Here's an overview of the map, including call-outs that are good to know.
Last week we looked at how to defend on Dust2. This time we'll talk about why Dust2 is an excellent map for split pushes, how to take control over the map and how to deal with different financial situations.
Dust2 is a map that can be played in so many different ways. Mid doors, tunnels, long and catwalk are all choke points that separate you from the counter-terrorists. That means you have time to set up your pushes and execute pre-planned strategies if you want. It also means that you can split up and try to pick off your opponents one by one if you have good aimers on your team.
First of all, full out rushes without a plan aren't going to win you games. They might work from time to time, but for the most part it's better to go for map control to make it harder for the CTs to get in position for a retake attempt.
The B-split
One of the most effective ways to cut off defending players from the rest of their team is to smoke CT-spawn and then push B from both mid and tunnels with flashbangs.
I like to try to "force" certain rotations so that my team and I can be ready for whatever comes our way. What I've found particularly effective is to take control over the pit area on long before the B-split. Make the CTs back off a bit so that they won't have enough time to push through T-spawn or top of mid. Now you can be fairly certain that any rotating players will go through either CT-spawn or short.
Leave one player on long until the rest of your team is ready to execute the split. At that point your long player can back off to top of mid and either kill players rotating or call out how many have crossed mid doors or entered lower tunnels.
For the split itself I prefer to have one player in tunnels and three players going mid. As soon as the spawn smoke has bloomed and the three musketeers have control over mid, the player in tunnels can start to throw flashbangs and make life miserable (and short) for the player on B-site.
Taking control over long and catwalk
You don't want to peek long without a flashbang. Ever. A teammate can throw a flashbang over long doors so that you can go for the duel right after it pops. If you get the best spawn towards long I'd recommend that you go for it. Just make sure you have a friend ready to trade kills if you miss your shot.
Should you decide to go A after you've taken control over long it's crucial that you smoke off CT spawn to make it safer for you and your team to enter the site.
The most obvious problem when you want to take control over catwalk is the player in mid. You need to do something to deny them their much needed target practice. I like to put up a smoke screen on top of xbox. Even if you don't go catwalk after the smoke, the other team will still have to keep an eye open. The mid player will tell their team that there could be terrorists there.
If you decide to attack catwalk you should always ask a teammate to throw a flashbang for you. From lower tunnels is one way to do it.
When you attack from short A you want to give the defending players as many angles as possible to worry about. The best way in my mind is to have one player drop down to CT spawn. In order to do that you have to use another smoke. Note that the guys on long don't need to waste a smoke to cross over to site if you use this smoke instead:
Keep it simple
A round where your opponents haven't bought weapons and you try to secure the round with as few casualties as possible.
As you gradually get better at CS:GO it's common to overcomplicate things. When it comes to anti-eco rounds on Dust2 I've tried all sorts of things over the years with various level of success. Then I heard analyst Janko 'yNK' Paunovic talk about the subject and he suggested (I'm paraphrasing) that you should all just go long and deny the CTs those close-range duels where their CZ75s can turn into a real problem. I totally agree. There's no reason to make it more difficult than it has to be.
Eco rounds
'Eco round' is short for 'economic round'. That's a round where you buy little to no items. The purpose is to save money so that you can afford the big toys later.
Same thing here: don't overcomplicate things. When you go for an eco round, you want to plant the bomb and get that mad cash. I like to invest in a smoke grenade and a couple of flashes and go for the B-split I mentioned earlier, except I wouldn't have a player over on long. You need all your firepower to take the site. Getting pushed by tec-9s from three angles at the same time is a scary thing. Don't hesitate, just go for it.
I hope you found this guide helpful. Keep playing the game, try new ideas and have as much fun as possible and you'll improve.
Find all of our Counter-Strike: Global Offensive map guides here:
- Inferno Counter-Terrorist guide
- Inferno Terrorist guide
- Cache Counter-Terrorist guide
- Cache Terrorist guide
- Overpass Counter-Terrorist guide
- Overpass Terrorist guide
- Cobblestone Counter-Terrorist guide
- Cobblestone Terrorist guide
- Train Counter-Terrorist guide
- Train Terrorist guide
- Mirage Counter-Terrorist guide
- Mirage Terrorist guide
- Dust2 Counter-Terrorist guide
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