Beginners Guide To Dust_2 CT Set-ups
Introduction:
A little about myself, I am a long-time CS enthusiast of 7+ years(currently LEM) and have played competitively as an IGL for 2. My favorite thing about CS is the creativity and flexibility of strategies that can be implemented into the game. Almost anything can work, as long as you play to the strategies strengths, which many people do not do.
This is why I am here doing a basic guide on how D2 set-ups work and **how to play to their strengths.** The topic of playing to a strategies strength is rarely discussed and a majority of players ignore this facet of the game, which in my opinion, is the most fascinating aspect of CS.
This guide will be for both teams and soloQ'ers alike. However, have 5 men run a CT setup in unison is unrivaled, but this will help you solo players.
***Notation***: a strat will be described by reading the map left to right, based on how the CT's spawn.For example, a 3-1-1 setup is 3A, 1 Mid, 1B.
***DISCAIMER:*** A lot of this is the way I see the game and what I have learned from watching pro demos. Everything I say is not "the-only way" to do things, but I do things I am providing very valuble advice/information.
I will try and make this a short and simple as possible so it is an easy read. I can go on for hours on how to play a set-up, but for this guide I will only cover the basics. Lets get to it.
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**3-1-1: Difficulty - MEDIUM**
This set-up is the most played set in Matchmaking, and oh-boy is it often played SEVERELY WRONG. This set-up is medium difficulty because 3 players wont be doing much rotation, but the other 2 players MUST have great positioning, roations, and chemestry.
**Strength:** Great at controlling and preventing Long-A and B rushes. Allows for a 'float' player to do whatever he wants and be unexpected.
**Weakness:** Weak cat-control. You will often give-up cat to the T's.
**Logic:** This set-up forces teams to either go cat or mid, effectively allowing your team to sandwich them. If they go long A or B early, they should die trying.
**Best way to play the 3-1-1:**
* Your AWP should be playing among the 3 men at A. NOT AS THE MID GUY. * The MID player should be INSIDE B in the early round to help get the B-player set-up and to prevent rushes. * At A: Long-control, long control, long control. * The 3rd A-player (AWP or Rifle), has a lot of flexibility. They can help long, go cat(passivly), CTspawn/ramp, or A-site. * In mid-late round the mid player and the 3rd A player need to work together. * In the set-up everyone is helping the man next to them. This is not a "hold-your spot" set-up.
----------------------------------------------------------- **2-1-2: Difficulty: EASY/MEDIUM**
**Strength:** Strong B-control. Great pistol-round set-up. Decent mid-control.
**Weakness:** Weak A control. You will often re-take A
**Logic:** B will not be taken, if you lose B you lose the round. You have 2 guys in there with a mid player for quick support, no excuse to lose B. Losing A is not bad, play for the retake. Your mid player is getting great information for your cat player.
**Best way to play the 2-1-2:**
* At B: 1 playing around Car, and one play back/on B-site. Work crossfires, if the back B player gets picked you are fucking over your close B player. Play passive back B. * Mid: This can be your AWP player, but it doesn't have to be. The main goal is to get information about mid. * At A: they have the toughest job, and usually have to sacrifice long-a or cat control. There are 2 ways to do it. (1) Two Long A (2) One Cat, One on-site. If you play Cat, you can use the information from the mid player to get aggressive. This set up is good for mid control. * The 2nd B player has the most freedom, they can rotate out of B if they think nothing is going to happen there. * B-players, don't be afraid to push into B-tuns by flashing for each-other.
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**2-2-1: Difficulty: HARD**
**Strength:** Strong Mid-control. Unpredictable.
**Weakness:** Requires lots of game-sense, good timing, and complex rotations.
**Logic:** This setup makes it difficult for the enemy to figure out your set-up. Also, having 2 people in mid allows for faster and stronger rotations/support.
**Best way to play the 2-2-1:**
* Pretty much a buddy system. The A-guys work together, the mid-guys work together, and the B-guys hold it down(with quick support from mid). * One mid guy can bait the mid-to-B from the enemy and have the other mid guy play close-mid and catch them off-guard. Works well. * rotations can get pretty crazy in the set-up, as the A-guys will have a heavy load, if the enemy get cat-control.
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**1-2(cat)-1-1: Difficulty: MEDIUM/HARD**
**Strength:** Strong Cat-control and mid control. Unpredictable. great to use when enemy is beating your 3-1-1.
**Weakness:** You pretty much give them Long A.
**Logic:** This setup is used to surprise enemies by playing 2 people on cat which is uncommon.
**Best way to play the 1-2-1-1:**
* AWP is the sole A player. He sits on A-site and takes the long range engagement at pit. * 2 Cat players work together, bait each-other. Push cat if a mid-to-b is happening. Quick flank through B-tuns. * mid player get information for the cat players. * mid + b players play it similar to a 3-1-1.
----------------------------------------------------------- Note: IF YOU ARE PLAYING RE-TAKE ON A, LONG PLAYERS STAY IN PIT. DO NOT DIE CONTESTING THE SITE, HAVING PIT CONTROL IS HUGE FOR RETAKES.
Keep in mind, you can always transition from one setup to another throughout the round. But this requires great communication and team-chemistry. Personally I like going from a 3-1-1(early) to a 2-2-1(late).
Hopefully this was helpful to people wanting to learn more about set-ups. (I will probably making edits because ill be catching mistakes I made.).