Introduction

I’ve been lucky enough to travel overseas recently for 3 weeks, but after that period of time I was missing home and longing for a quick game of CS. So after my flight home and a quick nap of course the first thing I did was hop into a game of competitive ready to get back into the swing of things. Now don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t an atrocious performance by any means, but something just felt off about the whole experience. A couple more games in and I started to realise I was missing generally easy shots, getting killed from behind way more often than usual and just generally making poor decisions regarding positioning, timing, and nade usage. Getting more than a little frustrated I made myself a goal: get back to my skill level as fast as possible!

Aim

The most obvious thing to go when you have been out of the game for a little while is your aim, you might not drop from the skill of an LE to a sliver but it’ll definitely be noticeable. Basically, you need to be more conscious of the fact that you are out of practice and that it is going to take more time warming up to be around on par with your old self, at least for a week or two. Spend plenty of time in death match servers or on your favourite aim map and get yourself to a reasonable level of competency before accepting that competitive match. Once you’re in game the other thing you might not really notice unless you really concentrate is your crosshair placement will be off. I myself didn’t realise for a few games until someone ran around a corner on dust 2 right in front of me and I died because I shot at neck level rather than the head. Really take some time to consider your actions when your pushing, where will your enemy be playing and what kind of map geometry will you be faced with. This can really make up for any deficit in your aim as it should reduce the amount of flicking and spraying you need to do in a firefight.

This crosshair placement is perfect! Right guys?

Game Sense

Game sense is something that come naturally or over many many hours in game but there are things you can do to limit the impact of a your poor game sense if you recognise it. Game sense covers a lot of things, but generally it lies in knowing where your opposition is likely to be playing and what strategy to employ either individually or as a team to overcome it. Generally when you’ve been playing a lot this kind of thing comes really naturally, you don’t even need to think about the game it just happens but if you are a bit off taking some time and really analysing what’s been going on is a key step. Think about the kind of plays your opposition has been making round to round and take countermeasures against that. During a round make heavy use of the minimap and your team comms to make inferences about where your enemy might be heading or what they’re putting resources towards. As a round plays out and both teams start losing members there will always be a weak point that can be exploited something that can also make up for a poor aim. If you are struggling in this area one of the most important things to do is be consistent, keep defending a certain part of the map or push the same area every round and if you die think about why and what steps you can take to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Whilst it may be frustrating losing two or three rounds in a row taking time to analyse your own and the enemies play will pay off in the long run.

Oh hey they buddy how are you doing? (Getting caught with a nade out is always embarrassing)

Team play

When you’re on fire and on top of your game you can sometimes make individual plays that seem to come naturally. When you’re just coming off a break however you might find that you try to make these same manoeuvres to no effect. If you want to win games consistently you’re going to need to have an impact and if you’re off of your game you can’t have an impact by doing solo attacks that leave your team a man down with no information. This is where team play comes in, if you’re a bit off your game staying with your team can give you that little edge that can counteract a lack of skill. Being the first man in and setting up trades for your side is an extremely important if thankless job. Likewise being the guy who throws in smokes and flashes for an execute is a very useful and not skill intensive role you can take. If you are the second or third person into a bombsite you have that extra second or two to kill the enemy while they are dealing with your entry fragger. CS is a team game after all and that’s why players that aren’t perhaps the most skilful mechanically can have a huge impact in game, if you can identify that you’re off of your traditional skill level and take a secondary support role you can still have great games.

Conclusion

After a break playing CS can be a frustrating experience because nothing seems to go right. To get back on top of your game the first step is identifying which areas of your game are lacking and then take steps to ensure that you are limiting the negative that they’re having on your game. Your skill will come back with time don’t worry, until then make sure you are really analytical of your own game play and work out what role you’d be best suited for in your team and you’ll find that you’re back on top in little to no time at all.

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