Dust II has long been both a favorite map for some and the most hated map for others. It is a very balanced map for both teams meaning that no team has any advantage over the other. This requires players to come up with ingenious tactics to try and get an upper hand over the enemy. Being an AWPer on this map is one of the key roles you can fill in order to help your team out as much as possible. However, given that the Ts are the ones attacking, there aren't many key spots they can AWP from where they would get a key advantage over the CTs. As a Counter-Terrorist, however, there are a plethora of clever spots to AWP from where you are likely to surprise unsuspecting Terrorists. Without further ado, let's get into it.

On Short Watching Cat

This first one is a fairly simple yet effective spot. Using the picture above as reference, you'll want to position yourself atop the ledge right above CT. From there you'll want to scope in through the space between the gray pipe and the wall. From there you can spot anyone trying to push up cat and quickly take them out. Should you be confronted with more than one attacker and you still have a fair amount of health, you also have the option of jumping down into CT and allowing your teammates to kill any pursuers. Once the situation has cleared you can then push up ramp onto A site and snipe anyone coming from long or perhaps cat or you also have the option of taking the long route through mid doors and up cat. You should take this route only if your teammates are either doing a good job holding A site or they are all dead and going A ramp would mean certain death.

Long Watching Long Doors

For this spot, you'll want to stand with your back against the building in front of pit and, using the wall in front of you as cover, quickly peek and kill anyone at long doors. Should you find the need to fall back, you can always fall back to car and continue sniping anyone coming towards long, ideally with the help of a teammate from somewhere on A site. At the beginning of a round, this tactic can also be paired with a pop flash to blind anyone at doors after which you can easily kill them. Another thing you can do is have a teammate play from pit. That way if the Ts rush and you either die or are forced to retreat, your teammate can take some, if not all, of them out.

Mid Watching T Spawn/Palm Tree/Top of Mid

This spot is a very versatile spot because from here you can lock down three key areas of the map. For this one you'll want to play close to the left door at mid and, if this is the start of the round, kill any Ts watching mid. The reason why you would not want to be playing this from closer to CT spawn is because a lot of AWPers will pre-aim that spot and the bottom of mid doors is a more unusual place to play from. If there is no T watching, you can then shift your aim towards palm tree (end of cat towards long) and kill anyone there. Should any Ts try to cross towards top of mid, you can kill them or alert your teammates of their position. This is also a good spot for letting your teammates know the terrorists' movements should they go anywhere you can see from mid doors (i.e. lower tunnels).

Back Plat Ledge on B Site

The last position is on B site. Instead of going straight to back plat, you will be playing crouched from the back plat ledge as seen in the picture above. From there, you have the cover of the box straight ahead of you and should they push from upper tunnels, you have the ability to retreat onto site and have your teammates lend you a hand. This does expose you to both window and door, so you will want to have a teammate playing with you on site should things get ugly. Of course, if the Ts do rush, your teammates on site with you can also give you some help while reinforcements arrive.

These are just a handful of the different ways to snipe on Dust II as a CT. Given how versatile and balanced the map is, different plays can be created based on the kind of players you have on your team or how the game has been going up to that point. Be sure to check out my guide on places to AWP from on T side of Dust II, coming soon.

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