Nuke, the radioactive map that has decided many professional matchups, is often avoided by new players who feel a bit lost in the sea of possibilities. That is unfortunate, because the map is very fun to play and lends itself to some very exciting gameplay possibilities. In this guide, I go over the most essential utility usage you need to know.
The radioactive plant known as Nuke is a map often picked by professional teams but notoriously avoided by casual players for its complex verticality and rapid rotation possibilities. The map can be categorized as an acquired taste, and many beginners might feel lost in the sea of options the map offers. However, good utility usage goes a long way on Nuke. Hopefully, this guide can offer you some footing to get to know the ins and outs of this nuclear map.
Nuke is a special map in the sense that its sites are not spread out horizontally across the map. Instead, the A-site is situated directly above the B-site, creating a unique sense of verticality. Consequently, the areas on the sides of the map do not immediately lead to different sites, rather, they lead to locations from which you can vertically ascend or descend to a particular site. These fast rotation possibilities prove very challenging for new players that might get confused as to what site the bomb is being planted.
As was the case in my other guides, some of these line-ups require you to jump up and throw the grenade mid-air. To aid you in successfully throwing the smoke at your highest point in the air, you can use a jump throw command as detailed in my guide on the ultimate CS:GO settings.
As always, we kick off this guide by looking at the A-Site. The site can be challenging to take considering the extra verticality that is added to the site itself. Defenders can play from several positions such as heaven or the roof of the hut, which makes it quite hard to enter the site without ending up a casualty of war.
The first position you want to block off is Heaven. Note that this does not keep you safe from players that have run out of Heaven onto Balcony, but at least it keeps those players from being able to retreat back into cover and time their peeks.
To throw this smoke, first, you’ll need to jump up and shoot the windows on the roof. As long as you destroy the windows in the top left corner, this smoke will land just fine. Then, jump on top of the yellow valve leading to the silo and position yourself in the middle of it. Look at your left towards the large dome and aim at the chimney-like structure attached to the dome, aiming at the top of the part sticking out. Release the smoke and you’re good to go.
Another angle that can be devastating to A-Site pushes is A-Main. Often, a defender will play from this position as a pivot to both outside and the A-Site, and the outside defender will rotate to this position. Consequently, locking down this angle can make your push towards the site infinitely easier.
This smoke is also thrown from the roof. Put yourself into the corner next to the big grey tubes and aim at the middle of the window of the yellow door. Then, go up until you’re at the same height of the right corner of the grey chimney on the roof in front of you and release. Make sure not to break the windows for this smoke, as you need them to slow down the smoke grenade so it lands just right.
Finally, players can also be on Hut. Of course, you could throw a smoke grenade here, but it’s much more useful to douse this area in flames as your teammates push onto the site, pressuring the player to either drop down and lose his accuracy, or try to get and get a kill while slowly burning to a crisp.
Once again, on the rooftop, jump onto the second small white mushroom-shaped chimney and put yourself on the spot where the two bottom corners seem to line up. There, shoot the right-most window and aim towards the top of the second lighter’ stripe. Then, run forward and release the Molotov.
From this exact same position, you can also throw a flashbang. Immediately after you’ve taken a step and thrown the Molotov, throw a flashbang without repositioning. This will blind many unexpecting players on the site and, together with the Molotov, give your teammates the perfect chaos to take over.
As I stated before, Nuke is a special map because of its verticality. That also means that the B-Site is an underground nuclear bunker with a very low ceiling, meaning there are no line-ups for this site that stretch beyond the basic use of walls to bounce off smoke grenades and flashes. Consequently, for the B-site, there are no real line-ups you should memorize. However, there are other areas on the map that have line-ups which are very useful to remember.
The first of these areas is Outside. Usually, an AWP player will be holding this area from the Garage or from Heaven. However, if you manage to overthrow the resistance, you get easy access to both ‘Secret’ and Ramp leading into the B-Site, and A-Main and Heaven leading to the A-Site. Consequently, Outside can be a key position to a victorious outcome of the round.
Crossing towards the red container outside can be a hazardous undertaking. Defenders can easily kill you from many positions including Garage and the container next to it. Luckily, there is a smoke which should make crossing over at least a little easier. Once you get there, you can easily drop a smoke to push into Secret.
To throw this smoke, look at the iron bar of the first chicken fence you encounter running towards long. Then, look at the left bar of the next fence in front of you and aim towards the middle. Run forward and release the smoke grenade.
When you push Outside, there is a good chance the Outside defender will call for support from the A-Site. To slow down the reinforcements, you can throw a smoke grenade that will land perfectly in A-Main.
To throw this smoke, go up to the roof just outside of T-Spawn and walk into the can of paint until you can’t go any further. Crouch and aim up towards the right top corner of the sixth ‘wave’ in the wall in front of you and go up until you’re at the same height as the leftmost corner of the fifth ‘wave’. Finally, stand up and release the smoke.
You can also throw this smoke from Outside, albeit from a more open and less safe position. Stand in front of the middle line on the white material covering the fence outside, and aim up towards the middle of the power line right above the small white box on the wall of the garage. Run forward and release the smoke before you would hit the blue box in front of you.
For the final stretch into Secret, you’ll need two clouds of smoke. These will protect you against defenders from Heaven, Garage, and A-Main. Consequently, try to queue with someone who also knows this smoke or hope that someone else in your game has learned them.
To throw the first smoke, put yourself in the middle of the left part of the truck in T-Spawn. Then, aim slightly towards the bottom of the left corner of the first window above you. Jump and release.
For the second smoke, put yourself in front of the white Jersey barrier. Then, aim at the small iron plate on the silo and aim upwards until your crosshair is positioned right in the middle between the silo and the overhead power cables. Try this smoke a few times to get a good feel for it. Finally, jump and release.
Finally, there is the Ramp position. Offering CTs a lot of cover to find shelter and a narrow hallway for Terrorists to push through, trying to take control of this area can cause you to suffer disastrous losses. However, once you have taken control of ‘Ramp’, you can very easily make your way to the B-site or try to flank the enemies in Heaven and Outside.
Crossing into the Ramp area can be tricky as there are plenty of angles from which a well-trained AWP can safely pick off his enemies. Luckily, you can block off many of these angles with a single smoke, allowing you to focus on just a few remaining ones.
To throw this smoke, stand in front of the white chairs in Trophy Room. There, aim at the middle of the left-most window of the control room. Step forward, and release.
Of course, this smoke grenade still leaves the other angles open. To help you get the drop on your enemies, you can throw a flashbang from the exact same position as the smoke. Just make sure to reposition and run-throw the flashbang the exact same way as the smoke grenade. It should bounce just outside of view, but to make sure you don’t get flashed yourself you might want to look at the wall to your right.
Using these line-ups, you should at least manage to find a way onto the sites, which is usually what most new players struggle with. Once you get onto the site, things should get considerably easier for you and harder for the enemies. Moreover, keep in mind that there are plenty of other ways you can use utility, but these are very situational and rely more on your own creative use of the environment than memorized line-ups.
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