A popflash is a flash that gets thrown with such precision and with such a good line-up that it is (almost) impossible to dodge. Although most flashes that get called popflashes are less than perfect, most of them fulfill two of these three qualities:

- Makes no sounds or sound source is too far away for the enemy to hear

- Pops (basically) as soon as the enemy sees the flash

- The enemy has to choose between being flashed and catching you or your teammates peek with the flash or turn away and risk getting killed while you or your teammates peek with it

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that a popflash is hard to dodge and in this guide, I will show you a bunch of flashes on both CT- and T-side that allow you or your teammates to peek with a clear advantage. So, without further ado, here are the flashes I'm talking about:

CT-Side

Around B

Construction to Car Peek



For this flash, you simply stand at the corner of the building at Construction. Crouch before lining up your crosshair with the upper end of the antenna from the orange building and place your crosshair to the right of the edge of the left-hand building, throwing a flash that cannot blind your teammate.

With this flash, you can support your teammate who wants to peek Banana with an AWP, blinding anyone that has eye contact with the left side of Car from Banana, allowing him to get one easy frag and either fall back or keep a hold of Banana and starve the Ts of information and map control in the current round.

Top Banana to Car Peek



Simply stand at the corner of the yellow building at Top Banana and aim below and slightly to the right of the last barrel of Car. You may need to try out where exactly to aim to get a feel for it but, if you do it correctly, the flash will bounce behind the barrels and blind anyone holding the (for you) right side of Car, which means that you can peek just behind it and catch a blind T in Banana.

The big plus of this is how, although you make a bit of noise, the flash is pretty much not visible unless the enemy focuses on that small open area next to the barrel, which makes it likely that an AWPer holding Banana from T-Ramp will get blinded while you swing out into Car and one-tap him, while not running the risk of being blinded yourself, allowing you to always focus on the right crosshair placement and never to lose sight of your important angles.

Firstbox Popflash



Stand in the corner of Firstbox and the wal. Find the third cylinder in the stack behind you (Secondbox) and aim at the lower end of said cylinder while placing your crosshair on the centered darker line in the stabilisation belt. Simply throw now to have it bounce off said cylinder and allowing you to run with it and peek at the same time as the flash pops.

This flash makes a lot of noise and, depending on where the Ts stand, has a lot of visible air-time. However, since you can swing out at the same time as the flash pops, people either have to fight you while blind or still have to turn their backs to you, giving you the advantage in your duel, even against multiple opponents since you can just pick off the first guy and run back to First or Secondbox. This flash is perfect for delaying the B-take, too, as it halts progress for at least a second, which is enough time to decide a round.

CT Tree to Pool (Mid-Take Aggression)

To line this popflash up, simply stand in the corner behind CT Boost at the CT Tree position before aiming up into the leaves of the tree in front of you and find the rather circular hole in the leaves. Aim into that hole and use both mouse buttons, which you will release at the same time.

This one is pretty invisible for most Ts advancing towards B and Pool, so it will blind anyone looking towards B and CT. This takes advantage of the smoke that the Ts used towards CT to surprise them with one of the strongest aggression solo-plays at the time of the B-site take, allowing you to take an advantageous fight against the whole T squad. This also leaves you the ability to get back on site or disappear back into the smoke after picking off one guy.

Around A

Apps Re-Aggression



For this rather hamfisted approach to re-aggression in Apps, you need to simply stand at the left end of the door frame leading from Balcony to Apps and aim below and to the right of the socket in the wall. The flash will bounce off the wall and bounce multiple times, telling everyone in Apps that they need to turn around.

Since this flash is pretty obvious, you need to be willing to peek with the flash in order to catch the Ts who are turning around to dodge your flash. The better you time your peek with the actual pop, the more powerful your peek will be and the more likely you will be to destroy your opponent before completely retaking Apps or once again falling back to Balcony.

Top Mid to T-Ramp (Early Round)



Stand at the left end of the scroll on the wall mural at Top Mid and aim at the right end of the roof tile where another tile is piled on top of, before walkthrowing your flash. This may take one or two tries before getting it right, since I did not find a real indicator to watch out for when to throw except for feeling the right timing after a few tries.

Since you are very exposed to any T running out Mid or Second Mid to Mid, you should only throw this one if you are sure that you won't get pushed, like early in the round with a fast spawn. This flash will pop in front and above of T-Ramp, allowing you to peek the now blinded AWPer holding from the small elevated area behind the ramp or anyone currently running up that ramp.

Top Mid to Second Mid

Stand at the pillar to the left of the mural at Top Mid, aim right next to the corner of the yellow building, which should be barely visible, and pull up until you are on the top cable. Now press both mouse buttons and let go of the right one slightly before the left one.

This one will blind anyone standing right next to the door at Apps and anyone holding from Second Mid to Mid, waiting for your aggression. This one is especially good in the late round when you have a guy already at the yellow building, aiming down Mid and waiting for you to flash him into Second Mid.

Short Repeek

Stand at the wall of Graveyard and line up the left side of the stacked boxes in front of you with the left end of the small roof at Short. Now crouch, aim at the protruding roof above A-site, and crouchwalk until the lower end of your crosshair meets the lower cable, at which point you will crouchwalk-throw.

This flash is perfect for your teammate who has trouble coming his way on Short or Mid, allowing him to hug the wall below the Roof and hide behind the pillar or just around the corner on Short. With this flash, you will blind anyone holding Short and he can swing out and get a, or multiple, kill(s) rather safely. This line-up is also good for a coordinated retake of Top Mid after losing it earlier in the round, giving you information and maybe the advantage back into the round.

Arch/CT to Arch Peek

Stand at the wall behind the well in CT, behind Arch. Now aim where the actual arched doorway and the wood meet before pressing down both mouse buttons, letting go of them at the same time.

This one is specifically for an AWPer or just a Terrorist holding Arch from the Top Mid corner, blinding him and either pushing him off or killing him with your well-timed peek. Alternatively, if you do not think he is holding a tight angle, you can let go of the right mouse button before you let go of the left, throwing the flash further and flashing anyone on Long instead of just that specific corner, allowing you to swing out wide and get a few kills.

T-Side

Around B

Lower Mid to Car

Stand between the pipe and the corner of the building between Banana and Mid before aiming at the small part of the roof that is protruding slightly. Then, move your crosshair to the left a bit, barely not touching the edge of the roof with the central point of your crosshair before throwing.

This flash is almost impossible to see and the sound only occurs after it is too late for most players, especially if they have an AWP. This will perfectly blind anyone in Car holding Banana or anyone holding from the corner right next to Car to keep Top Banana in check. With this you can either flash for yourself to peek Banana or help a teammate swing wide from Wallbang, taking down the guy holding at Car or the corner mentioned above. Keep in mind that anyone holding closer to Wallbang will not be flashed, especially if he is currently going for a Banana peek.

Tree to Top Banana

Stand in the corner at Tree and line your crosshair up with the rain pipe to the right, above the end of the protruding pipe below your crosshair. Now simply throw.

This flash will be invisible for anyone around Sandbags but also has a high chance of blinding anyone standing at the corner next to Car and Car itself, allowing your team to swing wide and take complete Top Banana control with ease. The best part about this flash is that your teammate, who is hiding right behind Wallbang, will not get blinded since the flash pops just behind Wallbang from his perspective.

Wallbang to Pool

Stand at the protruding wall behind Wallbang, aim at the edge of the balcony above you, and line up your vertical crosshair line with the end of the small support-thing below the aforementioned balcony. Use both mouse buttons and let go at the same time.

This flash will blind anyone holding aggressively from the edge of A-site towards the corner of Top Banana, also blinding any AWPer standing in CT and waiting for your peek, allowing your teammates to advance with less danger and to slowly, as well as methodically, take B. Keep in mind that this flash will not blind the Casket player!

Sandbags to Casket

Stand at the left end of the sandbags at the Sandbags position and aim to the left of the chimney of the yellow building in front of you. That's it.

This flash is perfect to quickly line-up after pushing the CT player away from holding Top Banana by throwing the previously shown flash, allowing you to keep advancing without too much danger in a fast and precise manner, dissecting the enemies' hold and keeping the advancement going without risking too much in a single peek. It is recommended to place a smoke in CT before this to make sure that you won't get peeked too easily.

Wallbang to Onsite peek

Blinding players on the B-site without blinding your own teammates can be tricky, which is why I looked for this flash. Stand in front of the wall of the Wallbang position, aim above the corner of the yellow building in front of you and pull up until you are on the same level as the upper end of the antenna to your right.

This flash will bounce only once and pop behind your teammates that are currently peeking Onsite without blinding them, making their bombsite take much easier. The only blind spots are all of the corners in which CTs like to stay inside off until they get peeked like Firstbox or Dark, as well as Casket, who will most likely not have swung wide enough to get blinded by the flash, so that is something you need to keep in mind.

Around A

Apps to Pit

Find the middle segment of the half walls in Apps at the Carpet area and crouch to the right of said middle one, aiming at the right third of the chimney outside of Apps. This flash will bounce off the chimney and blind anyone holding Apps from around the Brokenwall side of Pit.

Since this one is pretty much invisible and only gives up a very slight audio cue, the people in Pit are not likely to dodge this flash, while you come out Balcony to either peek the blind Pit player or straight up jump out towards Short or into Pit and cause mayhem on your own or with your team.

Tunnel to Top Mid

Stand in front of the line in the texture in front of you in Tunnel and then place your crosshair on the corner of the roof of the orange building in Top Mid before you throw.

This flash will pop immediately after flying into view of people holding Top Mid. This flash doesn't fly too far and should catch people holding tight angles, too, allowing your team to push Top Mid without much of a rebuttal from the CTs, taking map control and potentially winning the round, even without necessarily getting a kill.

Top Mid to Short and Pit

Stand at the corner of the orange building in Top Mid and aim to the left of the darker Spot in the wall texture of the orange building. Jumpthrow to send a flash flying over the big building dividing Top Mid from the A-site.

As soon as the flash flies into the peripheral view of Pit and further-back Short players, it will pop, blinding any CT who could stop you on your quest of taking the A-site. This one can also help your teammates in Apps get out through Balcony by catching any dangerous Pit players off-guard.

Top Mid to Long

Stand at the corner at the yellow building in Top Mid and aim at the protruding part of the roof on top of the corner of the building in front of you, using both mouse buttons and letting go at the same time.

This one will travel perfectly to catch people by surprise. This will catch opponents that are just standing in Long, standing in Library (although the blinding effect won't last long), and even those holding tight angles from Arch to Long, allowing you or your team to push Long rather safely and push the CTs back and further loosen their grip of Inferno in this half.

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