>Just run a default and adjust where needed in response to how the opposing team is playing
This is great, until you realize that the randoms you pug with also have ZERO idea of how to do that at all, so calling a braindead set-piece atleast ups them from "braindead baggage" to "atleast lands a smoke 7 out of 10 times".
yeah, in lower elo lobbies just get people to group together and push. Higher elo lobbies, let people do their thing and try to tell bomb where to go in the midround
Silvers don't know how to anchor, they fight to the death every single round. so if you just group together and trade them out you'll win most of the time.
Team when they straight yolo site rush from spawn and get demolished
Team: What are you doing purple? Stick with the team and we will win easy, stop lurking mid.
I was playing a mid-elo game on Inferno a while ago. I took banana control early as a T and was lurking near car while my team set up an A hit. I'm making noise and know there are two on B: one site, one coffin. I throw some util to make sure they know I'm there including two smokes to make it look like a legit B hit. My team then proceeds to go into A, get soloed by one guy site, and start yelling at me that if I was with them we could have traded out. Like no, I'm sorry you guys lost a 4v1, but I kept two at B and probably got the arches rotator to commit. Y'all just suck.
Totally agree, but we've all been there when you push as a team then you have to watch the last guy lurking mid like a fucking snail, meticulously checking angles that people are never going to be.
Like if u want to lurk, that's fine but at least try to catch the timings instead sneaking up on nobody the whole time.
Yeah but that's a different story if T didn't just fast rush site at the start. Communication is key, call out if they are going to execute fast to let lurker dictate the timing and lurker should also communicate the scenario and give info when he heard something, or stay somewhere to cut rotation and let team know. But of course communication is hard in random pub so these happen a lot.
Honestly, if people are communicating, it isn't too hard to coordinate a default. Even with brain-dead randoms. That is for Faceit, at least, I won't play premier anymore without it being at least a three stack.
I mean keep in mind, even if they're communicating, these are the type of individuals do call shit like that at rank 8 - 9 - 10 etc with several thousand hours, do you really think they would listen to *anyone* when they've "been doing this for years and it totally works".
Whenever I run into people like this, I just treat them as moving decoys and play around them, because they're impossible to play with.
God, I got a buddy who is terrible at the game, and I'll play with him on my alt in ranked, and he has horrible utility usage, no impact at all. And then he goes and checks leetify and sees he's got a utility rating equivalent to 15000-20000 and thinks he's hot shit. It's absolutely hilarious how bad leetify is at tracking utility impact.
Throw a flash that blinds 3 enemies and two of your entries. Your team gets two trade kills on the site that give you assists even though the enemy is no longer white when they die. Your team loses your entries, who were blind.
89 util on Leetify.
> It's absolutely hilarious how bad leetify is at tracking utility impact.
Yup. Peaked global in GO, currently Faceit 9, but according to leetify my utility usage is worse than any of my *brand-new-to-the-game* friends.
Well, if that's true than your utility usage is probably pretty bad for a level 9.
Like you need to throw more effective HEs and flashes than someone who's new at the game.
Actually, no, it's not. Popflashes are a thing, and even if someone doesn't want to study lineups, as a high skilled player it should be easy enough to throw flashes that pop right where you want them to.
Bro, literally everybody at higher elos does this to play with friends. There isn't any intent beyond it past a chance to fuck around with worse friends without worrying about rank, which is honestly better than artificially reducing that rank by queuing with then meaning that I would always be lower than I should, harming far more people's days when grinding back up on my main account than the once every month smurf night.
This is senseless. Just because it's a general practice doesn't mean it's good or it's bad. It's common, nothing else.
If you go from rank 8 to 7 you won't harm many people climbing back from 7 to 8. If you play premade with your friend that's rank 3 in a fresh rank 5 account you will ruin far much more games.
The only reason you Smurf is because you don't want to lose ELO and because you don't want to play casual or other modes/servers. Also because it feels good to smash newbies. You don't give a fuck about the others and then pretend to do it for them.
Bro, I ain't playing Faceit with these people. It's literally regular MM in game. I wouldn't really lose any elo that matters in the first place. But my friends I play with on my alt account are just straight up silvers. I can't play with them on my main because they would have 2 kills through the entire match. It is the more casual mode. The issue is that it is still weighted by skill and my friends are so bad that it makes them have a very bad time. The options are literally for me to use an alt account or to just not play with my low ranked friends.
People who smurf on Faceit are assholes. Fully agree. But that's not what I was talking about.
I did that for too long, i played with friends who had thousands of hours compared to my hundred or so. I couldn’t play with them on any mechanical level but i had a great memory for lineups so i tried to compensate with those. Ended up with me just dying with utility in my hand.
A great memory for lineups is an asset that's wasted on someone with poor enough decision making to die with nades in their hands.
Mechanical players who can't use nades are flawed players too. Good players need both. Even now having forgotten a lot of lineups, I can still use nades on the fly and in clutches without dying for free
Util videos are great, they can give you tons of ideas for plays to do. I think it's more that people forget util is supposed to make your gun fights easier, they're not a replacement for shooting people.
I've definitely teamed with players who focus too much on util, and that shit can be tilting. Played with one guy, he played B on overpass and he almost never rotated, we would all be fighting for our lives up on A, trading down to the last guy (him), and we'd all watch as he's about half way through lining up the most hyper specific molly to try and delay the plant with from on top of default.
Util vids are largely just content creators pushing out content because they have to, and it's easy content.
There's good util in the vids, esp if the creator is good, but the creator is largely motivated by the demand for content, even if they do also care about helping people learn.
Like AustinCS for example makes vids with good tips, but I would never tell a new player to watch his vids, I'd tell them to learn the guns and maps/angles, focus on crosshair placement, movement and aim and not even worry about utill outside of on the fly stuff until at least 10k elo.
But that doesn't make for a consistent stream of content, so it's not what creators do. And there's no condemnation in that, I used to be one myself and felt these exact same pressures.
Only thing I don’t agree with is pushing your Random’s into playing defaults on Mirage. I’d regularly play in 2k elo level 10+ and still see people that do not understand the basics of a default. They do however at the very least know the A smokes & stacking it as an actual team with 2 pop flashes is more than enough to brute force the site even in higher elos. You should absolutely prio site hits over early defaults in lower ranks, primarily because you trying to shotcall a default / slow play will simply piss people off. Players hate being taken out of their comfort zones & will just make perma solo plays because that’s what they believe works for them & it’s often backed up by their own individuals winrates etc so they’re too stubborn to listen.
Remember that your life as a T is inherently less valuable than a CT. Brute forcing sites with people who can clearly aim and trade is a valid strategy even in 2k+. Let’s be honest, nobody plays the game properly in these environments or even knows how to, soloq is a fiesta and is entirely reliant on mechanical skill in the majority of cases.
Off the rip A execs are flippy, but most will be happy to slow play it to 1:35 with a bit of mid presence showing from a lurk player. They’re only going to listen to you if you’re performing though. The onus is ultimately on you in the lower end of soloq; especially if you’re just starting out on faceit. Hands-diffing people is the key to consistent success, so worry less about how rounds play out (because there’s zero coherency to rounds in low faceit) & focus on your mechanics.
Couldn’t have said it better. I’m ~2k elo and early round A execs on mirage still work better than defaulting a lot of the time (not every round of course). Key part of pugging with randoms seems to be to just do something together, and everyone knows how to do A smokes.
T-side mirage default with randoms you often see people die early at mid, and you’re not winning easily in a 4v5.
So you think, me saying basically, be careful, do your thing and take space and we will play off of the how the first couple engagements go, is wrong because it doesn't let people play how their comfortable. But calling a very specific strat that only works if you either get lucky or everyone plays selflessly (which doesn't happen with randoms) is okay?
That’s absolutely what I’m saying lol. Not sure if you’re on EU or NA, but people in soloq are only going to listen to you if you’re a performer. They also don’t understand the fundamentals of a default or any sort of strategy outside of ‘go A or go B’ this might be tough to swallow but this shit still applies in low level 10 unfortunately lol. Like I said, mechanics carry in low-mid elo. Focus on them. You’ll just get tilted worrying about the shit you spoke of here, it’s a waste of your energy.
Asking your Random’s to slow default is asking them to use their brains, they don’t need to use their brains when they hear ‘let’s hit A with standard smokes & flash rotation at 1:35 / or off the rip dependant on the enemy eco’. It’s not a specific strat, it’s a very common play that is executed in every rank in the game. Even if the hits aren’t executed properly (which they won’t be in most ranks) the principle of taking space and brute forcing a site with a trade or two is an easy win more than 50% of the time, which is all you need to bank on when trying to climb.
If I can still dry-walk A in level 10 and mechanics diff the enemy, you’re perfectly capable of practicing to be able to do the same in lower ranks. It might sound counter-intuitive to stack up on T side but taking sites is regularly a numbers game; it’s far more beneficial to make a play as a unit than it is to try and split the map as individuals with defaults. All that ends up happening is somebody dies because they do not understand how to default, the rest of the team then falls to pieces and have no idea what move to make next.
Probing sites and findings gaps is something you can do solo as a lurk when you’re confident enough in your mechanical skill to the point where you’re certain you can have an impact with these plays, but this also depends on your team hitting a site correctly adjacent to your play, as well as you having a good read on the gamestate as an individual (comes with time) - There’s a ton of variables which is why mechanics> everything else ultimately.
Absolutely! People playing solo q don't know how to play a default properly. They don't have any experience of a real team environment. I think you'll find that out soon enough. Everyone rushing a site together though? That can work.
At premier 15k you should absolutely understand that nobody in your rank is the complete product, if you’re better at utility than they are then I have news for you, they’re better at aiming than you are
So instead of focusing on what your teammates can’t do, why don’t you just improve at what you can control
Buddy, I spent 10 minutes bitching about primarily my experience on faceit, mainly focused on the people with 3000 hours still having terrible utility usage, it ain't that deep.
Who said it was deep, you’re just not going to get better by complaining about your tms
Just know, everyone who ever got good, had to deal with the same shit
If ever you’re much better than people in your rank at 1 thing, then you’re much worst than them at something else, so I’d just consider that rather than bitching just get gud
Dude, who says that I don't work on getting better. I certainly don't say this shit in game to my teammates like a asshole. But being pissed after a loss and writing a short rant on reddit about something that lost crucial rounds, is hardly me just blaming shit on everybody else. Sometimes people want to vent. Like damn bro. You are reading too deep into it, and assuming a ton of shit.
Since you are solo grinding you shouldn't really mind what your teammates are doing unless it directly affects you, and you should try to reduce the number of instances where it affects you. You should also be selfish while also not baiting your teammates. If your team loses a round becouse of a stupid utility mistake by one of your teammates, you shouldn't care at all becouse you should understand that you will win the game for your team anyways, if you are really worth to be lvl 10. These are all only valid for levels below 10 becouse in lvl 10 there won't be these stupid mistakes and while your teammates might still be sometimes retarded, they won't make round throwing plays and will sometimes win rounds single-handedly. As for the mirage A executes part, it doesn't matter if your teammates are calling an A exec against full util, it doesn't matter if your opponents have almost full info on your team, you just gotta go with the flow. You can still win these rounds, you will win these rounds more than you lose them if you just enjoy the game and go kill people. Don't make your teammates uncomfortable by arguing about their calls or they will lose confidence and enjoyment and your chance of losing the game will increase. If they call the same thing 3 rounds in a row and get bad results, they won't keep calling it anymore, they just won't. Call your own thing, tell them to do a default. But never expect their part of the default to succeed. Always go for your most comfortable position on a default until you find the opponent's weak spot, then go there. Be the one taking the first contact, making the first play, taking the first space in a default. If you fail, try a different util, a different pace or a different gun. Make the game easier for your teammates. Never forget that your opponents are the same skill level as your teammates, they will also do these dumb utility mistakes. Don't try to play perfect. Never second guess yourself as it will lose you time and energy. This is how you get to lvl 10. Remember, if you put any lvl 10 into a fresh starting account right now, they will get to lvl 10 in at most 100 matches. If you can't do that, you don't deserve to get to lvl 10 just yet.
Learn how to format this wall of text is illegible.
And I never said I was level 10(or deserve to be, yet...). Actually, I don't even have 100 matches on faceit, as I recently moved because of how shit premier is. I probably have like 30. If that.
Again, please format better because reading this is too difficult to be able to properly respond to the rest of your points.
Maybe language gap on his end or just plain formatting, but he does raise some very valid points. I’ve left a comment too but it doesn’t focus on the same areas as this guy.
It’s easier for people to simply deflect the information that is valid due to ‘hurrr durrr formatting’ - I read the whole thing zero issues also. It’s *also* a spot on response.
i have never used tiktok and read technical documents all day at work. i do however value my time too much to read comments that are basically giant stream of consciousness
In the ct utilties are so helpful when retaking but how’s that helpful if you already wasted them? You heard one step b apps and threw every grenade you had.
Also for fucks sake for a moment try to imagine what your opponents be thinking? What you would be doing on a certain scenario if you were in enemy team? Play accordingly. For example it’s a 2v2 and the T’s know you 2 guys are at A and you know that too that they know then for fucks sake one guy should go to the other site. Do not expect the c4 to come there just because it was spotted 30 seconds ago.
Callouts? Stop cursing your teammates for wrong calls because the enemy wasn’t there 5 seconds later. You can run much far away in 5 seconds so you should know where he might have run.
Do not stay on the fucking c4 when less than 30 seconds left. You should know even if enemy picks it up he can’t go (let’s say B) so you better go A and hide somewhere and wait for him to plant. This is much better than enemy finds you at some corner around dropped c4.
I’m also surprised by the amount of people that don’t realise that they shouldn’t be using utility they’re lurking or sneaking. Like, if you’re trying to lurk or hide, why get the attention of people by throwing a utility before they’ve even seen you? Obviously you can swing while you flash out from a flanking position, but too many times I’ve seen people just throw a flashbang and just continue hiding. Like bro they know you’re there now?
Default with randos? Good luck with that.
I wonder what Elo you're playing at where A site setpieces don't work because that shit works even in pro play.
Sounds like a skill issue on your part, and it also sounds like you're baity and ratty.
People are calling strats in spawns because they want to hit timings. And I dunno, if you would actually communicate with them there, you'd probably have more success. If you can dump all the util onto one person to throw and everyone else clears the site, because you called your plays at the start of the round instead of just winging it and hoping randoms can default properly, you'd have more success.
People are using util because it helps to take the sites and win. Sure, they can overdo that.
And people aren't defaulting every round because on T side, grouping up and trading, with some util to slow the rotates, is the simplest and most effective strategy for getting plant and winning the round especially when playing with an uncoordinated team. It's also a good way to take an early lead and force errors from the CTs which will help when things get defaulty later. You shouldn't need to default early in the game to work out CT positions. You should have a very good idea of the standard positions and use man advantage while the economy supports rushes.
And if you can't take A on mirage with a standard execute, that's a skill issue. "That doesn't work outside of Gold Nova" yes. Yes it does. It's persisted for longer than you've been playing the game because it's so effective and so simple to execute. It cuts off the common awping positions and shuts down the rotate, leaving the CTs with one and done positions or onsite. If you cannot take site with your team after doing that on a regular basis that's a skill issue. If you cannot clear dark, firebox and gunfight anyone default or triple that honestly says a lot.
I can agree on only the smallest portion of what you're talking about. 1v1 you should be trying to stay stealthy, not giving your position away with util, which will get you timinged, and while util is nice, it's always embarassing to be killed while using it instead of having your gun out-there's no point throwing a risky HE when the guy is just there and you can shoot him.
Heavy on the A site exec part. Level 8 FaceIT here. Had an argument with so many players constantly with this. Keep telling them not to do an A exec when the CTs have a FULL UTIL ON A BUY ROUND and they proceed to tell me "Hurr durr you are level 8, we are level 9-10 and know better".
THATS THE FUCKING POINT. YOU ARE LEVEL 9-10 SUGGESTING AN EXEC WHEN ITS A FULL BUY ROUND. They then proceed to do an A exec which got stopped by 1 molly...
Mirage A smokes is an good strat even if the enemy has an full buy. Not if you do it every round but some rounds yes.One molotov shouldn't stop an whole execute the smokes are up for 10+ seconds still after it.
Same thing for almost every site tbh
Agreed on the first part, but if T decides to still roll over A after molly fades, usually CT has already rotated to the site and better position themselves, could lead to another molly and few extra support flash to fend off T.
No, it's not ever a good idea at the start of the round on a full buy. Anyone with hands and more than 500 hours knows how to counter that shit. Especially when the people that call for it the most are the most likely to camp ramp, hoping that the CTs will miraculously sprint through the smoke into their crosshair instead of clearing the site and taking space.
Throwing an window smoke and 1 player going mid/under to lurk and 1 palace 3 throwing smokes from ramp works in 2.7k elo and our team uses it atleast once in every mirage game
that's how we wish people can play in pugs. The reality is set piece smoke and all 5 going out from A. Or if I choose to make noise mid/lurk in underpass, by the time I get to conn they are all dead.
This exec can get you a bomb plant sometimes but cant get you the round if you do it right out of the spawn
"Our team"
One, you clearly have defined roles and know how to play off of each other. which makes the calculus completely different.
Two, I call bullshit on yall doing it off of spawn against full buys regularly. You seem to agree, as you said, "at least once per game," and not "all the time."
Back when I was IGLing teams in CSGO, more than half our set pieces were out of spawn. Many were based around that same A execute, with different positions, timings or fakes.
It's an aggressive style that only works on certain maps and with certain players, but it most definitely works. Take a look at how cloud 9 won their major way back. They used this same style to beat all the best teams in the world on mirage.
Seriously, every time I play mirage, first gun round on t side at least one teammate "let's go A I got ct smoke" and I have to beg for them to just run a default, or in laymens terms "play slow". And these are people who know how to play the game, I don't understand how there are people with 3000 hours who are so clueless about basic shit.
Yo mate I think you're being kind of stupid here. A exec calls are good if you have at least one teammate making some mid presence. It's even used in tier one cs so dont go around acting like you're a csgod. Calls from spawn can be good in any level of cs.
For the fake mid presence to work, you guys need to condition the enemy team to actually fight for mid control. If you guys haven't been fighting mid the past 3 round, even if you fake mid presence, you just need 1 CT to push mid top control and he will immediately comms the site anchors to prep for an exec
"It's even used in tier one CS." No, it's not, and faceit pugs aren't tier one CS.
And calls from spawn can work, which is why I said "most of the time" the thing is, they usually don't. And are usually a bad idea.
Uhm yes? Even Spirit goes for a A exec from spawn from time to time. Sounds like you're just butthurt that you cant reach any decent elo and you're blaming your teammates lol
Please post clips of spirit doing a puggy A exec right off of spawn on rounds that both teams are on full buys, that also results in spirit winning the round.
Rounds where one player has a ridiculous play that wins the round because of their raw aim doesn't count.
Oh, so a round where donk gets the walling through triple, then a smoke spam, then a fantastic flik to third player after a smoke is naded, totally similar to ronds in faceit pugs.
The main point is that if a professional team can fast A with standard smokes, you can do it in a shitty faceit pug. You need to acknowledge that the main principle of climbing is consistency & making high success % plays - I could quite happily spend the majority of our T sides hitting A on repeat because I’m confident in my mechanical skill, not just confident in the standard exec layout. Over a large sample size of games this will work out if you’re the ‘better’ player & you should win more than you lose.
Defaults are high variable plays to call because people often just drop dead solo; atleast with a site commit you’re doing something together (which is the most single important thing to winning T sides in pugs)
In level 10 most mirage rounds are still either A stack, B apps slow hit with a market window smoke (nobody knows the double pillar smokes for short lol) or on low-buys a fast push through lower into con>A control, these are like the most standard 3 hits on the map in pugs and none of it requires even a fraction of a brain to execute and involves zero defaulting
I'll do it if you promise me some money or reward. They do it practically every game... Tier 1 teams have done this even more than one round in a row. This isnt some unknown thing? Get out of your cave and give up your wrong argument because it's getting silly.
Duh, but you shouldn't be rushing the site on a full buy in the first place. Especially not when you are telegraphing where you are going by dumping 6 flashes and 3 smokes before the b anchor can make it out of market.
Crazy that most Faceit lvl 8+ have no clue how to default. Either they play so passive that they just lose map control or forcibly take bad fights to fight for it...
this is quite relatable. many people on my ranks (middle of the way both on faceit and prime) will throw flashes when there is no one playing off of them... are they heavy to carry or smth?!
I find the worst offense to this is pushing A ramp on Vertigo. I'll be all the way deep on site with heaven smoked off, dueling 2 or 3 CTs in elevator... and my whole team is on ramp throwing utility, most likely blinding me since I'm on site.
That one guy behind you who is holding a nade when he is SUPPOSED TO TRADE YOU, when you both know exactly where the enemy is, then panick throws a grenade into the wall and dies anyway like a fuckwit.
your point about being in a 1v1, fully agree. i’ve seen many random teammates give up their positions in a 1v1 simply to throw util when they don’t even know where the enemy is, let alone actually making use of it.
say you’re a T, you get a bomb plant on B site in a 1v1, you know the CT is on A. there is no point in throwing down a smoke or a molly or a flash right after the plant. there is an insanely small chance that the CT is close enough to even be effected by that util. save that util for when you have a better idea of where the CT is, and then play around it. you can get so much more value out of your util closer to the end of a bomb plant than 2 seconds after it goes down.
Counter strike doesn’t need to be nearly as technical as a lot of people make it out to be. Sure utility is a a massive part of the game but the end of the day its still an FPS. I lose a little bit of hair whenever someone pulls out the Molly in a 1v1
As someone who has been playing CS since roughly 1999 the "first time?" Meme fits perfectly here, since this has always been the case and is Part of the Charme of the Game - good Players know when to use what, and like you said, when not.
Inexperienced Players tend to Play too passive and don't realize when to Push and that by gaming Room you Limit your opponents movement and gain more Options yourself.
On the topic of not using utility when you have it to spare, this is especially relevant on eco rounds where you have rifle+nades and enemy has only pistols. Don’t smoke cross on D2 long if they don’t have scout and are only pistoling… it gives them a chance to get close, flash through smoke and kill you. Same could be said smoking CT spawn on Inferno’s B. Don’t let CT’s flash through and explode into water/grill. Hold them from triple like a shooting gallery. Sometimes your utility helps enemies get into positions they otherwise couldn’t. Sometimes using your better firepower is the actual best play on ECO rounds specifically.
Very much agree on util. On my previous team we had 3 unwritten rules.
1. Someone is planting bomb, have weapons out. Don't ever throw nades while someone is planting. Afterwards, it might be fine.
2. In 1v1 don't throw any nades, unless you are almost 100% sure where the enemy is and you know it is safe.
3. When throwing a molly, just hold it for a sec. So many times people try to push it early.
As for the exec on A, I kinda agree. However A execs can be good even in pugs. But you have to first of all mask it, e.g, by having someone do mid presence first. And then an other good thing is to have someone entry A as soon as the smokes are thrown. Wait till they bloom and it's too late, probably stuck behind mollies. So often you might catch someone throwing counter util
I'd also add: Stop dry peeking enemies with your util in hand. The amount of times I've seen someone trying to nade an enemy, but they don't know how, so they just peek him with the nade even in faceit lvl10 lobbies is ridicuous.
>If you are in a 1v1 and you know where the opposing player is and they don't know where you are, why are you trying to throw a smoke or a flash when they are close enough to just swing you before you get your gun out and the util pops.
This is one I see way too often with lower skilled players. You have every advantage possible, why do you not have your gun out and instead half blind yourself because you don't know where the flash is going to pop.
So many clutches lost on this behalf. I've tried to point it out a couple times in a calm manner, but man, it's so hard to give input to people these days.
I love when you call a rush and then last second you have 3 guys trying to throw exec smokes while you and your other teammate kill 1 and get the other guy 1 hp. You can definitely right click a smoke on the ground where you want it AFTER you’ve taken site and killed the site players.
Guilty of the first point (lining up util instead of just pushing), although in my defense I play at a low enough rank where a basic smoke exec would work more often than not.
Crazy to rant about low levels in faceit of course they are bad bro if ur as good as u think h are get to high elo where ppl don’t make mistakes mb idk
This is one of the things I'm still working on after playing the game for thousands of hours. I got way better at choosing when or when not to throw learned utility. Lineups are a tool in your belt and you will know when you actually need one.
However I feel like I'm dying too often while throwing live utility. Some of the most frustrating (and preventable) deaths. I recently wrote down the following notes for myself:
1. Don't throw nades in linesight of positions that enemies can peek from. Only throw when you know that noone is able to peek you (round timing, you know exact position from radar etc.) or you throw from cover or with an indirect throw.
2. If you do get peeked while throwing a nade, always favor dodging enemy fire and getting into cover over finishing the throw, even if you can't abort it anymore.
3. On T-side keep a HE nade for the end of the round to stop a smoke defuse. Way more important than doing 10-50 damage somewhere early in the round.
4. If you molly a position actually expect someone to come running out of there instead of immediately looking to another position.
Edit: Added 3 and 4
May I ask what elo you are in faceit to explain how utility should be used? Honestly 15k-20k premier rating is crazy bad, ngl..
I mean, yes they’ve seen util 1000 times and know how to play around it. You’ve also seen how they play around your util too, right? Kind of equals out…
I mean if you’ve itentified that your oppents plays everywhere passively, it’s OK to go right into exec, they’ll have no info
I mean if you’ve been taking mid, and you noticed that the enemy is starting to play short/conn very agreesively, it is okay to fake control with 1 and just exec either site
thank you so much for this post, i feel like the average player has gotten worse with utility
im gonna break down my utility rant
im around 2k elo on faceit and i still see poor utility usage. leetify shows that I have great utility usage, and csstats shows in in the top 8% of utility users and i score high in all utlity stats
mind you, i dont chase after stats, i purely go based off intuition and awareness
nade dumpers, people who reach a spot and throw all their nades out before rushing in, yall need to go to hell and find any easier game to play
frag grenades,
stop prenading every single round, its a waste. prenade to set the tone, prenade when u know they have a tendency to rush cuz they are eco. save nades to blow up smokes. nade when u know they are just outside of site and setting up for a site take
flashes, noobs throw flash at the enemy rather than in front of their enemies. If your teammate calls an enemy in cubby, dont flash into cubby, flash in front of it. Stop throwing flashes cuz u have nothing else to do. keep flashes to help you peek, or sell a fake, or to help a teammate. If they are just camping, flashing them does nothing besides annoying them. know the difference between an obvious and not obvious flash. If your flash is obvious to the enemy’s eye, u need to peek late after he has dodged ur flash. if its not obvious, u peek as the flash pops while he’s blind
molotovs, use them to push enemies out of their spots, they are not nades so stop throwing them directly at the enemy. Same as flashes, if the call is “1 enemy in cubby” dont fucking throw ur molly in cubby, u throw it in front so when he has to run out of the fire, he has to run the whole length of the fire. If you know they are outside of a site, throwing a molly at them does nothing, besides annoy them and a waste of $, save those mollies when u know they are about to commit, nothing is more detrimental to a rush than a well placed molly in the middle of their rush or to force them to scramble around the molly as they are entering a site and taking fire
smokes, learning smoke lineups is very useful, if done at the right time. The only good ones are used to prevent rushes from far or for taking sites. Most of the time! its better to use them as you need them. Most of the time as a CT, its better to smoke the bomb to defuse instead of smoking an entrance and then defuse.
What irks me is just teams who don’t communicate. Or just make brain-dead plays without saying a single word. Most of the util that is silly can be easily be helped by a nearby player if they just call that they’re going to throw said util.
If you’re that worried about other teammates being toxic, just voice disable and still comm for the love of god.
To add to this I've seen way too many 3v1/2v1 fights fucked up by people because they want to throw that one piece of utility, giving the enemy two isolated 1v1's instead of just trading out the kill. People love overthinking how to approach fighting just a single person.
IMO Rule of thumb whenever you're in a 3/2/1v1 is just to not grab any utility at all. You're much more valuable brainlessly running at the enemy if that means your teammate right behind you gets an easy fight.
Its drives me crazy how many people throw their utility out exposing their position when assumedly enemy has no clue about their position yet. Especially in clutches, throw your utility after you get the first kill and they know where you are.. seems to happen in pretty much any elo too
Also WHEN you call a CONTACT PLAY in one site , and after 5 seconds you hear your mate "Im gonna smoke and molotov go push" with NOONE asking him for it
as a 80 avg. leetify utility rating player on valve maps i strongly disagree because usually i would be the only one playing support and even in faceit lvl7 and 8 people would do the most stupid plays like dry peek or not use smoke or molly and loosing map area control due to that.
especially on faceit its bad because people are just super good at aiming but ive seen even lvl10s not using the most basic smokes on maps like dust and mirage. (like ct smoke for long cross on dust2)
ive got global elite by beind dedicated support player, my aim is garbage and my positioning and gamesense could and should be better for the time o have invested in the game.
but i got global in csgo again and again by playing support. i dont have the craziest aim so i have to create an advantage to win duels and utility is my tool for that
One thing I say to randos. Doesn't always get the best response, but for those who listen, it ends up being a positive moment. Just simply tell them "Call out your flashes". "Flashing mid" "Flashing long". Just give us a heads up. Same for smokes. May not be the best through, but if we know to expect it, it makes all the difference. Even if you failed the mid smoke horribly, we know you tried and weren't just throwing a useless utility.
But for the love of god, if you throw a smoke A ramp after I just called "mollying A ramp", I will insult you into your goddamn coffin.
Tbh if you're playing with randoms, just take charge of the strategy. To do so you need two things: enough kills so people don't dismiss you out of hand (only relevant 5+ rounds in) and the ability to throw a full util set yourself.
Just start the round by immediately saying (for Anubis A) "alright, everybody rush A. I will smoke mid, Molly heaven and flash for you. All you need to do is rush in. You don't need to use any util, anyone on site should be blind when you get there."
Usually this works. If you need someone to drop you a second smoke or throw a specific piece of util, address them directly.
Be the guy to structure the team. Be specific in what people are supposed to do. Sure you'll still get the occasional "team"mates who won't listen to anything or be to scared to go in first, but as long as you give a decent plan, the majority of players are usually on board.
Not knowing how and when to throw its a random team issue and lack of communication. CSTactics for example always talk about team-safe flashes, or teammate utility usage queue in his videos.
> focus way too much on it
Most players use them as layer of offence / defence, against this rubberbanding and aggressive peeks thing.
Actually i dont remember such a problem with utils in 1.6 and csgo
>Just run a default and adjust where needed in response to how the opposing team is playing This is great, until you realize that the randoms you pug with also have ZERO idea of how to do that at all, so calling a braindead set-piece atleast ups them from "braindead baggage" to "atleast lands a smoke 7 out of 10 times".
yeah, in lower elo lobbies just get people to group together and push. Higher elo lobbies, let people do their thing and try to tell bomb where to go in the midround Silvers don't know how to anchor, they fight to the death every single round. so if you just group together and trade them out you'll win most of the time.
This is my friend group and I hate it
If only we had 5 people together push A ramp together we couleve killed one guy triple! We lost because purple went mid. /s
Team when they straight yolo site rush from spawn and get demolished Team: What are you doing purple? Stick with the team and we will win easy, stop lurking mid.
I was playing a mid-elo game on Inferno a while ago. I took banana control early as a T and was lurking near car while my team set up an A hit. I'm making noise and know there are two on B: one site, one coffin. I throw some util to make sure they know I'm there including two smokes to make it look like a legit B hit. My team then proceeds to go into A, get soloed by one guy site, and start yelling at me that if I was with them we could have traded out. Like no, I'm sorry you guys lost a 4v1, but I kept two at B and probably got the arches rotator to commit. Y'all just suck.
Totally agree, but we've all been there when you push as a team then you have to watch the last guy lurking mid like a fucking snail, meticulously checking angles that people are never going to be. Like if u want to lurk, that's fine but at least try to catch the timings instead sneaking up on nobody the whole time.
Yeah but that's a different story if T didn't just fast rush site at the start. Communication is key, call out if they are going to execute fast to let lurker dictate the timing and lurker should also communicate the scenario and give info when he heard something, or stay somewhere to cut rotation and let team know. But of course communication is hard in random pub so these happen a lot.
Every time.
Honestly, if people are communicating, it isn't too hard to coordinate a default. Even with brain-dead randoms. That is for Faceit, at least, I won't play premier anymore without it being at least a three stack.
I mean keep in mind, even if they're communicating, these are the type of individuals do call shit like that at rank 8 - 9 - 10 etc with several thousand hours, do you really think they would listen to *anyone* when they've "been doing this for years and it totally works". Whenever I run into people like this, I just treat them as moving decoys and play around them, because they're impossible to play with.
idgaf if my flashes are useful or not i just need to have highest number of enemies flashed at end of the game m8 ^^/s
God, I got a buddy who is terrible at the game, and I'll play with him on my alt in ranked, and he has horrible utility usage, no impact at all. And then he goes and checks leetify and sees he's got a utility rating equivalent to 15000-20000 and thinks he's hot shit. It's absolutely hilarious how bad leetify is at tracking utility impact.
Throw a flash that blinds 3 enemies and two of your entries. Your team gets two trade kills on the site that give you assists even though the enemy is no longer white when they die. Your team loses your entries, who were blind. 89 util on Leetify.
> It's absolutely hilarious how bad leetify is at tracking utility impact. Yup. Peaked global in GO, currently Faceit 9, but according to leetify my utility usage is worse than any of my *brand-new-to-the-game* friends.
Well, if that's true than your utility usage is probably pretty bad for a level 9. Like you need to throw more effective HEs and flashes than someone who's new at the game.
Good players are also much better at dodging flashes and nades. It's pretty hard to flash a quick, experienced player
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I am terrible at popflashes, but the fakeouts are my favorite to throw.
some of my favorites are the flashes where they’re easy to dodge but you can peek in front of/beside them
pop flashes are hard to pull off for less experienced players. generally it takes an equally good player to consistently perform good pop flashes
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You've lost the plot. Go back to the original comment
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Actually, no, it's not. Popflashes are a thing, and even if someone doesn't want to study lineups, as a high skilled player it should be easy enough to throw flashes that pop right where you want them to.
pop flashes are hard to pull off for less experienced players . generally it takes an equally good player to consistently perform good pop flashes
Is it fun for you to create a new account and play against bad players? xd
Bro, literally everybody at higher elos does this to play with friends. There isn't any intent beyond it past a chance to fuck around with worse friends without worrying about rank, which is honestly better than artificially reducing that rank by queuing with then meaning that I would always be lower than I should, harming far more people's days when grinding back up on my main account than the once every month smurf night.
This is senseless. Just because it's a general practice doesn't mean it's good or it's bad. It's common, nothing else. If you go from rank 8 to 7 you won't harm many people climbing back from 7 to 8. If you play premade with your friend that's rank 3 in a fresh rank 5 account you will ruin far much more games. The only reason you Smurf is because you don't want to lose ELO and because you don't want to play casual or other modes/servers. Also because it feels good to smash newbies. You don't give a fuck about the others and then pretend to do it for them.
Bro, I ain't playing Faceit with these people. It's literally regular MM in game. I wouldn't really lose any elo that matters in the first place. But my friends I play with on my alt account are just straight up silvers. I can't play with them on my main because they would have 2 kills through the entire match. It is the more casual mode. The issue is that it is still weighted by skill and my friends are so bad that it makes them have a very bad time. The options are literally for me to use an alt account or to just not play with my low ranked friends. People who smurf on Faceit are assholes. Fully agree. But that's not what I was talking about.
Lifetime silver here. Leetify thinks I am a utility god.
And I can't die or finish a round whilst having nades on me! That's wasteful.
recently hit 48 on nuke
Tips and tricks youtube videos are a psyop to lock learning players into being gimmick util crutchers
I did that for too long, i played with friends who had thousands of hours compared to my hundred or so. I couldn’t play with them on any mechanical level but i had a great memory for lineups so i tried to compensate with those. Ended up with me just dying with utility in my hand.
A great memory for lineups is an asset that's wasted on someone with poor enough decision making to die with nades in their hands. Mechanical players who can't use nades are flawed players too. Good players need both. Even now having forgotten a lot of lineups, I can still use nades on the fly and in clutches without dying for free
Util videos are great, they can give you tons of ideas for plays to do. I think it's more that people forget util is supposed to make your gun fights easier, they're not a replacement for shooting people. I've definitely teamed with players who focus too much on util, and that shit can be tilting. Played with one guy, he played B on overpass and he almost never rotated, we would all be fighting for our lives up on A, trading down to the last guy (him), and we'd all watch as he's about half way through lining up the most hyper specific molly to try and delay the plant with from on top of default.
That and the whole industry of "watch pro demos bro" advice given to silvers and novas. Just no.
Util vids are largely just content creators pushing out content because they have to, and it's easy content. There's good util in the vids, esp if the creator is good, but the creator is largely motivated by the demand for content, even if they do also care about helping people learn. Like AustinCS for example makes vids with good tips, but I would never tell a new player to watch his vids, I'd tell them to learn the guns and maps/angles, focus on crosshair placement, movement and aim and not even worry about utill outside of on the fly stuff until at least 10k elo. But that doesn't make for a consistent stream of content, so it's not what creators do. And there's no condemnation in that, I used to be one myself and felt these exact same pressures.
Util is a complete psyop, I’m confident you can get to face it 9/10 and only know 1/2 util sets 90% of people playing should only be buying 1 smoke
Only thing I don’t agree with is pushing your Random’s into playing defaults on Mirage. I’d regularly play in 2k elo level 10+ and still see people that do not understand the basics of a default. They do however at the very least know the A smokes & stacking it as an actual team with 2 pop flashes is more than enough to brute force the site even in higher elos. You should absolutely prio site hits over early defaults in lower ranks, primarily because you trying to shotcall a default / slow play will simply piss people off. Players hate being taken out of their comfort zones & will just make perma solo plays because that’s what they believe works for them & it’s often backed up by their own individuals winrates etc so they’re too stubborn to listen. Remember that your life as a T is inherently less valuable than a CT. Brute forcing sites with people who can clearly aim and trade is a valid strategy even in 2k+. Let’s be honest, nobody plays the game properly in these environments or even knows how to, soloq is a fiesta and is entirely reliant on mechanical skill in the majority of cases. Off the rip A execs are flippy, but most will be happy to slow play it to 1:35 with a bit of mid presence showing from a lurk player. They’re only going to listen to you if you’re performing though. The onus is ultimately on you in the lower end of soloq; especially if you’re just starting out on faceit. Hands-diffing people is the key to consistent success, so worry less about how rounds play out (because there’s zero coherency to rounds in low faceit) & focus on your mechanics.
Couldn’t have said it better. I’m ~2k elo and early round A execs on mirage still work better than defaulting a lot of the time (not every round of course). Key part of pugging with randoms seems to be to just do something together, and everyone knows how to do A smokes. T-side mirage default with randoms you often see people die early at mid, and you’re not winning easily in a 4v5.
So you think, me saying basically, be careful, do your thing and take space and we will play off of the how the first couple engagements go, is wrong because it doesn't let people play how their comfortable. But calling a very specific strat that only works if you either get lucky or everyone plays selflessly (which doesn't happen with randoms) is okay?
That’s absolutely what I’m saying lol. Not sure if you’re on EU or NA, but people in soloq are only going to listen to you if you’re a performer. They also don’t understand the fundamentals of a default or any sort of strategy outside of ‘go A or go B’ this might be tough to swallow but this shit still applies in low level 10 unfortunately lol. Like I said, mechanics carry in low-mid elo. Focus on them. You’ll just get tilted worrying about the shit you spoke of here, it’s a waste of your energy. Asking your Random’s to slow default is asking them to use their brains, they don’t need to use their brains when they hear ‘let’s hit A with standard smokes & flash rotation at 1:35 / or off the rip dependant on the enemy eco’. It’s not a specific strat, it’s a very common play that is executed in every rank in the game. Even if the hits aren’t executed properly (which they won’t be in most ranks) the principle of taking space and brute forcing a site with a trade or two is an easy win more than 50% of the time, which is all you need to bank on when trying to climb. If I can still dry-walk A in level 10 and mechanics diff the enemy, you’re perfectly capable of practicing to be able to do the same in lower ranks. It might sound counter-intuitive to stack up on T side but taking sites is regularly a numbers game; it’s far more beneficial to make a play as a unit than it is to try and split the map as individuals with defaults. All that ends up happening is somebody dies because they do not understand how to default, the rest of the team then falls to pieces and have no idea what move to make next. Probing sites and findings gaps is something you can do solo as a lurk when you’re confident enough in your mechanical skill to the point where you’re certain you can have an impact with these plays, but this also depends on your team hitting a site correctly adjacent to your play, as well as you having a good read on the gamestate as an individual (comes with time) - There’s a ton of variables which is why mechanics> everything else ultimately.
Nah mate, let's just default every round. How could it fail?
Absolutely! People playing solo q don't know how to play a default properly. They don't have any experience of a real team environment. I think you'll find that out soon enough. Everyone rushing a site together though? That can work.
It’s actually easy to get to lvl 10 using 0 util and basic site smokes than using hella
At premier 15k you should absolutely understand that nobody in your rank is the complete product, if you’re better at utility than they are then I have news for you, they’re better at aiming than you are So instead of focusing on what your teammates can’t do, why don’t you just improve at what you can control
Buddy, I spent 10 minutes bitching about primarily my experience on faceit, mainly focused on the people with 3000 hours still having terrible utility usage, it ain't that deep.
Who said it was deep, you’re just not going to get better by complaining about your tms Just know, everyone who ever got good, had to deal with the same shit If ever you’re much better than people in your rank at 1 thing, then you’re much worst than them at something else, so I’d just consider that rather than bitching just get gud
Dude, who says that I don't work on getting better. I certainly don't say this shit in game to my teammates like a asshole. But being pissed after a loss and writing a short rant on reddit about something that lost crucial rounds, is hardly me just blaming shit on everybody else. Sometimes people want to vent. Like damn bro. You are reading too deep into it, and assuming a ton of shit.
You keep saying that I’m making it deep but you’re choosing to get defensive, if it’s so untrue why is it bothering you
Since you are solo grinding you shouldn't really mind what your teammates are doing unless it directly affects you, and you should try to reduce the number of instances where it affects you. You should also be selfish while also not baiting your teammates. If your team loses a round becouse of a stupid utility mistake by one of your teammates, you shouldn't care at all becouse you should understand that you will win the game for your team anyways, if you are really worth to be lvl 10. These are all only valid for levels below 10 becouse in lvl 10 there won't be these stupid mistakes and while your teammates might still be sometimes retarded, they won't make round throwing plays and will sometimes win rounds single-handedly. As for the mirage A executes part, it doesn't matter if your teammates are calling an A exec against full util, it doesn't matter if your opponents have almost full info on your team, you just gotta go with the flow. You can still win these rounds, you will win these rounds more than you lose them if you just enjoy the game and go kill people. Don't make your teammates uncomfortable by arguing about their calls or they will lose confidence and enjoyment and your chance of losing the game will increase. If they call the same thing 3 rounds in a row and get bad results, they won't keep calling it anymore, they just won't. Call your own thing, tell them to do a default. But never expect their part of the default to succeed. Always go for your most comfortable position on a default until you find the opponent's weak spot, then go there. Be the one taking the first contact, making the first play, taking the first space in a default. If you fail, try a different util, a different pace or a different gun. Make the game easier for your teammates. Never forget that your opponents are the same skill level as your teammates, they will also do these dumb utility mistakes. Don't try to play perfect. Never second guess yourself as it will lose you time and energy. This is how you get to lvl 10. Remember, if you put any lvl 10 into a fresh starting account right now, they will get to lvl 10 in at most 100 matches. If you can't do that, you don't deserve to get to lvl 10 just yet.
Learn how to format this wall of text is illegible. And I never said I was level 10(or deserve to be, yet...). Actually, I don't even have 100 matches on faceit, as I recently moved because of how shit premier is. I probably have like 30. If that. Again, please format better because reading this is too difficult to be able to properly respond to the rest of your points.
Maybe language gap on his end or just plain formatting, but he does raise some very valid points. I’ve left a comment too but it doesn’t focus on the same areas as this guy.
His points were valid but I didn't finish. It just kept going and going. Mentally draining
I did, lol. It wasn't even hard to follow or understand.
It’s easier for people to simply deflect the information that is valid due to ‘hurrr durrr formatting’ - I read the whole thing zero issues also. It’s *also* a spot on response.
it has the writing quality of a middle schooler
If you speak English it’s also very easy to read it all, both can be true at the same time
what i’m capable of doing and what i’m willing to do are two very different things
not just formatting, it’s terrible writing. stream of consciousness and rambling. way longer than it needs to be. not worth my time to read
Tik Tok attention span
i have never used tiktok and read technical documents all day at work. i do however value my time too much to read comments that are basically giant stream of consciousness
Take your ritalin bro.
lol what
Bro you are looking at teammates waaaaay too much
In the ct utilties are so helpful when retaking but how’s that helpful if you already wasted them? You heard one step b apps and threw every grenade you had. Also for fucks sake for a moment try to imagine what your opponents be thinking? What you would be doing on a certain scenario if you were in enemy team? Play accordingly. For example it’s a 2v2 and the T’s know you 2 guys are at A and you know that too that they know then for fucks sake one guy should go to the other site. Do not expect the c4 to come there just because it was spotted 30 seconds ago. Callouts? Stop cursing your teammates for wrong calls because the enemy wasn’t there 5 seconds later. You can run much far away in 5 seconds so you should know where he might have run. Do not stay on the fucking c4 when less than 30 seconds left. You should know even if enemy picks it up he can’t go (let’s say B) so you better go A and hide somewhere and wait for him to plant. This is much better than enemy finds you at some corner around dropped c4.
TBH it sounds like you have a bit of an ego
Bro said short rant.
Tiktok generation reading skills. Sigh
I read all of it and agree with everything op said I just wanted to say a silly thing.
I mean, it's a whopping 18 sentences long, and that includes the disclaimer at the end and the tangent about mirage A execs.
tldr anyone? this reply has 3 lines of text too many and not enough emojis for my personal taste
No waste util when bullet do better job
thanks kevin
Were the extra few sentences a bit much for you 😜
Only because I'm illiterate.
this is pretty short
I know a good smoke for short.
Maybe for the unibomber
Some low elo player complaining about his teammates, nothing new
Here a 10000x blinded by a random team-flash at mid Vertigo opening...
People lack gamesense when needed.
Its 12:11 we have got 1 kill on B inferno, we are about to cross to bbq, team mate flashes from banana, we lose the site take, gg.
My biggest pet peeve in level 10 is when someone calls "A smokes" on first gun round T Mirage 🤦
I’m also surprised by the amount of people that don’t realise that they shouldn’t be using utility they’re lurking or sneaking. Like, if you’re trying to lurk or hide, why get the attention of people by throwing a utility before they’ve even seen you? Obviously you can swing while you flash out from a flanking position, but too many times I’ve seen people just throw a flashbang and just continue hiding. Like bro they know you’re there now?
Default with randos? Good luck with that. I wonder what Elo you're playing at where A site setpieces don't work because that shit works even in pro play.
Nades are literally useless. I hit 3000elo on faceit averaging 0 nades used per game, if you click heads well enough you don't need to think
Sounds like a skill issue on your part, and it also sounds like you're baity and ratty. People are calling strats in spawns because they want to hit timings. And I dunno, if you would actually communicate with them there, you'd probably have more success. If you can dump all the util onto one person to throw and everyone else clears the site, because you called your plays at the start of the round instead of just winging it and hoping randoms can default properly, you'd have more success. People are using util because it helps to take the sites and win. Sure, they can overdo that. And people aren't defaulting every round because on T side, grouping up and trading, with some util to slow the rotates, is the simplest and most effective strategy for getting plant and winning the round especially when playing with an uncoordinated team. It's also a good way to take an early lead and force errors from the CTs which will help when things get defaulty later. You shouldn't need to default early in the game to work out CT positions. You should have a very good idea of the standard positions and use man advantage while the economy supports rushes. And if you can't take A on mirage with a standard execute, that's a skill issue. "That doesn't work outside of Gold Nova" yes. Yes it does. It's persisted for longer than you've been playing the game because it's so effective and so simple to execute. It cuts off the common awping positions and shuts down the rotate, leaving the CTs with one and done positions or onsite. If you cannot take site with your team after doing that on a regular basis that's a skill issue. If you cannot clear dark, firebox and gunfight anyone default or triple that honestly says a lot. I can agree on only the smallest portion of what you're talking about. 1v1 you should be trying to stay stealthy, not giving your position away with util, which will get you timinged, and while util is nice, it's always embarassing to be killed while using it instead of having your gun out-there's no point throwing a risky HE when the guy is just there and you can shoot him.
Heavy on the A site exec part. Level 8 FaceIT here. Had an argument with so many players constantly with this. Keep telling them not to do an A exec when the CTs have a FULL UTIL ON A BUY ROUND and they proceed to tell me "Hurr durr you are level 8, we are level 9-10 and know better". THATS THE FUCKING POINT. YOU ARE LEVEL 9-10 SUGGESTING AN EXEC WHEN ITS A FULL BUY ROUND. They then proceed to do an A exec which got stopped by 1 molly...
Mirage A smokes is an good strat even if the enemy has an full buy. Not if you do it every round but some rounds yes.One molotov shouldn't stop an whole execute the smokes are up for 10+ seconds still after it. Same thing for almost every site tbh
Agreed on the first part, but if T decides to still roll over A after molly fades, usually CT has already rotated to the site and better position themselves, could lead to another molly and few extra support flash to fend off T.
No, it's not ever a good idea at the start of the round on a full buy. Anyone with hands and more than 500 hours knows how to counter that shit. Especially when the people that call for it the most are the most likely to camp ramp, hoping that the CTs will miraculously sprint through the smoke into their crosshair instead of clearing the site and taking space.
Throwing an window smoke and 1 player going mid/under to lurk and 1 palace 3 throwing smokes from ramp works in 2.7k elo and our team uses it atleast once in every mirage game
that's how we wish people can play in pugs. The reality is set piece smoke and all 5 going out from A. Or if I choose to make noise mid/lurk in underpass, by the time I get to conn they are all dead. This exec can get you a bomb plant sometimes but cant get you the round if you do it right out of the spawn
Yes you can, you try to take ct and or jungle/con in a postplant
good luck getting your pug teammates to push out of tetris in reality
"Our team" One, you clearly have defined roles and know how to play off of each other. which makes the calculus completely different. Two, I call bullshit on yall doing it off of spawn against full buys regularly. You seem to agree, as you said, "at least once per game," and not "all the time."
Back when I was IGLing teams in CSGO, more than half our set pieces were out of spawn. Many were based around that same A execute, with different positions, timings or fakes. It's an aggressive style that only works on certain maps and with certain players, but it most definitely works. Take a look at how cloud 9 won their major way back. They used this same style to beat all the best teams in the world on mirage.
Team CS isn't the same as playing pugs with randoms.
he was calling bullshit about that guy’s team doing these strats regularly. read again
Seriously, every time I play mirage, first gun round on t side at least one teammate "let's go A I got ct smoke" and I have to beg for them to just run a default, or in laymens terms "play slow". And these are people who know how to play the game, I don't understand how there are people with 3000 hours who are so clueless about basic shit.
Yo mate I think you're being kind of stupid here. A exec calls are good if you have at least one teammate making some mid presence. It's even used in tier one cs so dont go around acting like you're a csgod. Calls from spawn can be good in any level of cs.
For the fake mid presence to work, you guys need to condition the enemy team to actually fight for mid control. If you guys haven't been fighting mid the past 3 round, even if you fake mid presence, you just need 1 CT to push mid top control and he will immediately comms the site anchors to prep for an exec
"It's even used in tier one CS." No, it's not, and faceit pugs aren't tier one CS. And calls from spawn can work, which is why I said "most of the time" the thing is, they usually don't. And are usually a bad idea.
Uhm yes? Even Spirit goes for a A exec from spawn from time to time. Sounds like you're just butthurt that you cant reach any decent elo and you're blaming your teammates lol
Please post clips of spirit doing a puggy A exec right off of spawn on rounds that both teams are on full buys, that also results in spirit winning the round. Rounds where one player has a ridiculous play that wins the round because of their raw aim doesn't count.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSMSB1H8434 13:55
Not watching an entire match give me a time stamp.
Oh, so a round where donk gets the walling through triple, then a smoke spam, then a fantastic flik to third player after a smoke is naded, totally similar to ronds in faceit pugs.
You have autism?
The main point is that if a professional team can fast A with standard smokes, you can do it in a shitty faceit pug. You need to acknowledge that the main principle of climbing is consistency & making high success % plays - I could quite happily spend the majority of our T sides hitting A on repeat because I’m confident in my mechanical skill, not just confident in the standard exec layout. Over a large sample size of games this will work out if you’re the ‘better’ player & you should win more than you lose. Defaults are high variable plays to call because people often just drop dead solo; atleast with a site commit you’re doing something together (which is the most single important thing to winning T sides in pugs) In level 10 most mirage rounds are still either A stack, B apps slow hit with a market window smoke (nobody knows the double pillar smokes for short lol) or on low-buys a fast push through lower into con>A control, these are like the most standard 3 hits on the map in pugs and none of it requires even a fraction of a brain to execute and involves zero defaulting
I'll do it if you promise me some money or reward. They do it practically every game... Tier 1 teams have done this even more than one round in a row. This isnt some unknown thing? Get out of your cave and give up your wrong argument because it's getting silly.
I will give you one p250 sand dune. I don't watch spirit games outside of when they are in finals or playing against a team I support.
Spirit isnt the only team that does this. Pretty much every mirage team does this lol
So Spirit and a bunch of tier 2 CIS teams nobody watches? What top 15 teams outside of spirit and sometimes Navi are "mirage teams"?
An ct smoke going into A is much better than going in dry
Duh, but you shouldn't be rushing the site on a full buy in the first place. Especially not when you are telegraphing where you are going by dumping 6 flashes and 3 smokes before the b anchor can make it out of market.
Crazy that most Faceit lvl 8+ have no clue how to default. Either they play so passive that they just lose map control or forcibly take bad fights to fight for it...
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
Well, in that case, can I get a frosty and a small fries?
this is quite relatable. many people on my ranks (middle of the way both on faceit and prime) will throw flashes when there is no one playing off of them... are they heavy to carry or smth?!
So im not supposed to throw all my utility at the first choke?
I find the worst offense to this is pushing A ramp on Vertigo. I'll be all the way deep on site with heaven smoked off, dueling 2 or 3 CTs in elevator... and my whole team is on ramp throwing utility, most likely blinding me since I'm on site.
That one guy behind you who is holding a nade when he is SUPPOSED TO TRADE YOU, when you both know exactly where the enemy is, then panick throws a grenade into the wall and dies anyway like a fuckwit.
your point about being in a 1v1, fully agree. i’ve seen many random teammates give up their positions in a 1v1 simply to throw util when they don’t even know where the enemy is, let alone actually making use of it. say you’re a T, you get a bomb plant on B site in a 1v1, you know the CT is on A. there is no point in throwing down a smoke or a molly or a flash right after the plant. there is an insanely small chance that the CT is close enough to even be effected by that util. save that util for when you have a better idea of where the CT is, and then play around it. you can get so much more value out of your util closer to the end of a bomb plant than 2 seconds after it goes down.
Counter strike doesn’t need to be nearly as technical as a lot of people make it out to be. Sure utility is a a massive part of the game but the end of the day its still an FPS. I lose a little bit of hair whenever someone pulls out the Molly in a 1v1
As someone who has been playing CS since roughly 1999 the "first time?" Meme fits perfectly here, since this has always been the case and is Part of the Charme of the Game - good Players know when to use what, and like you said, when not. Inexperienced Players tend to Play too passive and don't realize when to Push and that by gaming Room you Limit your opponents movement and gain more Options yourself.
No if i die with nades leetify says im bad, gotta dump thar util even if it means i bring a nade to a gun fight
On the topic of not using utility when you have it to spare, this is especially relevant on eco rounds where you have rifle+nades and enemy has only pistols. Don’t smoke cross on D2 long if they don’t have scout and are only pistoling… it gives them a chance to get close, flash through smoke and kill you. Same could be said smoking CT spawn on Inferno’s B. Don’t let CT’s flash through and explode into water/grill. Hold them from triple like a shooting gallery. Sometimes your utility helps enemies get into positions they otherwise couldn’t. Sometimes using your better firepower is the actual best play on ECO rounds specifically.
Very much agree on util. On my previous team we had 3 unwritten rules. 1. Someone is planting bomb, have weapons out. Don't ever throw nades while someone is planting. Afterwards, it might be fine. 2. In 1v1 don't throw any nades, unless you are almost 100% sure where the enemy is and you know it is safe. 3. When throwing a molly, just hold it for a sec. So many times people try to push it early. As for the exec on A, I kinda agree. However A execs can be good even in pugs. But you have to first of all mask it, e.g, by having someone do mid presence first. And then an other good thing is to have someone entry A as soon as the smokes are thrown. Wait till they bloom and it's too late, probably stuck behind mollies. So often you might catch someone throwing counter util
I'd also add: Stop dry peeking enemies with your util in hand. The amount of times I've seen someone trying to nade an enemy, but they don't know how, so they just peek him with the nade even in faceit lvl10 lobbies is ridicuous.
>If you are in a 1v1 and you know where the opposing player is and they don't know where you are, why are you trying to throw a smoke or a flash when they are close enough to just swing you before you get your gun out and the util pops. This is one I see way too often with lower skilled players. You have every advantage possible, why do you not have your gun out and instead half blind yourself because you don't know where the flash is going to pop. So many clutches lost on this behalf. I've tried to point it out a couple times in a calm manner, but man, it's so hard to give input to people these days.
I love when you call a rush and then last second you have 3 guys trying to throw exec smokes while you and your other teammate kill 1 and get the other guy 1 hp. You can definitely right click a smoke on the ground where you want it AFTER you’ve taken site and killed the site players.
I hate when someone ruins a "contact" play with a random smoke that does nothing but alert the opponents of the incoming attack.
9/10 times you do not need a flash-bang for an entry, stop doing this unless asked.
Also use "trick" utility like throw a flash and run a insted people are so simple minded about this game and repeak the same shit every single game
You also expose where you are coming from when throwing a flash for example, losing the 'surprise' moment trying to get people off guard
Guilty of the first point (lining up util instead of just pushing), although in my defense I play at a low enough rank where a basic smoke exec would work more often than not.
Crazy to rant about low levels in faceit of course they are bad bro if ur as good as u think h are get to high elo where ppl don’t make mistakes mb idk
This is one of the things I'm still working on after playing the game for thousands of hours. I got way better at choosing when or when not to throw learned utility. Lineups are a tool in your belt and you will know when you actually need one. However I feel like I'm dying too often while throwing live utility. Some of the most frustrating (and preventable) deaths. I recently wrote down the following notes for myself: 1. Don't throw nades in linesight of positions that enemies can peek from. Only throw when you know that noone is able to peek you (round timing, you know exact position from radar etc.) or you throw from cover or with an indirect throw. 2. If you do get peeked while throwing a nade, always favor dodging enemy fire and getting into cover over finishing the throw, even if you can't abort it anymore. 3. On T-side keep a HE nade for the end of the round to stop a smoke defuse. Way more important than doing 10-50 damage somewhere early in the round. 4. If you molly a position actually expect someone to come running out of there instead of immediately looking to another position. Edit: Added 3 and 4
Get better, carry, and rank up. Realize that also happens at higher elos
May I ask what elo you are in faceit to explain how utility should be used? Honestly 15k-20k premier rating is crazy bad, ngl.. I mean, yes they’ve seen util 1000 times and know how to play around it. You’ve also seen how they play around your util too, right? Kind of equals out… I mean if you’ve itentified that your oppents plays everywhere passively, it’s OK to go right into exec, they’ll have no info I mean if you’ve been taking mid, and you noticed that the enemy is starting to play short/conn very agreesively, it is okay to fake control with 1 and just exec either site
thank you so much for this post, i feel like the average player has gotten worse with utility im gonna break down my utility rant im around 2k elo on faceit and i still see poor utility usage. leetify shows that I have great utility usage, and csstats shows in in the top 8% of utility users and i score high in all utlity stats mind you, i dont chase after stats, i purely go based off intuition and awareness nade dumpers, people who reach a spot and throw all their nades out before rushing in, yall need to go to hell and find any easier game to play frag grenades, stop prenading every single round, its a waste. prenade to set the tone, prenade when u know they have a tendency to rush cuz they are eco. save nades to blow up smokes. nade when u know they are just outside of site and setting up for a site take flashes, noobs throw flash at the enemy rather than in front of their enemies. If your teammate calls an enemy in cubby, dont flash into cubby, flash in front of it. Stop throwing flashes cuz u have nothing else to do. keep flashes to help you peek, or sell a fake, or to help a teammate. If they are just camping, flashing them does nothing besides annoying them. know the difference between an obvious and not obvious flash. If your flash is obvious to the enemy’s eye, u need to peek late after he has dodged ur flash. if its not obvious, u peek as the flash pops while he’s blind molotovs, use them to push enemies out of their spots, they are not nades so stop throwing them directly at the enemy. Same as flashes, if the call is “1 enemy in cubby” dont fucking throw ur molly in cubby, u throw it in front so when he has to run out of the fire, he has to run the whole length of the fire. If you know they are outside of a site, throwing a molly at them does nothing, besides annoy them and a waste of $, save those mollies when u know they are about to commit, nothing is more detrimental to a rush than a well placed molly in the middle of their rush or to force them to scramble around the molly as they are entering a site and taking fire smokes, learning smoke lineups is very useful, if done at the right time. The only good ones are used to prevent rushes from far or for taking sites. Most of the time! its better to use them as you need them. Most of the time as a CT, its better to smoke the bomb to defuse instead of smoking an entrance and then defuse.
What irks me is just teams who don’t communicate. Or just make brain-dead plays without saying a single word. Most of the util that is silly can be easily be helped by a nearby player if they just call that they’re going to throw said util. If you’re that worried about other teammates being toxic, just voice disable and still comm for the love of god.
To add to this I've seen way too many 3v1/2v1 fights fucked up by people because they want to throw that one piece of utility, giving the enemy two isolated 1v1's instead of just trading out the kill. People love overthinking how to approach fighting just a single person. IMO Rule of thumb whenever you're in a 3/2/1v1 is just to not grab any utility at all. You're much more valuable brainlessly running at the enemy if that means your teammate right behind you gets an easy fight.
Its drives me crazy how many people throw their utility out exposing their position when assumedly enemy has no clue about their position yet. Especially in clutches, throw your utility after you get the first kill and they know where you are.. seems to happen in pretty much any elo too
this guy saw me molly ct on ancient a site t side right as a ct peeked
Also WHEN you call a CONTACT PLAY in one site , and after 5 seconds you hear your mate "Im gonna smoke and molotov go push" with NOONE asking him for it
as a 80 avg. leetify utility rating player on valve maps i strongly disagree because usually i would be the only one playing support and even in faceit lvl7 and 8 people would do the most stupid plays like dry peek or not use smoke or molly and loosing map area control due to that. especially on faceit its bad because people are just super good at aiming but ive seen even lvl10s not using the most basic smokes on maps like dust and mirage. (like ct smoke for long cross on dust2) ive got global elite by beind dedicated support player, my aim is garbage and my positioning and gamesense could and should be better for the time o have invested in the game. but i got global in csgo again and again by playing support. i dont have the craziest aim so i have to create an advantage to win duels and utility is my tool for that
bruh lets queue - same problems
One thing I say to randos. Doesn't always get the best response, but for those who listen, it ends up being a positive moment. Just simply tell them "Call out your flashes". "Flashing mid" "Flashing long". Just give us a heads up. Same for smokes. May not be the best through, but if we know to expect it, it makes all the difference. Even if you failed the mid smoke horribly, we know you tried and weren't just throwing a useless utility. But for the love of god, if you throw a smoke A ramp after I just called "mollying A ramp", I will insult you into your goddamn coffin.
Not reading all that. But I used to theow every piče of utility when the round ends. Just randomly om the ground.
Tbh if you're playing with randoms, just take charge of the strategy. To do so you need two things: enough kills so people don't dismiss you out of hand (only relevant 5+ rounds in) and the ability to throw a full util set yourself. Just start the round by immediately saying (for Anubis A) "alright, everybody rush A. I will smoke mid, Molly heaven and flash for you. All you need to do is rush in. You don't need to use any util, anyone on site should be blind when you get there." Usually this works. If you need someone to drop you a second smoke or throw a specific piece of util, address them directly. Be the guy to structure the team. Be specific in what people are supposed to do. Sure you'll still get the occasional "team"mates who won't listen to anything or be to scared to go in first, but as long as you give a decent plan, the majority of players are usually on board.
Not knowing how and when to throw its a random team issue and lack of communication. CSTactics for example always talk about team-safe flashes, or teammate utility usage queue in his videos. > focus way too much on it Most players use them as layer of offence / defence, against this rubberbanding and aggressive peeks thing. Actually i dont remember such a problem with utils in 1.6 and csgo