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

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

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

PC Gamer Pro is dedicated to esports and competitive gaming. Check back every day for exciting, fun and informative articles about League of Legends, Dota 2, Hearthstone, CS:GO and more. GL HF!

Dust2 has been immensely popular ever since it was introduced in the Counter-Strike 1.1 patch. To this day it's by far the most played map. Even though Dust2 slightly favors the terrorist side, it must be considered one of the most balanced competitive maps in the current map pool. Because of the map's popularity people have found lots of different ways to defend the two iconic bombsites.

What I, along with many others, have found over the years is that it's usually easier to go for retakes rather than to stay on the sites and fight to the death. This is especially true for the A-site as there's basically nowhere to hide if you get pushed from both long and short at the same time. Over at B you have more options and a sole player can, with assistance from the mid player, work wonders.

The set up

I like to take control over long early in the round by sending two players over there. The second player can throw a pop flash just around the corner to allow the first player to get over to pit. If the terrorists haven't shown any sort of aggression towards long after a few seconds the second player can rotate back to either A-site or mid, depending on what information you have.

The third player will hold short from above the stairs, ready to drop down to CT-spawn if he spots terrorists. If not and the player in mid has a clear view of catwalk, the short player can push a little bit and go for a quick peek towards lower tunnels for information.

The fourth player will hold mid. Their job is to give the A-players information about anything happening at catwalk, as well as delaying that infamous B-split through mid and tunnels. If the terrorists have an AWP, this can be a bit tricky as you can't peek catwalk without putting your life and the round at risk. Just remember to call out that you don't have control over catwalk anymore.

The fifth player is obviously the B-player. I like to place them either on platform or on the site so that he can fall back after the initial duel. If the stars align and the mid player is ready with a flash, the B-player can pick up two kills, making the retake a lot easier.

Some neat tricks

Dust2 differs from other maps in that you will have to put yourself at risk just to reach one of the sites. I'm of course talking about the doors in mid. A skilled (or lucky) AWPer can take you out just seconds into the round. One option is to put up a smoke screen, but a lot of the time you want to save your smokes for later. Another way to do it is to use a grenade. The black smoke from the explosion works just as good as a smoke grenade, but you'll have to time it right.

Sometimes you want to get a player up on short faster. Those times you can simply boost them from the boxes just outside CT-spawn. The downside is that you'll only have one player over at long for a couple of seconds. Fortunately you can use this smoke to assist them.

Retakes

Unless the terrorists decide to go for a rush, the retake starts long before the bomb goes down. The more information you gather early on, the better decisions you'll be able to make later. Let's say your player on B has spotted some terrorists in tunnels and your friend in mid saw someone peeking from the top of mid. You're on long and it's been all quiet so far. Now you have three options. You can push towards T-spawn which, given the information you have, is a risky play but with great potential reward. You might be able to backstab the terrorist in mid or you can run through T-spawn and be in a great position for a B-retake.

Your second option is to fall back towards the A-site, so that you're closer to B when the attack happens. The risk with that play is that your opponents might decide to go long after all and you won't know until they're around pit. Lastly, you can decide to stay put and wait for more information. However in this case it'll take you ages to get to B when the terrorists execute their strategy in that direction.

That's the general idea. Assess the information you have and make an educated guess as to what your opponents will do next.

This flash can be really effective when you try to retake bombsite B:

If you time it properly with a teammate flashing through tunnels it can work wonders. Remember to communicate: who's going to clear what angles?

This next retake flash is another one that allows you to push right after it pops:

Aim at the sloped area next to the stairs, run and throw. Simple, yet effective. That flash will make it a whole lot easier for your friends in CT-spawn to get closer. And if you're lucky you might pick up a kill if you catch a flashed enemy off guard.

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

PC Gamer Pro is dedicated to esports and competitive gaming. Check back every day for exciting, fun and informative articles about League of Legends, Dota 2, Hearthstone, CS:GO and more. GL HF!

Dust2 has been immensely popular ever since it was introduced in the Counter-Strike 1.1 patch. To this day it's by far the most played map. Even though Dust2 slightly favors the terrorist side, it must be considered one of the most balanced competitive maps in the current map pool. Because of the map's popularity people have found lots of different ways to defend the two iconic bombsites.

What I, along with many others, have found over the years is that it's usually easier to go for retakes rather than to stay on the sites and fight to the death. This is especially true for the A-site as there's basically nowhere to hide if you get pushed from both long and short at the same time. Over at B you have more options and a sole player can, with assistance from the mid player, work wonders.

The set up

I like to take control over long early in the round by sending two players over there. The second player can throw a pop flash just around the corner to allow the first player to get over to pit. If the terrorists haven't shown any sort of aggression towards long after a few seconds the second player can rotate back to either A-site or mid, depending on what information you have.

The third player will hold short from above the stairs, ready to drop down to CT-spawn if he spots terrorists. If not and the player in mid has a clear view of catwalk, the short player can push a little bit and go for a quick peek towards lower tunnels for information.

The fourth player will hold mid. Their job is to give the A-players information about anything happening at catwalk, as well as delaying that infamous B-split through mid and tunnels. If the terrorists have an AWP, this can be a bit tricky as you can't peek catwalk without putting your life and the round at risk. Just remember to call out that you don't have control over catwalk anymore.

The fifth player is obviously the B-player. I like to place them either on platform or on the site so that he can fall back after the initial duel. If the stars align and the mid player is ready with a flash, the B-player can pick up two kills, making the retake a lot easier.

Some neat tricks

Dust2 differs from other maps in that you will have to put yourself at risk just to reach one of the sites. I'm of course talking about the doors in mid. A skilled (or lucky) AWPer can take you out just seconds into the round. One option is to put up a smoke screen, but a lot of the time you want to save your smokes for later. Another way to do it is to use a grenade. The black smoke from the explosion works just as good as a smoke grenade, but you'll have to time it right.

Sometimes you want to get a player up on short faster. Those times you can simply boost them from the boxes just outside CT-spawn. The downside is that you'll only have one player over at long for a couple of seconds. Fortunately you can use this smoke to assist them.

Retakes

Unless the terrorists decide to go for a rush, the retake starts long before the bomb goes down. The more information you gather early on, the better decisions you'll be able to make later. Let's say your player on B has spotted some terrorists in tunnels and your friend in mid saw someone peeking from the top of mid. You're on long and it's been all quiet so far. Now you have three options. You can push towards T-spawn which, given the information you have, is a risky play but with great potential reward. You might be able to backstab the terrorist in mid or you can run through T-spawn and be in a great position for a B-retake.

Your second option is to fall back towards the A-site, so that you're closer to B when the attack happens. The risk with that play is that your opponents might decide to go long after all and you won't know until they're around pit. Lastly, you can decide to stay put and wait for more information. However in this case it'll take you ages to get to B when the terrorists execute their strategy in that direction.

That's the general idea. Assess the information you have and make an educated guess as to what your opponents will do next.

This flash can be really effective when you try to retake bombsite B:

If you time it properly with a teammate flashing through tunnels it can work wonders. Remember to communicate: who's going to clear what angles?

This next retake flash is another one that allows you to push right after it pops:

Aim at the sloped area next to the stairs, run and throw. Simple, yet effective. That flash will make it a whole lot easier for your friends in CT-spawn to get closer. And if you're lucky you might pick up a kill if you catch a flashed enemy off guard.

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

PC Gamer Pro is dedicated to esports and competitive gaming. Check back every day for exciting, fun and informative articles about League of Legends, Dota 2, Hearthstone, CS:GO and more. GL HF!

A relatively quiet weekend, this, as everybody in esports is tired out after a busy week of being fired. Haha! A topical lie. There's still top-level CS:GO season play to catch, the best Hearthstone in the Americas, and the ongoing drama of the international League of Legends scene. Details, timings and stream links below. If we've missed anything, let us know in the comments so that I don't get fired. Have a great weekend!

Hearthstone: Americas Winter Championship

The first of three international Hearthstone championships running in March, over the next two days the best players in the Americas will do wizard poker at one another for a shot at the World Championship and a slice of $100,000. Play begins at 10:00 PST (18:00 GMT) each day and you can find the stream here.

CS:GO: ESL Pro League Season 3

Ongoing season play between some of the best CS:GO teams in the world, streamed throughout the weekend. One notable matchup is Astralis vs. EnVyUs at 09:00 PST/17:00 GMT on Saturday. You can also expect Virtus.pro, G2 Esports and others. Play begins at 09:00 PST/17:00 GMT on each day and runs for around 12 hours. Find it all on the official ESL stream.

League of Legends: NA LCS, Korean LCK, Chinese LPL

As the dust settles on IEM Katowice, the international LoL season enters one of its busiest weekends. There are games happening all over the world - if you're willing to split your time between different leagues then you can start off with Korea's LCK on Saturday (starting at 00:00 PST/08:00 GMT) or even China's LPL if you're willing to get up early in Europe (games start at 21:00 PST/05:00 GMT). Then you've got time for a nap before the NA LCS kicks off at 12:00 PST/20:00 GMT. Play continues into Sunday in China and North America - check out LoLesports for a full schedule and livestream.

Dota 2: Fnatic vs. First Departure, WePlay Season 3 SEA

There's not a great deal of Dota 2 on this weekend, but the Shanghai Major proved that it's well worth keeping an eye on the South East Asian scene. With that in mind, you can catch Fnatic vs. First Departure at 05:00 PST/13:00 GMT on Saturday via the JoinDota Twitch channel.

PC Gamer Pro is dedicated to esports and competitive gaming. Check back every day for exciting, fun and informative articles about League of Legends, Dota 2, Hearthstone, CS:GO and more. GL HF!

This week we'll have a look at how to play the terrorist side on Mirage. The general idea is to take control over one area at a time and limit the number of angles you have to check as you attack the bombsite. I'd suggest that you put in a few extra hours learning grenades on Mirage. To say that grenade management is more important on T-side Mirage than on any other side in the entire game is a bold statement, but one that I'm willing to make. For the same reason I'd say you should think twice about buying if you can't afford smoke grenades. As long as you have a solid plan you'll be able to dictate the course of the round and force the defenders to react to your plays.

A smokes

It's rarely a good idea to attack the A-site without smokes. My suggestion is to smoke off stairs, jungle/connector and CT-spawn. What these smokes do is that they isolate the bombsite. If the defending players are on the site you can push and go for trade kills and make it a three-versus-three situation where you have planted the bomb and the remaining CTs will have to fight you as well as the clock.

Here are the smokes compiled into a single gif:

I usually have one player below T-ramp protecting his teammates while they throw the smokes and one player in palace, whose job it is to use utility grenades to help his team with the push. If he's not smoked off he can bounce a flashbang on the wall so that it bounces past balcony and flashes any potential threat hiding in shadows.

If he is smoked off, on the other hand, he has another option. He can either use the flash mentioned above or he can throw a molotov down to shadows and force any player there to move out in the open to a disadvantageous position.

Once you have the site your number one priority is to protect your bomb carrier. Pre fire the box next to ticket booth and use flashes. Do whatever it takes. Just don't let the CTs stop him from planting as that'll give rotating players more time to get in position for the retake.

You can also have a guy lurking in mid or underpass, ready to kill any counter-terrorists trying to rotate through connector.

On the next page: controlling mid and managing your eco rounds.

Take control over mid

The best way to give your team options is to take control over mid. From there you can choose to attack either site and you'll even have time to change your mind should anything go south. The most obvious spot you want to clear is the window room. A simple yet effective smoke from T-spawn is all it takes.

That smoke won't cover the infamous connector-to-top-of-mid-peek. If you want to get over to the boxes in mid you can use another smoke from spawn, followed by a molotov into window. This will allow you to go for that peek towards catwalk. It's also a good way to make room for your Impossible Missions Force, led by your very own Ethan Hunt, to go through underpass and boost up into the window room.

Most of the time you want to go for a split when you attack B, because of the tight choke point in apartments. When you do just that I'd recommend that you use the smoke in window room as well as a smoke from B-apps to connector. Note that the counter-terrorists can stand inside connector and see you if they're on the right hand side. Just prefire that angle as you move towards catwalk and you should be fine. The guys over at A-site won't be able to see you over the smoke.

The rest of your team will join the party from apartments. A flash that I like to use when pushing apartments to B is the one through the window. Time this one with a flash from catwalk and you should be able to kill the guy around pillar and then take the rest of the site.

If you manage to take control over the site early on you can leave one player inside apartments. That's one of the strongest post-plant positions. Not only can you make sure no one can sneak up on you, but you'll also be able to run the clock down in a one versus one situation.

Eco round

Your objective here is to plant the bomb. That extra $800 per player can turn the tide of a game. Buy two smoke grenades and move towards T-ramp. You'll also have one player inside palace, who'll try to distract the guy on top of stairs while you plant the bomb. Throw a smoke over to jungle/connector like I demonstrated at the beginning of this guide. The other smoke will be used like this:

Plant the bomb inside that smoke. You can make sure the bomb carrier buys one of the smokes as the personal plant bonus of $300 will cover the expense. If you're really low on money then you can buy a flash and throw it through the window in B-apartments and then just go ham with a full team rush. Just make sure you move silently before the push or you'll be screwed faster than you can say bomb plant. Like always, try to have a plan and communicate a lot and you should be able to put up decent numbers.

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

PC Gamer Pro is dedicated to esports and competitive gaming. Check back every day for exciting, fun and informative articles about League of Legends, Dota 2, Hearthstone, CS:GO and more. GL HF!

This weekend is dominated by IEM Katowice, which started a few days ago and continues through Sunday. It's an exciting event with a half-dozen different games being played competitively. Not to be outdone, however, the odyssey that is Dota 2's Shanghai Major also reaches its conclusion this weekend. And we've also got a newcomer on the scene, with card game Hex: Shards of Fate hosting a high-stakes invitational tournament.

Dota 2: The Shanghai Major finals

The Shanghai Major has been an interesting tournament, to say the least. But amidst all the drama and memes, one thing has generally been agreed upon: There's some pretty great Dota being played in Shanghai right now. And the tournament finally comes to a conclusion this weekend, with the Lower Bracket wrapping up on Saturday, followed by the LB finals and the Grand Finals on Sunday. The stream starts at 10:00 BJT (02:00 GMT/18:00 PST the previous day) and runs for close to 12 hours. Then you can watch the finals on Sunday, which will begin at 10:30 BJT (02:30 GMT/18:30 PST the previous day). The schedule has been flexible, to say the least, but you can find hypothetical start times here.

Hex: Shards of Fate: Invitational finals

Hex: Shards of Fate is fairly new to the esports scene. A digital trading card game more similar to Magic: The Gathering than Hearthstone, it will be interesting to see how it presents itself in a tournament setting. Any way it goes, Hex is starting out big with a live invitational event at the Esports Arena in Anaheim, flaunting a massive $100,000 prizepool. The tournament starts tomorrow at 10:30 PST (18:30 GMT) and you can watch all the games on the official stream here.

League of Legends: IEM Katowice

League of Legends has one of the most imposing presences at this weekend's IEM. Saturday sees the entirety of Group B's games being played, with Group A shaking out earlier today. International tournaments like this are a unique opportunity in the LoL competitive world, which is otherwise quarantined into its respective regions. Group B begins tomorrow at 12:20 CET (11:20 GMT/03:20 PST), and the semi and grand finals kick off the next day at the same time. You can find the full schedule right here, and watch all the games on the official stream.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive: IEM Katowice grand finals

The CS:GO tournament has nearly wrapped up before the weekend even begins, but there's one more very important match to play: The grand finals. Tomorrow at 18:00 CET (17:00 GMT/09:00 PST) will be the last match of the event for Counter-Strike, which you can watch here.

StarCraft 2: IEM Katowice semis and finals

Similar to CS:GO, StarCraft 2 will also has mostly wrapped up by the start of the weekend. This Legacy of the Void tournament has seen the overwhelming success of Zerg players, with six of the top eight players using the race. While Polt on Terran has already progressed to the semifinals, the opposing side of the bracket is made entirely of Zerg, and he'll either be facing HuK on Protoss of Nerchio on Zerg in the next round. The semi and grand finals will begin tomorrow at 12:20 CET (11:20 GMT/03:20 PST) with the full schedule here, and you can watch right here.

Heroes of the Storm: IEM Katowice - Spring Regional

Heroes of the Storm is using IEM Katowice as the stage for its Spring Regional Tournament and, as a result, is probably the esport with the most games going on at once over the weekend. There will be two full days of matches being played, and nearly half the matches on Saturday will be happening off stage to make sure they have time to fit everything in. You can read up on the full schedule here, as it may be the best way to figure out what's happening in the off-stage games. Everything starts at 12:00 CET (11:00 GMT/03:00 PST) on both Saturday and Sunday, and you can watch the main stream here.

Hearthstone: IEM Katowice - ESL Legendary Series

Unlike the other games as IEM Katowice, Hearthstone decided to squish its entire tournament into a single day. That's most likely because this is a continuation of the ESL Legendary Series, which has been running for a while. What that means is they'll be starting at the top eight part of the bracket, and playing through until a champion is crowned. Games begin tomorrow at 12:00 CET (11:00 GMT/03:00 PST) and you can catch all the matches right here.

PC Gamer Pro is dedicated to esports and competitive gaming. Check back every day for exciting, fun and informative articles about League of Legends, Dota 2, Hearthstone, CS:GO and more. GL HF!

The train has departed and this week we arrive in Morocco for our next map: Mirage. This is another map that revolves around mid control. There are numerous ways to achieve this, but it's not as straightforward as it used to be. Due to how easy it is to either throw a molotov or to smoke off the window room, it's rarely a good idea to go for the early peek unless you have a plan for what to do if you find yourself surrounded by a gray cloud.

Let's start with the set up. Generally I like to play one player on the B-site, whose job it is to spot enemies and call for backup. I would advise against peeking from the van unless you have an AWP and are ready to fall back after the initial shot. It's still a risk due to how easy it is for terrorists to rush down a solo AWPer on B. I would suggest that you try to go for jump peeks from time to time. Even if they're ready for it you're difficult to hit and you'll get loads of information!

The next player is the player on cat. Their role is crucial for your team, but it can be quite challenging. They will listen for footsteps towards underpass or in B apartments. Other than that they'll make sure no one can enter connector without your team knowing. The challenging part is to know when to let go of connector and assist your buddy over at B. Just don't forget to let your team know that connector is open when you do.

Next in line is the other mid player. Like I mentioned earlier, I don't like to peek from window room unless it's a quick peek and you spawned close. Aside from the smokes and molotovs, you risk getting killed early on. If that happens the terrorists can push whichever site they want, knowing that the defenders from the other site will be late to the party. Instead I like to have the mid guy in window room peeking catwalk. If he gets smoked off he can wait for a few seconds and then put down a molotov on cat and then decide if it's best to rotate towards connector, market or to simply stay put. Should the terrorists on the other hand choose to go aggressive towards connector, he can use this pop flash to peek and hopefully secure a kill.

The last two players are obviously the ones on A. It's rare to see an A-push without smokes towards CT spawn, jungle and stairs these days. That makes it a walk in the park for terrorists to isolate defenders on A-site, which is why I'd recommend peeks from far back. CT stairs, danger box and the area around stairs are excellent spots. Once you see the smokes come in you should call for backup and then assess the situation. If they don't seem to push you can tell your teammates to go back to their previous positions. If they however do push you can try to use the smokes to your advantage. Call for a flashbang onto site from either connector or jungle and then jump up on ticket.

Another great option is to spray through the smoke as soon as you hear the bomb plant. If you manage to drop the bomb you have gained valuable seconds for your team to get in position for the retake.

On the next page: how to handle eco rounds, plus a few neat tricks.

Eco rounds

Sometimes you'll find yourselves a little short on money, in which case it's time for an eco round. I'd suggest that you push up mid from connector and use a flashbang to try to catch any peeking terrorists off guard to secure a weapon or two. Just don't do this every eco round as it will get pretty obvious after a while. If you have a little more money you can go for a grenade stack on A and wait for smokes to come flying over T ramp and then welcome the push with your explosives.

A few neat tricks

If you feel confident and want an early advantage you can show off your acrobatic skills and push palace. Smoke T ramp and jump up on the balcony. Once you're in position your friend can flash you in from stairs.

If you get a kill you've made their A-attack a lot weaker. If you on the other hand don't find a terrorist at all you can start to slowly advance. Think Metal Gear Solid. Just remember that you only have one player defending A, so it's important that he re-smokes T ramp to buy you a few extra seconds. Once you make it all the way to T spawn you will have a good idea as to where the final push will happen.

The retake from market to B can be quite tricky as you have two really tight choke points to choose from. To make that endeavor a little easier you can use this smoke from CT spawn:

Just remember that this is a double-edged sword, as it will give the terrorists more options in addition to taking options away.

This next trick will take some practice, but can be really useful. Let's say you're going for a retake on B and get spotted early on inside market. Then it's really unexpected for you to show up on catwalk just seconds later.

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

PC Gamer Pro is dedicated to esports and competitive gaming. Check back every day for exciting, fun and informative articles about League of Legends, Dota 2, Hearthstone, CS:GO and more. GL HF!

It's all kicking off this weekend, with a Dota Major underway and a CS:GO Major undergoing its final qualifiers. There s also Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone and Smite to watch and another week of international League of Legends to take in. If the year s been a little quiet so far, that s certainly coming to an abrupt end. If your Dota 2 casters seem a little quiet, however, that s an entirely separate technical problem.

Dota 2: The Shanghai Major group stage

The Major has been off to a strange start, with solid games—and one amazing underdog story—fighting against production problems and the abrupt loss of a panel host. Even so, this is the event in the Dota circuit right now, and the weekend will see the remaining games in the group stage. Tune in on Saturday to see if Frankfurt champs OG can repeat their success in Shanghai. Sunday will see one of the most hotly-contested groups as coL, EG, VP and Liquid duke it out. The stream begins at 09:00 BJT (01:00 GMT/17:00 PST the previous day) and runs for ages. The schedule has been flexible, to say the least, but you can find hypothetical start times here.

Heroes of the Storm: NA Spring Regional

The region's best teams fight for a share of $100,000 and a spot at the Spring Championship in Korea. This is one of the highest-profile events of the HotS calendar so far this year, so makes for a good opportunity to take the scene's temperature—much as Hearthstone's own Americas championship was last week. Games start at 10:00 PST/18:00 GMT each day and you can find the stream here.

Hearthstone: PGL Spring Tavern Tales 2016

$25,000 on the line for some of Europe's best Hearthstone players as 32 of them descend on Bucharest. It'll start with a Swiss group stage followed by single-elimination playoffs for the top 16. The games started today, and will continue throughout the weekend. Play begins at 09:30 GMT/01:30 PST and continues through the evening. Find the stream here.

League of Legends: NA LCS and LPL

Another weekend, another chance to keep tabs on the dominant teams in the US and China ahead of the upcoming Mid-Season Invitational. You can read James Chen's assessment of how each scene is doing here, and find details on schedules—as well as the livestream—on the official LoLesports site.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive: MLG Columbus 2016 Main Qualifier

While the top eight for MLG Columbus 2016 is drawn from the world's best-regarded teams, a further eight have a chance to shore up their qualification hopes this weekend. This is the first CS:GO Major to offer the new prize pool of $1,000,000—a massive increase for a scene that was previously capping out at around $250,000. Play starts at around 12:00 EST (17:00 GMT/09:00 PST) each day, and you can find the stream here.

Smite: Spring Split Relegations

Smite is currently going through a multi-phase relegation process to determine which teams advanced to play in the Pro League proper later in the year. This weekend will see phase two play out in Europe and North America, as the winners of the open bracket—players like you or I, but better—face existing Challenger Cup teams for a coveted spot in the big leagues. Games start at 13:00 EST (18:00 GMT/10:00 PST) each day on the official Smite Twitch stream.

PC Gamer Pro is dedicated to esports and competitive gaming. Check back every day for exciting, fun and informative articles about League of Legends, Dota 2, Hearthstone, CS:GO and more. GL HF!

Valve just announced that all future CS:GO majors will have a prize pool of $1 million. The previous purse for a major was $250,000, a figure that many major or unofficial CS:GO events have equaled but never exceeded. The first $1 million tournament will be MLG Columbus 2016, which takes place March 29 through April 3. Although it's the only major on the calendar so far for 2016, there were three each in 2015 and 2014.

According to an MLG official, tournament winnings will be structured thus:

• Winner $500,000 
• Finalist $150,000 
• Semi-Finalist $70,000 
• Quarter Finalist $35,000 
• Group Stage $8,750

With this announcement, posted unceremoniously on the Counter-Strike blog, Valve's financial commitment should further stimulate the scene and encourage existing teams to dedicate themselves to CS:GO even more in the face of upcoming, esports-friendly FPSes like Overwatch. "The professional CS:GO community has been growing at an incredible rate," Valve says in the announcement. CS:GO was the second-most watched game on Twitch during 2015, after League of Legends, and it remains the second-most played game on Steam (in terms of concurrent players) after Dota 2.

We're back! This time we'll go over how to attack on Train. At first this might seem a little tricky but as long as you use smokes before you attack you should be able to pick up a few rounds. There are a few reasons why smokes are so important on Train. The first being the long distances and how easy it is for an AWPer to kill you as you initiate the push. The second is that it helps you get the bomb planted. Unless the CTs climb trains or go through a smoke, they can't really know how many terrorists are there.

One thing to keep in mind is how separate the bomb sites are, and that you need to control ladder room if you want to be able to rotate effectively. Most of the time these rotations will be quite obvious and the counter-terrorists will be able to get to their next stop much earlier than you re comfortable with. Chances are that you will find more success if you execute a pre-planned strategy towards one site after you've gathered information and maybe even picked up a kill.

Smokes on A

Let's dive into the fine art of smoking bombsite A. There are some really useful smokes on the outer trainyard. Because I'm a good guy and I care about your browser's well-being I'll include two smokes per gif (with a hard g).

The first smoke is going to cover the area between connector and bomb train to make it easier for a terrorist to attack from ladder room without getting killed. The second one will smoke between the brown train and the bomb train to make the last part of your journey with the bomb a little more convenient.

You will also want to smoke on either side of the blue train. Here's how to do just that:

If you use all of these smokes you are almost guaranteed to get the bomb down, but there are problems. The defenders will be able to attempt a retake with five players still alive and you won't have any smokes left for the choke points after the plant. Of all these smokes, the one to the left of the blue train is the least important in the sense that it doesn't help you transport the bomb to site. The smoke does however make it less attractive for the CTs to attempt a backstab. If you don't want to use that smoke you can peek that lane with an AWP instead. Or you can leave a gap somewhere else, as long as you have a plan and are ready to challenge your opponents.

After you have planted the bomb it's very important to communicate. Make sure you have ladder room covered. I don't know how many times my team has been sprayed down from there just because we failed to communicate. Especially if the guy who's supposed to take care of ladder died during the push. Make sure you take post plant positions that will make it easy for you to peek towards the bomb.

On the next page: attacking bombsite B.

Attacking bombsite B

Just like on A, smokes are a crucial part of a successful B-take. The first smoke is very straightforward. Simply smoke off lower to deny any snipers far back their much needed target practice. It's also a good idea to pop a flash before you push in case a counter-terrorist is waiting for you on top of low train.

The next smoke will make it easier for you to reach the plant spot. Line up the smoke and time the throw with whoever smokes lower before you attack.

The third smoke is for upper. Just like the one on lower the main purpose is to avoid getting killed by a player far back. Once you have the smoke screen up you can assist by making sure no one tries to sneak up on your teammate while he plants the bomb.

Remember that you don't need to take the site with five terrorists. It doesn't make sense to go ham with the entire team and then have to try to get back through lower for a post-plant position. I recommend that one player stays behind to make sure that you are aware of any counter-terrorists coming in from behind.

Take your time

Because of the nature of Train you will have lots of time to decide what site to attack. Before the final push, you are quite separate from the defending team. This gives you the opportunity to split up and try to secure kills. Pay attention to how your enemies play. Will they rotate a guy from B if you get a kill on ivy? Are they passive and slow to rotate? Use information of this kind to your advantage.

Try to keep track of what they bought in the previous round and how many losses, wins and surviving players they've had to get a sense of whether or not they will be able to buy proper weapons. This may seem a bit confusing, especially if you're new, but it's important. If they are on an eco round they are more prone to go for the risky play, which means you will need to be careful. For instance, if you're up against an eco and you don't gather information before you attack you might run into a five man stack on one site. Because of your smokes you won't be aware of the fact until it's too late.

Bonus trick!

This molotov is really strong in one versus one situations to keep the counter-terrorist off the bomb for a few extra seconds. Fire is your friend!

Find our other 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

PC Gamer Pro is dedicated to esports and competitive gaming. Check back every day for exciting, fun and informative articles about League of Legends, Dota 2, Hearthstone, CS:GO and more. GL HF!