Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

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The forgotten factor: Morale
By Jovan ☭
A simple guide about something people often neglect, but is one of the most crucial aspects of a game: Morale.
This guide applies to all skill levels, whether Silver 1 or Global Elite, as not every game can be won with personal skill alone.
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Morale for dummies: Can we eat it?
If you’ve already played real time strategy games, you know that in combat, if your troops think fighting is hopeless, they’ll give up, perform poorly, or turn against you.
In this situation, your force has low morale. It's the leader's job to keep it high!

In CS:GO, the troops are your team mates. If they think it's pointless to play, or aren’t having fun because of flaming, or simply don’t have the will and/or confidence to play, there's no way they will be useful to the team. When this happens they won’t be playing to the most of their ability, in turn causing you to say that they suck and flame them, or even kick them.

This guide aims to learn about cheering up your team, making them confident, and keeping your own play at the peak of what you can achieve.

About smurfing.
Don't. Ever. Call. "GG" when you see a smurf on the enemy team (low hours, unusually good play for his rank, and not always, but occasionally speaking arrogantly.)
In fact, most of the time the mere existence of the smurf is pulling down your play, and not his actual effect on the game. These smurfs can play just as badly as you, no matter if he is Nova 1 on his current account and Legendary Eagle on his main..
Smurfs can also be used to help your own team! By beating a smurf in a round, you show your own team that you can beat supposedly ‘better’ players, and the enemy team will be disheartened that their carrying player is being beaten. Finally, even if you lose, keep in mind that the fact you stood against a much more experienced player and won some rounds shows that you can stand against much better opponents and still come out on top.

WARNING

While having a smurf on your own team can make you feel overconfident, remember that smurfs can often be dumbasses that throw games. If that is the case and the smurfs are throwing rounds, kick them before they bring your team morale down further. However, if they are in a pair, unfortunately there is nothing to be done. If anyone has a link to any petition for Valve to take action on being unable to kick two players in a group, please post it in the comments. Otherwise, I will attempt to make one.

Bad behaviour resulting in discord.
Remember to avoid passive or unintentional toxic or annoying stuff, such as:
  • Having a bad microphone (Yeah, we all know that guy with the mic from the World War. The first one, I mean.)
  • Not giving your team info on the enemies.
  • Not giving your team info on your own position.
  • Not taking initiative by yourself, (e.g. If your teammates are getting pounded on a site, don’t wait for someone to scream at you to help them. Make every second count, see this yourself and move to assist them.)
  • Insufficient friendly cover. Treat friendlies as you would a close friend. Their life or equipment may well save your life or win you the game. Simple things such as using grenades or prefiring can help your friendlies massively.
  • Not stopping an ace or clutch. Everyone is scared of the guy who went 3 on 1 and came out on top, so don’t give the enemy someone to admire and your own team someone to fear.
  • Chain-losing rounds.
  • Not speaking English. Ofcourse, it's not your fault, but in this case it's probably better to play in a full team that understands your native tongue.

From xHazeN

Don’t bother checking the enemy profiles of people in matchmaking.
There are plenty of non-smurfs with very few hours, or only CS:GO on their account.
Looking at them is just gonna make you mad.
The people who tend to ‘stalk’ the enemies profile often fall to:
"Wow, he has 60 hours on his account and only 1 game. Look at all the people accusing him of cheating, we’re done!"
The only thing that matters in matchmaking is your own team and their performance. Judging a game to be over because of the enemies profile is nothing more than your own brain being paranoid.

If your own team can overcome these problems then the enemy most likely won’t. Use this to your advantage, force the enemies to the BREAKING POINT!
The BREAKING POINT
What is ‘the breaking point’? It’s when a team is so disheartened and broken that they don’t want to play any more, which often leads to kicking, trolling or surrendering.

How long it takes depends on the will of the team, but when it has been reached the game is truly done for. Avoid this if at all possible. How many times have you seen an unlikely comeback? Until the enemy team has won 16 rounds, there is always a good chance of drawing or even winning.

Keeping the morale in your troops.
The most difficult part of this guide is knowing how to keep your own teams morale up.
  • Avoid chain-losing rounds. It makes a game seem impossible.
  • Having clutches or aces. By becoming a hero in the eyes of your team mates, you become the guy who can pull off the impossible, and everyone wants a guy like that on their team..
  • Being cheerful, optimistic, and supporting of your teammates. Even if it’s the player going 4-6-18, remember that these players are the ones who need the MOST supporting, and he can still be a valued member of your team if you treat him as such.
  • Having a good personality and making people laugh always helps, just make sure you aren’t distracting, or are distracting yourself.
  • Encourage your team, but make sure you are still pulling your own weight in frags etc.
  • Compliment them! The difference between a team that says ‘nt’ after a near-clutch’ and one that isn’t is enormous. Everyone feels happier with a bunch of friendly players than a group of cold randoms.
  • Be the nice guy, and treat everyone cordially, even the enemies. Don’t give both your team and the enemies a reason to want you dead.
  • Be a good leader even if you aren’t the best fragger. Encourage and support your team, but don’t be too ‘heavy’ with them. Acting like a drill sergeant can lead to overconfidence, which can often be your downfall.
  • Be the carrying player even if you’re not. Don’t tell them that you just got 3 lucky headshots, you’re the king of CS:GO, undefeated to date and you can lead your army to victory! Build their confidence in you!
  • If there’s a player that just can’t be reasoned with, don’t start flaming him. Mute and keep on playing.
Breaking the enemy down
There’s a secret weapon in your arsenal, easy to try but hard to master but which can sometimes make you look like a scumbag. I'm not talking about the Autosniper or the P90, but demoralisation.
The best thing about this: It’s free!
Some people might accuse me of endorsing flaming, but this is what I call ‘taunting.

Flaming is basically insulting the enemy team, for example, saying “F*ck you!” to the enemy. This isn’t encouraged. At best, you are a toxic player and no one will want to play with you. At worst, you are actively annoying your own team and causing them to play worse.

Taunting is more light hearted and friendly, like a slap to the back of the head or a punch on the shoulder, however some might have a tendency to over react. We’re the best and have the ‘biggest’ and we want to show it to the world. I’m talking about your ego.

On occasion, when an AWPer for example is doing particularly well, the enemy team will keep coming back to challenge them, for the sole reason of honour. They won’t take being defeated by an AWPer, they will have the last laugh! In this case, if you’re feeling confident in that position, maybe tell them ‘Nice try!’ or ‘Almost’, ridiculing them under a friendly guise while encouraging them to idiotically try and beat you, wasting another $5750+ on the equipment to beat you at your own game. You know you’ve done this well when you start getting flamed without initiating, or they start ‘hackcusating’.

Weapons can also be used to humiliate and taunt the enemy. Knifing or Tasering the enemy can make them sigh as they give $1500 to the enemy while they have a gun. Alternatively, using weapons like the P90 or Autosniper can annoy and enrage the enemy, causing them to make silly mistakes they otherwise wouldn’t make.

Also, winning pistol rounds can also be humiliating to the enemy, as in their eyes they have given at least the next 3 rounds to the enemy. However, make sure that you don’t lose that advantage! A 2nd round buy can quickly turn the tables, totally demoralizing the team who won the first round.

Finally, sometimes the best thing to do is just don’t give them information. Put your profile private and make them believe you’re a smurf on a good game, even if it’s a lie. All’s fair in love and war.

A LAST WORD ABOUT THIS CHAPTER:
Depending on how you use the advice given in this section, it’s very easy to become a d*ckhead.
I'm giving you those tools so you can face them, and protect yourself from them. Break them without being malicious, there’s no reason to aggressively rub their loss in their face. See Fnatic? They’re possibly one of the best teams in the world, but they are hated by many as well. I personally don’t have anything against them, but if you can make your enemy love you in victory you have nothing to fear. That’s Lao Tsu, why not apply it in CS:GO?

The winner's mind.
You want to win right? To be a winner? Then you should think as a winner.
Think like:
"I will kill that guy!" unstead of "I'm gonna die again, f*ck it!"
"I will launch that smoke at the right place" "I never do this smoke right, I'm gonna fail it" "We are going to win this round" "It's loose already 3v5."
"We are going to win this game" "GG noob team"
"I'm gonna be pro!" (well maybe not that one). "I will be forever silver"

Think like you can do anything. Even the impossible. We use to think flying was impossible. Look know. Planes everywhere. The only walls around you are the one you are creating.

It's the same in the real world.

You want something? Just move your sorry *ss to get it. JUST DO IT.
*Video deleted*
This video is maybe strange, but it's true, "Don't let your dreams be dreams, don't wait for tomorrow" maybe there will be no tomorrow.
"Live to win" said a singer. There will always be a looser and a winner, and everybody wants to win.

What if you can't win?
My answer is simple: "Who dares win".
Some people will say it's not enough, ok, then I will tell you the story of the british Special Air Service (S.A.S). They are well known for being among the best. To join this regiment, you need to pass a test you must not fail: 64 km with a full soldier package (around 40kg) in less than 20 hours in the hills. After that they continue with a 6.4km run in less than 30 min and as a final 3.2 km in 90 minutes. If they are still there (most leave in the first 20 hours) they are thrown in the malaysian jungle to learn survival skills. It's still not the hardest part. The final selection test is a "resistance of interrogation" of 36 hours. Bear Grills, the guy from "Man vs Wild" was one of them.

Now you will ask me, why am I pasting this wikipedia page?
This regiment is known for their suicide mission. They have been able to do the impossible so many times.
The reason why the selection is so hard is not to find badass rambo-like soldiers. They are looking for survivors, winners, and crazy guys, people which are willing to the end to reach their objectives.
Of course you are not one of them. You are "normal". Not everyone is gifted. But try to be at your best. Always go for it.

You can believe in luck or statistics. But they should not tell you how to live.
If you want something, "force" the luck.
Even if you had 1% chance to win, it's still more than doing nothing and having 0%.

Example:
You want a knife?
=> Buy it or Road to knife! (good luck). This is "forcing" the luck.
=> Random bet site/hope for a giveaway. This is beeing lazy.
=> Do nothing and complain about having no knife. This is being a loser.
=> Do nothing but think about something better to waste money on. This is being reasonable.

Good luck anyway.
Your ego.
Since it has been requested I will do a little chapter about it.

It's hard to tell, as every person are different. There's no real magic solution.
Feed your ego, if you don't, you will think you are bad.
But not too much, or you will become a narcissic scum.
It's all about balance.

Think you are the best, yeah, but if you think too much in this way, you will see every single person better than you as a cheater or a lie to yourself.
If you are really worried about your ingame "skills" download your previous game and watch the one were you carried. Your ego will feel better.
Some people will disagree with this, but a good way if you are not so confident, is to play with a smurf account. Yeah. Because you will not have the same pressure as on your main account.

Well that's it. Yeah, did I told you I was not a confirmed psychologist?
This part should be different for each different people, so I will stay as general as I can.
In Conclusion:
Now you’ve finished this guide, and hopefully learned a basic concept in the Art of War, and can start playing at your full potential. Not everyone will see this guide, and there will always be dumbasses, but try and be that guy everyone wants in their matchmaking games.

REMEMBER
Without someone to put it in action, there is no change. BE the change. Be the guy who carries, be the guy who pulls up his team and leads them, it’s with that in mind I wrote this guide. "Who dares wins" guys, never forget this, even in your day to day activities.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this guide, feel free to share, I did this with the intention of making the CS:GO community a nicer place.

Don’t hesitate to add a comment about what you liked and disliked, and any suggestions you may have, or just to give a friendly ‘hello!’.

Have a nice day, and stay cool!

Playing with a team: B-b-b-but I'm not Pro!
One of the main things that I see lower ranks struggling with is dealing with public players. The variation in how they act is so massive that it's often a pain to try and work with them, even if they go in with friendly intentions. For this sake, I'm going to tell you what you need to consider when looking for a team or even players to play Matchmaking with.

A team isn't necessarily an elite group with 2000 hours on record that compete in LANs, have matching avatars and names. A team is simply the people who you invite to a lobby when getting ready to play matchmaking.

What you need to look out for:
  • Do you all take the game as seriously as one another?
    For obvious reasons, generally taking the game more seriously is better to win. However, CS:GO is a videogame, and for 'dirty casuals' like us, fun comes first. If you're not enjoying yourself, it's pointless. Make sure you are all alright with any antics that go on ingame, such as a spontaneous human tower being created in the corner of the map, or a sudden Deagle only round. If 4 members of the team are having fun and the 5th actually just wants to win, the team dynamic will struggle.

  • Do you all have around the same skill level?
    This is one where there is more than it seems. After playing a game with your new team, even if you are all around the same matchmaking rank, make sure there wasn't any one member of the team that would repeatedly underfrag or fail to do their job. Even if they are fun to play with, this gap in skill will quickly cause tension in the team. The underpreforming player will loathe to play himself, and the rest of the team will look on him as team filler rather than an actual member of the team. The best premades are like a dice roll to who will top frag that game, completely unpredictable.

  • Are you all available to play at around the same time?
    Disregarding different timezones, if someone can only play in the evening and another member of the team can only play in the morning, there's gonna be a problem. Teammates have to be the people who more often than not join your games and are on when you are on. Simple enough, really.

But where do I find these teammates?

This is a more difficult question. It's possible to find players ingame, adding them after a matchmaking game. It's also possible to look out for players on CS:GO forums and discussion boards, whether it be through Reddit, halfchan, any gaming forum etc.
74 Comments
LIZERGIN 18 Sep @ 9:20am 





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seram 4 Jul, 2020 @ 3:01pm 
This guide left a mark and I still think about it anytime i start a match. Many people still don't understand that after you go past a certain level of skill, CS:GO and most competitive games are more about mentals, rather than your aim or your map knowledge. Thank you.
(ākwa) 20 Jan, 2020 @ 11:24am 
super nice and useful guide, keep it up! :winter2019happyyul:
tyler 9 Sep, 2019 @ 6:11pm 
THANKS MAN TOXICITY IS CURED
ramsey 9 Jan, 2019 @ 9:16am 
the best
AliMa47 14 Dec, 2018 @ 5:14am 
The editor is a real legend both in game and real life, looking forward to play with him side by side in real life 1v1 xDDDD:grwheart:
Veil 9 Nov, 2018 @ 1:59pm 
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Yes
restosio corotio 9 Nov, 2018 @ 12:33pm 
Don't betray your team, is what morale is.
You don't have to praise your team, but if your team is shit talking the other, and you want to win, you don't attack your own team if you want to win.
puer aeternus 8 Nov, 2018 @ 11:08pm 
+rep so useful guide. thx <3
RooSTA 7 Nov, 2018 @ 7:01pm 
+rep good guide