Art of Anti-Stratting II: Anti-Stratting T-Side Players
This is the second part of my Anti-Stratting guide, in this portion I will be discussing anti-stratting the T-side players.
Introduction:
So you may have read another article I wrote about anti-stratting. If you already haven’t, you can read it here. It gives an overview of what anti-stratting is and is a precursor to this guide. This guide will contain more in-depth information specific to anti-stratting specific players on the team you will be facing.
Overview:
In order to understand the roles that you will be anti-stratting, first you must identify what player, plays each role. If you do not know the roles, you can view a quick overview of them here. The main three players you will want to be anti-stratting are the lurker, main awper, and the entry fragger. These three roles are some of the most crucial and provide the most information to your team. The two other roles, IGL and support player are not necessarily as important because the information you gathering from spotting them gives little to no information on where the rest of the team is.
The Lurker:
Identifying the position of the lurker of the opposing team can reveal the strategy of the opposing team for that given round. In lower ranks of CEVO and ESEA leagues, teams tend to have a dedicated lurk player that plays independent from the strategy. This can be easily identified by watching the demos of previous matches of the team you are playing. For example, many teams will leave a lurker in Palace near A site Mirage. For most teams this most likely means they’re playing into a default or they are making a B push. To gain this information you have three options. The first option, which is being the safest and getting the easiest information, would be to have someone listen for the lurker. A footstep, the dropping of a weapon or bomb, or any sort of indicator that would show that there is a player where the lurker normally plays. The second thing you can do is push a spot close to where the lurker plays for information. Using the same example of a lurker in palace, you can push A ramp with the assumption that the team has left a player in Palace. The third option, being the most riskiest and dangerous of the two options, is to push palace itself and take the aim fight with the lurker. You can do this with either with one player or push two players hoping to overwhelm him.
Image courtesy of csgoboard.com
The Entry Fragger:
The entry fragger typically is the person who leads the team into an execute to site. If this player is picked off during the beginning of a round or later into a round. This probably means that the rest of the team is not far behind or about to execute. Again, most teams have a dedicated entry fragger that always entries first into a site first. This either indicates the push is going to happen very soon or that they are setting up for an execute. From here you can rotate more players to the site and prepare for the execute.
The Main AWPer:
Much like the entry fragger, the AWPer can indicate many things for a team. You can determine this by watching the other team’s demos and seeing how their AWP plays. Most AWPers tend to stick with the teams in lower level competition. By picking the AWPer, this opens up a lot more options and freedom for your team to move around. The AWPer is no longer holding down angles that prevent CTs from moving around as much.
How does this all come together?
Your team should be relying on your IGL to view these demos and identify these roles and how they play. This should allow the IGL to place players and make plays on CT that are advantageous to the CT side. Using the palace example again, let’s say that your team hears the lurker in palace and your mid player kills the entry fragger. This leaves the lurker in palace and three other players on the B side of the map with no middle control. This means that you are in a 5 players versus 4 players situation where you’re already up a person and also have the location of at least one other player. With this your IGL should be able to set up the defenses properly to trade your way out of this situation or completely shut down the execute using the previous knowledge he knows from anti-stratting the opposing team’s demos.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, anti-stratting the t-side roles can be very important and game changing. The opposing team may not have an answer since you are already a step ahead of them and know exactly what they are going to do or are always going up a player against them. This puts pressure on the terrorists to make a play, which can result in awful results for them. More often than not, the CTs will be put in a position where they can easily win the round if they play their cards right and hit their shots.
Get your own AKRacing Chair here and support our players, all profit goes towards the teams!
