When playing a game of Counter Strike: Global Offensive, many guesses go on and plans are formed. Of course both sides want to win, so you and the enemy are always thinking of the next best way to outsmart each other. Sometimes you may catch the enemy team in a place you don't expect, or you may be surprised that you are the last one left, the outcomes are endless. One of the most common maps you may see yourself playing is Mirage; a well-spaced, popular map with many possibilities. If you ever need an idea on what to do, here are four interesting strategies to throw your opponent off on Mirage. Make sure you know most of the callouts on Mirage before reading this.

CT Side - Listening in Underpass

Callouts are an essential part of playing CSGO. Knowing where the enemy team is early can give your side the edge for that round. If you are on CT-side and spawned close to B-site, the second the round starts run into Sniper's Nest, jump through the window down to Underpass, then push near the end of the tunnel but not all the way to stairs. If you have a close spawn and move fast you should be able to beat anyone that might come Mid. From Underpass, you will be able to hear anyone running towards B. Now you can choose to play it safe and fall back after you give a callout, or you can carefully push up and try to surprise the enemy. If the enemy didn't go B, then you can push up and choose to try and flank the enemy in Mid or on A-site. This is a high-risk/high-reward idea, so make sure your other four teammates have important angles covered while you do this.

T Side - A Site Below Stairs

We have all been here. CT-Spawn is currently clear and you're about to get on A-site but either the smokes cleared up or you don't have one, and of course there is an AWP in Sniper's Nest. It's good to know some ways to approach this dangerous situation. Let's say you're coming out of Ramp on A-site and you know that there is a CT in Sniper's Nest and one on Stairs, which is very common. If they are focused on a firefight with your teammates (let's imagine a friendly is in Palace), now might be a good time to quietly push up against the A logo below Stairs, out of sight from Sniper's and the CT on Stairs. This position is a good spot to jiggle peek and bait out an AWP shot. Jiggle peeking is when you are near a corner and you know an AWP on the other side, so you very quickly strafe left and right, exposing a small amount of your body to an AWP to get him to shoot. It is very difficult to hit one of these shots and distracts the AWPer.

If you jiggle peek in front of stairs and manage to bait out an AWP shot, that AWPer is going to have to find cover to prepare his next shot. Immediately after you hear that shot go off, that's your chance to peek out and kill the guy Stairs. When the AWPer falls for the jiggle peek, he is going to give his teammate on Stairs a callout that you're near him, but it's going to be too late and you are already there. Once you kill the guy Stairs, the AWPer is going to reappear to try and shoot you, but then that teammate in Palace is going to be ready to kill the AWPer when he reappears.

Let's say you jiggle peek and the AWPer doesn't fall for it, it is still a good distraction because now he has to split his focus. If you are lucky the guy on stairs might get the callout from his team that you are there and run out of stairs to try and kill you, but you and your teammate in palace will be ready to kill him. Overall this strategy is very risky and is mainly only used for if your smokes clear up, but if you have good team communication then this plan should work.

CT Side - Do Not Break the Board on B-Site

If you ever had to go to B-site at the start of the round, the fastest way to it is through Market and out the Window with the wooden board that you can knife to jump through. Unless it gets in the way of your current plan, do not break the wooden board. It is possible to jump through the opening at the same speed without knifing the board, it just takes practice. The board can do a lot of useful things; it lowers the damage of a bullet passing through it before it breaks. I cannot tell you how many times that board saved my life from an AWP shot while I was trying to retake B-site.

If the enemy is on B-site, the board provides with more cover than without it. It makes it harder for people to throw grenades at you and it is harder for them to notice you at first since the board gives you more of a shadow by not exposing your whole body. If you have to cross to the main doorway out of Market and an AWPer is watching the Window, the board will decrease the amount of time he will be able to see you cross, making his shot harder. So unless you really feel like the board will be more an obstacle to your plan, practice running through the opening without knifing the board. It might just save your life.

CT or T side - B Site Box

I am sure you all have heard of this spot, the box that you can boost a teammate onto on B-site was once one of the most used hiding spots on B-site that people would surprise the enemy with. It became very common and now most people do not use it anymore. But now I noticed many people don't bother checking it anymore, they just assume no one would go on the box because it's too obvious. Sometimes the best mixup is no mixup! Try that spot out once a game and see if you can steal a round from the enemy because they forgot to check while they were either planting or defusing the bomb. They might start checking it again and you won't be able to use it for that match, but you will still win a round from an old trick.

Proceed With Caution

Of course not everything will go according to plan. Maybe you thought you had a good idea to surprise the enemy, but he still killed you anyways, or your friend missed an important AWP shot. But with a lot of practice you will notice more plans will begin to work. In order to pull off the strategies above you have to be willing to take risks, but that doesn't mean you just run in immediately without anyone because you are confident, that will most likely not go well. Even if you are already taking a risk, you should still make sure to check your surroundings and think things out with your team. You have to trust your team and they have to trust you. Communication is still key in CSGO. Once you have the knowledge and a trustworthy team, winning should be a breeze.