There are many ways you can improve your game in CS:GO - most people would be much better if they just focused on any of the fundamental mechanics first, like aim, movement, and map knowledge, but to keep getting better, you'll eventually have to optimize your approach. Imagine it like this - at first, it's okay to take on any kind of practice because you are, well, a noob. Every bit of practice may heed great results simply because there is still a huge room for improvement in every area. However, as we progress and get closer to the theoretical maximum of our potential, spending time in a practice mode that doesn't specifically focus 100% on what you need to improve with (like DM, where you aren't practising flick-aim only but rather keep all kinds of aim and movement warm) will mean that at least a part of that time is completely wasted on parts of your game that don't need as much attention right now.

This guide will be really general, but at the same time, universally applicable to every single moment in your CS career - from noob to pro. It is really that simple, however, that doesn't mean that it is easy when you try to apply it.

Step 1: Analysis

Part of improving your game is knowing what you need to improve and what you need to do in order to do so. Therefore we'll always start with an analysis of our current situation. Now, how do we do this correctly? There isn't really one fit-all for all kinds of problems that the thousands of players experience in their lifetime of CS:GO. However, if you listen closely to your games - look at the scoreboard, at how many enemies flashed you have, and maybe use a tool like Leetify to help you identify your mechanical or positional weaknesses - you should get an idea of where to look more closely.

An example analysis from my last three Overpass games.

If you don't want to use a tool to help you analyze your flaws, be sure to keep track of your stats somewhere - maybe a spreadsheet - since we are prone to misinterpret your own impressions and only if you add real facts to your analysis will you come close to reality. Look at your headshots - look at your kills and compare it to the score of your team to grasp your impact after reviewing your demo, look at your flash assists and keep in mind how much you communicate. Write all of that down, as shown in the example of a team I know below.

Since they're actively playing in a league, I changed telling information.

Step 2: Find out how to improve in the lacking area

After we've realised where we, in general, need improvement, we need to look closer. Aim doesn't always equal aim, as there are multiple different forms of aim that our body handles differently, like flick-aim, tracking-aim and crosshair-placement. This is why we need to look closer at the statistics - for example if you find out that you aren't really killing enough people and you find out that your aim is sub-par and needs improvement, it's time to look at a demo or two of your and look at how you pre-aim things - does that need improvement? How about your headshot percentage? Everything below 40 is definitely improvement worthy - look closer, are you panicking and need to practise to stay cool? Or do need to move your crosshair way too far to their head?

After you've found out what exactly is lacking right now, imagine you're a scientist and want to test how to specifically use that exact skill in a close off environment - basically 100% of your time spent in practice should focus on the exact skill that you're trying to improve. Example: If you're constantly getting stuck on parts of the map, there is no way to improve that unless you're going into a dry server and look at the positions necessary to never get stuck there again and move back and forth, peek into the nothingness and look out for the objects around you - in a game, you don't have time to do that.

Similarly does it work for aim, so if you are lacking tracking-aim (you can aim at people's heads, but lose it once they move) you can jump into a bot-practice map, turn on moving bots and just try to track their heads for extended periods of time.

Step 3: Practice with increasing realism

Let's stay with the example of getting stuck on things - after you've been on the most crucial parts of the maps you play, it's time to jump into DM and look if you're ready to apply it to a more realistic (compared to a real game of CS:GO) situation. If you are still getting stuck on objects and walls, it's time to jump back into an empty server. If you're not getting stuck on your surroundings anymore, it's time to jump into a game and focus on said not-getting-stuck before you can play freely and focus on winning again if you see progress.

Aim_Botz is a popular and versatile offline bot practice map for all kinds of mechanical practice

If you have problems with your flick-aim, flicking onto the, at first, stationary, then moving, heads of bots in a bot-practice map is the way to go. After you've done that, you can try it in a 1v1 Arena server and if you are doing ok when focusing on flicking, then it's time to increase the realism and go into DM, where you have to fight more than one person. After that, go into a game of CS and focus on flicking to see how far it go you - if you are not satisfied, you should start from zero again, in the offline practice map.

If you have an analysed that your problem lies in your knowledge of maps or plays, instead of going into an offline environment, it makes sense to watch demos of pro players that play similar positions to you and write down what they do right that you don't - this includes when they peek and when they fall back etc. Afterwards, when playing, your entire focus should be on applying that to your own game since you're playing to become better - not to win. Winning comes later.

Conclusion

To summarize: Analyse - Find out how to improve by distilling the problem - Practice with increasing realism. Afterwards, you go back to step one to find out your next flaw and to work on it. There is no stopping here, it just goes round and round until you're where you want to be. Of course, you should never completely ignore the other skills - they need to be nurtured, too, which is why you should sprinkle in the occasional DM session or game, too.

Like this kind of content? Show your support by following me on Twitter or join our #Digscord!