Improving Your Counter Strike Skills

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Is your lack of Counter-Strike skills getting you owned in CS:S every night? You can only blame it on lag, lousy hitboxes, or "the phone" so many times before you either admit you suck and do something about it, or become plagued with Terminally Owned Operating Lethargy (TOOL). A terrible affliction that permanently scars your ability to operate a video game properly after being owned for too many years. If you're serious about preventing TOOL, read on.

How to Not Die

Not dying is a critical component of living. In order to not die in CS:S, you have to employ a subtle combination of skills, skills, and skills. Or hacks, but if you hack you obviously don't care about skills. Let's move on.

Below I have outlined some of the most common techniques employed to prevent death.

• Take a deep breath and loosen up the death grip on your mouse. The more tense you are, the more mistakes you're going to make and the more susceptible you are to "the shakes".
• Take your time. Don't run around every corner at top speed. Try walking, and paying attention to your teammates.
• Listen. If your speakers suck, get some headphones and use them. If you aren't listening around every single corner, you're already dead.
• If your under assault, don't run for cover unless there is actually cover nearby. If you have to move more than five feet, any player with skills is going to shut you down. It's better to face your enemy, and take them down with one clean, well aimed shot to the head.
• Employ strafing. Strafing gives the enemy a moving target without removing your focal point from the enemy. Remember to stop and shoot, and time around the enemies fire.

How to Kill

In addition to not dying, experts agree that in order to possess true Counter Strike Skills one must not only not die, but also subject others to death. In other words, you need to waste your enemy efficiently and taking as little damage to yourself as possible in the process.

The following strategies have led to the successful death of many counter strike players, skilled and otherwise.

• Head shots. Head shots, head shots head shots. Head shots. Got it? The next time somebody empties half a clip into an enemy's left foot and then whines about the injustice when they only did 43 damage gets slapped. Don't even both aiming below the neck unless it's your only shot available.
• Don't run and shoot. In Counter-Strike, one or two good shots from any decent gun will lay out your enemy, so it's often best to stand your ground and take the best shot you can. Strafe is incredibly useful when under assault, but use it wisely.
• Time your attacks. If you know your enemy is reloading, recovering from switching weapons or throwing a nade, or doing anything else that will have them distracted for a momeny, take advantage. A charge can be an effective maneuver if there is only one enemy and you have the upper hand.
• Use flashes wisely. If you flash, make it count. Remember that the enemy is probably going to see it coming from a mile away if you just heave it out into the open. If you're throwing around a corner or through a doorway, time it so the flash bursts on entry and doesn't give them a chance to react.

Teamplay

Being a good team player is incredibly important if you want to win consistently, and enjoy Counter-Strike to its fullest. Let the following basics be a guide for you in becoming the best team player that you can.

• Listen to your teammates. If someone requests help, don't run the other way.
• Watch your teammates. Know where they are. You don't have to plan and calculate every move if you pay attention to "body language". If your temmate is reloading and open to fire, cover his ass. And hopefully he/she will do the same for you.
• Use momentum. If your team is getting pounded every round, it's time to take advantage of the one thing you do have - numbers. A good hard rush into the enemy base can be an incredibly effective tool in turning the tides of a match. In order to work though, you need everybody in on it and you don't stop halfway - just move!. There are sacrifices to be made, but they will be worth it.

Buying Weapons, etc.

I see so many players that jump into a match and immediately spend all their money on the most powerful weapon they can. Flashes, nades, smoke, armor, kits, nightvision, and anything else they can afford.

There are a few things wrong with this picture. First of all, if you just joined you have no idea what type of enemy you're up against. You might find youself wishing you bought a Scout instead of that M4. Secondly, for many of us the first few matches we're in "warmup" mode and the chances of dying and wasting all that cash increase quite a bit.

So, to wrap this up let me share a few buying tips that might help you become a better CS:S player.

• If you're broke, save your money and get a powerful pistol. You can probably grab a gun off the ground anyway, and using a pistol now and then keeps your aim honed. :)
• Only buy nades/flashes/smoke if you plan on using them. Furthermore, only buy them if you plan on using them and will actually get a chance to use them. If you're dying before you use your inventory, you're wasting money.
• It's often good to let the few front runners buy the flashes, and everyone else pick up a nade and maybe some smoke. The flashes are most effective for rushing/breaking a point.
• Mix it up a little. Everyone has their favorites, but using different guns keeps your skills in check and you will be prepared the next time you have no weapon and pick up some peashooter off the ground!

Thanks for reading, and please share any tips or general feedback you have in the forums.

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