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Counter-terrorists are at a natural disadvantage on every map because they’re forced to spread their resources over two bombsites and three or four chokepoints. In contrast, terrorists can pick and choose where to attack, giving them the superior numbers in most gun-fights. As soon as the bomb gets planted, however, the situation is reversed and the counter-terrorists have an opportunity to show some initiative on the retake.
Retaking a bombsite can be difficult, but the more effective your team becomes at it, the more rounds you’ll be able to win. In this article, StensGaming looks at the seven tricks to successfully retaking a bombsite.
Trick 1: Regroup before the retake
When you lose a bombsite, chances are your teammates are going to be spread throughout the map. One of the most common mistakes players make is to try to retake the site one by one, rather than waiting for their teammates to arrive and give them support. This is particularly the case when there are only a couple of terrorists left – the impulse to charge in solo and win the round by yourself can be hard to resist. Counter-terrorists who are waiting for their teammates should take advantage of the opportunity to grenade the site, spam walls, and try to work out the position of terrorists inside the site.
Trick 2: Communicate with your team
Co-ordinating a simultaneous retake from multiple entry points can be difficult, and requires strong communication with your teammates. If your caller is alive, he should generally be responsible for ensuring that everyone is in position, before calling for the team to flash the site and attack at the same time. The onus, however, is on every player in the team to ensure that they’re communicating effectively. That might involve warning their team that they’re going to be late getting there because they’re coming from the other side of the map, or letting everyone know about the location of any terrorists they’ve seen or heard hiding in the bombsite.
Trick 3: Use your flashes and smokes
Using flashes sounds simple, but can go horribly wrong very quickly. Ideally, everyone should be flashing the site at the same time, directly before the retake. This requires communication, teamwork, and restraint – there’s nothing worse than throwing in ‘one last flash’ only to find that your whole team was halfway into the site and is now totally blind. CT’s should also recognise the value of smoke grenades – they can make retaking through narrow chokepoints significantly easier, and also provide some great cover for vulnerable defusers.
Trick 4: Cover the diffuser
It’s not always possible to kill every terrorist before defusing the bomb – often one player will need to start defusing the bomb while his team-mates provide cover. When this happens, there’s two key things to do. First, the defuser needs to get into a position where obstacles like crates and walls provide them with the maximum possible cover from the remaining terrorists. For instance, if the ‘long plant’ at A bombsite on dust2 isn’t done properly, a clever CT can defuse from inside the bombsite or around the spawn corner, either of which makes it a lot harder for terrorists in the pit to get a clear shot. Secondly, his teammates need to smoke and flash the remaining terrorists to distract them, and put themselves in the best possible positions to prevent the terrorists from getting a clear shot at the defuser. This may involve narrowing the angle so that the players can see the remaining terrorist before he can see the defuser, or it may simple require a player or two to act as a ‘human shield’ and stand directly in front of the defuser.
Trick 5: Watch the time
Defusing the bomb with a kit takes 5 seconds, so counter-terrorists have 30 seconds from the moment it’s planted to get into the site and start snipping the wires. That’s not a lot of time when your team is spread all over the map, so counter-terrorists need to keep an ear on the beeping bomb at all times. Sometimes a successful defuse require you to abandon all of the tricks above and simply charge into the site recklessly, in order to start the defuse in time. Alternatively, it may require a player to ignore all the carnage going on around him and stay on the defuse, even if it means almost certain death. The important thing is to always be aware of how much time you have left to defuse, and make a judgement call early in the retake about whether a successful defuse will be possible in the time remaining.
Trick 6: Know when to save
There are some rounds where defusing is virtually impossible. That may be because you’re heavily outnumbered or simply because you don’t have time to get there and defuse. In those situations, counter-terrorists need to play it smart and avoid going on suicide missions into the bombsite. Your team also needs to be willing to abandon a retake halfway into it if it becomes apparent that it won’t be successful. Even if you lose the round, you may still be able to save some of your guns – and maybe get a few kills as terrorists exit the bombsite after you.
Trick 7: Practice, practice, practice
As with anything in life, practice makes perfect. Sitting down with your team and identifying the best ways of retaking a particular bombsite is always worth the investment of time, and can be as simple as deciding which teammates will retake from which direction, or who will flash where. But in the end, nothing can replace actual match practice, which will let your team try out different ways of retaking and decide what works best for you in specific situations.
Retaking a bombsite can be difficult, but the more effective your team becomes at it, the more rounds you’ll be able to win. In this article, StensGaming looks at the seven tricks to successfully retaking a bombsite.
Trick 1: Regroup before the retake
When you lose a bombsite, chances are your teammates are going to be spread throughout the map. One of the most common mistakes players make is to try to retake the site one by one, rather than waiting for their teammates to arrive and give them support. This is particularly the case when there are only a couple of terrorists left – the impulse to charge in solo and win the round by yourself can be hard to resist. Counter-terrorists who are waiting for their teammates should take advantage of the opportunity to grenade the site, spam walls, and try to work out the position of terrorists inside the site.
Trick 2: Communicate with your team
Co-ordinating a simultaneous retake from multiple entry points can be difficult, and requires strong communication with your teammates. If your caller is alive, he should generally be responsible for ensuring that everyone is in position, before calling for the team to flash the site and attack at the same time. The onus, however, is on every player in the team to ensure that they’re communicating effectively. That might involve warning their team that they’re going to be late getting there because they’re coming from the other side of the map, or letting everyone know about the location of any terrorists they’ve seen or heard hiding in the bombsite.
Trick 3: Use your flashes and smokes
Using flashes sounds simple, but can go horribly wrong very quickly. Ideally, everyone should be flashing the site at the same time, directly before the retake. This requires communication, teamwork, and restraint – there’s nothing worse than throwing in ‘one last flash’ only to find that your whole team was halfway into the site and is now totally blind. CT’s should also recognise the value of smoke grenades – they can make retaking through narrow chokepoints significantly easier, and also provide some great cover for vulnerable defusers.
Trick 4: Cover the diffuser
It’s not always possible to kill every terrorist before defusing the bomb – often one player will need to start defusing the bomb while his team-mates provide cover. When this happens, there’s two key things to do. First, the defuser needs to get into a position where obstacles like crates and walls provide them with the maximum possible cover from the remaining terrorists. For instance, if the ‘long plant’ at A bombsite on dust2 isn’t done properly, a clever CT can defuse from inside the bombsite or around the spawn corner, either of which makes it a lot harder for terrorists in the pit to get a clear shot. Secondly, his teammates need to smoke and flash the remaining terrorists to distract them, and put themselves in the best possible positions to prevent the terrorists from getting a clear shot at the defuser. This may involve narrowing the angle so that the players can see the remaining terrorist before he can see the defuser, or it may simple require a player or two to act as a ‘human shield’ and stand directly in front of the defuser.
Trick 5: Watch the time
Defusing the bomb with a kit takes 5 seconds, so counter-terrorists have 30 seconds from the moment it’s planted to get into the site and start snipping the wires. That’s not a lot of time when your team is spread all over the map, so counter-terrorists need to keep an ear on the beeping bomb at all times. Sometimes a successful defuse require you to abandon all of the tricks above and simply charge into the site recklessly, in order to start the defuse in time. Alternatively, it may require a player to ignore all the carnage going on around him and stay on the defuse, even if it means almost certain death. The important thing is to always be aware of how much time you have left to defuse, and make a judgement call early in the retake about whether a successful defuse will be possible in the time remaining.
Trick 6: Know when to save
There are some rounds where defusing is virtually impossible. That may be because you’re heavily outnumbered or simply because you don’t have time to get there and defuse. In those situations, counter-terrorists need to play it smart and avoid going on suicide missions into the bombsite. Your team also needs to be willing to abandon a retake halfway into it if it becomes apparent that it won’t be successful. Even if you lose the round, you may still be able to save some of your guns – and maybe get a few kills as terrorists exit the bombsite after you.
Trick 7: Practice, practice, practice
As with anything in life, practice makes perfect. Sitting down with your team and identifying the best ways of retaking a particular bombsite is always worth the investment of time, and can be as simple as deciding which teammates will retake from which direction, or who will flash where. But in the end, nothing can replace actual match practice, which will let your team try out different ways of retaking and decide what works best for you in specific situations.
