CSGO Explained - Everything you need to know

CS:GO is a skill-based game, and it can take a long time to master this game. More importantly, many players tend to play this game similar to Call of Duty. In this guide, I'll attempt to explain you how to correctly play this game, and get rid of bad habits-- things not to do in the game --as well as mastering/teaching new things you should learn while playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

On this guide, some techniques are based on my opinion. How is CS:GO a skill-based game? Unlike Call of Duty or other FPS games, you have to multitask. These include:

• Spray Control
  
• Recoil Control
  
• Flicking/Tracking Aim
  
• Movement
  
• Peaking

NOTICE: THIS GUIDE IS NOT 100% ACCURATE. IF THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG ABOUT IT, FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME VIA THROUGH MY PROFILE.

Table of Contents

This is the Table of Contents. In here, I make it easier to search for a content you are searching for. Also, each content has a label, which is a number.

1. What are The Basics in CS:GO?
2. Improving Aim
3. Gameplay
4. Equipment
5. Round Types
6. Positioning
7. Psychology
8. Gamemodes
9. Miscellaneous

₁. What are The Basics in CS:GO?

If you're new in CS:GO, it is recommended to read this because you need to know the basics and what makes up CS:GO. CS:GO is a skill-based game. It requires a lot of practice to master a technique. In CS:GO, there are many techniques you should master, but for now, let's focus on these basic techniques:

• Aim
  
• Movement

Aim and Movement makes up most of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's game. When you're quite new to a game, it is common to make mistakes. When you make a mistake, you learn from your mistakes. Most new players in CSGO have made the same mistake many times. This is called a bad habit.

Taken from Wikipedia

Originally posted by Wikipedia:

A bad habit is a negative behaviour pattern. Common examples include procrastination, fidgeting, overspending, stereotyping, gossips, bullying, and nail-biting

Worst of all, bad habits are hard to get rid of especially when it comes to combat. Since you're likely used to a bad habit, think of it as an addiction. Addiction is hard to get rid of such as smoking, and alcoholism. However, you can get rid of bad habits through practice. Practice a good habit that can replace your bad habit. The more you practice, the more your brain will replace that habit with a habbit you're already using.

Most importantly, the common bad habits new players tend to make are:

• Bad Crosshair Placement
  
• Crouching Instantly
  
• Full-Auto (aka spraying all the time)
  
• Shooting before finishing your aim

- What are the best ways to get rid of a bad habit?

According to www.blackmores.com.au

Originally posted by www.blackmores.com.au:

How long does it take to break a habit?
21 days
This book says it takes a minimum of 21 days for an old mental image to dissolve and a new one to gel. More recently, a study of 96 people published in The European Journal of Social Psychology found it took on average 66 days to form a habit, such as eating fruit at lunch or running for 15 minutes a day.
Apr 29, 2015

The best way to get rid of a bad habit is practicing or playing differently for a few weeks. For example, in order to get rid of a bad wide peeking habit, practice on Valve Deathmatch Servers. Try to not wide peek that much, and instead, check your corners carefully. As you peek, retreat, then repeat unless you are ensure that no one is on a spot.

However, most unskilled silvers tend to wide peek and rush too much so baiting might be a good choice.

To summarize this topic, you need to practice and attempt to not perform your bad habit anymore. Practice a good habit that will replace a bad habit, and it can go away.

₂. Improving Aim

Aiming is one of the most important factors in CS:GO. If you can't aim, you can't play the game, atleast it's what I think. Most importantly, you can't kill people without aim. If you want to improve your aim, consider practicing on community Free-for-All servers, or on aim_botz. There are two types of aim you want to master:

• Flick
  
• Track

What is Flicking Aim and why is it important to master?

Flick aim is one essential factor to playing CS:GO.

Taken from ddaonica

Originally posted by ddaonica:

Essentially Flick-Shotting is a method of aiming that relies on your unconscious cognition and muscle memory, rather than cognitive aiming. It is a reactionary shot and much quicker than conventional aim.

What this means is that you are relying on your unconscious muscle movement, where you have no time to react. When you have time to react, your either can recorrect your aim or just shoot if your crosshair is on the target.

What is Tracking Aim and why is it important to master?

Tracking aim is also one essential factor to playing CS:GO. Even if you flick and shoot, sometimes the enemy can move away from your crosshair. You can't just continously flick to hit your target. Instead, track your target with your crosshair. Tracking aim isn't just where you just follow your enemy with your crosshair. You also have to predict where the enemy will move. Because of this, mastering tracking aim can be very hard. That's why most pro players practice almost around 30-120 minutes a day practicing on flick-aim and tracking-aim.

Credits to mr. uLLeticaL for creating aim_botz:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=243702660

- Sensitivity

In CSGO, new players tend to have a high sensitivity. Most players say you are required to make a full 360 degree turn on your mousepad. Well yes, but some pro players like brax and summit1g don't need this feature. However, you should always know your sensitivity. It is also important to use your arm and wrist to aim, and not just your wrist.

Then what makes my aim bad?

Most likely your sensitivity is causing your aim to be bad. You don't know how to operate your sensitivity correctly. If you can't get perfect tracking aim with your sensitivity, it's most likely that your sensitivity is too high, and that you're most likely a wrist player. Being a wrist player is okay, but in some situations, a wrist isn't enough.

That's when using an arm comes in. Pro players tend to use their arm for looking around the environment, and sometimes for aiming. They use their wrist to have a steady aim, which makes it look like their crosshair is moving smoothly.

Also, another factor to why your aim might be bad is due to crosshair placement. Next topic, I'll talk about crosshair placement and why it is important to know it.

To find your perfect sensitivity, experiment with different sensitivities. If you think your sensitivity is too high, try to lower it down a tiny bit. Then as if you proceed to lower levels of sensitivity, you should find your perfect sensitivity. However, you should always practice with a new sensitivity because your muscle memory won't be used to a new sensitivity.

Practicing is also a good way to warmup your muscle memory.

luckyskillfaker also has a guide on sensitivity. I suggest you check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwn78pUJ8dk

- Crosshair Placement

According to Team Dignitas

Originally posted by Team Dignitas:

Crosshair placement is a simple concept that requires constant attention as well as a good understanding of map designs and conventional positioning. To explain, correct crosshair placement is to keep your crosshair placed where an enemies head would be based on their position in the map to ensure that minimal mouse movement is required once an enemy is spotted. This allows you to react quickly to an opponent appearing on screen meaning that you have less room to make mistakes when positioning your crosshair on your opponent. Despite being generally easy when an opponent is on the same level as you but considering maps have ramps, levels and various obstacles to sit on pre-aiming is not always straight forward.

Crosshair Placement, is simply placing your crosshair on head level.

What advantages can I gain from this?

Easy frags/kills. It's also a key to getting frags and playing aggressively. That's why it is recommended to aim for headshots than aiming for body shots.

In pistol rounds, this is extremely effective in CT Side. The USP-S can insta-kill anyone from A Site to Long A in Dust2. This is somewhat effective to counter-rush, or stopping a rush. However, shooting anyone from A Site to Pit in Dust2 will only take 2 headshots for an insta-kill.

Crosshair placement can also help to kill Terrorist in T Spawn. You will also need some map knowledge and game sense as well. Simply, just have a scout and peek Mid Doors. Since you will see the Terrorist's position, aim at the position while trying to aim for the head. However, some people don't really want to risk a peek, so they shoot spots that might wallbang a Terrorist from Mid Doors.

Credits to FPS Academy for making a tutorial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4raNMBQwf0

- Game Sense

What is Game Sense?

Game sense is where you are aware of your surroundings. This includes knowing/predicting your enemy's position, and knowing the other team's game strats and how to counter their strats.\

Let's say someone states that you need better game sense.

Originally posted by Example:

you need better game sense dude

What they mean is that you need to be aware what is happening in the round. Very Good Game Sense can save you in many situations. You don't have to have good aim to get very good game sense. You can get Game Sense by playing more. Game Sense is also one factor to playing successfully in CS:GO.

If you still don't know what Game Sense is, you can find the answer by asking this while in-game:

Where has one of my teammates died from?
If one of my teammates have died somewhere around the map, will the enemy be around their death location?
Where are the enemies going?

You can also improve Game Sense by using your enemy knowledge. For example, if it's Dust2, and the enemy goes at Long Corner and dies, expect the same enemy to go at Long Corner again. If you expect the enemy to go to Long Corner again, prefire Long Corner and expect to get an easy kill if you have an awp. This is extremely effective when dealing with campers at Long A who have an awp on their hands.

TLDR; Game Sense is basically just knowing and being aware of what's going on.

- Spray & Recoil Control

Have you ever wondered why the PROs always have their shots register even though their crosshair isn't on the enemy? Well, what are they even doing?

Controlling their Recoil & Spray

Woah woah, don't get too hasty right there. It's actually true. In CS:GO, every weapon has its own spray pattern. What is a spray pattern? A spray pattern is where you can control the inaccuracy of the spray. A spray is the inaccuracy. Spray Patterns aren't always accurate because of recoil. You know how the dynamic crosshair, where you shoot, it spreads apart? Well, if there was no recoil control, you can clearly spray VERY far away and get a headshot. However, there's a reason why a spray pattern exists. In situations, for example Close Quarters Comat, or CQC, spraying is recommended. Since spraying is very accurate at CQC, it is necessarily to learn your spray pattern. Now, you don't have to memorize ALL the CSGO spray patterns. It's recommended to learn the weapons you commonly use such as:

• AK-47
  
• M4A4 or M4A1-S
  
• UMP-45
  
• MAC-10

Well, what do spray patterns look like?

An AK-47 Spray Pattern looks like this:

In this one, it's not close to perfect, but it will help. This one will save you in some certain situations. However, don't spray when you're far from your opponent. Instead, do a burst, which is similar to spraying but you only shoot up to 3-5 bullets. You can do a tap, which shoots only 1 bullet, but it's only recommended if you're courageous to win a fight.

If you want to view ALL spray patterns, go to this site:
http://csgoskills.com/academy/spray-patterns/

Credits to twowordbird for making those spray patterns :D

₃. Gameplay

According to Wikipedia

Originally posted by Wikipedia:

Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with videogames. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it. Video game gameplay is distinct from graphics and audio elements.

Gameplay in CS:GO can be good or plain trash depending on the player. For example, bad gameplay can mean two things:

• Bad Game Sense
  
• Doing Nothing or Bad to win a game/round

For example, coldzera's M4A4 spray on cobblestone was one of the worst pro plays/gameplays. Coldzera, being one of the world's best CS:GO player forgot his spray.

Credits to Valve Guides for making the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4hmZ7opPxE#t=4m26s
Go to 4:26 to see coldzera's gameplay

However, if you want to have a good gameplay, you can:

• Get an Ace (kill 5 players in the enemy team)
  
• Very Good Spray Transfer
  
• Retake a site alone
  
• Clutch
  
  These are all good gameplays. How? Because you put a lot of effort to accomplish the gameplay. That is why it's determined as a good gameplay. If you have bad aim/game sense, it's going to be quite hard to accomplish one of them, though.

- Peeking

According to on-winnings.com

Originally posted by on-winnings.com:

Peeking is a method of movement in CS:GO in which you try to get a quick view of an angle or corner without exposing yourself to a potential enemy or overcommitting to an attack. It is primarily a method of gaining information with the goal to minimize risks as much as possible.

When you peek, you don't want to expose your entire body. If you do, an awper can kill you, or someone will just damage you a lot.

First of all, there are four types of peeks:

• Jiggle Peeking
  
• Shoulder Peeking
  
• Wide Peeking
  
• Close Peeking

What is Jiggle Peeking?

Jiggle Peeking is where you prefire common spots without having time to react as you peek. As you peek and prefire, you retreat and repeak, shoot, then retreat, and it repeats. This is effective when you have knowledge of where your enemy is. The enemy will have trouble hitting you, but if your enemy times his shot right, he can kill you. That's why you shouldn't peak an awper because they can insta-kill you if their shot is timed perfectly. Jiggle peeking is also effective to gain map control, and you can gather information while jiggle peeking.

Credits to on-winnings.com for making an example of jiggle peeking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Vu2q7LmVE

What is Shoulder Peeking?

Shoulder Peeking is similar to Jiggle Peeking, but you only show your shoulder. It is mostly used to bait an AWP shot, and gain information from the team. It is less risky and is effective when dealing situations where there's an awper. Commonly, people tend to bait an awp shot, and then push to kill the awper.

What is Wide Peeking?

Wide Peeking is where you expose your entire body to the enemy, and you see the enemy clearly. It is only RECOMMENDED when you are a 2v1 against the enemy. However, wide peeking is NOT RECOMMENDED to peek an awper. Only Wide Peek when you have knowledge of the enemy's location.

However, most Silvers tend to Wide Peek often. That's why they always die in unnecessary situations.

What is Close Peeking?

Close Peeking is where you can peak faster, but the enemy will see you first depending on ping. It is RECOMMENDED to use close peeking when the enemy has no idea where you are. If the enemy sees you first, you are in a disadvantage. When you see the enemy first, you are in an advantage. This is called Peeker's Advantage.

Credits to on-winnings.com for making an example of Wide-Peeking + Close-Peeking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWEKd7XbSe4

NOTE: Close-Peeking is NOT a way of Peeking. It's used to modify a Peak.

EXAMPLE: Jiggle Peeking + Close Peeking =/ Jiggle Peeking + Far Peeking

So there might be 8 WAYS TO PEEK

- Peeker's Advantage

Peeker's Advantage is a term to describe in any situation where the enemy sees you, before you see them. Here's an example of a player with 150 ping.

Credits to dolmakalem for creating a presentation of Peeker's Advantage.


There's only one way to get a Peeker's Advantage, which is through ping. The lower your ping or latency is, the best advantage you can get. That's why if you have a constant level of 100 ping, and you get killed without seeing the enemy, you tend to mistake that they're using Wall Hacks, but in reality, if you check their ping, it might be at 20 or lower, which gives them Peeker's Advantage. However, even if the enemy saw you first, they have to wait a little for their shot to register because of how the server "thinks" where they are.

Here's a video of steel who got rekt by Peeker's Advantage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGI6J77HsJM#t=0m14s

WARNING: Loud Rage at 0:17

Basically, Peeker's Advantage is a term to describe in any situation where the enemy sees you, before you see them. The peeker of course has to have low ping, and the player holding the angle has to have higher ping than the peeker.

- Roles

Professional Teams in CS:GO have roles. These roles are to help the team. There are 4 types of roles you should have knowledge of:

• Entry Fragger
  
• Supporter (Play Maker)
  
• Lurker
  
• In-Game Leader (Strat Caller)
  
• AWPer

What is an Entry Fragger?

An Entry Fragger is a player who is the first one in the site, and makes aggressive plays. They require good game sense, and good aim. They are classified as an entry fragger if they have:

• Good Crosshair Placement
  
• Good Recoil/Spray Control
  
• Good Game Sense
  
• Good Aim

Entry Fraggers are the most aggressive in the team.

What is a Supporter?

The Supporter is a player who is behind the Entry Fragger, and trade kills with the Entry Fragger. To trade kills means to replace themself as the Entry Fragger once the Entry Fragger dies, that's what I think. Supporters should also have good knowledge of flashes, and smokes. They're also called a Refragger.

What is a Lurker?

The Lurker, as its name states, is a player that is to disrupt rotations and gather information about the enemy team. Lurkers usually sit on spots that are entrances to sites, such as top mid (cat and long), and short stairs (cat). Lurkers are also one of the players that are not in a site, or on a site but in an unexpected position.

What is IGL (In-Game Leader)?

They're usually called Strat Callers. They call what strategy the team should make, and are is the brain and captain of the team. They analyze the enemy's team strategy, and find ways to counter it.

According to www.scan.co.uk

Originally posted by www.scan.co.uk:

The strat caller usually plays a more supportive role as well e.g entry flashing, covering the team's back and dealing crucial information to the team.

What is the AWPer?

The AWPer is the player that is great with an AWP. They make insanely good reflexes and can usually hold tight angles with an AWP. The AWPer can also be used to disrupt rotations, and gather information for the team.

TLDR; here's a brief explanation, but in a picture.

- Hud & GUI

Credits to simpleradar[simpleradar.com] for making map callouts in the radar. I suggest you check them out!

- Movement

Many players know that spamming ADAD will make you a harder target to hit. Yes, it is a fact, but you have to time your ADAD perfectly. That is why MOST unskilled players crouch to get the best accuracy of their weapon.

What unskilled players believe is that best accuracy is easy kill. You can get the best accuracy by crouching, but don't do it too much or you can be an easy target for your enemy. Pro players hardly crouch is any situation, but instead stutter step.

What is stutter stepping?

Stutter Stepping can be known as Counter-Strafing. They're basically the same thing because you are using your A and D keys to stutter step. Stutter stepping is hard to explain in words, but here's a video explaining what stutter stepping is.

Credits to luckyskillfFaker for explaining stutter stepping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fidSJHhjc2Q

Basically, stutter stepping is using your A and D keys to make yourself a harder target to hit. You also have to time your shots if you're stutterstepping if you're one of those people who don't stop while stutter stepping.

There are many ways to move in CS:GO such as bunny hopping, strafing, walking, and crouching. More importantly, knowing when to walk and crouch is a big issue. Even though you're one of those people who like to prefire common spots, being more sneaky and walking won't save you. Because you revealed your position to the enemy, why would you want to walk and be sneaky? You can walk to sneak to a site, but you have to not reveal your position. However, walking to an enemy and backstabbing them with a knife is risky but smart.

Your movement also affects how your grenade will be thrown. There are many ways to throw a grenade. The jump throw grenade spots are somewhat a gamble because it depends on when you jump and when you throw the grenade. There's also one of those binds where you can quickswitch to a grenade. It is extremely useful in some situations, but for now, watch these videos to learn more about movement.

Credits to TheWarOwl for making a guide on movement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGcgQEzCCrI

₄. Equipment

Equipment is one of the most important factors to winning a round. Equipment can be consists of two things:

• Grenades/Utilities
  
• Weapons

In order to use your equipment wisely in a game, you must play the game. You can also watch how pro players use their equipment.

Where can I find equipment?

Equipment can be found via through the buy menu, or on the ground. To get equipment without buying, you can kill an enemy with your starting pistol or knife, and then take their weapon from their rag doll. Every equipment is not the same. Some people refer some equipment with names that are famous when used by a certain pro player. This includes ScreaM's usage of the AK-47. People tend to call it the Headshot Machine because ScreaM named it that way.

Another example is the AWP | Made in China. To be honest, I find that hilarious, and funny because of how similar the Scout and AWP is. Well, why do they call it that anyway? Because of how the functions are so similar, and are slightly different. The only difference with the Scout is that you have more movement while scoped, and it deals less damage than the AWP.

- Utilities

Utilities include grenades and defuse kits. Grenades are the most widely used utilities in order to:

• Stop a rush
  
• Clear angles
  
• Retake a site
  
• etc.

Since utilities are SO important to this game, CS:GO wouldn't be categorized as semi-realistic without these grenades. However, there are situations where grenades can save you, whereas some can not.

The Defuse kit is a VERY IMPORTANT utility to win a round as a CT. Since a normal bomb plant has 40 seconds to detonate, it only takes 3 defuses to defuse a bomb without a kit. For instance, every 10 second is one defuse available. Do you get what I'm saying? So, with a kit, you have 8 defuses since 40/5 = 8. So with a kit, you can have up to 7 defuses, whereas without a kit, you can only have up to 3. That's what makes the Defuse Kit so important to the CT side.

Grenades have their own function. Let's see what each grenade does.


Smoke Grenades only make a smoke screen, or a giant cloud of smoke. This smoke can only block vision. It can be bought by both Terrorist and Counter-Terrorist. Players can only buy one smoke grenade, which means 5 smoke grenades per team. Since the grenade has the ability to block off vision, it is useful to stop rushes, and make safe rotations. However, these smokes are not solid, so bullets can go through the smokes.


Flashbangs can only blind and deafen players for a short period of time. Those who view will experience longer effects, while those who are far and view will experience short effects of the flashbang. The flashbang can stop rushes if timed correctly. There are many ways to flash, but the most effective method to flash is called pop flashing.


HE Grenades deal damage depending on how far and close the enemy is. If the HE Grenade directly hits an enemy, it can deal vast amounts of damage, and can instantly kill the enemy. However, the Kevlar absorbs the damage of the grenade. It has a wide damage area, capable of damaging multiple enemies, but it can create attention and damage teammates.


Decoy Grenades basically look like flashbangs that cause fake gun shots. It creates fake gun shots with the most expensive weapon you bought. (i.e. M4A4, AK-47, and the most expensive weapon you have.) Most importantly, since it only makes gunshots with the most expensive weapon you have, you can create a fake round type by throwing a decoy when you only have a P250 or Five-Seven. This will cause your enemies to think your team is on an eco round. The Decoy Grenade also can bait enemies to look away since it looks like a flashbang.


Molotovs/Incendiary Grenades create blockades that damage enemies/teammates when in the radius of the flame. These grenades are useful to stopping a rush, and having enemies reveal themself to get out of the flame radius. However, there are some bugs with these that can go through roofs such as flaming an area in a position in CT spawn to put a flame area on Extended A. However, Molotovs/Incendiary Grenades can NOT create a flame area in the air. That is why timing your molotovs/incendiary grenades is important. The flame areas can NOT be created through smokes and water. They also bounce off of steep ramps and not create a flame area. However, it is unsure whether Valve will fix it or not.

- Effective ways to use a Grenade

According to Team Dignitas

Originally posted by Team Dignitas[/quote:

There are multiple ways to throw the grenades you can use, not just the left click or the right click. If you hold both buttons, and let go of both of them at the same time, the grenade will be thrown with medium strength. This allows you to throw the grenades a shorter distance than just the left click, and a further distance than just the right click.

What's the best way to flash?

The best way to flash is to pop flash. Popflashing is where the enemy has no time to react to a flashbang, making a flash more effective. There are many types of ways to popflash. Depending on how you popflash is how effective it is. If an enemy is far away of a popflash, they will experience little effect of the flash, but if they're close to it, they will be blinded and deafened.

Here's an example of a popflash.

Credits to TrilluXe for making a video of pop flashes for Dust 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQZdjfyLMyE

What about smoke grenades then?

You can use a smoke grenade to block vision (act as a wall), or as a one-way. A one-way grenade is where you can see the opponent, but they hardly or can not see you clearly. Example of a one way is barrels in Dust 2. It is hard to see the opponent's head, but in their view, they can see you well.

Enemy View vvv

Your View ^^^

There are other ways to throw grenades other than simply just throwing them and watching them go off. For example, you can smoke side of pit from long doors.

It is a very effective smoke because you block atleast three angles:

• Pit
  
• Side of Pit
  
• Platform

This is a good smoke to block CTs who are in Pit, Side of Pit, and Platform. If you don't know what those are, I suggest you check out the HUD & GUI content.

- Skins

Skins are a fashion in CS:GO. They are similar to regular stock weapons, but have a cool "skin" in it. There are many types of skins in CS:GO, and one of the most expensive AWP skin is the Dragon Lore.

Where can I buy skins?

You can buy them via through trading sites and the steam community market.

However, depending on the skin changes the price. If a skin is VERY RARE, it is considered as expensive no matter how it looks. For example, Stattrak P250 | Sand Dune looks trash, but it is very expensive and very hard to find sellers.

WARNING

Most skin trading sites may contain scammers, only if they are not a trading bot site. However, it is NOT a scam if a trading bot offers a fee.

- Different Types of Guns

There are four types of guns:

• Rifles
  
• SMGs
  
• Heavy
  
• Pistols

These can be used in any situation, but it depends on how you use them. Pistols are only recommended to buy in eco rounds. Later, we'll talk about round types and how to counter them. For now, let's focus on these guns and why they're important.


Pistols are good weapons depending on how you use them. Most unskilled players in low levels tend to hate pistols because of how they use one. However, in my opinion, pistols are extremely good when you only aim for headshots. The starting pistol USP-S has the worst armor penetration, but can insta-kill with a headshot. USP-S can be mastered in both CQC, and LRC (Long Range Combat).



SMGs are almost similar to pistols, but are automatic. They have trash armor penetration, and are mostly used for CQC. Most automatic SMGs such as the P90 are very inaccurate to use for long range. However, a decent SMG like the UMP-45 can be used to master LRC and CQC. It is only recommended to use an SMG when your team can only half-buy or you only have enough money to afford for one.



Heavy Weapons are basically weapons that deal vast amount of damage and armor penetration. However, a negative effect is that it slows down your movement nearly more than 10%. Because of this, it is not effective to use one to rush. On the good side, it is a weapon good for defending sites while being unnoticed. Heavy weapons have very low accuracy, and are meant to be used for CQC. Even though the accuracy is very low, it can still be used to instantly kill an enemy with a headshot within close range. They also have a low firerate, which makes it nearly not close to automatic. However, the XM1014 has a decent firerate as a shotgun.



Finally, we have mostly everyone's favorite type of weapon. The Rifles. Rifles are commonly used in CS:GO, and have decent damage and armor penetration. For example, the SG or Terrorist's COD Gun can headshot ANY opponent in ANY range. Hey, how do you know? Go to aim_botz (in the improving aim topic) and download it. Once downloaded, load the map and equip SG552. Set the setting to Long Range, and test it out yourself. Unlike the heavy weapons in CS:GO, rifles have more firerate (less than an SMG), and more damage than an SMG.

- Kill Rewards

According to counterstrike.wikia.com

Originally posted by counterstrike.wikia.com:

Weapon/Equipment	Casual	Competitive
Knife	$750	$1500
Pistol	$150	$300
- CZ75-Auto*	$50	$100
Submachine gun	$300	$600
- P90*	$150	$300
Shotgun	$450	$900
Rifle	$150	$300
- AWP*	$50	$100
Grenade	$100	$300
Zeus x27	$0	$0

* indicates exceptions.

However, some updates may change the economy depending on what type of update it is. Most importantly, everyone should have knowledge of the basis of CS:GO economy.

₅. Round Types

In this topic, I'll explain to you about what round types there are.

What are some strategies with the economy in a round?

Depending on how much you have as a team depends on how your team manages the economy.

Originally posted by TheWarOwl:

Your money is not your money. It is your team's money.

TheWarOwl is correct. Depending how much you have is how much your team should have. Your team always is a team. You play as a team, you die as a team. Same goes for the economy in the team. If you have to eco, your team will have to eco. If you have to half-buy, your team will have to half-buy.

However, in lower ranks, some players don't manage their economy correctly. Instead, they will full buy every round.

There are 5 types of economic rounds. Images taken from team-dignitas.net

- Eco Rounds

Eco Rounds, or economic rounds is when your team only buys the cheapest weapon or spend very little money. The cheapest weapon on CS:GO is the P250.

What's the goal to playing an economy round?

Instead of aiming to win in an eco round, aim for frags instead. This will damage and hurt the other team's economy because they have to rebuy.



You ONLY do an economy round if you:

• CAN'T Buy Rifles, SMGs, (recommended)
  
• CAN'T Afford grenades after full-buying (recommended)
  
• If your team is POOR and CAN NOT afford weapons and armor.

However, economy rounds are different than any other economic round.

In eco rounds, you are RECOMMENDED to play CQC because you have only a P250 equipped. P250 deals high damage within close range of your enemy. However, if you feel courageous, you can just play LRC and CQC. It's also best to play for picks (meaning to bait rushing opponents) if you're on an eco round.

Here's an example of what to buy during an eco round from team-dignitas.net

What	When	Cost
Nothing	If nothing else applies	$0
P250	If you have a small excess of money	$300
Desert Eagle	If confident in one deags and have some cash	$700

- Half-Buy Rounds

According to team-dignitas.net
Originally posted by team-dignitas.net
In rounds where you half buy, or pseudo buy, you purchase down to a certain amount of money. If your team half buys to $2000 and you posses $3700 then you can purchase kevlar, a Tec-9, and a Flashbang for example. These types of rounds are utilized to balance out your teams money so that you're on even purchasing grounds and to weaken the enemies economy, making their firepower less potent when your own Full Buy comes in. Unlike a force buy, a half buy will never spend all of your money.

This is economic round type will balance your economy, and can help prevent an eco next round. However, depending on how much you spend will depend on what economic round type will be next.

When you half-buy, you spend your money up to the maximum amount your team spends. This means that if your team has in total $6,000, and spends $2000 on equipment, that is roughly around $1,500 per player.

NOTE: YOU NEVER SPEND ALL YOUR MONEY IN A HALF-BUY ROUND

Here's an example of what to buy in a Half-Buy round from team-dignitas.net

What	When	Cost
Nothing	If at the money level already	$0
Kevlar	If you have more than $1000 more than the requirement	$650-1000
Weapon	From P250 to Desert Eagle or even a UMP-45	$300-1250

- Force-Buy Rounds

In Force Buy rounds, you spend ALL your money on equipment EVEN THOUGH your team can not afford a rifle. This means that your team has SPENT all their money on equipment, and that they risk their economy.

However, it is RECOMMENDED to ECO IF YOUR TEAM HAS LOST AFTER A FORCE-BUY ROUND. Force-Buy rounds are VERY RISKY and it's a gamble whether or not your team will eco or full-buy next round. Force-Buy rounds are NOT recommended unless you're courageous enough that your team will win next round.

Force-Buy rounds can be performed after LOSING a pistol round. Your goal to a Force-Buy round is to play close angles and CQC. That way, it'd be easier to gain kills.

Here's an example of what to buy in a Force-Buy round from team-dignitas.net

What	When	Cost
Tec-9/Five Seven/CZ	After losing a pistol round or forcing with under $3000	$1500
Desert Eagle	After losing a pistol round or forcing with under $3000	$1350-1700
Rifle	If force buying and having more than $3000	$3000-4100

- Full-Buy Rounds

A Full Buy round is where your team has the money to afford almost anything including Rifles, Armor, and Grenades. Generally, Full-Buys are also risky because you can either win a round to full buy again, or lose a round to eco. However, in the good side, if you have more than $10,000, you can full buy again without grenades if you lose the round. In full buys, it is NECESSARY to get a full grenade sets. Grenades MAY SAVE or BRING DEATH/b] to your life. However, in the Terrorist side, you can buy an AK47 and Kev+Helmet for $3700, which is not close to a full buy, but many mistake it as a full-buy.

If you're CT, full buys are considered expensive because of the utilities and weapons you have to buy. However, in Terrorists' side, you can full buy a cheaper set than the CTs. It is important to save up as a CT because of how expensive a loadout can be.

Here's an example of what you can buy in a Full-Buy round from team-dignitas.net

What	When	Cost(With full nade set)
M4 or AK-47	You are rifling on the team	$3700-$4100(4700-$5800)
AWP	You are AWPing on the team	$4750($6750-$7450)

- Pseudo-Buy Rounds

Now, many of you people have NOT heard of a pseudo buy round. Remember how many people call the UMP-45 a rifle? Well, in psuedo buys, you replace the UMP-45 generally as your "rifle". Because of how the UMP-45's damage is higher than the MP7, you can use it as your "rifle".
So basically, in a pseudo round, you are replacing a rifle with a weapon that is "similar" to the rifle. For instance, in pseudo buys, you buy a scout if you want to "awp".





According to team-dignitas.net

Originally posted by team-dignitas.net:

A Pseudo buy occurs when your team has built up enough money to either rifle buy or full buy but you instead opt for a weapon that is cheaper than an M4 or AK-47 for other reasons. Such reasoning can be that you do not have enough money for a full buy and that you need to drop to a weaker weapon or that you want more grenades for your specific position. A pseudo buy is generally used on CT side as Terrorists have the money to full buy more often than Counter-Terrorists due to their cheaper weaponry and additional income via bomb plants. Useful weaponry that enable more grenades or a cheaper buy range from a UMP-45 to replace an M4A4, a SSG08 to replace an AWP or a Five seven/CZ-75A to play a close quarter angle and attempt to get a rifle from an enemy.

Here's an example of what to buy in a pseudo-buy round from team-dignitas.net

What	When	Cost
UMP-45	In place of a rifle or for more grenades	$2250
SSG08	In place of an AWP	$2700
Five Seven or Tec-9	For more grenades	$1500

- What to buy in a Pistol Round?

Well, here are presentations taken from team-dignitas.net to briefly explain if you're too lazy to read.


According from these sources, depending on what you buy will be your ability. For instance, you can have one player wear a kevlar, two players equip a defuse kit + flashbang, and the other two players with five-sevens/CZ-75 and grenades. That way, your team is more organized and can overcome each others' weaknesses. The pictures have it explained in greater detail, so feel free to check them out.

Luckily, team-dignitas.net has it explained.

Originally posted by team-dignitas.net:

Purchasing on the CT side is generally a bit easier to understand as the USP-S is a one shot headshot at extreme ranges, meaning that in most scenarios an upgrade is not essential.

Purchasing Armor allows you to take a fight and fall back, positions like Mid and A Long on Dust 2 can utilize kevlar the best, allowing you to take multiple aim duels before going down to glocks.

You should always have a player with a defuse kit and some utility, usually 2 flashbangs. This player should be playing the "rotation" spots, where they can go to either site and anyone rotating can pick up the kit if they happen to fall. The two flashbangs can be used in a retake to acquire one or two kills and allow rotating players to play more aggressive while taking the bombsite back.

Upgrading your pistol to a CZ-75A or Five-Seven is a niche upgrade when you expect to be rushed by multiple players and don't expect to have time to reload. The Five-seven's 20 bullet capacity allows you to take fights with more Terrorists before needing to reload and the CZ-75A is able to stand toe to toe with the Glock in close quarter duels.

₆. Positioning

In CS:GO, if you want to play defensive mode, you have to learn your positioning. When you are positioning yourself, ask yourself:

Is this a good position?
Will I be able to see the enemy spot the enemy?
Will the enemy be able to see me easily?

Your positioning should also be INEFFECTIVE to flashes and smokes. The best way to get good positioning is via through playing the game. You can also watch how professional players position themself in CS:GO, but that will only give you a hint to positioning. As you play more, you find great spots and tactics and usually generate map knowledge.

- Angles & Perspectives

When you position yourself, you need to ensure you have a good angle where you can shoot clearly at the enemy. In CS:GO, there is real geometry. Because of how the models in CS:GO work, there are perspectives.

How do I hold an angle effectively?

When you're holding an angle, bait your opponent to come to your crosshair. Ensure that your crosshair is on head level, so that killing your target will be easier. However, since you're holding an angle, people can jiggle peek (explained in Peeking topic). If you have an awp, it's recommended to hold an angle tightly. By tightly, I mean where the gap is so thin you will see a tiny part of your enemy's body.


This is what holding a tight angle looks like.

However, to make the angle you're holding effective, you need to learn about perspectives. Perspectives are when you're more closer to a corner and get a disadvantage. How? Let's see what ClutchRound.com has to explain.

Originally posted by ClutchRound.com:

When you are about to hold a position or peek around a corner, you generally want to peek from as far away as possible to give yourself an advantage. The player, who has the bigger distance to the corner, will see the other player model earlier. Each map has different distances, angles and corners, so sometimes the CTs are able to hold a position better and sometimes it’s easier for the terrorist side to peek around and pick the frag. You should start a local server and test your positions for weaknesses – maybe you are using angles, where your opponents always have an advantage over you? You should also learn to run around corners to reduce the disadvantage of your own position.

Credits to ClutchRound.com for the image presentation.


It's also important as a Terrorist to make sure that you are securing angles that will not expose your teammates to enemies and cause them to die. Seeing people not do this is common in lower ranks under MG1.

₇. Psychology

CS:GO affects how your brain functions when you play the game. In CS:GO, your brain operates differently than a normal person. First of all, an average person might say that you're sitting around and doing nothing. It is true that you're sitting around, but you are using your brain. Here's what your brain does when you play CS:GO:

• Increase Coordination
  
• Increase Strategy Planning
  
• Enable Cognition
  
• Movement
  
• Produces Stress

Let's call and refer these as your "mental state" when you play CS:GO. For now, let's see how CS:GO affects the brain.

CS:GO and the Brain

When it's your first time playing CS:GO in the day, you need to warm up your brain. Why? Your brain has to prepare each "mental state" as you play. This is where practice begins. When you practice, your brain tries to rewire connections remembered from yesterday such as remembering strategies and modifying muscle memory as you practice more with your sensitivity.

However, muscle memory can be modified anytime and anywhere. This is why many professional players practice for a long time when they first start up CS:GO.

Everytime you play CS:GO, you learn something in the game that is added to your "mental state". The more you learn, the more better you perform at the game. However, if learn things the bad way, or not-so-wise way, you can develop bad habits which are added to your "mental state." Practicing good techniques you have learned will keep the good technique from being replaced by a bad habit.

- Coordination

What is coordination?

According to Google...

Originally posted by Google:

the organization of the different elements of a complex body or activity so as to enable them to work together effectively.

CS:GO requires good coordination so that the chances of winning will be more effective. The more coordination you have in your team, your team will likely win a game. Most players mistake teams with good coordination as wall hacks because of how greatly communicated the other team is. However, you do not have to communicate to win, but it is recommended that your team should communicate.

Your radar is also a source to find where opponents are. However, sometimes, the radar can identify opponents' status unknown, alive, or dead. It is best to know if the enemy is alive or dead, so have a teammate tell if an opponent is alive or dead. The radar can only reveal enemies' positions IF:

• The enemies are in a teammates' view
  
• Enemies make noise

There's also Hand-Eye Coordination which also affects your aim.

From reddit user Loki-J-

Originally posted by Loki-J-:

Hand-Eye Coordination = You look and your hand knows exactly how much it needs to move to aim there.

This is also linked to your sensitivity. The more you practice with your sensitivity, the more you can improve your hand-eye coordination. Hand-Eye Coordination is also similar to Flick Aim. You predict how much your hand needs to move to flick there, which is a flick shot if you initially hit the opponent. However, most flicks aren't accurate, so most pro players tend to flick, then adjust their aim on the opponent.

- Strategy Planning

When you start to plan a strategy in CS:GO, you are finding ways to overcome the other team's strategy such as playing for picks.

You also have to know your opponent when you plan a strategy. Find:

• Their Weaknesses
  
• Their Strengths
  
• How they Position
  
• How they Hold Angles
  
• How they use grenades

There are more, but focus on those. When you're a Terrorist in Dust 2, you should always find if the other team always throws grenades at Long Doors. If so, form a strategy of when to rush A long such as having the best A spawn.

Also, it is IMPORTANT to know what kind of spawn you get in any map. Depending on what spawn your team gets, you should always go to the site closest to your team's spot.

- Stress & How it affects your Performance

When you play CS:GO, stress is a big factor that affects your performance. Stress can make you panic and make you focus more. Little stress is good for CS:GO, but large amounts of stress can overwhelm your performance. Most new CS:GO players tend to become more anxious than mediocre players.

According to lifehacks.com

Originally posted by lifehacks.com:

It can alert the rest of the brain that a threat is present and trigger a fear or anxiety response. The emotional memories stored in the central part of the amygdala may play a role in anxiety disorders involving very distinct fears, such as fears of dogs, spiders, or flying

Since new CS:GO players have less experience than other mediocre players, they tend to get nervous or anxious at any situation. In CS:GO, it is VERY IMPORTANT to control your emotions because these emotions can bring reward or discourage.

How to stop getting stressed over any situation in CS:GO?

It's practically hard to do that, but once you master it, others may feel like you're a sociopath. Just kidding, it's quite simple. You have to not react to any situation you are in while playing CS:GO. It may be hard at first, but you can get used to it after not being emotional for a long time.

- Cognitive Thinking

Cognitive Thinking, or referred as Cognition in Psychology, is a way to describe a collection of mental processes the brain uses.

According to Wikipedia

Originally posted by Wikipedia:

Cognitive psychology is the study of mental processes such as "attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and thinking". Much of the work derived from cognitive psychology has been integrated into various other modern disciplines of psychological study, including educational psychology, social psychology, personality psychology, abnormal psychology, developmental psychology, and economics.

When we play CS:GO, our brains enable Cognition and tends to think we're in a game because of how the game is designed. That's why most gamers blink less than an average person.

Speaking of Cognitive Thinking, we use it to determine on how to defeat the enemy. Our brain sets up multiple paths or ways to defeat an enemy or team. By doing this, you develop multiple strategies your team or self can use. However, based on your IQ will depend on how many strategies can be found. The more strategies you can find out, the higher your IQ might be. I'm not saying it as a fact, but I can hypothesize that it is.

Fun Fact: Your brain doesn't handle playing Piano alone, but instead, the region that is responsible for your piano skills is your math region in the brain.

It is ALSO likely that gamers will play a bit better on the piano than an average player because of how the hand is extremely trained on motor skills. Surgeons who also play video games have better motor skills than those who don't play video games.

CS:GO has many positive psychological effects. However, it can cause negative physical effects such as:

• Myopia (Short SIghtedness)
  
• Deep Vein Thrombosis
  
• High Cholesterol

Deep Vein Thrombosis can become worst by forming larger clots that can block the lungs and cause Pulmonary Embolism[g.co], and block the arteries in the brain and cause a stroke.

TLDR; Cognition in CS:GO is used to determine your opponents' weaknesses, strengths, and strategies they use, and generate knowledge to overcome their weaknesses, strengths, and strategies.

₈. Gamemodes

In CS:GO, there are five different valve official gamemodes.

• Deathmatch
  
• Arms Race
  
• Demolition
  
• Casual
  
• Competitive

I'll focus on Competitive since it determines your skill and rank. However, some players tend to avoid competitive because of fear. Fear of Game Ruiners can be the biggest fear one has, but you can avoid most of them from not playing competitive.

If you hate valve competitive matchmaking, you can use programs like ESEA[play.esea.net] & CEVO[cevo.com] for third-party competitve play, or PUG (Pick Up Game). These have better anticheat than VAC. However, these third-party programs are FULL OF SKILLED PLAYERS. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to play these PUGs if you are Legendary Eagle Master or above.

There are MANY third-party gamemodes such as:

• Surf
  
• Bhop
  
• Zombie Escape
  
• Free-For-All
  
• 1v1

Some gamemodes are meant for fun, while some are meant for skill improvement.

- Competitive Basics

Unlike Casual, where you are a 10 vs 10, Competitive is 5 vs 5. There are 5 players in each team. In Competitive, solo queuing is not recommended because you are placed in a random team of people. Not only that, the people you are playing with can be either bad or good no matter what rank you are.

If you are placed in a bad team, chances are they are boosted and are unskilled. However, not all players are bad at the game, and you might be considered bad in your team as well.

If you are placed in a good team, chances are the people you are playing with are possibly queued together and have good knowledge of the game. Even though you might be placed in a team full of good people, these players may NOT:

• Communicate
  
• Rush (Instead of Holding Angles)
  
• Know economics

Trust me, I have been placed in a team with very good people, but they just don't understand how economy works in CS:GO.

Bomb Defusal

Since Bomb Defusal is one of the most common sub gamemodes played in Competitive, let's focus on that.

Bomb Defusal is a gamemode in Competitive where the Terrorist team's objective is to plant on sites, while the Counter-Terrorist team has to stop and prevent the terrorists from obtaining their objectives.

Maps that are bomb defusal are labeled with de_ such as de_dust2.

However, once the bomb has been planted, the Terrorists have to protect the bomb while it is starting to detonate. The Counter-Terrorists have to stop the bomb from detonating or they lose the round (vice versa for the Terrorist).

If the Counter-Terrorist defuse the planted bomb before it detonates, they win the round no matter what. When you are defusing, you are VULNERABLE while defusing, so it is important to have a utility or a teammate to protect you while defusing.

It's also IMPORTANT to have a kit. Counter-Terrorists can buy kits for $400, and it can reduce the defusal time to 5 seconds instead of 10 seconds. This is extremely useful in situations where the bomb is close to detonation. It is recommended to have atleast one Counter-Terrorist buy a defuse kit at a pistol round. Since kits can be dropped only through death, you or your team can call out where the person with the defusal kit has died.

In tournaments, professional players do this. Since their team is so organized, they know how to play and form strategies better. A professional player can explain a guide like this better than me, but since I get this from references and sources, it should make it almost similar to how a professional player explains.

Back to topic, the valve official competitive gamemodes only last up to 30 rounds. However, if a team reaches to more than the half way to 30 rounds, aka 16 rounds, then the team gets an automatic win.

₉. Miscellaneous

I literally worked very hard to make this guide. Around 6 hours of work, and had to sleep for a while. If you want to support this guide, you can like, favorite, and share.

However, if you think this guide is not enough, feel free to comment on my profile to suggest what I should add to this guide.

NOTICE: IT HAS TO BE SERIOUS, AND NOT A JOKE.

- Donations

Feel free to donate me skins. I don't care what skin you give me, so feel free to donate. Also, if you spam my trade offers with crates, I'm going to block you. :)

https://steamcommunity.com/tradeoffer/new/?partner=183404349&token=KITe6fXT

What do you think of this guide? Do I need anything to change? Do I have something wrong about a content in this guide?

- Changelog

Update 1: Added Psychology Topic
Update 2: Added Subtopics of Psychology: Coordination & Strategy Planning
Update 3: Added Cognitive Thinking - Subtopic of Psychology
Update 4: Added Stress & How it affects your performance - Subtopic of Psychology
Update 5: Added Gamemodes and Competitive Basics
Update 6: Added GIF on section to bring more attention ;)

- Recommended Mod you should check out!

This mod is called Go 4 The Kill. It's basically similar to PUBG. BananaGaming made a video about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGgZR0pCqC0

[Wolterhon]

↓↓↓ How to get community banned 101 ↓↓↓

[specify_]

I mean like I did type, not write, everything by myself. I used some sources to help me type some stuff in greater depth.

[ThourCS2]

Very well detailed. Good Job!