The AK-47, the M4A1-S, and the M4A4. These three legendary guns make up the weapons of choice out of the wide arsenal at the disposal of the two teams endlessly battling it out in CS:GO. Master these, and you will be a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. To reign terror on all your enemies and singlehandedly decide the outcome of rounds like an all-powerful god, there are several things you need to learn to master. In this guide, I go over all of these aspects and tell you the best way to practice them.

Spray Control

Possibly the first thing that comes to people’s minds when comparing CS:GO to other shooters is the spray control. It’s also the first piece of advice experienced players give their friends when they learn to play CS:GO for the first time, after the number one tip that is “Don’t move when you shoot.” To successfully land a spray, you must move your crosshair in the opposite way of the gun’s recoil pattern. While this already proves challenging on a practice dummy, the real challenge lies in being able to follow moving enemies while controlling your spray and transferring your spray between enemies. Usually, you will spray at enemies from a short distance.

Admittedly, spray control is tricky. Not only do you have to learn a different pattern for each gun, but it’s also something that players tend to neglect to maintain as they improve. So, while these higher-level players might still get enough frags with their accuracy, the moment they have to spray, everything goes sideways. Consequently, it’s important to revise your spray control once in a while!

AK-47

The Kalashnikov arguably has the most difficult spray pattern out of the three. Whereas it starts fairly simple with a traditional curve from left to right and the sudden turn to the left near the middle, towards the end there are some odd twists and turns, even going up again and making a loop. Of course, in any engagement, it’s the first 5 to 10 bullets that are most important and the situations in which you have to follow the spray pattern through to its end are rare. Consequently, some players decide to learn only the first half of the spray. However, even if you choose to neglect to learn the end of the spray, it’s still useful to know that you will likely lose control of the recoil, for example when you’re spraying an entire magazine through a smoke.

M4A4

The recoil pattern of the AK-47’s direct counterpart, known as the M4A4, is considerably easier. Just like the AK-47, the spray pattern becomes considerably more difficult in the second half. However, it's missing the crazy twists and turns that the AK-47 offers. Instead, after going back up slightly, there is a sudden drop and twist, which repeats once more at the end of the spray.

M4A1-S

Finally, the easiest of the trio is the M4A1-S. There is no particularly difficult challenge here and the spray feels like a simplified version of its brother. Of course, the gun also has five bullets less than both the AK-47 and the M4A4 and has a lower rate of fire. Consequently, this gun is less suited for long spray-downs, but better for long-range precision strikes.

Spray Practice

Now, the best way to practice your spray is using a workshop map called ‘Recoil Master - Spray Training’, made by the user ‘uLLeticaL’, the same mastermind behind the ‘Aim Botz’ warmup and training map.

Upon loading into the map, you will find yourself in some sort of underground bunker. On the wall, there is a wide range of guns for you to choose from. Shoot the gun you want to practice the spray of, and the configuration for it will automatically be loaded. Once you’re ready, move towards the large white cross in the circle on the floor.

Above you, there is a screen showing the entire pattern you have to follow. Study it, and look at the wall in front of you. There, you see a small circle with a green dot inside. The goal is to shoot at the green dot and make sure all the bullets land within the circle, preferably at headshot height. As you start shooting, the green dot will start moving. Follow it with your crosshair, as it will show you where to move your crosshair to follow the spray pattern. Keep practicing until you can comfortably follow the green dot. Once you have reached this stage, shoot the green button next to ‘ghosthair’ to disable the green dot, and try to replicate the spray pattern without assistance. Do this for each of the three guns, and regularly come back to this map to refresh your (muscle) memory.

One Taps and Headshot Damage

Of course, spraying is not always the way to go in an engagement. More than often, it’s better to deliver your enemy a swift death by a clean one-tap to the head, eliminating your enemies before they even get the chance to strike back. However, it's not always as easy to hit those headshots, especially at close range. Consequently, while you should always try to hit your headshots, at close range it is better to follow up that first shot up with a spray. On the other hand, going for one taps until you kill the enemy without spraying is probably a better idea at longer distances, as spraying is quite inaccurate when your enemy is far away from you.

Moreover, there is quite a significant difference between the three weapons. Whereas the AK-47 kills an enemy in one hit if shot in the head, the same can be said for neither the M4A4 nor the M4A1-S. For these guns, a headshot must necessarily be followed up by another hit. Consequently, for these guns, it is often better to go for bursts or even sprays to secure the kill.

One Tap Practice

To hit your one-taps, the main skill you need to practice is being able to flick towards and between enemies’ heads the moment you see them. If you’ve read some of my other guides, you’ll already be able to guess what map I will recommend for this skill. Indeed, CSGOHUB.com’s Skills Training Map once again makes a return. The reason this map is so fantastic for training your one taps is that it has two complementary modes that are perfect for training both aspects of flicks: consistency and speed. 

The first game mode is the one you spawn into, called ‘range’. In this mode, bots are scattered all across the map, facing you. With the AK-47 that was automatically given to you, start popping heads. Make sure not to go too fast, and focus instead on consistently hitting those headshots, getting into the rhythmic flow flicking between enemies. If you can continuously hit your shots without missing, you can speed up the pace a little until you feel it gets harder again.

Once you feel comfortable, or, alternatively, when you get bored of the previous exercise, it’s time to put your skills to the test! Look at the wall behind you and shoot the ‘rush’ option. In this game mode, enemies will start running towards you with their knife out. As there are too many enemies moving at too high a speed for a spray down, you will have to very quickly tap every single one of them. As soon as one of them reaches the edge of the platform you’re on, your score gets reset. Do this about five times in a row, and try to break your own record. This is also a very good way to track your process on a long-term basis. Come back to this game mode every couple of days to practice and maintain your one-tap abilities!

Counter Strafing

Of course, guns in CS:GO are only perfectly accurate when standing still, which can complicate your attempts at hitting those clean headshots you practiced so much on, especially on the T-side. However, there is a neat little trick that, temporarily, gives you full accuracy as you’re on the move, called counter-strafing. Basically, you introduce a small stutter in your movement and very shortly come to a stop. Counter-strafing is an incredibly powerful trick to use during engagements, and in particular for peeking around corners.

The right way to counter-strafe is to shortly press the button in the opposite direction you’re running towards. For example, if you’re using the ‘D’-button to run to the right, you will shortly press the ‘A’-button to halt your movement. In the exact moment you come to a stop, pull the trigger, and immediately release the opposite button to start running again. The timing of hitting your counter-strafing shots takes a bit of getting used to, but once it clicks it’s like riding a bicycle, you never forget. Just go on any map and run sideways and try to figure out the timing and get it just right. Make sure to face a wall while doing this, so you can see where your bullets land.

Now, you might wonder why you can't just release the button you were pressing of the direction you’re moving. There are two reasons. First of all, there is a small delay before you actually come to stop, which takes too long to reset your accuracy in time. Secondly, releasing the key will make you come to a full stop, and by the time your accuracy resets, your shot is released and you get to moving again, the enemy will have had ample time to kill you.

Bursting

Finally, you can also fire your guns in small bursts of around 5 bullets. The benefit of bursting is that, to a certain extent, you combine the accuracy of one taps with the damage of sprays. At the same time, this immediately is also the downside of this method: the accuracy is not as high as when going for one taps, and the damage done may not be sufficient to kill an enemy as opposed to spraying him down. As was said before, both the M4A4 and M4A1-S require a follow-up hit after a headshot to kill an enemy. This makes bursting a very attractive option when using these guns. The best way to use these guns is to go for a headshot, and immediately follow it up with a couple of more bullets to deliver the fatal blow.

Now, if you see other opponents after you kill an enemy, you have a split-second choice to make. Either you hold the trigger and transfer your spray to the other opponents, or you release it, reset the recoil and start firing again after a short pause. When enemies are close to each other and not too far from you, the spray down is probably the best choice. However, if your opponents are spread out or at a longer distance, going for bursts or one taps is probably a better idea.

As for practice, there isn’t exactly a method to practice bursting that is different from spray practice, as bursting simply means you cut your spray short after firing a couple of bullets. Consequently, if you know how to spray you also know how to burst! Simply start spraying and take your finger off the trigger before it turns into an actual spray. This will reset your accuracy and allow you to start firing again.

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