Depending on the map, bombsite, and overall situation of the round, retaking can be quite difficult to pull off correctly. In order to be as efficient as possible, teams should talk about certain protocols that include certain flashes, incendiaries and, of course, smokes. Now, these smokes aren't exactly only for teams or only for soloqueueing players, as I made sure that everyone can take something away from these line-ups, so be sure to load up an empty server, open this guide in the steam web browser, and get ready to learn!

Disclaimer: It is impossible to explain these line-ups for every type of crosshair out there, which is why I can only show you these line-ups with mine and will explain them with my crosshair in mind. Keep that in the back of your head when trying to learn these smokes.

Mirage

A: CT to Onsite A

Stand at the corner of the military vehicle and the invisible wall in CT Spawn, turn around, and aim at the top part of the graffiti "A" above the door texture towards the A-site. Jumpthrow and your smoke should bounce off of the right side building on A and land right in between the first- and triple-box on A.

With this smoke, you will basically split the bombsite in half, allowing you to enter from CT with more safety and allowing you to pick your fights more carefully, not giving the Ts the full advantage of you having to focus on an excruciating number of angles when entering the A-Bombsite. This one should find it's full use if you are alone or all of your teammates are coming from CT, too, since you otherwise actually give the Ts the advantage of fighting, let's say, the CT player first and then hiding from the Jungle player.

B: Short B to Onsite B towards Bench

Stand at the Wall in Short that has a light pillar-ish texture and stand centered in front of it before turning around, finding the window above you, and then place your crosshair just above the outer window frame. Now jumpthrow to have it land between the two walls of B towards Bench.

This smoke will help you enter the B-Bombsite from Short and cut off the information and fighting potential from the Bench player, a strong position that allows the enemy to regulate where he wants to fight and when, allowing you to focus more on the surrounding angles and limiting the potential of you getting killed from a different angle than the one you're currently checking.

Overpass

A: Lower CT to A-Site re-entry

Stand right in front of the top end of the railing at the stairs in Lower CT and find the two big dark lines in the texture of the wall below the building in the distance. Place your crosshair on the level of the left side dirt-stain and above the left end of the lower dirt-stain before simply throwing your smoke.

This smoke will barely bounce and almost instantly block off the line of sight from Mid to Garbage/Green, which is from where you can enter now without having to care about Mid. Alternatively, you can throw your enemies for a loop by quickly changing your position to Bank in order to catch the prepared Ts who are waiting at Truck or similar positions off-guard.

B: Jungle to B-Onsite towards Monster

Stand in the corner right next to the open doors at the lower exit from CT and aim at the metal rods protruding from the wall in front of you. You should aim at the top level of the rod furthest away, then pull to the right to aim between the rod on the right and the one you originally aimed at before pressing both mouse buttons and letting go of the right one slightly before also letting go of the left in order to have the smoke bounce a few times before landing between the pillar in the middle of B and the wall towards Short.

With this line-up, you are taking away a very strong angle for the Monster player of the Ts, allowing you to focus more on the other, very dangerous angles like Water, Short and even Onsite. Keep in mind, though, that you are basically forcing the T to wrap around Short or the pillar and to actively take a fight with you. If you want to catch the enemies off-guard, this smoke should be your go-to if you have a teammate flanking from Monster, who will catch the T from behind when he is focusing on the smoke and trying to play around it.

Cache

A: Short to Forklift

Go into the corner of the small hut on Short and aim above the part of the lamp where said lamp visually meets the roof of the hut before simply left-click throwing, which will have the smoke bounce off-of Catwalk/Heaven and land behind Fork.

This line-up will, as mentioned above, land right behind Fork, taking vision away from anyone playing behind Fork or in the corner at Fork, which will most likely force them in the open, which is where your teammate on Car will catch them off-guard. Alternatively, people can choose to hide in the smoke, which is fine too, since you will be able to cross site and, in most cases, once the defuse comes in, put enormous pressure on them to make a mistake and run into your fake defuse.

B: B-Halls to Checkers doorway

Stand at the white-ish stripe at the wall in B-Halls that also has a touch of a rusty colour on top of its texture before aiming at the top right corner of the radioactive barrels, at which point you will run and jumpthrow.

This smoke will land perfectly in the doorway from Checkers and take away one of the strongest after-plant crossfires and bait and switches, where one T will hide behind the big box and one in the corner below Vents and if any one of them has any type of contact to you, the teammate will also swing out and prefire you. On top of taking this play away, if you are sure a Terrorist will hide in Checkers, you can wait for them to switch to the other exit of Checkers and, if they do not peek from there, bait them out by making a few steps towards Site and then wait for them at the angle you smoked off, which is where they will most likely peek from now.

B: Heaven to Checkers

Place yourself up against the wall on the right side of the ramp on Heaven, look towards the doorway of Heaven, and line up the left side of the doorway and the edge of the protruding white wall at the far side of B. Now find the small line in the rusty metal above the doorway and place your crosshair slightly to the left of the right end of said line before pulling down until you aim at the lower edge of the rusty metal.

This smoke will land in the doorway of Checkers that is more towards the B-site, which will allow you and your teammates to exit easier, especially if you have a teammate coming through the B-Halls that can catch the T that will try to go through the other exit of Checkers before he even knows what's going on.

Train

A: Connector to left side of A-Site

For this simple smoke, stand next to the end of the fence in Connector before aiming above the hut right in front of you, right at the third strut, counted from far to close, before throwing your smoke.

On Train, people can choose a multitude of angles to watch for a CT coming out of Connector, those include but are not limited to: Ebox (both sides), Popdog, A-Main, and behind Red, which are all angles you will take away. This will make it easier to exit Connector and meet up with your buddy coming from Ivy to methodically take apart the after-plant of the Ts.

B: Spools to Upper exit

Stand centered around the point where the wooden planks on the floor start and aim below the most left white stripe in the steel beam in the distance before simply left-click throwing your smoke.

This will block off the Upper exit perfectly, not giving the smoke a chance to bloom weirdly and leave a one-way angle for the Ts to abuse but also leaving enough wiggle room for it to be a quick throw that will not slow down your retake attempt at all. The only thing you need to worry about is, of course, Ts pushing through between the trains.

Dust 2

A: Short to Onsite A

Keep left on the stairs and position yourself in a way that you see the highest reaching leaf of the palm tree at Goose before making sure that your smoke will not bounce off of the wall on Short. After you've positioned yourself correctly, you can point your crosshair to the top end of the leaf and runthrow, which will land the smoke Onsite A, blocking off Headshot and rendering the Onsite player useless, since he has to push out.

This one is especially good if you have a CT waiting at Long who isn't known to the Ts, since by throwing this smoke you will most likely, depending on how many Ts are left alive, direct all of their attention towards Short. Alternatively, you can actually use this smoke in your retake to simply do its job by blocking off Headshot and Onsite.

B: CT-B to Sniper Nest

Stand at the corner of the big white-ish building at CT to B and aim at the top left corner of the window in the far orange building behind B before jumpthrowing.

This smoke has a lot of positioning wiggle room, which is why you can just walk up to the corner and throw this one quickly and without bringing your retake to a halt. The smoke will land in front of the Sniper Nest, not allowing the T to abuse a one-way and not allowing any vision towards Tunnel or Window and Door without them leaving cover and pushing out into the open.

Inferno

A: Top Mid to (in front of) Pit

Stand at the corner of the orange building in Top Mid that is closer to T-Spawn than the other available corner and aim at the horizontal level of the corner of the flowerpot on your left and on the vertical level of the far edge of the flowerpot in front of you. Now simply let go and enjoy your smoke!

Landing perfectly for you to walk up as close as possible onto the A-site without getting spotted by Pit, this smoke will make the A-site retakes way easier while also giving you the option to go through Apps afterwards and to catch the Pit player off-guard. Alternatively, you can split up your forces and have one CT go through Short and one go through Apps, taking no chances with your retake.

B: CT Spawn to Quad

Stand in the corner in CT located at the moped before aiming at the vertical level of the far-right corner of the small roof of the fountain in CT. Pull upwards until your crosshair is pointed at the lower third of the arch at Speedway and jumpthrow.

This smoke will land in Quad, making it useless to hide in. One of the strengths of Quad is that the player hiding in it can regulate where he wants to peek, he can jiggle for time and flash with or without peeking afterwards and you still won't have gained ground on him. Now, this smoke will give him two options: wait and try to strike later and let a lot of luck and the situation in the round (if his teammates are still alive, if you outnumber the enemies etc.) decide his fate or get out of Quad and choose a position that may be close by, but not nearly as strong as Quad. No matter what, it's a win-win for you. Your teammates should just know that you throw this smoke.

Nuke

A: Heaven to Pizza

Stand in the corner of the yellow steel beam and the white wall in heaven and crouch before throwing your smoke with your crosshair placed centralised at the lower end of the far, left lamp.

This smoke will give you a bit of an advantage if the Ts like to hide in and around Pizza, are changing positioning through the door and Lobby, and in general are hard to predict due to these pathways. With blocking off Pizza, you will make sure that people can't jigglepeek you when you start defusing the bomb, allowing you to react in time if they dare to push through the smoke.

B: Vent exit smoke

Stand in front of the second light line in the vent textures counting from the ladder on the wall that is not opening up towards stairs. Now aim to the right of the X in the texture at the Vent opening and throw your smoke to have a one-way-ish effect on your smoke.

The smoke will land closer to the left wall, which will allow you to prefire the right side of the stairs, where you will have a slight advantage in the visibility department, especially since the Ts do not know what to expect. This smoke will make it slightly easier to exit the vents, which can be, depending on how many Ts are alive, incredibly painful.

Do you want to share your retake smokes? Feel free to head over to our #digscord and meet our lovely community!