A Guide to Making Light Work of Vertigo's A Bombsite
A guide to some useful grenade linups to help you take the A Bombsite on Vertigo.
Counter-Strike’s high-rise map set some fifty stories above a bustling cityscape has provided the scene with countless hours of debate. With a name like Vertigo, it comes as no surprise that the controversy stirred up by the map is dizzying. Undoubtedly, changes to the map have made it more balanced in recent months. Long gone are the days of a Counter-Terrorist leaping from the 51st Floor down to the Terrorists just below and netting some free kills. Despite the improvements, there is still much uncertainty about the future of the map. Will Vertigo remain in the active map pool in its current state? Are more map adjustments to be made in the near future? Will it be replaced altogether, joining the likes of Aztec? In any case, the map is very unique, and allows for some fun grenade lineups. Several of my personal favorites are presented below. As usual, please remember that these work on a 64-tick server, but I make no promises as to their success in a 128-tick environment.
A-Site Smoke
I find this smoke very useful to throw when teammates are rushing Ramp. Since it is essentially thrown from Spawn, it can also be used to fake an A Bombsite take and quickly move to the B Bombsite instead. This lineup was tricky to create and even more so to teach, but the it is worth learning how to throw. Head forward to this corner near Terrorist Spawn.
Stand as shown, where the edge of the shadow meets the sunlit area of the floor.
It's crucial that you or a teammate shoots out this piece of glass, otherwise your smoke will fail. Then, align your crosshair as shown. You want to look where the piece of the window frame is crossed by the metal supports of the roof. Make sure you crouch!
Once in this position, pull the pin on the smoke and crouch-walk forward. Personally, the easiest way for me to throw this smoke is by using my character’s hand to ascertain when I need to release the smoke. Obviously, not everyone plays left-handed and even less people uses my exact viewmodel offset settings. This part will be especially difficult for you. I throw the smoke just as my hand starts to block the view of the stairs. Adjust this part as needed for your in-game settings. Once you have found a way to consistently toss this smoke, it will fly through the opening in the skylight and land near the center of the A Bombsite.
Due to the nature of this smoke, it will not bounce into exactly the same position each time but will accomplish more or less the same effect. In addition to blocking off view from a player on site or watching from the Connector, any enemy perched atop the Heaven/Rafters area will not be able to spot your teammates running up Ramp.
This one smoke cuts off several powerful angles and will make it much easier to take over the A Bombsite. With the Molotov lineup I’ll show you next, you can also negate another pesky hiding spot for Counter-Terrorists on the A Bombsite.
Double Stack Molotov
Before throwing this Molotov, you’ll need to take Side control. Ideally, this is done with a teammate holding the angle to ensure nobody peeks you while you’re in the process of throwing this. Once you are safe to do so, stand in the corner. Locate this cloud and aim as shown. Essentially, you want to be looking at the top of the point of the cloud that dips down near the center.
You’ll need to give a quick tap of the W key just before you throw. Moving forward ever so slightly will give your throw the added momentum needed to land, otherwise it will burst in midair.
It may take some practice, but once you get the feel for the timing you will be burning Counter-Terrorists consistently. Anyone nestled into the headshot angle here will be forced to move. Following up this Molotov with an HE Grenade immediately after may also be a good idea.
This article showed just half the number of lineups as my previous article on Dust 2. This is not done by accident. A fortunate aspect of the A Bombsite on Vertigo is that once the Terrorists have taken Ramp control, it is quite easy to smoke areas on the fly. It is not critical to memorize lineups from around the Ramp area. Any player with a basic understanding of geometry can quickly toss utility over the wooden wall and find that they are successful in their endeavor. I chose to feature only the single smoke and single Molotov because I feel both are fairly difficult. A player who has never practiced them will likely fail in their initial attempts to throw them, especially during the heat of battle. As Vertigo continues to evolve, I encourage you to take some time out to learn these grenades, and to try to discover a few of your own. It is quite a fun map to explore the intricacies of and find new ways to crush your opponents.
