GET OFF DUST 2, that map is filled with people just coming into the game and inexperienced players; most of the games you play on that map you will probably lose. i suggest inferno, nuke, train, mirage, or overpass for comp.

- hopefully you have the following items, at least an I3 processor with 4 gb of ram (i don't care what the minimal specs say, this game is competitive and to properly play you need a good cpu and amount of ram), all settings down to low except shadows,

- a headset with a WORKING mic (my ears are bleeding from listening to static for hours on end, and i used to listen to a lot of rock and metal growing up),

- a good ethernet connection (you don't know bad ping unless you have a ping in the 5000+ range [starcraft and league of legends]),

- enough russian to know when some 12 y/o claims to f--- your mom and surprise him by speaking russian

- enough vodka to cope with constantly deranking (i've been deranked 4 times and i'm still in S1 thanks to some of my teams admitting to throwing games intentionally)

- knowledge of recoil patterns for standard rifles and some smg's (don't use bizon), this will help you land more shots on enemies

- Buy headphones or a headset, you should turn the volume up to a high setting (but not enough to blow your eardrums out) so you can hear footsteps

- learn economy patterns, knowing your opponents buy patterns can really help your buying phase. For example you know the opponents have ak47's and awps that can always do 1 shot headshots then maybe buying helmet wouldn't be a good idea. or knowing when your opponents economy is low so you can hit them harder, controlling what they buy in rounds where they would buy rifles. so take this for reference









- warmup, i suggest going on a deathmatch server and playing until you reach a high ranking on the leaderboard for a few matches, or playing on a workshop map that will help your aim. |what i also like to do is set harmless bots and see how fast i can kill them after the bomb is planted. if i fail to kill the enemy team before the bomb goes off i have to drop my rifle and use a pistol next round and aim for headshots. any weapon i find off the ground i cannot use.|

- specialization, if your accuracy is good you should probably buy a rifle or a ump (since it's a cheaper FAMAS/Galil AR) and hold corners or popular spots until an enemy comes out. for running and gunning SMG's or shotguns (or even the tec 9 or 5-7) should be used by quickly jumping around corners and surprising the enemy. AWP's should be used with a backup pistol just in case you're caught off guard. the ONLY LMG you should use is the negev, since it's cheap and accurate thanks to valve's horrible fixes.

learn the pistol round

|T -side| - the glock is one of the worst weapons in the game and should immediately be replaced with another pistol. most of your teamates are probably going to rush a site with tec9 so you should probably go with that. Since Valve updated the game, the Glock is the new Ak-47; you don't even need to aim and you will get headshots. when you rush DO NOT STOP UNLESS IT'S NEEDED, for example stopping when there's no enemy, it defeats the purpose of rushing and anyone who does this should be unranked effective immediately (jk).

|CT - side| - the USP-S is better than the p2000 due to the accuracy and silencer and does not need to be replaced by another pistol (many players actually prefer it against other pistols). the 5-7 is a great pistol to use against other pistols and sometimes shotguns and sniper rifles due to rushing capabilities. since you don't have to buy another pistol, you could buy a flash or a smoke to confuse the T's from rushing or even counter their rush.

|General tips| - buying armor on this round is a bit risky since people will sometimes buy the tec 9 and 5-7 which will tear through armor because of the bullet penetration. the deagle should not be used to rush into situations, it's basically the AWP of the pistol round. the Deagle should not be spamed due to the accuracy decreasing. the P250 should also not be spammed at long ranges, i see i lot of people doing this and it generally decreases accuracy like the deagle. in fact the p250 is a great all around weapon for pistol and eco rounds.

Learn how to use nades, this will help your team exponentially if used correctly or hinder them if used incorrectly. please, if your team is all in the same room and you use a flash in that room thus blinding your team, press esc to go to the main menu and kindly abandon the match. it is the most annoying thing to flash your teammates, especially in a tight situation that gives the opponent the advantage.

- You can use flashes and mollies to halt enemies from rushing or startle them. As an unconventional tactic use multiple flashes to confuse the opponent and rush them (use this to disrupt the economy).

- High Explosive grenades can be used as a cheap smoke grenade or a more convincing decoy. you can also unexpectedly rush a location with these to inflict some damage before killing an enemy.

- Smokes are a complicated subject as they can do damage to both team's potential at winning. one scenario is using multiple smoke to block a door as both teams won't know who is on the other side until they come out or the smoke dissapates. one way smoking can combat this but the concept of doing this is hard.

- Decoy grenades are werid since they can be easily noticed on a map (One person does not stand in one place shooting a rifle then drops a live grenade then dissapears into a question mark on then map) a tactic for this is to decoy where your going, but this is risky for obvious reasons.

- mollies can be used to stop opponent from advancing or luring opponets from camping spots

These rounds are where a lot of the specializations come into play. this phase typically starts from rounds 3 to 4 when both teams usually have rifles and ends when one or both teams have 14 round wins. tactics in these rounds are really important and the failure to win a majority of these rounds will result in the possible loss of the match.

- remember the economy thing i talked about earlier that you likely forgot, this is when it becomes a big part of the game. round 2 is an important round in comp matches. this round decides the starting economy for the primary rounds. To give some clear advice DO NOT ECO OR SAVE ON THIS ROUND. The optimal loadout would be armor (no helmet) with an smg or a rushing pistol (tec 9 or 5-7). the reason you don't want to save is the money reward from the win or even the loss. You want to boost your economy for the first primary round while also damaging the economy of you opponents (in other words cause the great depression for your enemy) forcing them to save or eco on the 3rd round while you have rifles. If you spent all your money for some reason on first round or lost it while hurting a hostage i suggest not buying armor but still getting a primary to rush an opponent into non existence (make your opponent into the new trotsky)

- The ak47 and the awp are the most valued weapons among players, so if you see one on the field that you are not carrying drop your weapon asap and pick it up. the awp is more important though so it's the only weapon you should drop an ak47 for.

- This is not CoD, you are not the protagonist, so don't go on a suicide mission thinking you can get an ace when the round just started only do this when you're clutching. I once did this 1v4 clutch with a P90 when the T's had a full team of AWPs and my team was doubting me severely, I killed them all, defused and won the round. the moral of this part is only do this when all scenarios mean suicide and your team doesn't think you'll make it, because it will make one hell of a dinner party story (hopefully).

When one or both teams reach 14 round wins the game get a LOT more intense. this section is what I like to call The Endgame. You need to take care on this part of the match because of what fall out boy said "And just one mistake Is all it will take We'll go down in history"

- I cannot stress this enough, Everyone needs to use rifles in this part of the match. As much as me and you like guerilla tactics with SMG's and Shotguns, you need a stable base to inflict major damage on and rifles are the way to go.

- There's a reason why the roman empire lasted so long (until multiple invasions, betrayals, economy failure, christianity, overexpansion, and the Huns), that's because there were incredible tactics (learned from other countries and knowledge that rome *cough* conquered *cough*) that kept it strong over the years. this part of the game needs careful thought and action to win. So keep your tactics strong while keeping your troops strong as well. keep in mind if you fail this your team is the equivalent to rome to me.

- armor would help

- defuse kits would also help

- grenading in this part of the match isone of the easiest ways to success. this part of the match requires you to be really aggresive so mollies and flashes would be really helpful if your not completely brain dead when the match is over from your teams horrible gamesense.

- if you have wall hacks toggle them and hope you don't get VAC Effron's attention VAC doesn't work now

So yeah, that's pretty much all i have for now, I'll be on cs go or unity (game engine not AC game) if you need me, or you can just comment or something. hopefully you and I get out of the hell of a silver rank and get better at cs