How to Find Your Flaws While Watching Demos

It doesn't matter if you are trying to become a member on a team or just trying to be the best out of your friends. In order to do that, you have to start the slow process of getting rid of bad habits and strengthening weaknesses. Finding your own flaws is hard for anyone whether its in-game or out, but in order for you to advance you have to take responsibility and accept the fact that no matter how well you did, you could have done better. The best way to do that is to review your demos.

You want to break it down as much as you can so that you can maximize the amount of information available. So start by bringing up the replay control with shift+f2, then open console and type in sv_cheats 1 and sv_showimpacts 1. Now you are ready to go and get into it.

First round buy and positioning

The pistol round is one of the most important rounds in the match, so it's important to be consistently good on them. Break down what you and your team bought and the position you went with it, For example, if you are T on Dust 2, it makes sense for at least one of you to buy a smoke to be able to cross long and it's oftentimes easier to just take control of what needs to be done and do it yourself. On the flip side if two people already bought nade sets, buy armor and try to go in and grab the entry with it.

As soon as you see you are about to get into a duel, slow the replay down and watch where your shots are going on both sides. Are you better with the Glock or the USP? Do you fail to trace heads? Do you shoot the USP too fast? It's simple to just say “oh well I need to DM more” but always try to go deeper and pay attention to what it is that you are doing wrong.

 

Eco Rounds

There are a lot of things to consider when going into an eco or anti-eco round, such as what to buy and how to play the round out as well as what your goal is going to be to get you into the best spot come rifle round.

• Try to balance aggression, winning the pistol then rushing right into them in order to grab easy kills does nothing for your team other than put yourself at unnecessary danger of losing your equipment.
• Play to the range of the weapon you bought. If you bought a pistol so you can guarantee yourself an AWP with full utility that would be a good idea but stick to a teammate so if he dies, you can grab his gun. Or if you went for a Scout play the longest angle available.
• Bomb plants first or second round change the way the eco rounds can go. The more bomb plants, the earlier the team is going to be able to buy. Pay attention to it and expect their buys early.

Rifle rounds

The vast majority of the demo is going to be rifle rounds and it's no surprise that the most information you can learn is also in them. Every player has a different play style and a different set or strengths and weaknesses, but these are the questions you need to ask yourself.

• Are you working off your team? If your teammate has a good spawn get him to utilize it and flash for him. Or try working a split when they are together, you could also watch the flank for the team if it's left open. But most importantly you have to be trading kills efficiently for them. It all just comes down to how aware are you of what your team is doing and how to compliment it, everything you do should have a purpose.
• Are you utilizing your nade sets? It's not enough to just buy a full set and think you did your part. Everything you buy should have a reason to buy it and a way to use it. Learn the smokes and flashes for the map and work on throwing them quickly. As soon as the nade is in your hand, you should be already throwing it.
• How's your recoil control with the main rifles? Again, slow it down when you get into duels with the M4 and AK47. Pay attention to where the shots are landing. Are you to slow on the pull down, or are you going to the right when you should left? Learn the patterns.
• Are you utilizing angles? Every angle you play should have the ability to use cover for the ability to shoulder peek or have the ability to couch and stand and play it as a headshot angle.
• Are you always aware of where your team is and what they are trying to do? This is basically how effective are you at keeping an eye on the radar and not getting caught out by an opening left.
• Are you managing a successful economy? You should be keeping yours equal to your teams by dropping for them if they need it or saving if too many can't buy. Buy as a team, save as a team.
• Are you clearing your angles? Make sure you are always clearing everything out with either nades or shoulder peeks. Your crosshair placement is also really important here. If he's playing the angle he already has the advantage, so when you peek you need to have your crosshair where it needs to be.
• Are you rotating on time? Pay attention to the radar. Rotate if your team needs it and don't sit around the whole round until the bomb is planted. On the flipside, don't overrotate and leave your spot as soon as you see one enemy on the map. It's a fine line but it comes with experience.
• Are you playing your spot with enough variety? You should be mixing in rounds of aggressive pushing and slow holding angles.
• Are you aware what the other team is doing? This really is the opposite of the above point. If the other team is playing an aggressive spot every round, punish it and wait it out and kill them. Maybe they rotate too early and you can use a fake to force them and capitalize on their spots being left open. If they are always playing the same passive angle, use grenades and Molotovs and get the easy punish on it.

Overall Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a game of inches where small mistakes add up quickly and separate a pro player from an allstar level player. It's easy to point out somebody else's mistakes, but to find your own and improve upon them takes a truly humble and positive player.

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