Improve Your Entry Fragging with Tips from HEAP
HEAP gives a few tips on one of the hardest roles in CS:GO
Entry fragging… easily one of the hardest and most inglorious role to have in CS:GO. You’re the player responsible for taking the first head, avoiding dying, getting as much information as possible, relaying it to your team, and then you’re expected to die after the first few seconds of entering a bombsite. It’s not easy being an entry fragger.
But, at the same time, entry fragging can be one of the most rewarding roles in CS:GO, and it’s what differentiates a good player from a star. Everyone can go ahead with the help of your team’s flashes, but can you do it effectively? Can you become good enough to be an important asset for your team even if you’re dying most of the time? That’s what makes an amazing entry fragger.
I’ve teamed up with Ludvig "HEAP" Alonso to write this article, which hopefully will help you improve at the role of entry fragging. I’ve compiled a few questions that players trying to improve might have and asked HEAP for his opinions, giving his precious insight to this article.
If you’re trying to be a good entry fragger, you need to have good aim. There’s no going around it. Your first bullet accuracy needs to be on point, but that’s not all! What makes a good entry fragger besides the obvious?
“He makes space for the team and gets the information for the secondary frag to trade him. And, of course, if he gets the entries, even better.”
HEAP makes a very important point - the entry fragger has to be able to communicate quickly and, above all, with precision. Everyone can say a player is on spot X or Y, but being able to relay the information to your team with as much precision as possible is not easy. Saying that the enemy player is on “Middle” or saying that he is “Close Middle with an AWP” are totally different. But be careful, as saying way too much can also be detrimental, as your teammates are also trying to hear what happens around them for information. Remember to be as precise as possible, which means knowing all the possible callouts and not forgetting them. CS:GO is a super fast-paced game, meaning that hesitating for a single second can make you lose the round.
But what should an entry fragger expect from his teammates?
Although the entry fragger is the one that goes first, it does not mean he will go alone. He will generally have a second player closely following him to allow for trades, which is one of the most important aspects of playing a good tactical game of CS:GO. It’s not bad to lose a player if that allows you to receive info and instantly trade to maintain the same number of players as the opposition. But there’s also another important point, one that can make or break every entry fragger:
“Good flashes, definitely, and getting the trade as soon as the information is relayed.”
Good flashes! HEAP definitely wanted to make this clear. Good teammates need to know good flashbang alignments to help their entry fragger as much as possible when entering. But what’s a good flashbang? It’s one that covers the majority of the possible spots the enemy might be on, as well as ones that don’t flash the player entering or that, at least, allows them to quickly turn their back if necessary. If you’re the entry fragger, your teammates need to know this, so make sure they do before doing anything. Say which flashes you want to make sure the spots you’ll be checking are as safe as possible.
What information is important to be told by the entry fragger as soon as possible?
Remember when I said that the entry fragger needs to be able to communicate fast and precisely? This is where that skill comes in. Your teammates will be following you as soon as you start to push, so not only is important to give fast information, but it needs to be good!
“He needs to give the information where he got killed from, how many he has seen... pretty much everything you see needs to be told to your teammates.”
Say everything but prioritize positions. Naturally, you won’t have much time to say a lot, so making sure you know what positions to call is crucial. Make sure you know the callouts of every map, especially those very specific ones around each map, as that can make a difference in knowing where you got shot from. Even if die from an unknown position, make sure you say that! And avoid saying something like “I think he’s on spot X” unless you’re really sure. This one can be a controversial tip, but think with me - if you die and say something, they will naturally all walk in looking at that spot, and if you give the wrong info… well, there goes the round.
And what about utility? How should the entry fragger use it?
HEAP had a really simple answer to this:
“The entry fragger should have used all their utility before they enter the bombsite because if they die before using it it's just a waste of cash. You'll most often die when entering first so, make sure to use all you have prior to that.”
That’s pretty much it! Make sure you use everything you have before entering a bomb site as you’ll probably end up wasting the utility. But how can you use them? Well, your smoke might as well be one of the first to go when setting up the execute. You can use your flashbangs in the early round to allow for more ground control. You can use the molotovs to push the CTs back before setting up for an execute… there’s so much that thing that you can do and that will help your team. Making sure that your teammates have utility when the time comes to help you blaze ahead is essential - your job is already hard enough with the help of friendly utility, don’t make it even harder if you can avoid it!
As you can see, entry fragging is a rather straightforward role. There are not many things you need to worry about besides having your aim on point and being able to relay good information. But that doesn’t mean you should be practicing it! Using prefire maps like the Yprac series made by Yesber will definitely help you, as they allow you to know every single prefire spot on any map.
“Watch demos, ask for Flashbangs, and make sure you run in on the right timing to use them as effectively as possible!”
HEAP also gave the classic, and yet super important tip, to watch demos! And now you’re thinking “and there he goes again, always talking about demos, blah, blah, blah.” Well, why do you think so many professional players talk about it? Because it’s truly important, and not just to study opponents. You can use demos to watch how another entry fragger (or any other player really) plays, what spots he puts himself into, the utility he uses… there are so many possibilities.
Let me give one final piece of advice that a co-worker of mine is always telling his players: if you want to get better at CS:GO, don’t spend the entirety of your time just playing. Let’s say you play 5 hours a day, pugging your heart out. Instead, play 4 hours and spend that extra hour studying the game, whether that is by learning smokes, by watching demos, or even professional matches. Trust me, you’ll see a ton of difference in just a few week’s time!
Thank you for reading this article and hopefully, you’ll be able to take something from it! You can reach me for feedback or suggestions through my Twitter! Also, don’t forget to follow HEAP on social media!
Visit our partner Vie.gg for the safest market and best customer care in esports betting.
Must be age 18+ and reside in a country where online gambling is legal. Gamble responsibly
