Master the clutch

With the substantial increase in players over the past 12 months, it is worthwhile revisiting a concept which is such an important part of the game… clutching. My very first game of competitive CS GO I remember vividly. I was playing Mirage and my team were getting picked off one by one. It was a 1v4 and the usual banter in game all of a sudden turned silent and I felt like the whole world was watching me.

Fortunately for me the enemy made plenty of crucial mistakes; They engaged 1v1 battles, no trade frags were organised and no utility was used. Suddenly the 1v4 turned into a 1v1 and the pressure was on the enemy player now and needless to say he whiffed not one but three AWP shots, allowing me to finish him off. All of the sudden I hear a lot cheering from my team and felt a huge rush, needless to say I was hooked on our beloved game.

In this article I examine the thought process and provide you with a simple system to help you with your clutch game.

Should you engage or back off?

Assuming you have a choice to either engage or retreat, this is where communication from your team and gathering all available information is critical before you make your decision.

At the time the tendency is to panic and irrational thoughts can occur leading to a poor outcome. Here is a simple thought process for you being able to make an informed decision.

1) Ask yourself how crucial this round is for your team, if you have plenty of resources available and the enemy team will be at significant disadvantage if you win the round it may be well worth it. However if you are behind in the game and low on resources it probably will be better to try and skip this one out.

2) If you decide to take the engagement find out from your teammates how many enemy players are left, also ask your team if they have any idea about the health of enemy players. Use this information wisely and ask yourself what the enemy would do. A simple example is if the bomb is planted on ‘Default A’ on Inferno most likely the enemy player will be hiding in Pit or in Apartments. As you get more experienced you will know the common post plant spots. Then a simple grenade or pistol shot may be all it takes.

3) Choose the terms of engagement and tip the balance in your favour as much as possible. There are some natural advantages depending if you are CT or T and the situation. If you have planted the bomb you can choose your post plant position or whether you will play more aggressive and try and catch them off guard.

This is where your utility is absolutely critical and often the difference between success and failure. Again using the example from point two a smoke in a choke point will waste the other player's time and will allow you to focus on clearing less angles and tipping the balance in your favour. However, people often panic when they are smoked out and make irrational decisions in a time limited environment, so be aware of this.

Learn how to pop flash and also be aware if you are defending an objective you will likely be flashed. One well timed flash is all it takes to be rendered completely useless for 3-4 seconds which is enough time for you to be dead. There are plenty of excellent videos on YouTube that demonstrate pop flashes in common locations and different techniques (underarm or mid length throw).

Grenades and incendiary grenades can assist clearing out common locations, however, do remember that just because an area has been subject to a grenade it does not mean it’s clear. Again if you’re defending an objective a well-timed incendiary grenade can eat up valuable time.

4) Lastly make yourself a tough target, your job is to make life as difficult as possible for the enemy. If you are defending a site force them to hit your head to win the round. Play hide and seek and dance around objectives to make them waste valuable time. My only advice here is knowing when to peak and re-peak, there is no hard and fast rule about this and if you feel like you are hitting your shots there is nothing wrong with making an aggressive peak.

A few pointers

In this section I will cover different areas that will improve your overall clutching skills.

Mindset

Change your mindset! A lot of players clam up and miss easy shots in clutch situations. Unfortunately the fight or flight response can kick in which makes rational decisions difficult. Whilst CS:GO is a quick thinking game, sometimes taking a short time to collect yourself and suck in a few deep breathes will help you refocus. Second, instead of being terrified of these engagements see them as an opportunity to showcase your skills and excel!

Additionally at higher levels you start becoming aware of player tendencies and that certain players like playing a certain style whether they set up a smoke and flash through or play passively, clearing all angles leaving them more pressured for time. Use this to your advantage.

Lastly in this section I finish by saying that sometimes it pays to be unpredictable. There is no hard and fast rule about this but if you can manage to sneak up and flank an enemy whilst he is flashed this will put the advantage in your favour. Other times when the enemy has angles locked down tight flashing yourself through a smoke can be a viable option.

Strive to perform

Nothing comes easy, as they old saying goes 'practice makes perfect', but there is a few ways you can do this. Firstly learn from your mistakes. Even though it can be painful to watch, there are various recording programs and if you play Valve match making you can review your demos. Ask yourself, what could I have done different to win the round? As you get better your mistakes will become less and less however even experienced players can learn from their mistakes.

Following on from the above points, you will pick up patterns where you will make mistakes. A simple way to learn from your mistakes is to watch the pro CS GO players. These brave people have dedicated their time to mastering CS:GO. Watch how they play and ask yourself why did they make that particular decision? This goes for your own games as well. If an enemy player managed to clutch time and time again, what did he do that enabled him to succeed? Suck up your pride and ignore the possibility of smurfs and hackers, this only leads to excuses.

Additionally, practice on community servers, you will often find people from various skill sets playing retake servers. This is one of the most effective ways to put yourself in constant clutch situations. If you are a newer player you may find it difficult to initially learn where people hide and what they did to make your life difficult. Then try and this replicate yourself in the community environment, you will learn over time if it was an actual smart play or they may have been lucky. I would make this part of your practice regime.

Lastly you will fail a lot of clutches, this is completely normal and even happens to the pros. For every highlight reel they create there are plenty of failures. Don’t beat yourself up and learn from your mistakes, see it as opportunity to make yourself a better player.