For the final guide in this series, we are going to analyse a few simple strategies that can be applied to the newest map in the competitive map pool, Inferno. This map tends to favour simple strategies and executes, with teams relying on good map control and opening picks to win them rounds. This explains why the map is often well liked by highly skilled, but less tactical teams, such as the professional team Fnatic. This guide aims to show you all the strategies your team would require to competently play the map, as well as all the grenades you would need to know in order to execute these strategies, with simple videos throughout the article.

Counter-Terrorist Side

Terrorists on the pistol round tend to play a default or rush the B bombsite, therefore it is important on the Counter-Terrorist pistol round to quickly work out where the Terrorists are positioned on the map. The three players with the best spawns for Banana should head towards B, with two of them buying armour and the third buying a kit and two flashes. The two armoured players should rush to peek at the top of Banana, timing this peek with a flashbang thrown by the third player heading towards B. This third player can rotate as needed after throwing his flashbang. Meanwhile, the two players heading towards A should have armour and play aggressive positions looking for early information. I would recommend that the player with the best spawn should rush Apartments through Middle and peek Second Middle, while the other A player can rush to Quadside Middle and peek towards the T Ramp. These two players can fall back towards Pit, Balcony and Graveyard if they get pressured early.

As per usual, on anti-eco rounds on the Counter-Terrorist side, the most important thing is keeping the Terrorist's pistols at range. An easy way to do this is to play long range angles and close to teammates to prevent yourself getting isolated and rushed down. A simple set-up you could run would be to have three players head B at the start of the round in case of a B rush. If the Terrorists don’t rush, then the third B player can flash the top of Banana for the other two players to regain this control, before rotating to A. On A, the two players can play either side of Middle, avoiding the Apartments. When the Terrorists begin to take control of Middle and Apartments, they can simply rotate into a double Pit set-up, with one player under Balcony and the other looking towards Quad from the bike.

A good philosophy to have on the Counter-Terrorist side of Inferno is to conserve your utility. Very often Terrorists have to push bombsites and take map control through narrow choke points. As such, if you are able to hold on to incendiary grenades and smokes late into the round, then you can leave the Terrorists with a difficult decision: push through the smoke and risk being mowed down on the other side or wait for the smoke to fade and risk being timed out of the round? Therefore, as a general rule of thumb, try to keep at least one smoke and one incendiary grenade on each bombsite by the one minute mark in the round. For example, if you lose Top Banana control, don’t smoke the chokepoint entering B until you hear lots of Terrorist presence at Top Banana. Another example would be in Middle, where if you get pushed off of the Archside angle into Middle, don’t immediately smoke the choke point, but rather hold onto your smoke until you hear lots of Terrorist presence in Middle.

All of the above said, a good set-up for the Counter-Terrorist side of Inferno generally begins with three players heading towards B and two players heading towards A. The two players who initially head towards A tend to be your best mechanically skilled rifler and another rifler. These two players should play around the Apartments, Pit, Quad and Site. They should be trying to keep tabs on where the Terrorists are around Middle and delay the Terrorist control of Middle for as long as possible. If they have to fall back, the better rifler should try to play in Pit, while the other player can bait for him from other positions, such as the bombsite and Graveyard. Towards B, two players should quickly head towards top Banana with either two rifles or a rifle and an AWP. Their initial priority should be preventing a B rush and then later in the round they can focus on taking control of Banana. The third player heading towards B is often your team’s AWPer. He will throw the smoke shown before heading towards the Archside of Middle with his AWP. As a final aside, I personally would recommend watching this video by Eric ‘AdreN ‘ Hoag on AWPing on the Counter-Terrorist side of Inferno. Despite being an old version of the game and the map, the same core principles are still highly important.

Finally, a very good push that the Counter-Terrorists can perform on Inferno is a deep Banana push. This push can be executed both when there is an AWP and rifle at Top Banana, as well as when there are two rifles at Top Banana. The two players simply need to smoke the bottom of Banana as shown and then throw the two Molotovs to flush Terrorists out of tight corners on Banana. Off a simple high flash, they can simply peek down and push Banana together, leaving one player close to the smoke and one player further back towards the short wall. This push is especially effective when one of the two B players is on a weaker buy, such as an UMP or FAMAS, as he can be the player who pushes down towards Tree, while his teammate baits for him from Top Banana. Another thing you can do after the push is to boost a player, preferably the AWPer, onto the top of the small wall to spot down Banana. Then the second B player can rotate to A, allowing you to only have one player on the B site and stack the A bombsite with four Counter-Terrorists.

Terrorist Side

Honestly, on the Terrorist pistol round, the simplest and most effective pistol round strategy is a B rush, with a player buying a smoke for CT spawn. However, if you want to improve the consistency of your pistol round rush, you can have three players buy armour and two players buy utility, with one player buying a Tec-9 and grenade, while the other buys a grenade, flash and smoke. Again, simply rush B and the two utility players double nade the corner at the top of Banana and then flash and smoke CT Spawn as your team bursts onto the site.

On the Terrorist anti-eco round, it’s important to take your time and control both Middle and Banana. I would recommend one player hold the bottom of Banana from T Ramp, while four players head towards Second Middle. One player can head up towards the bridge and watch T Apartments, he can also do the spam shown to kill players towards Balcony in the Apartments. One player can lurk around the Second Middle Apartments waiting for an aggressive Counter-Terrorist for the whole round. The final two players should take Middle control using the smoke for Arch, while clearing out Boiler and Quad. Then the player from the bridge can go with the T Ramp player to take control of Banana, throwing Molotovs for Tree and top Banana. When Banana is clear, one player can sit at the top of Banana and hold this control, whilst the other Banana player and the two players in Middle can wrap around Archside Middle. When they do this, they should try to feel out and decide whether it is better to split on to B from CT Spawn, or head towards A using the long range of their rifles.

Again, taking map control is very important on the Terrorist side. Your team should intend to take control of Banana, Apartments and Middle every round. This greatly limits the Counter-Terrorist’s information about your whereabouts, while giving your team the possibility to push on to either bombsite unexpectedly. A good default tends to be built off of two players heading towards Banana and taking control, often by throwing a Molotov for Top Banana and double nading over the wall. However, if the Counter-Terrorists like to pre-nade and Molotov Banana, then it may be better to hold for the first twenty seconds of the round at Banana. When the Counter-Terrorists have used up a lot of their utility and are no longer constantly bombarding Banana, then these two players can take control later, being wary of an AWPer on the corner holding angles against them. By throwing simple flashes over the wall, they will likely push him away towards the B bombsite.

The other three players should head towards Second Middle, with one player using the spam shown. Once they have held for a few seconds and let the third player spam for a little while, one player should jump up on to the Balcony, while another player can get close to the bottom of the stairs. The third player should line-up the Molotov shown for Boiler and flash immediately afterwards. Off this flash, both players in Apartments should peek. Then the two players in Apartments can both peek the Balcony corridor at the same time, from either side, to completely clear the Apartments. Once this control has been established, you can simply use the Mid take shown in the anti-eco to take control of this area.

On the old Inferno, B bombsite executes were very popular, however these have become far less popular in the new version, with Quadside A executes proving to be extremely strong on this newer version of the map. This first A execute is ideal for when your team doesn’t have a lot of utility and could perhaps be used on forcebuys to great effect. However, it does require you to have good Apartments control and some close Banana control.

Your lurker throws a simple smoke for Middle, before flashing and Molotoving a Counter-Terrorist away from Archside. He then diverts his attention to holding Banana. Next, your support player throws the two flashbangs shown. The first one blinds anyone under Quad and lets your entry fraggers come out of Boiler, he then throws a second flashbang which lands behind the entry fraggers and pushes any players on Quadside back to Pit. They then bring the bomb down to Boiler and up Short, where they throw a Molotov to clear Pit and plant the bomb. Next is your team’s AWPer, who acts as a secondary support player. He throws a Molotov as shown to stop anyone peeking him from Balcony, before throwing two of the exact same flashbang. He then goes down to Boiler, where he watches Archside however he sees fit. The final two players are your entry fraggers. The first man in simply charges up Short, completely disregarding Pit and focusing on the bombsite, while the second player checks Balcony quickly, before focusing on the site. When site is clear, they then turn their attention to clearing Pit.

This second execute is more utility heavy and more standard in style, by putting up a wall between the bombsite and Pit as well as smoking off Archside. To begin with, your team needs to take Banana and Apartments control at the start of the round, as described in the default. Middle control is not required, but if you have it then you can adjust the strategy on the fly, by not throwing the secondary entry’s smoke.

Your team’s lurker holds at the bottom of Banana and when your team performs the execute, his job is to join the players pushing Middle. Your entry fragger should be in Apartments and will throw the smoke shown, he then waits for his partner to join him, before using a simple flash, such as the one shown and jumps out into Pit with his teammate. The second entry fragger will go to Second Middle and throw the smoke shown for Archside, before quickly joining his partner in Apartments and bursting out into Pit. When they have control of Pit, their aim is to try to shoot players on the bombsite in the side of the head and hold the map control. The final two players will throw the two smokes which form the wall between Pit and the Site. They will then throw flashbangs for both Pit and Middle, before pushing up Quadside Middle and clearing site, using the players in Apartments as a distraction.

In Conclusion

Inferno is the newest map in the pool and, as such, can seem a little daunting to play at first. This newer version plays extremely differently to the old version in many aspects and if teams are not willing to take the time to learn newer styled strategies for the map, then they will really suffer. Hopefully by learning to execute a few of the chosen strategies above, your team can be more successful playing Inferno in your official matches. A YouTube playlist with all of the videos from above is included below, please share this with your teammates.

For the final time, we hope you have learned something from this week’s map guide on Inferno and have enjoyed reading the entirety of this series.