It can be easy to be blinded be the brilliance of the top-level CS: GO players when they land multi man sprays or clinical one shot head shots but it is important to be cognisant of the way that these teams are set up for these plays to occur. In the upper echelons of Counter-Strike, the terrorist side is where teams can show off their tactical prowess and push the limits of what is possible in the game by finding innovative ways to enter the bombsite. However, despite the huge range in play styles 6 key roles are prevalent in almost every team on the planet.

In-Game Leader:

The In-Game Leader or IGL is the person who calls the shots during the match. They decide what to buy at the start of each round and which site to attack. IGls tend to spend a lot of time outside of the game researching what their opponents are likely to do and ways to combat this as well as tweaking their own strategies to make them more effective and harder to read.

A good IGL can make a huge impact on a match as they can make up for their team’s lack of star talent to overcome a stronger opposition. This can be achieved through meticulous planning before the match to find ways to shut down the opponent’s star players or through set execute strategies which allow for plenty of bomb plants which puts pressure on the opponents and helps maintain a healthy bank balance.

Due to this huge tactical bonus received from having a good IGL, it is generally acceptable for this player to have some of the worst stats on the team. This is because the IGL will usually commit a lot of resources into setting up other players so not have as much money to buy fully each round and due to putting in lots of research time outside of matches they may not be able to practice with their mechanics as often as other players.

The IGL can also adopt any of the other roles but most teams have their IGL playing the Support role as this requires the lowest damage output and allows for plenty of information to be relayed and process without being under stress to perform well.

An example of a great tactical IGL is LDLC’s Ex6TenZ who has in the past been a part of the very best CS: GO teams of all time and has been able to find success through his extremely disciplined and execute heavy style of play.

Entry Fragger:

The Entry Fragger is the first person to enter a bombsite. Their job is to clear common spots that Counter-Terrorists usually play and look for a kill to open up the bombsite and allow the rest of their team to flood into it and get a bomb plant.

By being the first person into the bombsite the Entry is usually the first player to receive any fire from the opposition which is a part of their role as by drawing this fire from a CT or two their teammates can shoot at a player who isn’t aiming at them making the chance of getting a kill more likely. The nature of this role means that a lot of the time the Entry will die but that’s expected and at the highest level of CS: GO the rest of the team will be able to kill the opponent and secure a 1 for 1 trade which is usually worth it.

The Entry tends to also be the players to throw the initial smoke grenade in a strategy or throw early flashbangs to allow for the Sniper to get into positon. This is because they are likely to die during the execution of the strategy so will not need any utility spare to defend the planted bomb and dying with a lot of utility is a waste of money that will add up quickly over a few failed executions.

One of the best Entry Fraggers is G2 Esports’ apEX. His one bullet aim is incredible and he is able to tear open bombsites using this and he shows us how an in-form Entry can take over a game as he routinely ends matches with 20 or more kills and is extremely difficult to shut down once he has hit his stride.

Follow Up:

The Follow Up or Flex is the player who tends to be the second person into the bombsite, going in after the Entry Fragger. The Follow Up is responsible for cleaning up the site and getting most of the kills upon entering the bombsite.

As they enter after the Entry Fragger they usually have at least one player who isn’t aiming at them which makes for an easy kill and then look to clear out any other players who may be in the bombsite still. The Follow Up will check the spots the Entry player ignores to make sure the site is fully cleared out and look for kills on defending players. Many strategies rely upon the Follow Up getting at least 1 kill which is why this player usually has the best rifle aim on the team as this increases their ability to get kills pushing the site.

The Follow Up also tends to be able to live through the initial push on to the bombsite, especially if the Support is helping them out, which means that they must be able to defend a planted bomb and be successful in 1 v X scenarios. In some strategies, a double AWP set up is used which requires a second Sniper and this position is usually filled by the follow up as they have the talent to AWP well and create openings when attacking a bombsite.

Shox is a superb example of a Follow Up as he is usually the second man into the site after the Entry and has unbelievable rifle aim which allows him to land quick head shots and make it easy for a bomb plant. What’ s even scarier about Shox is that he is a good Sniper and can use the AWP to find entry frags or opening kills making the execute that much easier. If all that doesn’t win the round, then Shox is reliable in the clutch having nerves of steel being able to win most 1 v X situations he is in.

Support:

The Support is the player in the team who does a lot of the dirty work that isn’t particularly pretty but helps to create beautiful plays by setting up their teammates. They tend to act as bait to draw fire for better players and work closely with the Sniper to help them secure advantageous angles.

When executing on to a bombsite the Support will tend to use their grenades last to blind defending opponents making it easier for the entry crew to find kills. Supports will usually be the bomb carrier for the Terrorists as they are least likely to die when entering the site, provided the entry crew are successful in killing defenders, so can get any easy bomb plant.

As the AWP does not lend itself to fast mobile play it makes it difficult for Snipers to take advantageous angles without being killed before they can get a shot off or forced away by utility. Support players can help with this by using utility such as molotovs to burn out an area where an enemy Sniper could be meaning that they can no longer hold the angle which allows for the friendly Sniper to take point on the angle waiting for the enemy to re-peek which makes for an easy kill for any Sniper worth his salt. This job can easily go unnoticed by most spectators but it is of the utmost importance as it can allow for early opening kills which instantly shift control to the Terrorist side without having to commit to a bomb site.

A very good Support player is TACO from SK Gaming. He works alongside the team’s resident star coldzera and helps to set him up by clearing corners for him and using utility to isolate kills which coldzera happily converts. TACO’s play style allows SK to abuse coldzera’s huge talent by making his job a lot easier which helps them to get terrorist rounds on the board. The way these two players clear the brown halls on Train is an art form and I would highly recommend checking it out.

Sniper:

The Sniper is a player who is a specialist with the AWP and sometimes the Scout. They can use the AWP effectively to garner opening kills from a long range and hold extremely tight angles with ease. Snipers tend to have the fastest reaction times in the game and regularly pull off highlight reel plays that never fail to amaze.

The Sniper is usually quite immobile due to the nature of the AWP limiting movement speed which means that in order to find kills they have to clear angles methodically and slowly taking time to hold an angle for a period of time before moving to clear the next. This lack of speed does make Snipers susceptible to close range combat or fast moving opponents so it is most effective to have a Support player help the Sniper to safely take up an angle rather than going solo and risking being rushed down and killed.

Using the AWP is a huge risk as the gun cost $4750 dollars so dying without getting a kill is a huge loss as for that money a Terrorist player could full buy with utility. This again reinforces the importance of putting utility into setting the Sniper up as if they die to an opponent they risk losing the gun to opponent which gives them a powerful weapon for free.

In top level matches, Snipers may not buy much at all in half buys or force buys and this is to help build the economy as the gun they are buying is so expensive they may go for a pistol over an SMG or lower tier rifle in order to save a couple of thousand dollars which will allow them to buy the AWP in the following rounds. This highlights how using the AWP is a risk but the power it provides is unprecedented depending on who wields it.

KennyS is one of the World’s premier Snipers and is able to rack up huge numbers of kills with the weapon. His ability to quickly scope in and fire accurately allows him to play a little more fast and loose than most Snipers which makes him a constant threat to the opposition. Kenny is consistently able to pick up opening kills on the Terrorist side which help to shift the round in the favour of his team and the planning that goes into his positioning on the Counter-Terrorist side allows him to take 3 to 4 safe shots on to an oncoming Terrorist execute which can completely shut down the bombsite push. Sean Gares demonstrates this in an excellent video breaking down Kenny’s CT play on Nuke (see bottom of article for link)

Lurker:

The Lurker tends to play away from their teammates and probe other areas of the map for information on how the defense in set up. Once the rest of their team push a bombsite the Lurker moves to cut off any defenders looking to rotate to the attacked bombsite which can help to shift the number heavily in the terrorist’s .

The Lurker can be pivotal to the success of a strategy as before the execute takes place they can feed information to the IGL to inform their decision which may lead to attacking a different bombsite, waiting out some more time, moving the Sniper around some more or even faking the execute and heading to the other bombsite. Due to the nature of their role Lurkers may find themselves the last player alive for their team so the need to be able to play well in 1 v X scenarios in order to get more rounds on the board.

It is during a push on to a bombsite when the Lurk player comes into their own. As the chaos is ensuing on the bombsite the Lurker can move around other areas of the map and hold angles where defending players are likely to run past and not even see them as they are tunnel-visioning on helping defend the bombsite or retake it from the terrorists. The Lurker can kill these players before they are able to reach the site and help defend but also they can relay information to their team on where defenders are likely to move to retake the site which helps their teammates to take up after plant positions accordingly to make a retake much more difficult.

One of the best classic Lurkers is the North American player Hiko. He was instrumental in Teal Liquid’s run to the semi-finals of MLG Columbus 2016 as he won multiple 1 v X situations and could help adreN call the game effectively. Hiko is one the best players at staying calm in high pressure scenarios and getting those crucial kills that allow his team to get rounds.