Do you ever go to peek someone that you're sure isn't aware you're there, swing out and 9 times out of 10, they're the one that get the kill? There's one hint that you're peeking wrong, that's for sure. But there's plenty of other ways that you can improve the way that you peek in game, and the angles that you play. If you play these angles correctly, you could gain yourself a rank or two depending on your skill level. I'm going to cover things such as tricks on how to hide as much of yourself from the enemy as possible, when and how to play off angles, and finally, the sweet spot. In this guide you'll see I'm using the AWP, but this will work with pretty much every weapon you can use in the game.

How to position yourself for maximum cover

To start off, the image above explains more in itself than words can. As you can see the player is watching an angle with the wall to his right side whilst crouched. If you notice, the wall takes up almost half of the right side of the screen. There's a reason for the wall taking up so much of the vision, and that's because it covers your playermodel's head with it! When someone comes swinging round the corner, they're not going to be able to instantly tap you right in the head, they're going to have to go all the way around to be able to see all of your playermodel. By then you should have been able to take out one or a couple of enemies before they even get the chance to do so.

This kind of play can be made at pretty much any angle, as LONG AS the wall is to the right, as the playermodels crouch, whether you have cl_righthand as 1 or 0, will always crouch down and move the head to the right. Pretty neat, huh? You'll save yourself from a lot of situations with this trick!

"The Sweet Spot"

A general nickname for a simple trick, finding the perfect angle and position for you to be able to react perfectly for a headshot or to hit an enemy who moves round a corner. Whilst this kind of angle is more important for someone such as an AWPer or a Lurker so they can pick off some really easy frags, it's useful to know your sweet spot, no matter who the player. Knowing this is something that will eventually come like it's second nature, however you can't find this sweet spot without a ton of practice, and a ton of practice means a ton of competitive games! Not like it's much of a problem but this angle will end up helping you out, and will pick off an enemy quickly and efficiently, leaving you able to back out if another player comes, or quickly push forward onto a site or an area.

I've included an example of what I would consider around my "sweet spot". Times such as AWPing on mid on Inferno or holding short on Dust2 will become a lot easier once you find this, and you might already know it without realising! Remember, practice makes perfect, and you can't practice without hopping into a few games. Try playing Inferno mid on T side, and getting picks on any CT's who try to fly round mid and get you, or who try to edge round the corner, going for a shot on you. This sweet spot will be different for everyone remember, as it's based on everyone's different reaction times, so if you see someone holding an angle which really doesn't seem like they're going to hit someone or if they're holding a fairly wide angle, that might be better for that player, so don't jump in criticising whilst they need the time to focus!

Playing Off Angles

This is when you end up playing an angle that the enemy will walk right into without expecting. Breaking the normal rules of where to play, but don't be too aggressive. Whilst you can end up picking off an enemy or two sometimes, it doesn't always end up working in your favour. And most likely won't, there's a reason people play the angles that they do! The suggestion for this is to get a pick and to back out while you still can, since you might give away some intel, or you might end up getting traded for the player you just took out, which is what you don't want, especially as a CT.

The point of this is to try and get an easy pick on an enemy and to try and almost outsmart the player by playing stupid. It's almost like a psychological thing. "Alright, he's most likely going to be pit since he knows I'm trying to push quad" and BAM, you're just right of archway, getting a nice pick on the unsuspecting target! The images above and below show my example off nicely.

With this guide you should have had the basics of angles and peeking covered if followed correctly. However, just remember that if you can see the enemy, it's likely that they can see you, so react appropriately. Difficult to do so, but the only way to do this is through practice and play, as it's a situational thing. Good luck in the future and when playing interesting angles, just remember these tips to do your best at acing the game! And don't forget the most important tip, have fun!