Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a game where a round can go from slow to very fast-paced in a matter of seconds. Most players know exactly what to do during those fast-paced moments - what Smoke Grenades to throw, what Flashbangs to use and what are the best pre-aim spots. But during those slow moments, you probably could be working more towards a round win, instead of just waiting for a push or for the Smokes to go away.

When waiting for the right moment to attack, there are certain elements in a game that you could pay attention, which could give you a slight edge over your opponent that can be the difference between winning or losing the round. Most of these will be tips where you won’t need to move or even do anything, but instead just keep mental notes to yourself and/or share them with your team.

Know where each individual opponent player plays

This is a tip more directed to the Terrorist side, because most players will always defend in the same spot (the exception being possible mobile AWPers or even Riflers). But even when playing in the CT side, this tip can be useful to understand and outsmart possible lurkers.

Let’s say you start your Terrorist side and decide to attack the A site. After the first few Frags, you get control of the site. During the push, you saw where the players were defending and most importantly, which players were defending the site.

During the next few rounds, you will eventually start to see a pattern. Let’s say that the A bomb site is always guarded by Player 1 and Player 2, mid is guarded by Player 3 but sometimes has the aid of Player 2 from bomb site A. That means that Player 1 is the A bomb site anchor – he is always the last to rotate and you can expect him to be there until the very last second if you haven’t committed with the bomb elsewhere yet.

In the event you go to A and the first opponent player you see is Player 4 (one that usually is defending the B bomb site), you should know that something is up: could be a stack on that bomb site, could be a change in formation (they might start to play with 3 on A, 1 on mid and 1 on B) or could just be a change in players with the same formation. Nevertheless, you should be aware of this and expect anything. After that first bit of information where you know that something is not quite right, you can even abort the push and wait for more action to happen, so you decide your team’s next move.

Keep count of the utility usage on the opponent’s team

When holding positions before committing to a push on the Terrorist Side, the opponent team will always use utility to burn time in the clock. That used utility can give you precious information about when it is the best time to execute a push.

If you know that generally there are 2 players defending a certain Bomb site, you can expect at least 2 Smoke Grenades and/or Incendiary Grenades in the different choke points where you can enter. The best advice I can give you: keep count on how much utility is used – this includes Smoke Grenades, Flashbangs, Incendiaries, etc. Then, after most (or even all) utility is used, you will have an immensely easier time when finally committing to the push.

Understand how each opponent player usually plays

There are a lot of variety when it comes to game styles. Some people play more aggressive and confident, while others play more defensive, preferring a more Support role to their team. You can use that to your advantage if you start studying your opponent's style since the beginning.

Remember that better players will be way more unpredictable and thus, harder to read and adapt to. You may think that they will be overly aggressive again since they were in the last three rounds, and exactly in the round where you are pre-aiming his push, he will play defensively or even switch positions with a teammate, which may cause confusion among your team. It is up to you to understand how to read these movements and try to outsmart your opponents – that is where game awareness comes in.

Game awareness is the most important passive skill

An easy way to explain what game awareness – understand what your team and the opponent one is doing (or at least where the opponents should be at a given time) just by interpreting the small amount information you have. A simple example would be a situation where you kill a lone player that you know is the lurker in one side of the map and there are no more players there. That means the rest of the opponent team is probably on the other side of the map, getting ready to push. Since you killed their lurker and got the information, either they retreat and switch what they are doing (and that is why you should still be careful if forcing a push after killing that lurker, as someone might just be around the next corner) or attack as fast as possible, to avoid possible rotations from your team. Either way, that is valuable information that you get, even if you die – you start getting a stronger game sense which will help you later in the game and even improve your skill in the long term. The more you play, the better you understand how most people play.

Most of these tips may seem hard to implement during your game, as most require a big amount of concentration and in the beginning that focus may make your aim shake more than you want. But to improve in the long term, these are important. Just take your time and always focus on improving your game.

Remember that every player has its own style of gameplay and you are no different. You should focus on finding your comfort zone while implementing these tips at your own pace and even adapt them to you and understand in what way they can help you better.

Get out there, play more, learn new tactics and strategies, and you will get even better with time. Stay focused!

Like our content? Support us by getting our merchandise in our shop