CSGO Tips: How to Split B Like Team Dignitas on Mirage
To master the art of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive one must learn from the best: The pros.
To master the art of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive one must learn from the best: The pros.
Even though it is not hard to learn, it is hard to master. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive allows people to develop their own playstyle while most mechanics are predictable and are able to be used to your advantage if done right. Although learning the mechanics is the bread and butter of a Counter-Strike player, you must look further than just your own game in order to truly thrive in this game.
Even if not all of us play on a team, deepening the understanding of this game when it is played at its peak level can help everyone develop their game. Today we will take a look at Team Dignitas' own pro team and its B Split on Mirage which helped them beat Renegades in the PGL Major Krakow 2017 Main Qualifier.
This article will have the following structure:
- Video summarizing the Point of Views
- Strategy and positioning explained
- Smokes and grenades needed for this execute
The general idea of this execute is to take Mid control with four players, three in Top Mid and one in the Underpass. During this, the last player draws out the CTs utility on B in order to deny them any delaying tactics once the actual B-Site take commences. This execute will be done by three people through Short, one through Apps and the lurk coming through the vent in Window, backstabbing the remaining CTs that are holding from Kitchen. Since the attack is commencing from three different sides, no real utility usage during the actual B-Site execute is needed and will therefore be used to obtain Mid control.
Here is the video showing all of the action in one take:
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Sounds easy enough, right? Well then, right into the details of this round:
Phase zero consisted of RUBINO throwing a smoke Top Mid to use that smoke later to cross to the cart. fox, having a favourable spawn, went for a danger-less pick on A which did not affect this strategy.
The first phase then consisted of setting up. TENZKI positioned himself in front of Apps in order to use his utility and noise to draw out the utility of the CTs, making the B-Take easier later in the round. jkaem went through T-Apps as well but jumped down into the Underpass to assist the players coming from Top Mid. RUBINO and cromen set themselves up in front of Top Mid accordingly, with both of them just holding Mid in order to shut down a potential push since fox is not yet ready.
Once fox caught up, the second phase commenced. cromen got ready to enter Mid, assisted by a flash by RUBINO. Once cromen has pushed back the Short player, the rest of the Top Mid players also moved to the cart. There they set up their smokes to take further Mid control: One in Window and one in the Top Connector area. jkaem stays in Underpass, being the most important piece if a CT would dare to jump out of Window.
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While TENZKI, the B player, kept the CT playing on B on his toes and forced him to use his utility, cromen got ready to clear out Connector in the third phase of this strategy. jkaem, who kept the CTs from pushing up to the close corner of Connector by prefiring into that position, kept cromen safe from a CT lurking up close. RUBINO was in a position to trade frag once cromen got in trouble and to concentrate on Window do deny a Mid retake at the same time, backing cromen up double-fold. fox uses the long ranges Mid to hold Short from Chair, keeping the CTs who play on B out of Mid.
Since cromen, the entry fragger, cleared Connector successfully, he got close to Short to entry again, while jkaem used his smoke to allow RUBINO to get in a lurking position in Connector and then molotoved off Window to allow cromen easy entrance to Short, as it spread far enough to keep CTs completely out of positions in Window that could cover Short. Cromen's entry attempt was backed up by RUBINO's position as a trade fragger in Connector and fox as an assist, who threw a flash that was intended to blind any Short player who may have hid on the far-right corner. Once Team Dignitas got the trade on Short, jkaem and fox hurried up to not to lose Short again and bunched up on the verge of B.
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Now, everything went according to plan and the final phase commences: You have two people up Short, the AWP and a rifle to be able to take both long and close-range duels and an Apps player ready to oversee the Bombsite while entering and claiming map control once he jumps down. RUBINO, who is lurking in the Connector and slowly emerging from said position, is supposed to use the fact that the CTs concentration now lies on B to his advantage. Looking for gaps in the defense, he successfully got to Window and will soon reach Kitchen. While the rifle on Short cleared out nearby, fox concentrated on the long ranges and held favourable angles to allow TENZKI and jkaem to progress onto the B Bombsite, so that they would be able to trade frag each other. This is the point where RUBINO strikes, as the positions of the Ts on B means imminent danger for the player in Kitchen. He cannot watch his back because, in his mind, the Ts might push him. Then Team Dignitas just played basic Counter-Strike: Everyone held a favourable angle and if one died it would have allowed the others to readjust to keep the bomb ticking. RUBINO stayed in Kitchen, fox used his AWP to hold Short, and jkaem used an uncommon angle to catch CTs coming through Apps.
<iframe style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://streamable.com/s/5yovb/rmapjq" width="600px" height="400" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>The Grenades
Even though there was a lot of utility usage, I will only show you set grenades, not improvised or sincerely easy grenades like the flashes in Mid. You will also see most of the grenades I will show you in my video so be sure to keep an eye out for that if you need a moving example.
Top Mid from T-Spawn
Stand in this corner and aim just above the highlighted cable-holder.
This will provide you with enough cover to make it to the cart safely. If you go early, you do not even need to worry about Short since CTs cannot get there as fast as the Ts can.
Top Connector from the Cart
Stand in the left corner of the cart and aim to the right of the middle of the lower leaf, highlighted with the lower red circle. Position your crosshair around the same height as the height of the highlighted leaf on the big palm tree. Even though the palm tree moves, just aiming around its median height should be enough.
No CT can enter Connector without taking a huge risk now since he is completely smoked off.
Window from the Cart
Stand to the right of the doorway behind the cart and position yourself centralised in front of the antenna above Window. Aim at and run, releasing your smoke when you are close to the cart.
This will keep CTs from trying to peek into Mid and secure you a bit of Mid control all by itself.
Top Connector from Underpass
Stand to the very left of the invisible wall in this corner...
...and now aim in the middle between the left and the right corner of Short and Connector in order to aim at the bottom of the wooden roof in Connector. Run and throw.
Much like the other Top Connector smoke, this blocks off any vision the CTs had of Mid through Connector.
Window Molotov from Underpass
Stand in the corner shown in the upper left picture, then aim in the middle of the protruding wall part on the level of the lower edge of the Window cutout. This will keep CTs from peeking Short through Window.
B-"Rush" from Apps
Intended to be viable as both a fake smoke and as an execute smoke, this smoke can be used to mask your movement when you rush out of Apartments or to deny vision and draw out utility from the enemy. Stand at the left end of the arrow at the big B graffiti and aim at the far doorframe. Run and throw.