Whenever I’m looking through Twitter, watching streams, or looking at AMAs on Reddit, one of the most common questions I see asked is, “How do I improve my consistency in CS?” People will often find themselves carrying in one game, only to be a dead weight to the team in the next. It’s an extremely infuriating fact of life for many. The answer I see most often is the classic “train more” or “free-for-all deathmatch”, things that help but don’t go to the systemic root of the issue. Doing well in a PUG can often be attributed to four key factors:

1: Good Individual Skill

This is arguably the most important factor. A PUG almost always comes down to clicking heads and whoever can do that the most accurately and the fastest will win more duels. This mostly comes down to the previously mentioned factors, the best way to improve this is by grinding hours and playing the game.

I recommend maps like:

'Aim Botz - Training' by uLLeticaL on the Steam Workshop, on which you should practise first shot accuracy and precision against still opponents. Try getting 100 kills with each weapon you want to use in a game (M4, AK-47, AWP, USP-S, etc.) purely by going for headshots. This map is really useful because the settings are extremely configurable and you can time how long it takes you, and try to improve on that time each session.

'Training Centre 1.5c' by ZooL, in which you have various modes of practise you can use. If you want to train your AWP skills, there is a reaction test in which you can train reaction time while holding an angle. If you want to practise against moving enemies, there is a sandbox type area in which enemies will randomly spawn and run around, which you will need to kill. This can help you practise accuracy against moving targets, especially on pistol rounds. And if you want to practise shooting stationary enemies like on 'Aim Botz', there is an area for that too. This is probably the best map overall for practising and can be customised to suit any training regimen.

'Recoil Master - Spray Training' by uLLecticaL, in which you can practise spray control for each weapon, with a dot which moves across a target, showing the perfect way to control recoil. This should be used repeatedly for both the M4 and the AK-47 in order to learn perfectly how to spray at enemies.

2: Style of Play

Everyone has their own individual style of playing CS, from their movement to their utility usage and positioning. The difficult thing is that no two teams will handle your style in the same way. It all comes down to how your style meshes with the style of your teammates, and also the style of your opposition.

One of the best (and hardest) ways you can improve consistency is by drastically changing your style of play to a simpler and more effective one. Pick out a professional player who you enjoy and admire and watch them play. Anything from official games to FPL will help. Analyse their style and try to mimic it. These will be tried and true ways to play the game and will be developed to be difficult to counter.

Changing your core style of play is incredibly difficult and can temporarily impact your game negatively. Don’t let this put you off however! Stick to it and it will help.

3: Team Coordination

Anyone will be able to tell you that any game is easier with helpful teammates. Whether these teammates are friends or random people you’ve been queued with, try and develop some level of bond with them. You’re stuck with these guys for the next 45 minutes to an hour, and it won’t help you or them if you don’t get along. If you flash your teammates into a site, they’ll help you out later.

A large part of consistency will come from the fact that one game you’ll be with a friendly group of guys and gals willing to put in the extra effort to help you out, and the next you’ll be stuck with constant screaming down the mic that everything is your fault. It’s not, but screaming back won’t help. Even if you don’t like your teammates and they don’t like you, at least try and win the game together. That’s what you all want in the end. Arguing won’t help.

If you can work together with most teams you get, you’ll be able to do better individually in these games.

4: Mentality

An often under-looked aspect of the game, mentality is a huge factor to how you play. Any player will know the feeling of total integration with the game, when you are totally in the right mindset,and feel prepared to win and do well. Though this might feel like it comes and goes randomly, it won’t. It will be a product of your environment and what you’ve done. I know it’s cliche, but eating healthily and getting some exercise will help improve your mental state, helping you engage and focus. Team coordination will also play into this. If you get annoyed in the first 5 minutes of a game, it won’t help and will often severely adversely affect you. Good mentality means better individual play.

Always try and go into a game with a positive outlook. For some players that means getting an ego, making sure you're confident that you can and will win your game. For other players that means taking 30 seconds to have a drink and relax. Don't play if you aren't in a good mood. If you lose your pistol round, you'll give up.

Mid game you have to make sure you don't get too frustrated. Most players will get angry if they die, but it's all about controlling that anger, thinking about what you did wrong and how you can fix it. Worst case, call for a timeout and just have a quick walk around, get a drink or listen to some music. Mentality comes down to staying calm and keeping confident.

If even three of these factors come together you will do well, and keeping them at a high level is integral to maintaining consistent good form. Follow these tips and tricks and you will almost certainly see an improvement to your overall play and consistency in games.

Map links:

Aim Botz: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=243702660

Recoil Master: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=419404847

Training Centre: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=353366249