Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the most played game on Steam right now, offers a challenging competitive experience for players willing to tackle it. Although the game itself is nearly a decade old, CS:GO’s appeal hasn’t waned since its release in 2012. Building on the success of Counter-Strike 1.6 and Counter-Strike: Source, the game continues to offer a shooter experience that is unique in the modern industry.
CS:GO competitive mode pits two teams of five players against each other. A competitive game is comprised of two halves, each lasting 15 rounds. Each round lasts around two minutes. One team, the terrorists, will be tasked with planting a bomb and making sure it explodes, and the other team, the counter-terrorists must defuse it or prevent it from being planted in the first place.
CS:GO is a very tactical game that punishes players for moving while shooting and encourages team cooperation and coordination. Counter-terrorists will often split into two groups to defend two bombsites, which are referred to as A and B sites. Terrorists must try to take over one of the sites, plant the bomb and make sure it isn’t defused before going off. There are a few strategies new players can employ to be successful on either team.
How to Get Started in Competitive CS:GO
Stand Still While Shooting and Control Recoil
Each gun in CS:GO has a specific recoil. Knowing that recoil and how to counter it will greatly affect the efficacy of the weapon. It is important to note that avoiding full burst fire is often the best solution. Splitting a full clip into two or three smaller bursts will vastly increase the overall accuracy. A majority of CS:GO’s weapons’ recoils make it impossible to hit anything if shooting while moving. Learning to stop moving for each shot is very important to increase precision.
Keep the Crosshairs Up
When moving or rotating in the game, it is important to keep the sights at head level and near places where enemies might be. Players should avoid looking at the ground or walls while running. CS:GO is a game of quick reactions, and having the crosshairs in the right place will give players an edge.
Use Headphones and a Mic
Communication is very important in CS:GO competitive, and most players will be using voice chat to call out enemy positions. Headphones will allow players to pinpoint enemies running in the vicinity. How many steps players hear, for example, might also indicate the number of enemies, which is invaluable information for the team.
Move Silently
Because CS:GO is very deadly, having any kind of advantage in combat is extremely beneficial. By pressing shift, players will walk, and steps will no longer be audible. This prevents enemies from having the advantage of knowing the player is there. Players should use shift often and avoid crouching, which is much slower.
Learn Map Callouts
Knowing a map is key to understand the best ways to both defend and attack in competitive. Each map in CS:GO is divided into sections that players refer to as callouts, and each map has its callouts. If killed by an enemy in a specific location, it is important to know the name of that location to transmit it to the team more efficiently. Some basic callouts are “A short” or “A long” which refers to the shortest or longest path between bomb location A and the terrorist spawn point.
Buy Kevlar and Helmet
Direct fights tend to end very quickly in CS:GO, and having a layer of protection might be all it takes to kill the enemy seconds before being killed. Additionally, without a helmet, headshots with most weapons will be a 1-shot kill. Players should keep in mind that some weapons, like the Ak-47, will kill with a single headshot, even with a helmet equipped.
Don’t Buy Every Round
The economy is very important in CS:GO competitive, and the team should strive to save the same amount of money individually. If players have less than 3,000, it is usually better to do an eco-round where no one buys anything or a semi-buy where players aim to save around 2,000. This helps to make sure the team can have a properly equipped round, instead of buying subpar gear every round. If someone on the team asks to “force," this means to spend all the money to reset the economy.
CS:GO is available on PC.