Smokes are essential for any CS:GO player to learn, and here are eight of the most important ones.

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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a game with many different aspects, and paramount among these is vision. This is where CS:GO smokes come in. Peeking, scanning, and holding an angle are all part and parcel of the game, but if you don’t see your enemy, there’s really not much you can do. 

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When it comes to vision in CS:GO, the most vital element is undoubtedly the smoke grenade, which, if you’re reading this, you are certainly familiar with. A well-placed smoke grenade can mean the difference between not just crossing a point on the map without getting killed, but in fact, victory and defeat. Every action matters in CS:GO, and very few of those matter more than throwing a smoke right.

That being said, what good is a well-placed smoke grenade if you don’t know what to do afterwards? A smoke allows you maneuverability, leeway, map control, and a plethora of possibilities, but you need to know these in order to use a smoke to the fullest. To help you get the most out of your hard-learned smoke, we’ve created this series about the best smokes in the game — and how to use them to the fullest. For this list, we’ll talk about one for each active duty map.

Mirage T Side Mid Window — The Most Basic of CS:GO Smokes

If you’ve played any CS:GO above silver level, you have undoubtedly heard about this smoke. It is absolutely essential to know and be able to throw this smoke if you’re playing Mirage, as one of the most effective tactics on the map is to take mid control. This can cause absolute mayhem among CT ranks — especially if the rest of the team falls back to take either A or B with continued mid presence.

Immediate Effects

The most important aspect of this smoke is, obviously, mid control. There’s every chance of facing a Top Mid rusher, a Nest AWP, a Connector peeker — or all three if you go mid early. A nest smoke makes you immune to arguably the deadliest threat of the three, and enables you to focus solely on the straight angle between Top Mid right into Connector, which is much easier to focus down. 

Available Options

• Push up mid, preferably with a teammate or two walking up underpass. 
• Throw a smoke onto Connector stairs to essentially block it off and push B Short. 
• Alternatively, smoke B Short and push up connector.
• Boost a teammate noiselessly into Nest with help from a flashbang, where they can wait silently until the smoke dissipates to take out any unsuspecting re-aggressors. 
• Use the smoke as pure misdirection for an A or B setup, with just one player lurking and continuing to fake at mid.

Dust 2 T Side XBox — The Old Cat Rush Smoke

Although the tactic of rushing A Short (A Cat to some older players) has somewhat fallen out of style, the XBox smoke hasn’t. If you run to mid at the start of the round, chances are you’ll be met with any number of hostile enemies given the current state of the map. It’s better to get a Mid Doors Molotov and an XBox smoke going if you’re going to take mid quickly.

Immediate Effects

Unless someone’s pushing Mid (which can be deterred by a Molly as previously stated), there’s really nothing to stop you from pushing A Short quickly. The smoke will block off any AWPers, and you can always lob a flashbang over Mid Doors for additional protection. At the very least, you should be able to take absolute control of Mid.

Available Options

• Once Lower Tunnels is cleared, teammates can quickly come to Mid without having to worry about being shot at from A Short.
• Wait for the smoke to fade to double or even triple peek mid.
• Use crouched jumps to silently get on the XBox, then for the smoke to fade to peek short with a pop flash from a teammate.
• Push into Mid and smoke CT Spawn to go Mid to B without having to worry about being fired at from A Short.
• Keep a lurker at Mid XBox and push A Long or execute B.

Inferno Mid Smoke CT Side — Buying Time, Making Moves

Our first CT-side smoke is a seemingly innocuous but potentially deadly smoke. The Inferno Mid smoke, depending on the depth, can allow for a wide variety of plays — from deterring enemy advances to facilitating your own. 

Immediate Effects

For starters, enemies waiting on T Slope can’t accurately shoot at someone crossing over towards Boiler side. Additionally, it can buy you time in case your opponents are trying to push mid — especially since the smoke can easily be replaced multiple times.

Available Options

• Fast peek Second Mid/Alt Mid, especially with a teammate flashing over the top of Apts.
• Throw the smoke slightly deeper to get the jump on unsuspecting players pushing up Second Mid.
• Stack B with a single A spotter smoking mid as a fake.
• If Terrorists push Banana, hold off on repeating the initial mid smoke and wait until they themselves smoke either side of mid. 
• Stand in the smoke and have a teammate pop a flash over the top before you push through.

Overpass A Truck Smoke T Side — Essential for Taking A 

Although a relatively situational smoke, the importance of this one cannot be understated. If you’re trying to take or fake A Site on Overpass, this is a smoke you absolutely must know. Moreover, it’s actually one of the easiest long-range smokes to throw.

Immediate Effects

Unless you or your teammates are all the way into CT Stairs, it’s extremely risky to plant anywhere in A Site without the Truck smoke. This smoke also allows you to both push up the right side towards Truck and engage CTs in Bank.

Available Options

• A great way of duping A players into thinking it’s an A hit — especially it takes mere seconds to rotate to B Short after throwing this smoke from A Short.
• Combined with a smoke towards Stairs, another towards Bank, and a Molly behind the boxes in the Site, it is possible to pull off an execution that leaves no decent defensive positions for CTs.
• Allows A Long players to push into the Site without having to worry about three different angles.
• As the entire Truck area can be planted in, it is possible to even sneak into the smoke and plant the bomb inside this very smoke.

Nuke Yard Smoke CT Side — Taking the Fight to Them

From the Source days, it was a common tactic to flash over the top and push up close to the Silo as a CT, ready to catch any T members off guard as well as providing valuable intel. This is much tougher in CS:GO in some ways, but it’s still possible to use a smoke to poke around and cause bedlam. The best part about this smoke is that you don’t even need to line it up.

Immediate Effects

Vision from the T side of Outside Yard towards Garage and Mini is essentially blocked, forcing them to exercise caution and slow down any incursions into the area. Also allows one or more CTs to push outside or hold A Door from a slightly different angle while a teammate covers Red Container.

Available Options

• Push towards Silo and hide in the corner. 
• Push and hide behind the box beside Red.
• Hide behind Red using the smoke cover to cross and peek both Out and Silo.
• Circumvent any potential T side smoke walls to catch them unaware.
• Push out all the way to T Spawn and Lobby.

Vertigo A Ramp Smoke CT Side — One of the Best CS:GO Smokes

Considering the fact that A is by far the more popular site for Terrorists to enter in Vertigo, this smoke is an instant deterrent to that move — especially early in the round. This single smoke can improve your team’s win rate on this divisive map. 

Immediate Effects

Terrorists are essentially forced to either commit into A Ramp, or fall back and take their time. Considering the lack of access points on this map as well as the structure of A Ramp, this is anywhere between annoying to crushing for the T side.

Available Options

• Molly Ramp right in front of the smoke to cause Ts to either fall back deep or push in quickly.
• Flash Ramp and peek it. 
• If full access to Ramp has been gained, replace the smoke to delay the enemy even further.
• Push up to either corner of the bottom of Ramp 
• Push through the smoke with the aid of a mate’s pop flash.

Ancient Mid Smoke T Side — Critical Map Control

If you’re going to push mid early on T side ancient, just tossing a flashbang over the small wall won’t do. You also need to make sure that any mid AWPers are unable to shoot at you from cover as you walk out. This smoke enables exactly that.

Immediate Effects

With Mid blocked off, CTs are either forced to leave Mid, play Donut passively, push B Short, or have to push forward into mid. None of these 3 are positions CTs ideally want to find themselves in. As far as the criteria for good CS:GO smokes go, this checks all the important boxes.

Available Options

• Push up Mid and into Donut
• Push up Mid and into the smoke with a pop flash.
• Cross over to B Short while maintaining control of Mid, dividing unwitting CTs between the two bomb sites.
• Take up position behind the boxes leading up to B Short and bide time for a good opportunity. 

You can never know too many CS:GO smokes, but knowing what to do with a smoke increases its utility tenfold. We hope this article will help you, and we’ll be back again with more smokes, tactics, and smoke tactics.

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