Useful Planting Positions: de_Cache
A guide to choosing the most effective plant position on de_Cache.
Planting the bomb is the most important T-side objective. That being said, you do not want to just rush out onto a site and plant the bomb without discretion. It is important to become familiar with the possible plant positions and when to use them. This allows your team to not only get the bomb down, but to defend it long enough for it to detonate and win the round. I will first cover the key points about default, safe, and open plants. Then, I'll show you where each of these plants are on de_Cache.
Most default plant positions are wedged in a corner between walls or boxes, forcing the CT to face a wall while defusing. This means that you know where their back will be facing, so you can hide in a place where you they can't see you. Default plants are commonly used because they balance safety when planting with post-plant defendability. Also, these plants are usually known to all players so it is easy to communicate where the bomb is to your teammates. They are reliable and should be used when you are unsure of where to plant.
Safe plants are called so because for the most part they allow you to plant without being picked from an entrance. These are difficult to defend post-plant as they can usually only be seen from on site and maybe 1 or 2 hiding spots. Thus, you are very limited in where you can hide to successfully kill a defuser. If your team has secured site, it is not necessary to plant in a safe position. Plant in an open position so your team can more easily defend the bomb.
Planting in the open is risky since you must be confident that there are no CTs nearby, but the risk is worth the reward. Planting in the open makes it easy to kill a defuser, as there is nowhere for them to hide behind. The primary drawback is that the CT can watch an entrance while defusing. But the idea behind planting in the open is that because the bomb is visible from so many angles, the CT will not know where to look. This gives the Ts the upper hand. Be wary of fakes, as the CT may use it to try to find your hiding spot in a 1v1.
As an extra note, always be sure to call out to your team where you are planting the bomb so they can position themselves accordingly. This is especially important if you are planting somewhere other than default. Avoid using unusual "tactical" or "situational" plants in competitive matchmaking, as your teammates will probably not know where to defend them from (i.e. if you plant between the yellow bumpers on Cache A site your teammate might not realize until it's too late that they can't see the bomb from A main).
- A Site Plants -
Default
This is the default plant spot because it is is protected from highway and it is a corner, so it forces the defuser to face the walls. It is safe for a quick plant, but make sure your teammates are watching for a push from truck. The downside to this plant is that it is difficult to defend post-plant, as it is only visible from quad or site or on top of red box. If your quad player is killed, a CT with a kit is almost guaranteed a successful defuse before another teammate can make it there. Also, because it is most commonly defended from quad, the CT will almost always check quad before attempting a defuse. Only plant here if you do not have site secured yet or if you have a gun/player advantage to hold site from every angle.
Default Open/A main
This plant is common because it can be defended from most angles: A main, quad, forklift, catwalk, even from the truck-side corner. That being said, most CTs will try to clear most of these areas before attempting a defuse, and will pre-aim A main. Having so much open space give the CT full visibility while defusing.
Highway
This plant has high risk for a pretty small reward. The usual CT side setup includes one player mid, so you will most likely have someone shooting at you from highway or truck unless you have a smoke or good coverage from your teammates. If you do manage to plant here, the best defense includes a sniper down highway as the CT can't face highway while defusing. If needed, you can also see the defuser from forklift and catwalk/balcony. This plant is not visible from A main, squeaky, or on site.
Yellow Bumpers
Some players plant here to try to buy extra time with the CT trying to find the bomb. The bomb itself can't be seen from highway, but you can be seen planting it. If you know there are no CTs down highway, then it is okay to plant here. But be aware that this plant cannot be seen from A main. A defender will need to push up near squeaky to defend the bomb from that side. It also doesn't usually buy you much extra time when the CT is looking for it because it's pretty easy to see from anywhere on site. I would recommend the default open plant over this one as you get more bomb visibility for less planting risk.
- B Site Plants -
1st Default/Safe
This is the most common plant position, but I would recommend to only plant here if you are eco rushing for plant money. If entrances are covered, you would want to plant in a more open position. This plant is extremely difficult to defend. It can only be seen from on site, so there is no way to hide and peek the defuser. If the CT has a kit and you are not ready near site, they may be able to defuse before you are able to get an angle on them.
2nd Default
Unlike the 1st Default, this plant is visible from generator and checkers. It also forces the CT to face the corner rather than a single wall to defuse, making it safe to peek (assuming they stick the defuse). It cannot be seen from B main, tree room, or heaven. You can also follow the back wall and plant in the corner on the right near generator. This plant can be defended from B main but not checkers.
Open
I would recommend planting in the open on B site whenever possible. Planting behind boxes makes it impossible to see the bomb from anywhere except generator or on site. This plant can be seen from any entrance and on site. Some people say to plant on the red circle in the middle of site for open, but I prefer planting here on the front of site because the red circle cannot be seen from heaven.
Open/Sneaky
These plants can be defended from all angles except back of site. The downside is that you MUST have all entrances covered or cleared before planting or you can be killed. These plants are invisible when approaching the site so if the CT is not listening for the bomb they may run past it and check site first, buying you a few more seconds. Out of these two plants, I'd prefer the one in the corner because I've found that the red flashes sometimes shine through the board if it is not in the right position. The corner also limits the angles the CT can defuse the bomb from.
Ultimately, your goal is to get the bomb planted as quickly as possible to set a time cap on the round. This means that it is not always the best option to take the extra time to set up for a special plant position. In eco rounds, for example, you will most likely want to plant safe, as your main objective will be plant money not winning the round. Use your best judgement in choosing where to plant. There is no absolute set of rules for where to plant and when, and it will take some play time and game sense to know for yourself, but hopefully this guide has helped you make your own decisions.
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