Peeking in CS:GO is a bit of an anomaly for every player. Sometimes it feels like it works well, sometimes it feels like you can’t peek a single corner without getting destroyed. No matter what category you fall in, it is no doubt the ultimate sign of game skill to destroy your opponents with a nice peek, something we have all tried to do whether it works or not.

Peeking in CS:GO, just like any other skill in sports, is a bit of a science. So let’s talk about it, in what I will only casually refer to my friends as the ultimate guide to peeking in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

The Types of Peeking Defined

Hopefully I won’t take the fun out of the art by making things this specific, but in my mind, there are three types of peeking that I hear talked about the most. Those three types are the jiggle-peek, the crouch-peek and of course the wide-peek. These peeks make up what I would consider a pretty dense mechanical skill set, and I felt like they were the best to talk about and master first.

Jiggle-Peek

First there is the jiggle-peek. Typically, this move is used as a way to gather information from a spot of the map where you think there might be enemies or if you are trying to cleverly bait a shot from an enemy AWPer. A jiggle-peek is performed when your throw the tiniest amount of your player model around a corner with a quick D and then A key motion (we will get into later why its D and A and not vice-versa) that will allow you to see as much as possible with the smallest amount of your player model showing. Jiggle-peeking is a hugely important skill to learn and also something that shows experience. It also proves to be one of the most useful tools to have in your belt if used properly. It should be noted that you can’t just throw jiggle-peeks all over the place and expect to succeed. It is a very risky move and can be a very easy way to give the opponent a free pick. Always use it lightly, and definitely don’t over do it.

Wide-Peek

Ah yes, the favorite strategy of North American aimers (and a certain Mr. Xantares) everywhere, the wide-peek. The wide-peek is the ultimate show of dominance in CS:GO, as successfully swinging wide around a corner straight into your opponent's face and destroying them is the greatest way to show disrespect to the enemy team. The mechanics of this are fairly simple and literally in the name, just swing wide. The goal is to peek wide enough that you will either take your enemy off guard, or make space into a bombsite for your teammates. The wide-peek is something that is used heavily by entry-fraggers on the T-Side, as being able to get deep into a bombsite and breaking up pre-aims can make it easy for you and your team to take gunfights and win the round. However, I think that wide-peek success is mostly determined by your own confidence, something that can serve as a positive and a negative. Sometimes you can be overconfident and swing way too wide for absolutely no reason, killing yourself and giving the other team the man advantage. However, having tremendous confidence and peeking with it can make or break an entire game. Balance it nicely friends, and happy fragging.

Crouch-Peek

Now while this might not be as popular of a peek as others, I have found that it is incredibly effective in the “headshots are the only viable killing strategy” meta that seems to dominate PUGs and matchmaking play. Frankly, we are all taught from the moment we start playing CS:GO that you should pre-aim for the head at all times. If you hold an angle, pre-aim for the head; if you peek an angle, pre-aim for the head. We are always aiming for the head, so what happens when someone comes around a corner crouched? Naturally there is a room of error where we must immediately flick down to get the kill. However, if you are fast enough, you can easily grant yourself enough time to kill your opponent before they have a chance to re-adjust. This is done in a very similar way to how someone might wide-peek. Although, as you come around the corner, you are crouching and hopefully avoiding a headshot pre-aim. But just with any other peek, use it wisely and be aware that sometimes you just might peek into someone that isn’t even pre-aiming for the head and just immediately melts you.

The “Myth” of The Right-Eye Peek

So, there is a very odd and lightly talked about mechanic in the game involving the player models that essentially breaks the way you see enemies and enemies see you. Essentially, the camera on your player model is favored slightly to the right. What this means is that there are select angles and ways to peek in the game that will favor you greatly as you will essentially be able to make out and kill your enemy so quick that they will even get a chance to react to the pixel of the player model they see. Of course, the same thing goes for holding an angle, you can be peeked just as effectively if you hold an angle improperly.

You can see a fantastic example of it here as Syrson peeks into enemy AWPer Crucial. Crucial is holding a disadvantageous angle, with his left shoulder sticking out as he holds the corner. Since your viewmodel is tailored more for the right shoulder, Syrson is able to peek solely with the A key and his right shoulder, giving him the advantageous peek and allowing him to see Crucial before he even has a chance to react. It is incredibly broken, but it is also highly important for you to understand when this can and cannot happen to you, as it will help you in gunfights. An easy way to remember is something like this: If both players are peeking and holding with mirrored eye peeks, as in left eye peeking a left eye angle or right eye peeking a right eye angle, it is a completely even fight as both players will see each other at the same time. However, if you ever peek opposite eyes, as in left eye peeking into a right angle or right eye peeking into a left eye angle, the right eye will always hold the advantage. It’s complicated, I know. Sorry.

AWP and Peek

As seen in the video above, properly peeking with an AWP is an important skill with the weapon, and not knowing how to hold or peek properly can be the small factor that will lose you most of your gunfights. But the same goes for peeking into an AWP with a rifle, as you should understand the different peeks you can use to help you rip an AWPer off of an angle that they should have the heavy advantage in. Properly using any of the three peeks we discussed, along with the theory of right-angle advantage should help you in your fights against an AWPer when you have no way to flash or smoke. But of course, use your utility first, never think that you can catch an AWPer for free if you have a full nade set on you.

Conclusion

Okay, here we are, fifteen-hundred words later, having had to write the word “peeking” more than I ever would have wished for, but nonetheless here we are. “Good” peeking in CS:GO is a hard art to perfect, something I know that personally I still have many hours to work on, but it's great to start earlier than later, and understanding the theory of it all can help make you an even more well-rounded player than you could have ever imagine. At least, that's what I tell myself before I go to bed every night. So practice your wide peeks and your jiggle peeks, but most importantly, just make sure you are having a great time playing the one game we all love to talk about.