In CS:GO, you can either play as a team in leagues or simply play alone or with a few friends on any map you like whenever you like, so-called Pick-Up-Games. In those PUG games, you need to be able to quickly deploy smokes that specifically help you to find an opening, clear out a part of the map, or get a pick more safely without having to rely on your random teammate knowing a bunch of grenade line-ups themselves.

The aim of this article is to give you line-ups that work on their own without help from a teammate. These smokes will help you clear out parts of the map or help you take straight-up duels that you will be prepared for. In most of the videos where I will teach you the line-up, I will also show you an example of how to play around the smoke or what to do with it. Due to this being a smoke guide to the CT, the defensive side, you will see a lot of one-way smokes, so be prepared.

Inferno

Arch to Second Mid (Aggro)





Stand at the outer part of the Arch position and position yourself in the corner where the red and grey bricks meet. Now aim above the corner of the building in front of you and on the level of the protruding part in the facade of the tower to your right, as seen in the video.

This smoke will land between the stairs and the building separating Mid and 2nd Mid, taking any kind of vision of the T-Apps and 2nd Mid player from Mid, allowing you to push down Mid and surprise the Ts taking Banana and holding from T-Ramp. Keep in mind that you might get sprayed through the smoke or that a T may jump up on the barrel behind the stairs to spot you. However, speaking from experience, such smokes will grant you success more often than not (if you can hit your shots) since the communication in PUGs normally is sub-par, slow, or simply missing. As with most of these smokes, be sure to not to overdo it, since people will be prepared for your play sooner rather than later in the flow of the game.

Dark to Top Banana One-Way



Stand at the corner in Dark, right behind the boxes and lining up your centre with the more apparent line in the texture in the wall, as shown in the video, and now aim at the edge of the protruding sides of the box in front of you, aiming up until your vertical crosshair level meets the corner of the part that is protruding upwards, also as seen in the video. Now jumpthrow and your smoke should land on the small wall at the front of B-Site.

This gives you a one-way smoke, allowing you to spot their feet below the smoke if they advance through Top Banana towards the bombsite. Keep in mind that, if the opponents crouch, they will be able to spot you too, unless you play behind the fountain, obscuring your legs. The good part about this smoke is that you can pretty much stand everywhere on the B-Site, which makes it harder for the Ts to properly spam you through the smoke. To see where the limits lie in such a smoke you should try it out offline, though, since you aren't 100% free to stand wherever you like if you want this play to be successful.

Mirage

Window One-Way





For this smoke, you need to stand in the corner between the table legs and the wall outside of the view from Top-Mid to Window, find the black dot in the ceiling and simply throw. This will cause your smoke to bounce off of the ceiling and land inside of the window frame, allowing you to peek through the very left-hand side when crouching, spotting enemies crossing to Cart and allowing you to catch the Ts off-guard.

If you use this smoke, having an AWP is strongly advised, since the time you take to line up and kill a randomly moving guy with a rifle, parted with the tracers your bullets will leave in the air, will increase the chance of you getting spammed by enemy players, not allowing you to retreat after getting one or two kills. The AWP just favours you in such a position, allowing you to take advantage of their cluelessness to the max. Keep in mind that, if an enemy AWPer suspects something, he will most likely spot you if he looks closely enough through his scope. Since this is a one-way, it will be unlikely that you will be able to successfully use this line-up more than once or twice in a match.

Connector One-Way





Simply stand in the corner between the crate and the wall in the left side of connector, crouch, and find the darker lines between the floor tiles to your right and right click. This will create a one-way smoke for you once you jump up on the crate in front of you.

We all know those games where the Ts like to abuse Mid extensively and they can just choose freely between boosting up Window, going Short, or pushing through Connector. To counter-play this, you can use this smoke in Connector, catching one or two people off-guard and pulling the round back, even with lost map control. Keep in mind that, due to the random spread of the smoke, you shouldn't walk all the way up to the pillar in front of you once you're using the smoke to your advantage since that can cause your rifle barrel to stick out.

Dust 2

Goose One-Way



Stand in the corner of Goose, then crouch and aim bit to the left of the centralised mark on the bigger box on the right side of A-Site, now simply throw. You will be able to create a one-way that you can abuse with an AWP in Goose, confusing your enemy initially while you get the first pick from Goose.

This smoke works best if the Ts do not have an AWP instantly pointed at Goose, as you will run danger of being spotted by such an AWPer. However, even then, you will have the advantage since you know what to expect. Keep in mind that this smoke is kind of suspicious looking, as it lands on a Box on A-Site, which will most likely cause confusion the first round you use it, but the second time people will know exactly what is going on and spam you/pre-aim you with an AWP.

B to Double-Doors for a CT-Mid Retake





Position yourself in the far corner of the part of the B-Site where you can plant, then aim at Broken Wall and find the missing-brick-space that is the deepest into the wall, aim at the upper right corner of said space, and jumpthrow. This will block off the Double-Doors, allow no visual contact to the closer part of CT-Mid and no backup without running risk of being killed once they leave the smoke.

You can use this smoke in two main ways: The first one is the scenario that arises when you have to hold Mid, probably without an AWP, and you have to fall back to B since you got flashed off, maybe multiple times. After the dust has settled a bit, the Ts will most likely leave a lurk in Mid (yep, even in PUGs), which is where you can use this smoke to block off Double-Doors and allow yourself to get close and clear out CT-Mid on your own without being in too much danger from outside interference. The second way to use this smoke is when one (or two) B player(s) have to retake Mid since your Mid player got killed. This will allow you to make use of your trade potential and to rotate faster to A once the need arises.

Overpass

Fountain Aggro smoke



Stand in the corner behind the last bench at Toilets and aim at the very left of the Lamp in front of you before simply throwing your smoke.

This one can be used to impress your fellow solo queuers with a Fountain aggression smoke, blocking off the view from Ts holding from T-Stairs, not allowing them to advance further without being in danger of getting killed before they see anyone. Of course, if they try to rush Fountain like most players, they will have gone through your smoke by the time it's deployed, but that doesn't stop you from blocking off the AWPer holding from behind, seriously increasing your chance of winning the round with your PUG plays.

B-Short Map Control





Stand at the door frame of the doorway leading from CT to B and now aim to the left of the centre of the third balcony in the direction of B-Short. This smoke will land in the pipe leading from in front of Monster to Swamp/B-Short.

This smoke can sincerely hinder the Ts ability to move around on the Map, as you will take away a strong position that is commonly used to throw simple fakes or quickly rotate away from one bombsite to the other. Just keep in mind that, depending on if Connector gets played or not, you run danger of being pinched from both sides. Also important, if they have the right spawn, the Ts will be coming through the smoke just as you turn the corner, which is why I always throw the flash that I show in the video.

Train

B-Ramp Aggro





Stand/start around the area where the pallets are on the right wall. Now aim at the fourth strut in the ramp leading from B to B-Halls and slightly to the right of centre before running and throw as soon as your left end of the screen touches the first yellow-black line on the train to your left.

This creates multiple ways for you to approach holding B-Halls with said smoke. You can either get a bit more aggressive and jump up on the railing (please make less noise than me in the video) and hold the stairs leading from Top-Pop to B-Halls favourable in a one-wayesque style, or you could stay on the Ramp and watch the elevated part for a T being brave enough to push through, punishing them as you are prepared. You could also throw this smoke, then fall back and wrap around Upper, allowing you to misguide your enemies into thinking you'll be holding from Ramp. To be honest, you don't even need to follow up to make this smoke effective, as, after a few uses, the enemies will take a lot of time looking for you.

A-Main Aggro





Stand at the wall that places E-Box between you and A-Main, line-up the line in the middle of E-Box and the wooden part directly above the exit of A-Main and now aim above the left edge of the second protruding part in the wall, starting the count from the right side, and throw. Alright, listen, although I try my best, I don't even know if anyone has any idea what I'm talking about, so please just watch the video?

This smoke will block off any vision from the Ts standing further back in A-Main, allowing you to enter A-Main and clear out the closer part with ease. This will not just allow you to get aggressive, it will also halt the Ts in their endeavour to take map control and push through the corridors between the Trains, giving you more time to react to the info you have and to assess what you will do next, giving you a general advantage in the round. Be aware that a smoke doesn't equal a wall, so the enemy may push through, flash or not, or spam you when you try to enter A-Main.

Nuke

Outside Control



Stand on the end of the curb on the way from CT-Spawn to Outside, aim to the left of the left part of the big, four-sided lamp behind Outside, and throw. This smoke will land between the boxes and the fence, allowing you push up closer or simply delay the T's Outside take.

This one is especially useful when you have to play Outside on your own, since you can choose your position basically for free if the Ts do actually stay behind the smoke. Keep in mind that a smoke doesn't equal a wall and frag-hungry Ts like to push through. If you are not careful when positioning, you will be caught off-guard and get killed! Also, this smoke only blocks off the lower approach to Outside but obviously not the Marshmallow position higher up. Still, this smoke can help you to focus on the AWPer peeking from Marshmallow instead of having to worry about the three Ts rushing to Red.

Secret One-Way





Stand in the corner on the platform between the two stairs in secret and aim quite a bit above the last vertical part of the railing to your right, using and letting go of both mouse buttons at the same time. To get this one right, I'd advise you to get in an empty server and just practice it a few times.

This one-way looks like a simple Secret smoke that a T has thrown to block off Secret or one used by a CT to block the Ts out of Secret, but, in reality, it will allow you to take a peek towards Red, catching one (maybe even two or more) Ts off-guard the first time you do this. Since this is a one-way, people will start looking for it once you've used it on them, but if the match is long, you may be able to pull it off again later in the half.

Cache

Car to A-Main One-Way





Stand at the tire of the truck on the way from CT to A and aim to the left of the pointy end of the sickle above A-Main. This smoke will land in a way to expose Ts behind the smoke on the very right of the A-Main doorway.

Especially useful if you're an AWPer, using this smoke will most likely catch Ts off-guard when they hang around in A-Main and try to cross to the left side of Main, showing you their feet or, depending on the spread of the smoke, even more. It is impossible for the Ts to look back at you through the smoke if thrown correctly, no matter the spread. But still, use this one with caution since most people in higher elo can at least somewhat pin-point Quad, Onsite, and NBK without needing to see it through the smoke.

B-Main to B-Halls Aggro





Stand centralised in front of the left end of the B-Main doorway, crouch and now aim at the ceiling where the two big support beams in the ceiling texture meet and pull to the right. Now simply throw to block-off Useless and T-Spawn.

People like to play B alone and defensively on the T-side, depending on how the game goes. AWPers especially like to wait for your push from T-Spawn and this smoke will deny them any chance of killing you by blocking them and other potential Ts holding for your push off, allowing you to take any position in front of B, delaying and potentially catching the B-Take off-guard. You can also use this smoke to advance further later on after you've made it to Toxic. Due to how open you are when throwing this one, you will need to be 100% sure that the Ts hold passively, maybe due to how they have played five or six rounds in a row before the current one.

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