Executes are the bread and butter of CS:GO teams. They are often well thought-out, thoroughly planned, and there are a sheer endless number of combinations when using your utility that can make up your execute. Although we depend on planning when trying to be successful with an execute, Dust 2 isn't quite as formulaic as other maps since we almost always have to cover a lot of ground that is up for grabs for both sides when taking Bombsites and therefore Dust 2 is pretty dynamic, not just when it comes to taking Bombsites.

This is especially noticeable when you try to execute on B. The majority of properly executing on B happens before you start your set-piece and before entering the B-Bombsite. We will not only talk about the characteristics of B and when to execute, but also how to cause situations in which executing on B will be easier to pull off. During this, we will talk about actual examples of B executes, where I will list the (only for the execute necessary) utility and show you the relevant line-ups in videos. At the end of this article, we will draw a conclusion and touch on everything I've pointed out a bit. But enough of the talk, time for the walk:

The Bigger Picture

If we look back at my "How to Execute on A on Dust 2" article, then we will see how much I've stressed that initial control on Dust 2 is everything, stretching from Tunnels to A-Long, trying to claim as much real estate as yours as possible without thinning your numbers out too much or serving your players on a silver platter for your enemy to pick apart.

It's not entirely the same for executing on B on Dust 2, however, since you can just bunch up in the Tunnels and execute from there, but before we delve deeper into that topic, let's first get a basic understanding of how to manoeuvre around the Map when trying to take B by taking a look at the most popular CT positions, which I have visualised in a graphic where certain groups are formed from positions. If you find someone in a position that is part of a group, you will find that it is unlikely to find another CT hiding in a spot that is also in that group.

(Graphic created on gametactic.org/csgo)

As you can see, there are a lot of little nooks and corners in which CTs can and will hide, a lot of room for players on the actual Bombsite to move back and forth, and you are really limited to (up to) three very narrow entrances that can easily be closed off by using a molotov or smoke, not really giving you the possibility to properly prepare or execute your peeks how you'd like to. Let this graphic guide you in spreading the tasks of checking certain positions among your teammates. Now back to the topic of actually executing on B. Compared to A, executing on B through Tunnels and splitting B are fundamentally different and therefore I can't really draw a much better picture of the meta around executing on B without already touching on the example executes, which is why I'll explain more in the paragraphs for the actual executes to come.

Executing on B through Tunnels

First, we will talk about the "normal", non-split execute on B, where all of your firepower will enter through Tunnels. These kind of executes are, no matter how well you use your utility, suboptimal, since all of your firepower can get diminished by one grenade, flashbang, or molotov, not really giving you much chance to react and change your pace or your plans during the execute. However, this doesn't mean that we shouldn't execute through Tunnels, but rather that executing on B needs more thought than executing elsewhere.

Here are a few rule-of-thumb situations where executing B through Tunnels probably is a good call:

There is only one (or no) player(s) on B.
There is no utility left on B.
The B players are (really) weak.
You have a very good spawn.
The enemies do not like to deploy their utility early on B (you should rush, then).
The enemy won't expect you to come B/to rush B.

A few of these situations are easily causable. For example, if you are constantly taking a bit of control everywhere, like getting a player into Pit, having two players make a bit of noise on Short, and the CT on B can't move away from B because you are harassing him from Tunnels, they will instantly think that you're headed B if you do not take Short and Long control instantly and throw a smoke before stepping into Tunnels. This will cause the B player(s) to throw away much more utility than needed, getting baited by just a slight change of pace and a single smoke worth $300.

Another example would be to train them to expect early aggression on Long and Short only, giving the CTs enough room to change their default set-up from 1.5(B)-1.5(Mid)-2(Long) to 1-1-3 or even 1-1(Short)-3, granting you a higher chance to get onto B without taking much damage with a well thought-out execute the next round, where you won't even look at Short or Long. With that being said, what does a good B execute through Tunnels look like?

(Graphic created on gametactic.org/csgo)

What does this graphic illustrate?
The white zig-zag circle is a Smoke that you bounced off of the wall on the left of the exit of Tunnels (line-up is shown in the video below), the yellow icon shows a molotov, and the white lines with a flash at their end show examples of flashes who are suitable for a good B execute, showing their exact trajectory from a bird-view perspective, while the dotted green arrows show you an example of player movement that allows for your team to check every position properly.

Basically, this execute works, given that B is a bit weakened (either the CTs are not expecting you, do not have any utility to stop you or just have one player present), because the smoke blocks off a lot of dangerous angles that also block the view from a CT potentially hiding on-site while lining up the molotov as the player in the third or fourth position of the execute. The first flash, which is thrown kind of similar to the smoke in front of Big Box, allows for you to ensure that CTs changing positions will have their aim off Tunnel or that you have them blinded as you enter the Bombsite. After that one, you will flash behind a wall that allows for your teammates to advance without running the danger of getting flashed, still having a high chance of blinding a peeking CT while allowing your teammates to keep their crosshair aimed correctly. The bomb-carrier could be anyone but the final player leaving Tunnels, since he runs danger of being caught from behind from Lower Tunnels.

If you do this correctly and the CTs don't have a strong crossfire, you should be fine executing B. That being said, you should always try to ensure that there is no utility on B or that the CTs can't deploy it, since a single molotov can either damage your whole team. You need to use a smoke or you stop your execute dead in its tracks.

Splitting B

When you split B, you don't allow the CTs to have strong positioning even with two CTs on B, since you can come from three different angles and time it correctly so that their crosshairs will always be at the wrong point of entry. This, however, comes at a trade-off. Although B doesn't need to be as weak as it needs to be for the Tunnels execute, you need a lot more map control. You need to control at least Mid (without Short) and CT-Mid and, to have more freedom with your utility, Short, too. With this in mind, let me stress how important it is to thoroughly clear out Short before executing. If you do not do it correctly, a CT will be right on your heels and flank you before you even started your execute properly.

You should be aware of the most popular plays of the CTs after a Smoke has been deployed in CT:

A CT will flash through the smoke.
A CT will flash through the smoke and let the AWPer who's playing CT-Mid peek from the Slope towards B.
A CT will climb/get boosted on one of the one-way angles behind the smoke, placing himself on a bunch of boxes

Now onto the actual example execute:

(Graphic created on gametactic.org/csgo)

What does this graphic illustrate?
This graphic leaves out step zero of taking positions in Tunnels and Short and starts from step one. At this point I'd like to point out that it's completely up to you if you want three guys to go Mid or four, only leaving one player in Tunnels. The white zig-zag circle is, again, a smoke, the yellow icon a deployed molotov, and the white lines show specific trajectories for flashes that I consider good for this type of execute.

You will start off by deploying a CT smoke, followed by a jump-right-click-throw of a flash above the wall separating Mid and CT-Mid, not allowing for the (hopefully scoped-in) AWPer to hear a bounce and leaving the flash just out of his sight without hindering the full flash effect from affecting the AWPer. After you get two or three guys out, prefire the popular one-way spots on the boxes. Be sure to take your time if you need to. If you are sure that you aren't getting flanked, for example, because you've taken CT-Mid before without instantly going B and caught a flanking CT off-guard, you can wait for the right time to move on. After this step, the Tunnels players flash once just before you flash around the corner in CT-Mid to allow for your players to turn the corner and face anyone who dares to challenge them. At this point, the Short player should jump down and, if he still has a smoke, resmoke CT while a different player smokes off Sniper Nest in the back of B. Then, you walk up the slope leading to B together, quickly set up a molotov below the Window and then flash above the Window, after Tunnels has flashed out once more.

Now you enter from Tunnels, the door, and Window as you collapse onto the Bombsite and crush the defense with your overwhelming force, superior angles, and numbers. This ending part stresses how important it is to ensure that there isn't much utility left on the CTs, especially those on B. Otherwise you allow them to block off one or more points of entry for you, either delaying you or not allowing you to use all three angles.

Since you need to get Short control for my example execute, I made sure to include an X-Box smoke from T-Spawn in the utility video below.

Conclusion

You either have to catch the CTs off-guard by going B or you have to exhaust their utility in order to be as effective as you should be. Leaving just a smoke or molotov on the B players will make your life much harder than you ever thought it would and once they've learned to hold onto their utility, it may be time to change pace or to seek out different initial contacts, going A or simply being aggressive on B early and constantly, not allowing for them to hold on to their utility. Especially in a B-Split, it is important to always draw attention away from at least one point of entry using flashes, confusing the CTs where to actually look and hold an angle. After that, it's just basic CS. Use your flashes, properly plan and call them, use utility to secure the lives of your players, and move as a unit while either splitting their attention or blinding your enemies.

Do you want to exchange ideas about executing on B or anything else that is esports related? Head over to our #Digscord and meet our lovely community!

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