There's more than one setup that possible on de_cache on the counter-terrorists side. It'll give you an advantage to other setups, and is going to win you more rounds on the counter-terrorist side to stay ahead. In this blog I'm going to explain three of them and why they are possible in the first place on this specific map.

Why are more than 2 generic setups possible?

This has a simple reason. The mid on de_cache is the most important spot on the whole map because it allows the terrorists to attack a bomb site from more angles, the counter-terrorists to rotate faster and retake a bomb site once it has been taken by the terrorists. There aren't really that many examples to compare it with other maps, but one would be the mid on de_dust2, as it's nearly serving the same purpose as on de_cache.

The standard setup

This setup is the one most used by pro players and ranked/PUG players. It consists of having two counter-terrorists on the B Bomb site, one in the Middle (most of the time in the Z connector), and two on the A bomb site. This is setup is completely viable for competitive play, because if the player in mid needs support from his teammates, one of the players from the B site can boost himself up in the Vent area, but this can prove fatal. If the terrorists are fast enough in taking mid (e.g killing the counter-terrorists that are holding mid or smoking him off), the player that's boosted up in the vents is going to be taken out easily by the terrorists; thus resulting in complete terrorist control of the mid area.

The other player that can support the mid player is the one that's playing forklift on A, because he can easily go down highway and support the other player that's holding mid. This setup can work out really good, but can also be completely shattered if the terrorists are taking the mid area fast and aggressive enough. In the picture down below I've added the locations and rotating players, and also the entrances that are most often smoked off by the counter-terrorists.

The 1-2-2 setup

The 1-2-2 setup is exactly what it sounds like, one player on the B bomb site, two in the mid area and two on the A site. In this setup two of the counter-terrorists are running as fast as possible in the mid area, while one is going to hold from highway, the other player goes into the vent. With this setup the terrorists are having a harder time taking the middle because they are going to face 2 angles if they want to push into the mid. The vent player can also hear terrorists that are charging into the B site and can warn the player that's spotting from the B bomb site.

The player on highway can always help the players on the A site, while the vent player can drop down any given time and surprise the terrorists that are in front of the B site and are focused on the player on the B bomb site. This setup is really effective, as it allows the counter-terrorists to hold easily mid and also allows them to rotate quicker to any given side to support the other holding counter-terrorists.

The 1-3-1 setup

This setup is the less used one of the three in the competitive scene. This setup's only goal is to lock down the mid area completely. The two players are holding from highway and from the vent, but there's also a third player holding in front of the boost area (the other players on the A and B bomb site are holding like in the 1-2-2 setup). This allows a crossfire in the mid between vent and under boost, while the player from highway is baiting the terrorists pushing mid. Keep in mind that this setup can be risky because if the terrorists are fast enough to take either of the bomb sites you are instantly in an retake scenario of that specific bomb site.

And that's it! Always keep in mind that you can switch any given time between these setups in your match. The variety is what gives you an advantage and keeps the terrorists always in the dark with not too much input to execute an site take.