Mirage continues to be one of the most favored maps in CS2, necessitating effective use of utility to dominate crucial sections of the map. This guide will detail important smoke lineups for both the Terrorist (T) and Counter-Terrorist (CT) sides, helping you and your team carry out successful strategies.
Contents
How to Practice Throwing Smokes
You will need to click the “PLAY” button, go to “PRACTICE” and “CASUAL“, and then turn the three buttons green, as shown on the left side in the video above. Then, pick the map you want to practice your smokes on and click “GO“.
After that, you’ll need to know a few console commands to make it easier to practice; here they are:
- sv_cheats 1 – enables other console commands
- bot_kick – to kick all the bots
- Bind KEY noclip – put any KEY you want so after throwing a smoke, you can click it and fly following your smoke and see how it lands.
- Bind KEY “give weapon_smokegrenade” – put any KEY you want, and it will give you a smoke grenade, so you don’t have to buy it once again.
- Bind KEY “ent_fire smokegrenade_projectile kill; stopsound” – put any KEY you want, and it will make a smoke disappear as you click the key, so you don’t have to wait to throw another smoke.
- sv_rethrow_last_grenade – situational, mostly used to practice flashbangs and molotovs, it makes you repeat your recent grenade and see it from the other perspective, for example, without throwing it once again.
Now, it’s time to get to the most useful Mirage Smokes: Mid Area, A Site, and B Site.
Mid Area Smokes
Window Smoke
- Why it matters: Prevent CT AWPer from peeking Mid.
- Common mistakes: Smoke falling under the window.
Note: To throw this smoke, you will need some practice, as this one might go off if you move your crosshair a bit, and it goes under the window. To throw it, put yourself and your crosshair in the same position as shown in the video, and jump and throw your smoke simultaneously.
This is the simplest and most reliable technique to smoke Window from T Spawn—ideal for securing Mid Area control at the start. If you have already played some Mirage, you can often hear someone asking to smoke a window in every game you play. With this video, you will learn how to do it to help your teammates take Mid Area control, preventing the CT sniper who holds the window from shooting you and your teammates as you try to push mid or crossing to the Mid Boxes.
Top Mid Smoke
- Why it matters: It helps you and your teammates safely cross the Mid Boxes Area.
- Common mistakes: As this smoke might help CT to push you without being seen, you should expect someone pushing below the smoke.
Note: To throw Top Mid smoke, place yourself and your crosshair as shown in the video and throw your smoke with a left-click.
This is the smoke that almost everyone knows, especially players who like to play Mirage, but some players use it too much even when it’s not needed. This smoke helps you to get to the Mid Boxes area, but it might also help CT to push without being seen, so you should be aware of it when you’re using it and not use it when your teammate has a good spawn to peek Mid Window and it will block him from doing that.
Connector Smoke
- Why it matters: It prevents CT from peeking from the Connector, making it easier to take Mid Control.
- Common mistakes: Throwing it a little bit off and leaving a gap in the smoke will cause your teammates to get sprayed down or sniped down.
Note: To Throw a perfect Connector smoke, place yourself and your crosshair the same way as shown in the video. You will need some practice as well for this one since if you go a little off, it might have some gaps, and CT might kill you or your teammates while you walk past it.
Once you smoke a Mid Window, you can perfectly use these two smokes together to take all the Mid Area control without risking being open from too many angles. With those two smokes, the only positions you will need to clear are the Bottom Mid and B Short.
A Site Smokes
CT Spawn Smoke
- Why it matters: Prevents CT AWP from peeking and shooting your teammates from A Ramp.
- Common mistakes: Not making a jump before throwing it causes a smoke to miss.
Note: To Throw this smoke, you should position yourself exactly as shown on a video, jump, and throw your smoke simultaneously.
One of the most important smokes to execute is A site. Usually, a CT player is holding it A Site with AWP from CT Spawn, and with this smoke, you can prevent your teammates from getting killed by the enemy sniper.
Jungle Smoke
- Why it matters: It prevents Jungle and Connector CT players from peeking at your team.
- Common mistakes: Throwing it a little bit off might leave a gap in the smoke.
Note: To throw this smoke, you don’t need to jump and throw it but left-click to throw a smoke from the position shown on the video with the exact crosshair placement.
The second most important type of smoke to execute at A site is jungle smoke. It prevents CT, who rotates from the Window position, from seeing T players rushing at a site, so your team will have one angle less to clear. It is a wide area that is difficult to clear with many angles.
Stairs Smoke
- Why it matters: It prevents CT players from holding A Palace or A Ramp.
- Common mistakes: Throwing it a little bit off might cause smoke to fall under the Stairs.
Note: To throw this smoke, you only need to use your left click after placing yourself in that position and crosshair in the correct position, as shown in the video.
This works perfectly with Jungle smoke, as it completely closes one area of A site. With jungle and CT Spawn smokes, you will leave as few angles to clear for your team, making it much easier to take A site and have a bomb plant.
B Site Smokes
Market Window Smoke
- Why it matters: It prevents CT players from peeking at your teammates rushing B Site.
- Common mistakes: This smoke has some time after throwing, and before it lands, make sure your teammates wait for it to land before crossing to the B Site.
Note: To throw this smoke, you will need to jump and throw it after placing yourself and your crosshair in the same spots as shown in the video above.
Window smoke is one of the most important positions to smoke when you decide to execute B site since it is where the enemy sniper is holding, or any players rotate from CT Spawn or Window position.
Market Door Smoke
- Why it matters: It blocks rotating CT players from pushing your teammates who are already on the site.
- Common mistakes: Not jumping before throwing it will cause a missing smoke.
Note: To throw this smoke, you will also need to make a jump and throw after placing yourself and your crosshair, as shown in the video.
Together with Market Window smoke, you can completely close the most crucial area that CT side players are coming from and prevent them from killing your teammates, crossing it to the B site to plant the bomb.
Short Smoke
- Why it matters: It might help your teammates sneak behind in Short and prevent CT Short players from peeking at your teammates.
- Common mistakes: If you throw it a little bit off, you will see a gap on the side, which may cause your teammates to get killed unexpectedly.
Note: For this B Short smoke, you don’t need to jump; just left-click and throw your smoke after you place yourself and your crosshair in the same positions as shown in the video.
Usually, the CT side places one player on the B site and one on the B Short, and the Short position player rotates as fast as possible whenever he gets called by the B site player so this smoke prevents one of the players who holds the site from deep angles and makes it easier for T side to deal with one player left to take a B site.
Bench Smoke
- Why it matters: The bench position being held by CT might be deadly for T pushing B Site, and this smoke blocks this position.
- Common mistakes: Even though it blocks the straight peeking from the position, you should still be aware of CT, who might be playing around with this smoke and pushing through it.
Note: Just like for B Short smoke, you don’t need to jump before throwing smoke; left-click and throw it after you place yourself and your crosshair in the position shown in the video.
This is a good smoke for a fast push strategy since it clears one of the close corners, making it one angle less clear for you and your teammates. It will also help you get control of the B site.
Pro Tips for Practicing & Executing Smokes
- Practice in slow motion using “host_timescale” commands.
- Have designated utility players on your team.
- Use jump-throw binds consistently.
Summary
There are many more ways to smoke any position from different positions on the map, and some teams or players find their way to smoke any position. Still, all the smokes mentioned above will be enough for you to help your team whenever they need it and to make your Mirage win rate higher.
