Tips To Improve Your Gamesense in CS:GO

Today we'll talk about gamesense, what it is, and why every player has it in CS:GO. I'll cover some basic things that you can use to improve your gamesense.

 

What is gamesense?

Gamesense is a player's ability to sense the current state of the game he or she is in. An example would be knowing when a CT is at which spot on the Map, or knowing when to repeek a specific position. Gamesense isn't something you can learn, it comes with experience by playing the game a long time, but some basic things can be learned.

Is gamesense needed?

Absolutely. Counter-Strike has always been fifty percent aiming and fifty percent brain. A player that's outplaying his enemies and is going to shoot them in the back is always going to win, even against the most insane aim.

Knowing when people push, identifying an AWPer

One of the things that you can learn are CT positions or identifying where an AWP is placed. If you hear a flash on the other site of the map it could be an indication that the CTs are pushing that specific area at the moment. Another example could be on de_Cache. Your enemy team always smokes mid at the start of the round? If at one round the smoke is missing, It's a indication that an AWP is watching mid and is trying to pick you off while coming trough. To identify AWPers you can also always throw an flash in the direction you think the AWPer is positioned, and listen for a shot after the flashbang popped. Keep in mind that an AWPer can also just fall back and hold their fire to let you run up into their crosshair.

The aggresive smokes

Let's take de_Infernos's banana for an example. Nearly everytime the end of the banana is smoked, the CT's are going to be pushed up in it and are having complete control. This aggresive play can pay out huge and can be really effective, but can be countered by popflashing yourself into banana. The same thing could be said about de_Cache's mid. If a smoke is laying in front of the exit to mid from T main, CTs could be pushed up to the left and right side of the mid and could crossfire any Ts that are pushing out of Main. There are really a lot of spots on different maps that CTs can push up to, so if you see a deep smoke you should always expect an CT to be holding close to it.

Reading fakes as a CT

Identifying and reading fakes is easier than some people think. If there are smokes landing on the bombsite and nobody from the Ts is pushing out, it's a confirmed fake. If there are Ts that are pushing out with the smokes and/or flashes, you should watch the radar. Because on the radar you can easily identify if an enemy is carrying the bomb. If the Ts are killing you on the bombsite, but aren't carrying the bomb, the CT players don't really have to rotate to the other bombsite because the player with the bomb is coming to them.

Keeping track of enemy money

Another thing that you can actually really learn is kind of knowing how much money your enemy has. This has something to do with simple mathematics, so everybody should learn and know this. In Counter-Strike you get money for everything you do. Winning a round, losing a round, killing people, or planting/defusing the bomb. Also, killing people with specific weapons gives yourself more money than with other. An AWP kill gives you 100$, while an shotgun kill gives you 900$. I'm going to put a chart up here, so I can make an example of keeping track of the money.

So let's say you are Terrorist and have won the first round. In the second round you're fighting against CT's with a Scout and five seven's, which means the CT force spent all their money. If you win this round, the CTs are completely broke and have to eco two times. Now they have roughly 4,300 dollars, and if you know this you also know that they can't afford an AWP, which is huge information to know. But if the CTs weren't forced to buy in the second round (or an player of the CTs completely saved while the other ones were buying) you should expect an AWP.

You should always try to keep track of the enemy money because just like that you've got an advantage of knowing what weapons and equipment they're carrying. Another example that you can use to your advantage would be that if the CTs have won one round, but you're instantly winning the follow up round, this means the money bonus the CTs maybe got from losing rounds before winning the one has reset. This means they have to eco, and you could buy an SMG because they don't have any kevlar, which gives you an easy 600$ for your own pocket.

These are just some examples of gamesense, which is a absolutely gigantic topic. Just the money management part itself is a huge topic, and I can't cover everything of it in this article. In the end you can only improve you gamesense by one thing, and that is by playing the game!