Since CS:GO was released over 10 years ago, Mirage has been the only map to always stay in the competitive map pool. Today, it is still a staple in CS2 competitive matches and is played around 30% of all premier and FaceIt matches. If you want to improve your CS2 utility usage, Mirage is a great map to start because it is relatively execution heavy. As a potential future teammate, I promise these will make our games much easier to win. Most of these lineups were from the Mirage Utility Map by “!!!”. If you want practice, just download the map from the community workshop.

A Site CT Smoke

Let’s start with the most basic smoke execution in CS2: The Mirage A-execute.

For the CT smoke, come to the middle of the small corner wall near T-spawn. Aim at the middle of the stick pointing from the building and jump-throw.

A Site Jungle/Connector Smoke

The next most important A-Execution smoke is the Jungle/Connector smoke.

Line yourself up with the middle of these two arches, aim at the top left of the stub on the wall, and do a regular left-click throw. These two smokes will fully block out the right side of the bombsite.

The two A Site Smokes.

Molotov for Under Palace

When you’re pushing A, one of the most annoying positions is under the palace balcony. Here are two ways to molotov it and flush out any CTs hiding there.

When you are in Palace, line yourself up against the edge of the second pillar from the exit. Hold out your molotov and aim at the corner where the wall meets the roof. Then, run forward and release the molotov when you cross the green line or when your crosshair is above the light (right image).

From A Main, aim near the top-left corner of the big wooden “A” sign and do a short run-throw as you swing out. Because this lineup is a bit loose, it won’t always cover the far side under the balcony, but you’ll usually still get info. Listen for a player’s footsteps as they reposition, or for the sound of fire damage.

Mid Window Smoke

Here are the most important mid smokes from T-Spawn: the window and connector smokes.

For the Window smoke, come up in front of the trash can to the right of T-spawn. Aim as shown above at the top of the balcony fence at the intersection of the white and red wall. The (slightly) tricky part is that you have to hold “D” and then jump-throw at the same time. However, this is definitely the easiest lineup considering it doesn’t require any sort of running jump-throw.

Mid Connector Smoke

The Connector smoke is thrown from the top of the trash can. After you get onto the trash can, crouch and look for the intersection between the carpet and the bottom of the balcony fence. Then, simply do a jump-throw and the smoke should fully block Connector.

The two Mid Smokes.

Flashes for Mid

When going out mid on Mirage, you’ll eventually run into an opposing team that likes to apply mid pressure. CTs often flash over connector, then swing through the window or connector smokes to take control. Here are some simple counter-flashes you can use to blind any pushing CTs.

First, throw a flash over the Mid Boxes using a loose lineup as shown in the video. This flash will catch any CTs swinging cat or pushing up mid. It is very useful since it won’t blind your teammates who are taking mid with you. Next, throw flashes at the far wall of the Mid Ramp. Throw it while running at full speed so it bounces farther to the right. This will ensure that the flash catches CTs pushing up mid without flashing your teammates. Combining these flashes with the Window and Connector smokes from earlier makes taking Mid very easy. A lot of teams just sit at Top Mid after they use their utility. Be proactive and take Ladder or Cat while the smokes are up!

B Site Market Window and Door Smoke

Finally, let's look at the B side of the map. One of the easiest smokes to learn is the market window and door smoke.

Come up into this corner right outside of the TV room, aim at the top of the tower as shown on the right, and jump-throw. From this exact position, you can also smoke the market door. Aim at the intersection between the striped decoration and the building ledge (right image), and jump-throw again.

The two B Site smokes.

B Site Molotovs

For B pushes, here are two powerful molotovs you can use as your team is pushing out.

First, you can molotov the back right pillar by aiming at this white rectangle through the apartment window and performing a small run-throw. Similarly, you can molotov bench by aiming at the wall behind the orange tarp (don’t worry about the tarp itself, the grenades will pass through) and performing a run-throw. Both of these lineups are very loose and you can do them from anywhere near the apartment windows.

The two B Site molotovs.

Conclusion

If you want to level up your CS2 gameplay, using your grenades effectively is very important. Learning lineups on Mirage is a great place to start since the map is popular and execution heavy. The smokes from the beginning of the article are a must for all CS2 players. If you really want to get serious about getting better, learning flashes and molotovs will end up making a big difference. These small details are how you improve from an average FACEIT level 5 to a good level 7 player.