Mirage nowadays is the classic go-to map in CSGO. Everybody and their mother knows Mirage and how to play it - or, at least, that's what the majority of players think. And that's okay, because everyone is learning new tricks every day about the most played map in CSGO! But it also is one of the maps where many people like to play for the retake on A as a CT. But why is that good, and why should you do it more often?

That's exactly what I'll be covering in this article - why playing retake on Mirage's A bombsite is not a bad idea. So, let's dig into it!

The Widest of Them All

As you know, the A bombsite on Mirage is easily one of the widest and most open bombsites in the entire competitive map pool, especially the entrances, which there are a lot of - CT Spawn, Jungle, Connector, Ramp, and Palace. Having so many points of entry is already a good sign for a retake attempt, as there are many locations that the Ts need to be aware of and hold after securing the site. The more places your opponents need to be watching, the better, especially since it's very likely they won't have enough smoke grenades to cover everything after entering the bombsite.

Being able to have so many points of initial contact can actually be amazing for retakes with different timings - you could have a player or two play first on Ramp, push the attention of at least one or two players, only then to have a second wave of CTs come from Jungle and Connector, catching those players with their backs turned. Still, remember that an effective retake requires good communication - if that's not happening, the Ts won't have much of a problem stopping your attempts.

Being such an open bombsite can actually prove troublesome for the CTs to defend before an attack comes, as retreating on CT or Jungle is almost essential due to the default smokes that Ts throw all the time. If a CT wants to try and fight those smokes, they'll most likely find themselves playing alone and without the possibility of a trade kill, and that's definitely something you don't want. Remember, if you get one kill on each side, it's generally more advantageous to the Ts, as they have the possibility to play together and overrun one or two opponents defending a bombsite.

That's another reason why opting for a retake on this specific bombsite is generally better. You want to take the time to make sure the bomb is actually being planted there and to make sure your team has enough time to rotate and prepare a better and reinforced retake.

There Is Space for Everything

And then, there's the biggest reason why the A bombsite is so good for playing retake - you have enough space for anything! There are no really small chokepoints except maybe Palace, so you won't lose more than one player to a wild spray through a smoke. You can flash and smoke at will, and still have enough space to move freely without compromising your vision. You can also easily flash for your teammates from safe angles, without exposing yourself due to how open the skybox is. Imagine this scenario - you have two players coming from Connector and another from Jungle. You can each peek at the same time from different angles! One can be at the top of Stairs, the other just below, and the third coming from Jungle. I mean, there's almost no other bombsite you can do something like that on, and that's one of the main reasons why holding pushes is so hard on the A bombsite.

Still, there are some hard-to-kill spots when retaking, especially if an opponent is playing on Triple Box and you have no one pressuring from CT Spawn or Ramp. They can force a 1-on-1 duel with the player on Stairs, so be careful about that. You generally shouldn't waste an incendiary there if you don't know whether Ramp or Dark (the spot under Palace) are clear, so be careful and make sure to position your players the best you can before starting the retake.

Last Minute Tips

Another good tip I can give you is to not smoke the bomb if you know where the last Terrorist is and you have the advantage. Instead, smoke out his position - he'll be forced to push the smoke to kill the defuser while the other players will have the advantage by seeing the player come out of the smoke before he can see anyone.

When attempting to retake, you just need to cross a few things off the checklist - make sure you have players coming from different positions, make sure everyone knows what to do with their utility, and have a set strategy so that you know who's the last player appearing to try and get some easy kills on opponents that might be distracted. Also (and this is a big also), be careful with the flashes, as it's really easy to hit an opponent on such an open bombsite.

You can also check out some professional matches on Mirage (especially from CIS teams) to see how they defend the A bombsite and how they set themselves up before starting a retake on A. Some of those retakes are incredible, with everything happening for a reason on the absolute exact timing.

Ge out there and play, and make sure to try new things with your team when you see yourself playing on Mirage! Thank you for reading! You can reach out to me for feedback or suggestions via Twitter!