Inferno is one the most played maps in professional Counter-Strike as of right now. It has been developed into the mould of a basic pick, that most teams play. It consists of multiple chokepoints, leading to heavy emphasis on utility and very exciting games.

It has been the last map in many iconic series during international tournaments. Knowing the intricacies of the A-Site on Inferno will definitely help you up your game and create some depth in your playbook.

The Philosophy:

A-Site on Inferno is a very interesting bombsite, in multiple ways. It is one of the hardest bombsites to retake in the current map pool, has 3 fairly easily accessible entry points, and a unique way to be played. It has loads of gimmicky one-off spots that can be played to deny plant, or get one kill, and has one of the highest carry potential positions in Pit. It is also a great site for AWP picks at either side of Mid, or aggression in general through Apartments or Second Mid.

*Map overview provided by Simple Radar.

The idea of the A hit in its most basic form is to isolate parts of the A site like Moto, Pit/Minipit, Arch, etc. to deny the CTs crossfires and take the site with minimum casualties. This can be done with even gimmicky smokes that allow passage into site, as retaking site is pretty difficult, so a plant with barely any aggressive map control can be very easy to defend, or with the standard smokes.

1. Standard A-Hit:

The standard A hit is the most commonly performed strat when going A-Site on Inferno as Ts. Smokes at Arch and Moto deny vision from Long side and allow safe passage into A-Short and A-Site respectively. A molly is thrown into Pit to push out the Pit player, and a few flashes like shown are thrown and the A-Site is yours to take.

This requires at least 3 players, and ideally more, factoring in counter utility and 4-A stacks. After a default (or not), at least 2-3 players assemble at Mid and smoke off one of the chokepoints to deny the crossfire.

They now isolate the other side, and force the CTs back to site with molotovs and flashbangs. Once Mid control is obtained, one player lines up the Moto smoke, and the other smokes Arch on the fly.

One player then flashes above site as shown from Mid, while the others push into site. (Jumpthrow):

A consecutive site flash can also be thrown, but it requires team cohesion to dodge. This flash is a running jump flash.

One of the Short players can molly Pit, and then push onto site. Once site is taken, the bomb can be planted at default, which allows it to be defended from both A-Short and Apartments. Players must maintain control of these two positions. Other than that the Ts can play Graveyard, Site Boxes, Pit, and even Minipit.

This execute is one of the more common ones, used by a lot of teams, due to its simplicity and effectiveness. It allows for the Ts to break the Mid crossfire and safely progress to site, to isolate the site and Pit area from support from Library/Moto and to overpower the A-Site players through sheer numbers. One or two players coming from Apartments can provide the necessary width required and overwhelm the players defending A.

2. Pit Isolation Execute:

This wall of smokes strategy has been used by multiple teams like FaZe and Tyloo, which basically creates a wall of smokes from the hay stack at A-Short to Pit. You require two smokes for this wall, and an additional smoke for Moto, and a smoke Arch earlier in the round, adding up to four smokes.

As this is a utility heavy strat, it requires a fair amount of planning with your teammates, and a decent amount of smokes, making it a strat that is usually run earlier into the round, in a faster paced round. The lack of utility will make your post-plant slightly harder, and the fact that CTs have not used their utility will make it harder as well, but considering the fact that A-Site Inferno is one of the hardest sites to retake, you should be set if you play your cards right.

It begins with taking Mid control in a similar manner as before and clearing top A-Short. After you have done this you can line up the Pit and Moto smokes while a teammate holds for any crazy pushes.

You can also do this strat if Mid is smoked by the CTs, by lining up your smokes behind the Mid smoke, and then exploding as the smoke dissipates. The smoke lineups for Pit and Underbalcony are below.

Smoke 1:

Smoke 2:

You can also use the flash shown below, which is extremely powerful for any T pushing out Apps or A-Short. Ideally, a T cannot come Apps in this strat due to lack of personnel, but you could try it. As your team pushes they should avoid the flash, but its effects are devastating on the CTs if used well. If you do not take Apartments control, it would be wise for a teammate to check Balcony, and then be wary for a player to be pushed in Apps that could peek while you plant.

As the A-Site is isolated from both Pit and Arch, this makes taking site extremely easy and breaks any clever crossfire or bait and switch set-up. One position to watch out for is Graveyard, as players can still play there. You can molly Pit, if you feel the need to, but generally it won't change much as the CT playing Pit can just hide anywhere behind your Pit smokes. After you take the site, you can plant to your liking based on how you plan to play your post-plant but generally a default plant will allow you to defend it from both Short and Apps.

3. A-Short Molly Execute

This set of utility was popularized by veteran in-game leader and player gob b of BIG. This execute is extremely unique and can be used to throw your opponents off, and switch things up. It makes use of 3 molotovs and smokes for A-Short and Arch. The molotovs go towards Pit and Graveyard.

This execute uses an interesting A-Short smoke which pops a bit closer than the smoke used in another A-Short strat (see Strat 5: A-Short Explode). It allows for the players to setup their mollies and flashes behind the smoke and throw before the smoke begins to dissipate, and they explode onto site as the smoke dissipates. This smoke is better off thrown by bouncing it off the A-Short wall.

Your team will either have to clear mid by taking arch beforehand and then throw the required A-Short smoke. When this is done, one of the teammates can line the flash that pops right side Balcony.

Another teammate will have a Moto smoke lined up, and he will throw this at the very end. This person can also preferably watch the flanks. Two teammates will then line up behind the smoke and throw the required mollies at Pit and Graveyard. (Use a walk throw for Pit)

The last T can molly Balcony from Second Mid, or even push Balcony as second contact. This will help clean up the frags on site and provide multiple avenues for entry. As the smokes dissipate, the Ts will push toward site, with one player hard clearing Underbalcony and the rest progressing toward site. Moto should be smoked and you should trade your kills and be able to get a plant easily.

This strat should not be done more than 2-3 times a half, as it can be punished quite easily. Smoke spams behind the Short smoke can cause major damage, and the lack of versatility and randomization in this strat leads to easier predictability for the CTs. A molly right after the smoke dissipates, or even a smoke after the Short smoke dissipates, will slow down the execute considerably and create unneeded chaos.

4. Haystack Smoke Wall Execute

This is another wall of smokes execute, which is not seen much in pro play, presumably due it lack of post-plant playability. It is quite gimmicky and thus its replayability is also low.

This strategy is extremely utility heavy, and slightly inefficient requiring 4 smokes, and provides much less site control. The post-plant will be very difficult to play but it is a very interesting strat that you could run 1-2 times in a half which could completely catch the CTs off guard and nick a round win or two. The smokes are as follows:

Smoke 1:

Smoke 2:

Smoke 3:

Smoke 4:

If you pair this strat with a smoke for Arch, it will require 5 smokes, which will be very hard to have in a standard buy round. It would be advisable to entry site through Apartments so you can maintain an important piece of the map and help provide multiple avenues of attack in the strategy. You may use the one saved smoke for the post-plant or to smoke off anywhere earlier in the round. You may have to run though your Apps smoke coupled with a flash or two and seal a plant.

5. A-Short Explode:

This strategy can be used in low-economy rounds, and pistol rounds to effectively overwhelm the players on site with sheer numbers and speed. This is very effective allows you to at best enter site safely and get in a plant. This strat at its barest is very cost effective at one smoke and a few flashes, but the chances of winning the round will shoot up exponentially with 1-2 smokes more allowing for much better early round passage and post-plants.

This strategy starts out with a smoke at arch if you wish to do so. This is the common Arch smoke we have always been throwing. Once you do this you either clear top A-Short fast with numbers or clear it from Apps and Boiler aswell. Once this map control is obtained, the required Haystack smoke is thrown which blocks vision from CTs in Pit, Graveyard, and Underbalcony. A teammate could smoke Moto if need be, as that would definitely help in the post-plant and getting better positions on site.

One or two teammates could throw important flashes that are very crucial to the strategy. The flashes must be timed well, and your team must avoid running into them. The well-known chimney flash could be used to blind players at Pit, and partially site, or ever the flash show on strat #3, which lands close to Balcony. You could perhaps even bounce a flash into site like shown earlier. The 'Chimney flash':

Conclusion:

We have highlighted a certain amount of strategies, each varying considerably from the others to spice up your game on A-site Inferno and help you add a factor of unpredictability and randomness in your game. Some of these strategies are more viable than others, and it up to you and your read of the game to know when to call them. Remember, every play has a counter play, and so do these. But making use of the variations provided here, and adding your own little touches to these will make countering your plays significantly harder. Good luck have fun!

*Map overview provided by Simple Radar at simpleradar.com

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