In Counter-Strike, map control is a crucial part of taking Terrorist rounds. In it's most basic definition it is controlling certain portions of a map in order to execute onto a bombsite.

On the map I'll be looking at, which is de_inferno, the banana area near the B site is a massive point of contention throughout the round. If the CTs control banana they are able to leave one player there, allowing 4 people to play on A. If the banana has fallen to the Terrorists then they shut off all potential information to the CTs which makes the CTs play in a default 3 A and 2 B setup. If you can achieve this and force 3 CTs to stay on A then executing strategies later in the round far more effective than they would be otherwise. This is just one example of how map control can revolutionise a round.

There are several areas of Inferno that is beneficial for the Terrorist team to control before attacking a bombsite. They are banana, middle and alt middle, T apartments and the entirety of apartments (window room, dark room, boiler, halls). If you can control all of these areas as a Terrorist team, you force the CTs to fall into a passive default setup (2B 3A). It is also a great foundation for executing strategies and winning rounds.

Ideally, you would have all the areas above under your control, but there are some that are far more important than others that you could commit more of your resources (grenades, manpower) to take with. Banana is crucial as I've already outlined. The least important area is apartments, but it is still useful to have.



Image by operationl2p.com



How do I take map control?

- Banana

Taking map control can be as easy as using some grenades early in the round which forces the CTs to fall back onto the bombsites and use some of their smoke grenades quickly. If you can accomplish this, it will be a great benefit to you later in the round as the CTs will no longer have smokes to keep these choke points inaccesible. But normally the CTs will want to contest these key contention points, because of the significant amount of impact they can have on the later rounds. Banana is one of those areas that is far easier to take if you have a full complement of grenades.

For example you can flash top of banana from the bottom with a very basic flash, just throw it over the roof as you enter the bottom of banana. You can also molotov car and sandbags, which forces the CTs to fight you in a fair 1v1 aim battle where you are both in the open. This can be very beneficial to the T side as your AK-47s can kill an enemy in one headshot, whereas the enemy's M4A4 or M4A1-S inflicts around 90 damage per headshot against armoured opponents. Once you have taken banana control, generally you are able to only leave one team member there while the rest of your team is able to go about their map control endeavours elsewhere.

- Middle and alt middle

These areas, specifically middle are great spots for CT snipers to play. They can be neutralized fairly easily in my experience, one flashbang and some bullets to the wall where you know they are seems to be enough to discourage a re-peek. However, if their sniper is a riskier player, a smoke to block vision at the top of middle will suffice. Middle is an area that allows for both Terrorists and Counter Terrorists to quickly rotate between bomsites when controlled. Middle is also a great spot for the CTs to have good vision and insight into what strategy the Ts might end up executing.

On the other hand, alt middle is far easier to take, because the only real way for a CT to contest it is to push up into the window room of apartments to fight. This is easily neutralized because the Terrorists have so many angles to see into the window room from alt middle that it is pretty much a given that if the Terrorists want control of alt middle, it is easily taken.

- T apartments and apartments

The T apartments are known as T apartments because they pretty much belong to the Ts. They are far closer to the Terrorist spawn, and they are an innefective spot for the CTs to take control of. But as for apartments, the CTs arrive there first, so they are able to utilise the hiding spots and angles inside of them to fend off many assailants. Personally, I find that the best way for a team to take these apartments is to take a multiple pronged attack. This consists of sending some members of your team through the window in window room and up the stairs. I find that sending one through window and 2 up stairs is sufficent. The reasoning for sending 2 up stairs is simply that the second player can trade a kill if needed. These 3 players can now assist each other in taking window room, dark room, boiler and halls.



BONUS

Interesting smoke to use in a fake execute

Thanks to /u/haki_bhop for conceptualizing and giving permission for this smoke.

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