CS-Nation

Covering the future of Counter-Strike
newbie's guide to pub cs
article: newbie's guide to pub cs
There's probably no feeling more confusing and overwhelming than being a new Counter-Strike player. Not only do you have to learn a whole new set of weapons, maps, and location names, but it seems like every other player is an expert at it. You barely have time to finish buying your weapons when you get headshot from across the map, and now you've got to sit out for several minutes while everyone else gets to play.

Yes, it's a frustrating time in every CS player's life, which brings us to this article. Sure, there are other guides to CS out there that try to teach newbies how to become experienced players. These articles often focus on skills such as controlling recoil, bursting, listening for footsteps, and paying attention to objectives. Which brings us to what makes this guide so different.

This is the guide to the other side of Counter-Strike. The side that experienced pub players don't want you to know about. Simply put, this will show you how to have the competitive edge that will bring you to the top of the score charts. This guide will detail the important moves that real players in real public servers use to their advantage. Remember: in public server play, your score is EVERYTHING.

SECTION ONE: This isn't the middle ages

The dark age is over, turbo.
Counter-Strike is a terrorist vs. counter-terrorist game involving modern weaponry used by elite teams around the world. This doesn't mean that you won't still find players who are stuck in the medieval ages and believe that their knife is the weapon of choice. These are the best players to take advantage of for two reasons:
1 - They can only hit you if you let them get close enough
2 - They're usually gullible

Chivalry, just like fights with bladed weapons, left the scene hundreds of years ago, but again these same players have failed to grasp this concept. What does this mean? These would-be knights of CS will often announce their intentions to duel you with knives at a specified location. You should ALWAYS accept this invitation. It's like having your meal delivered to you on a silver platter.

Pull your knife out, run to the specified location, and once he's relatively close (but still well outside range of his blade) pull out your biggest gun and lay the buster down. Real CTs don't play with knives. Real CTs shoot for the head.

This also applies to knife fights that other players engage in. Counter-Strike is a game with guns. If you see two people knifing each other, figure out which one isn't on your team, and shoot him. If you can't tell the difference, you can always light them both up for good measure.

SECTION TWO: Survival of the fittest
Common sense states that it's a lot easier to kill a wounded enemy than one who has lots of health that you have to whittle away.

This is why you should always try to shoot people that your teammates have already shot several times. Odds are your teammates have gotten them down to the point where they can only take one or two more hits, which is good, because as a newbie that's probably all you'll be able to land on them anyway. Don't worry about their screams about you committing "kill stealing" — they're just jealous of your strategy and your score.

When it comes to throwing HE grenades, an ancient Chinese proverb should guide your actions. It states "The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." Ignore the logistics of ancient chinese mousetraps and focus on the sage wisdom this imparts to CS. The early rusher gets his hits in first, but the second nade gets the kill.