confident in your play, however, before you play another game you need to build your confidence back up. The best thing to do is wait at least 15 minutes before you play, and if at all possible, pub in a server where you know you can consistently beat the other players. This is good for your confidence and could help pull you out of a pre-slump. Also, I suggest reading as the “slump postulate” in the next chapter. 50


Chapter VI – Q&A

Question #1 – Where do I aim?

Answer – This is a question I get asked a lot. For clarification purposes, the question is about

where to aim on your opponent in order to do the most damage or be the most efficient in their shooting. Some players get obsessed with headshots and get discouraged when they can’t consistently get them. My advice would be to aim at the upper chest area which would make a headshot more common as the recoil moves up the body. Eventually, you’ll be able to aim at the perfect level without having to think about it.

I used to be caught in the way of thinking that if I wasn’t able to HS someone instantly, there

was something wrong with my aim. Looking back, I can see that although it did help me to practice getting only headshots, it also hurt me. I was always unsatisfied with my body shots, and it wasn’t until Volcano gave me his advice that I realized what I had been doing. He told me simply to be happy with my body shots. After taking that advice seriously, I become a much better player.

Question #2 – What does ex_interp do, and what should mine be set at?

Answer – The ex_interp command deals with hit boxes, registration, and timing. To be hon-

est, it is a command that used to have a lot more effect on the game than it does currently. In the “good-ole-days” it was possible to artificially improve your reaction time by changing your ex_interp setting. This rightfully used to be called “interp’ing”. When Valve made some enhancements to their HL engine for CS 1.6, all the talk of “interp’ing” died down a little. What’s left is a residual fear that someone with a .1 interp is somehow magically manipulating servers in to giving them more accuracy than someone with an interp setting of .05, just how it was in the “good-ole-days”.

This being said, it is important that you do NOT go against the CAL/CPL default if you want to

play in those leagues. If they say your interp should be .01, then leave it at .01! (For the record, ex_ interp .01 is the current CPL default). However, the only reason the CPL default is .01 is because that is the correct ex_interp setting for a CS client that is running cl_cmdrate 101 and cl_updaterate 101. We all know not everyone has a connection good enough to run these rates, and for some people doing this could cause choke or even loss. If you are one of these people that don’t use 101/101 rates, then for scrims and un-offical matches, set your ex_interp to 0. This will allow CS to automatically find the best interp setting for you, based on your update and cmdrate values. 51


Question #3 – Why do I go into a slump so often? How do I overcome it?

Answer – This is a topic I’ve covered many times. Let’s start with the important things. A

slump is a somewhat mystical thing, and I’m pretty sure has no basis in scientific fact. In all honesty, it can’t be measured by any degree of accuracy (IE no way to measure a slump) and there is no telling when you could come out of yours. It’s something I learn more about everyday, and a lot of what I tell you about slumps is pure guess-work.

There are some things that I do know about slumps. Although like I said before, these are

nothing more than my hypotheses since there is no real way to measure the things I’m about to say, however, I can correctly state it the following as a postulate. It sometimes takes hundreds of years for a postulate to become a law, so hopefully if people are still playing Counter-Strike in a hundred years they’ll call this the law of slumps.

Here’s the postulate.

1.

Everyone will enter into a state of “slump” at least once while playing the game competitively.

2.

Slumps cause frustration which lead to longer slumps.

3.

Most will experience them several times. (Now we’re finally getting to your question)

4.

Every time you overcome a slump, you step up a notch in skill.

5.

Slumps feed off of arrogance, inexperience and lack of confidence.

6.

All players can eventually achieve a state where slumps are rare and happen with much less

frequency.

Now that you know the postulate, it’s a lot easier to answer your question. There’s a good

chance you’re going to experience more than one slump, and it’s honestly just a natural part of the game. To overcome them you need to sometimes walk away from the game and calm yourself as playing frustrated will just prolong a slump. You also need to try to gain some confidence back in your abilities. The longer you go lacking confidence, the worse things are going to be. It’s best to try and play with people you know you can beat during this time period to try to build your confidence back. After a few games of scoring 20+ each half, you should be back in action.

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Question #4 - Why is my voice on Ventrilo garbled while I’m in game?

Answer – You’ll have to thank our English friends from across the pond for this one. One of my

students from the UK , “tHiNK”, recently told me how to fix this annoying glitch.

Step 1) Open Ventrilo

Step 2) Hit cntrl+alt+del to bring up the task manager

Step 3) Click the Processes tab

Step 4) Right click Ventrilo.exe under “Image Name”

Step 5) Go to the Set Priority sub menu and select “High”

Step 6) Select Ok to the warning message and open CS.

Question #5 - How do I find max Hz on my monitor given my resolution?

Answer – This is an important thing to know for the sake of your monitor. If you ever (while

using Reforce or another program) set the refresh rate too high for your resolution, you run the risk of damaging your monitor. To find out how many Hz your monitor can safely display in a given resolution follow the following steps.

Step 1) Right click on your desktop and click Properties

Step 2) Click the Settings Tab and change your desktop resolution to the resolution in which

you wish to determine max Hz

Step 3) In the bottom left of the Settings Tab, click the Advanced button

Step 4) Click the monitor tab

Step 5) In the Monitor Settings box, select the radio button that says “hide modes that this

monitor cannot display”

Step 6) See what is displayed in the drop down box. The highest number is your max refresh

rate in that resolution. Note : If your max is 60 Hz regardless of resolution, you may need to install drivers for your monitor.

53


Question #6 – How do I “read” the opposing team?

Answer - Hopefully while reading this guide you have picked up some hints as to what the

other team will be doing in the future based on what they are doing currently. I have compiled some of the most common reads in the following charts.

Your CT Side (your opponents are the Terrorists) Currently… Next round they are likely to… The Terrorists lose 2 consecutive Either fully save, or DE rush an easily accessible bomb rounds. site in which they have the ability to fire at close range. If they have DE’s, they will go for a bomb plant. The Terrorists take a bomb site, easily They are likely to run this strategy again in the near future. plant, and win the round. If not the very next round, look for it on the round after next. The Terrorists pick a CT early. Watch for them to run the EXACT same pick. They grenade and flash one bomb site They’ll try the same strategy, except actually hit the bomb and hit the other with success. site they are flashing.

Your T Side (your opponents are CT’s) Currently… The CT’s lose 2 consecutive rounds. The CT’s are getting trampled by your rushes during consecutive rounds. The CT’s are being very aggressive and pushing up. The CT’s are playing very passive in their sites.

Next round they are likely to… They will probably do a full save, rushing one choke point quickly. Grenades are possible. They will put an extra CT where your team has been rushing. You can use this to your advantage by rushing an opposite way, hitting them where they are short-handed. They will continue to do this until you stop them. Don’t let the CT’s become the aggressors, making your team the defenders. If it’s working, they’ll continue to do it. The only way to change this is to be more aggressive and get into a bomb site and plant. This will force them to be a little more aggressive (peak out more) in future rounds.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, look for patterns in strategies for dead giveaways as to what the

opposite team will be doing next. These “tells” could be as subtle as a flash-bang, or as obvious as footsteps. For example, if you know that a team throws two flashes upper on de_nuke before rushing ramp, call the possible ramp rush as soon as you see the two flash-bangs being thrown. This can be counter-intuitive in the fact that when you see flashes upper, you tend to want to call an upper rush. This is how strategies trick you. 54


Index

Important terms and concepts Consistency - Playing to your full potential at all times. Cross-fire - Two players that are maximizing their visibility OR defensive advantage by crossing their lines’ of fire. CSRT - Your reaction time while playing Counter-Strike. Default strategy - Strategy used on normal gun rounds. Differential progression - The observation that some individuals are able to advance within a given area quicker than others given the same amount of time. Fatigue - Any moment when your CSRT falls dramatically due to the amount of time you’ve been playing. Inverse sensitivity/range relationship - The fact that the higher a given sensitivity, the easier close range and harder long range shooting becomes. Momentum - Defined as P = (Money factor + Aggression factor)(Streak). Momentum is the invisible force that influences a match when one team is outplaying the other for consecutive rounds. Pistol strategy - Strategy your team will use on the very first round of T or CT side when both teams will have pistols only. This is one of the most important rounds of the game. Reading the opposing team - The act of calling out the opposing team’s strategy before the round, or during a round but before they execute the strategy. Slump - Extended periods of sub-par play. Slump postulate - See page 49 for a complete definition.

Lethal’s quick tips to remember

Important things you should integrate into your game #1. Never engage multiple enemies long range at the same time with a rifle. #2. If the opposing Terrorist team DE + armor saves, it almost always means they’re trying to plant. #3. Buy at least one kit for your team on CT save rounds. #4. When dropping a weapon for a teammate at the beginning of the round, don’t buy another until it is picked up. #5. Turn off “auto switch to a picked up weapon if it is more powerful” in controls > advanced. #6. Keep your settings consistent! #7. Don’t rotate until you have confirmation of bomb, OR know the team isn’t doing a fake. #8. Keep enemies with pistols at long range. #9. Put the past round behind you and review mistakes after the match/scrim is OVER. #10. Happy teammates = successful team. 55

Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 de_nuke Screen Shots

The two pictures above show exactly where you need to throw flash-bangs as Terrorists in order to completely flash the upper site for a few seconds. If you throw your nades where I have marked with glock bullets, at the same angle I am at in the picture, you should throw a good flash everytime. Be careful however when doing this; if I were a CT on the ground in the bomb site, I would try to rush the hut door and catch you with a nade out. That is why you need to have someone sitting in dark corner to try and protect the person throwing flashes. Below I have illustrated how to smoke the window from outside without ever going past it. On the next page you can see exactly what the smoke looks like when it explodes and where the grenade actually lands.

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Lethal’s Guide to Playing Competitive Counter-Strike Volume 2 (c) InventorSpace LLC 2006 Any un-authorized distribution of this guide is prohibited. Any products mentioned in this guide are registered trademarks of their respective companies. ESEA is a registered trademark of E-sports Entertainment Association, LLC. Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected] or [email protected].

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Lethal CS Guide Vol 2

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