CS2 AWP Guide: Tips for Playing as an AWPer

Ever wanted to turn your CS2 experience into a point-and-click adventure? Well, AWPing is for you. We’d love to say that it’s simple — save up money for the AWP, buy it, destroy people. But unfortunately, first off the AWP was nerfed, and second off, you’re not 2013 KennyS. Don’t know who that is? Well, I’m old so I do. Go check out his highlights.

Either way, AWPing has changed a lot since the run-and-gun early days, and yet is still a crucial part of every CS2 match and a skilled AWPer can turn a game on its head, as can a whiffing wizard who will give up positions every time an enemy enters his crosshairs. That’s why, we’re giving you a very basic AWPing guide to make you the sniper your team needs (and probably doesn’t deserve given the standard of PUGs)

General Tips

When AWPing, we have a few general tips you should use to make the most out of your sniper rifle:

Remember the scope makes sound, so don’t get caught off guard.
Click the switch weapon button twice (I have it bound on my mouse) instead of zooming out. You’ll get out of zoom quicker.
Keep track of your opponent’s economy. Don’t buy the first AWP against a full eco, as you might live to regret it.
Don’t shoot while moving.
Aim at the body, not the head. You’ll kill them anyway.
Avoid no-scopes whenever possible.

CT Side AWPing

While not all maps require an AWPer on the T side, AWPers on the CT side are a cornerstone of basically every competitive map. However, with great power comes great responsibility, and in this case, the responsibility is to not die in vain. After all, the AWP is a costly weapon, an on CT side, you need more money than you would on the T side.

That’s why, you’ll want to set up in a position that you can easily hide in and wait for the cavalry in case things go awry. Aggressive plays are awesome, but be sure to set them up with your team and think about your and your opponent’s economy. If the terrorists are forcing Mac-10s you don’t want to be giving them a free AWP with a YOLO peek. However, if you’ve got $10k+ in the bank, you know the terrorists are on a full buy and you want to ruin their momentum, this might be the moment to have a teammate flash you in for an aggressive peek.

For every map there’s also a default position where you expect an AWPer to play most rounds in PUGs (this is different for organized teams, which might go for completely different positions).

Mirage: Window Inferno: Long-side Mid Dust II: Long A or Mid-Doors Ancient: House Anubis: Middle Vertigo: A Ramp Nuke: Outside

These positions have a few things in common. They have long sight lines giving you the advantage with the AWP, they’ll favour you in battles against rifles, but you might get traded OUTTA NOWHERE by a fellow AWPer eager to sacrifice a wild peek from a teammate to get one over on you, and open up a crucial position.

Another thing is that people know AWPers want to set up in these positions, which means that the higher the level you play out, the more likely it is that your position will be simply smoked the hell out by the Ts before you even get to it. This means that you’re going to either have to wait out agonizing seconds for the smoke or molly to fade (by which time the Ts will be ready and waiting for you to peek) or… change position to a backup and surprise them from there. Remember that there are a lot of options, and in some positions you might be stuck being away from the action and faced with a hard decision. Our tip: If in doubt, save. The AWP is worth a hell of a lot of cash, and it’s worth more than one round, especially early on in the half. Of course, if it’s a do-or-die situation, go for the retake, hell, throwaway your AWP for a rifle if you feel like that’ll help. But don’t go for broke in a 1v3. Simply hide in the other bomb site and hope they won’t go looking for you.

Aggression is also a great counter to utility usage. On maps like Mirage, you can get ahead or the smoke, or peak aggressively from connector. It’s a risky strategy, but if set up along with teammate support it can decimate a T-Rush. On the other hand, if you don’t have that, safe yourself from embarrassment and play a safe angle. This is best used when you have a great spawn, and can get into position before the Ts get there.

Then there are double AWP setups. In those, a second player, usually a site anchor will take a second AWP to hold the line. Think about B on Mirage, you can play it very passively from Kitchen (Market for all you Yanks out there!) get a pick on the first T before backing off and waiting for help on the retake. A double AWP can surprise the opposing team, but if you repeat the positions too much, you might end up being smoked and flashed out of play, and doing your best Dzhami “Jame” Ali impression desperately clinging to your weapon.

Terrorist AWPing

Terrorist AWPing is a bit of a different beast altogether. Think about the CT, holding an angle for minutes at end. Think about yourself, being able to either spoil his day with a wicked peek, or run to the completely opposite side of the map and try to open something up.

While spawns are important for CTs, they’re absolutely crucial for Ts. A great spawn for mid on Mirage can shock your opponent slowly crawling into window, and a good spawn for mid doors on Dust II might get you an extra shot or tag, while Long may let you get ahead of that pesky molly. Overall, you’re in a game of timings, and for the first part of every round, you are in control.

AWPing on T-side is harder since unless you’re a passive AWPer looking to take out rotations, you will have to peek, prefire, and pray your way to a lot of duels. That’s why, unlike CT where an AWPer can dominate lower ranks by knowing three angles on every map, on T, you have to know ALL the angles, and know how to peek them without getting killed. Learning utility usage will help you clear many of them, but to really AWP well you’re going to need something that many hate…

You’ll need teamwork. Get yourself a buddy for queueing and ask them to learn some basic flashes. Use them to peak and voila! You’ve just massively improved your performance without hours of mechanical training.

Finally, saving isn’t as important as on CT-Side, but saving a full AWP loadout is still better than dying. So if you know the round is screwed, and you have no time, burrow down for some extremely boring Jame time.

Conclusion

These are some general basic tips for moving with an AWP. Applying them to your game will definitely help you become a super-sniper, at least on lower ranks. As you climb up the ranks, you’ll need to practice mechanical concepts that are hard to explain. However, at lower levels, smart positioning, utility usage and economy control will guarantee you some easy AWP kills.

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General Tips

CT Side AWPing

Terrorist AWPing

Conclusion

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