Cache is a favorite map of many CS players with great design, fun interconnectivity and a variety of angles for player to both hold and attack. This is especially true for prospective AWPers who have a number of options on the CT side both aggressively and defensively, with the ability to play A, B and Mid positions depending on your team’s set up and your personal playstyle when AWPing.

A Site:

A site offers AWPers a great advantage on CT side as it has a couple of key angles that favour scoped weapons. As a CT defender on A, you have to be worried primarily about a traditional A split from the T’s with players pushing through both A main and Squeaky positions. As such the best spot for an AWPer on A is Quad and Fence and this can change depending on how your team is set-up. If you play 2 players on A, as an AWPer you can focus solely on A Main posting up on Fence to watch the pixel gap between the wall and A main to take a fight with an AWPer or shoot at a crossing T. From here, a simple flash and smoke can lead you to safety back on Quad, and with a player watching Squeaky you don’t need to worry about being pushed before you can retreat.

This pixel can be used to take a duel and gain information

If you play Solo A to allow 2 players to go Mid, it’s probably better to give up fence and play slightly back on Quad. From here your job is to get information, maximize damage and delay for your Mid and B players to rotate because in all likelihood you’re going to die. Take a shot then shift positions, the boxes allow you to present a 50/50 to the T players as to where you’re likely to peek. If they rush you, don’t be afraid to pop flash and pull out your pistol to catch T players off guard and potentially get a few key frags to make the retake a possibility. The worst thing you can do is try to run and save yourself. Do as much damage as you can and make it difficult for the Ts.

If you’re feeling more aggressive or want to switch up your play, two great options are peeking into A Main or Squeaky and trying to pick an unsuspecting T player. Both positions offer a corridor, the perfect positon for an AWPer where you have to flick less distance to land a shot. The key to being successful here is making sure your spawn allows you to get to this positons before T players and not getting greedy. Take your shot and immediately back out with a flash. If you get a pick, great! You’ve created a 4v5. If not, you’ve gathered information and potentially slowed down the T push allowing more time for players to rotate to you.

Mid:

Playing Cache Mid as an AWPer allows players a few options. From this position you can expect the T’s to push from two areas, Boost and Garage. While this may seem easy to hold, a few common smokes and flashes make it quite difficult. Generally a good team will throw crisscross smokes Mid to completely block off CT view of Garage unless you’re standing in the open on White Box, and even if they don’t, a simple random flash toward the skybox will hit anyone standing in Mid. The first key step as a CT AWPer is to smoke Garage. A simple running smoke can achieve this, which you will generally get a feel for with time. From this point you have two options, stay in Z or push to White Box. From Z you can either watch Garage for players pushing the smoke or look towards boost for an AWPer or rifler trying to gain Mid control. This is where it becomes potentially useful to have two players watching Mid, so that if you’re watching garage, they can watch Boost and vice versa, as it becomes difficult to watch both positions especially if you’re scoped in.

From Z I can't see players peeking Garage, be very careful

If you decide to push to White Box, you’re mostly going to be locked into watching Garage because you have a very limited view of Boost. However, this is a very common spot and quite often Ts will be able to pre-fire you with peeker's advantage, allowing them to land a headshot before you can even react. Though if they don't smoke the position, it is possible to drop down and play in slightly unexpected positions behind the box and get a pick. The real advantage of this position is that is allows you to rotate quickly to a site and hold Squeaky or potentially kill players as they cross to plant while putting enough pressure to slow down the Mid push. If you lose the position, don’t try to fight it. Back off up to A and watch Highway from the Electrical Box, Toxic or back off completely to Truck and play passive.

Also be wary of players dropping from Boost and walking to you

B Site:

The last, and my personal favorite, place to play with an AWP on Cache is the B site. I like it as it is possibly the most aggressive and fun spot to play. Generally when the Ts are going to take B it is through B Main, regardless of whether that is quickly or slowly. This gives the AWPer a great advantage, not only because B Main is such a small corridor but because in the case of most spawns, a CT player can position themselves to peek it first. From CT, run immediately to Heaven and drop down to this positon in Checkers:

From here, much like Quad on A site, it is your job to do as much damage as possible and make the retake easier for your team rather than hold B. Scope in once so you can see any flashes coming your way and dodge them. Then take a shot, either as they cross to Sun Room or push close to the corner in a rush. From here, run straight to Vent and take another peak through the door. Expect the Ts to potentially be pushed up or dropped back to Sun Room and go for another pick. Using that information, decide what to do. If there were a few close to you, pull your pistol out and fight for your life. If they stopped near Sun Room, flash off the wall and re-peek either angle or try to smoke yourself out with your teammates' help.

From on the site at B, Headshot is a great but common place to play. Take a shot, then back off to site calling for your team. A lot of AWPing on B is about making it up as you go along especially when on site. Throw a flash, take a peek, back off and repeat until you kill them or they kill you. The worst thing you can do is sit back and wait for them to come to you. Passive AWPing on B doesn’t work because you can get easily naded out of most defensive positons and then killed in the open. The good thing is you only have to watch 2 entry points; this makes it easy to pre-aim and take a fight, especially if you have teammates in Vent or Checkers holding one of the angles.

Cache is a great map when it comes to AWPing allowing for a lot of fun and successful positions. If you like AWPing aggressively, changing up positions, and playing adaptively then try AWPing throughout Cache and work out what positions are most successful for you.

Are you into fantasy leagues? Then check out AlphaDraft and put together your allstar lineup!