To become a better player, you need to master various CS2 game tactics to succeed, and one of the most essential skills is peeking.
Peeking involves the player positioning themselves to spot enemies with minimal impact. It’s a delicate balance between gathering information, interacting with the enemy, and ensuring personal safety.
To teach you this skill, we have compiled all the valuable information in this guide, where we will tell you what peeking is and how to learn it.
Contents
Highlights
- What is peeking, what is it for, and what advantage does it give?
- A detailed guide on how to learn to peek and where to practice it
- Tips and settings for successful peeking
What Is Peeking?
“Peeking” is a player’s quick move from cover to check a corner or find an enemy. If you react in time and your opponent is in the spot where you enter, you will most likely get a frag.
Peeking in CS2 is more than just peeking around a corner. It’s an art that combines timing, positioning, and game sense. The primary purpose of peeking is to gain a visual advantage over your opponents without exposing yourself to unnecessary risk.
Varieties of Peeking and What Advantages It Offers
Peeking in Counter-Strike 2 is categorized into several types. Each type is intended for specific situations in the game, and we will get acquainted with each.
- Jiggle-peeking. Essentially, it is a quick peeking out of cover to spot enemies simultaneously so they do not see you. This skill helps gather information or even bait enemy shots.
- Wide-peeking. With this technique, the player needs to get far out of cover. You can catch enemies off guard, especially if they are aiming at standard angles beforehand. However, this is more risky.
- Corner-peeking. Use corners to your advantage. You can see enemies by peeking out from behind a corner at the right moment, minimizing your vulnerability.
- Shoulder-peeking. Shoulder-peeking involves briefly exposing just a part of your player model (like the shoulder) to bait shots or gain information.
One of the benefits of peeking, in addition to those described, is the combo peek. This skill distinguishes the most experienced players from the rest. In a short time, peeking out from behind a corner, the player must find and kill the enemy. You must know and practice the player’s default position to do this. You have to figure out in advance where your enemy might be, come out of cover, and fire at him. You will have about one second to do all this.
Another essential advantage is psychological. Players who don’t care about learning to peek usually avoid moving around the map and prefer waiting for the enemy to get in their sights. The main problem with this approach is that the enemy may need to be in his sights. Another issue is that no one can aim ideally, even if the enemy manages to pass right at you. A person sitting in the same pose can quickly lose focus when looking in the same spot for a more extended period. In this case, you may miss the enemy. You will defeat your enemy in psychological warfare by moving dynamically around the map and peeking at the enemy properly.
It’s worth noting that the peeker’s advantage used to lie not only in psychology and skill but also in the game’s network code. The server made some adjustments depending on the ping, trying to balance the game so everyone was in the same state. This ensured that players with high and low pings were able to see each other at the same time.
The only deviation in this mechanic was that the server tried to show you what it was seeing. The lagging dynamic player could see his opponent first by sending the picture to the person with the higher ping a little earlier. However, this was balanced out in the big CS2 update, which is more detailed in our article.
Now, let’s move directly to the peeking strategy.
CS2 Peeking Strategies
First, you must practice using the A and D key combinations to move to the side, quickly look ahead, and get back into cover. It would help if you also learned to freeze when you see your enemy so that you can shoot him.
You can use a technique called “counter-strafing” to start firing accurately immediately. Press the opposite movement key to perform this trick. For example, if you move while holding W, quickly press S and immediately release it. Try not to move diagonally next to enemies because you’ll need to press two opposite keys, which is more challenging.
More experienced players can also use the Shift and Ctrl keys to stop movement. The latter needs to be pressed but for a moment. Your character model will make a small visual jump, and the movement’s momentum will stop.
Let’s look at some fast-peeking techniques:
- First, shoulder peeking – make a short stretch near the corner, but come partially out of hiding. You show your shoulder for a moment and step back. This is how you can tell if the enemy sniper is looking at you. He is fully focused and will immediately react and shoot any pixel in his field of view, but he is very likely to miss. Considering that it takes two seconds to reload a sniper rifle, your next strafing shot could prove fatal to him.
- The second peeking technique is to come out of the cover ultimately. You aim at the intended position in advance and make a quick strafe out of cover and back. This should be enough to see if the enemy is there. You can also use a short strafe. It is effective against an enemy with superior weaponry. Even if you know there is more than one enemy, quickly firing a couple of bullets and getting rid of one enemy will give you a significant advantage in the round.
Another feature of quick view in CS2 is prefire. This means firing at the enemy immediately after coming out of cover. It can work against an enemy with a known or predictable position. In both cases, you have the advantage of firing first; the only thing left is maintaining that advantage with poor aiming skills.
Wide-peek is another matter – a “next level” skill in CS2 that can only be acquired with practice and time. Intuitively, players fear stepping on their enemies openly, so short strafes prevail in skirmishes. In the case of wide strafe, it is better to move with a teammate. One of you can advance with a wide strafe, i.e., come out of cover on 2-3 player character models. Theoretically and psychologically, this may sound like a certain death.
The truth is, it isn’t. As you take 3-4 steps to the side, the enemy will attempt to shoot and most likely miss the moving target. Meanwhile, your teammate comes out of cover and kills him. The wide strafe is also known as the Ferrari peek. A possible reason for this name is that the player character gets out of cover as fast as a Ferrari.
The benefits of the wide strafe are not limited to luring out the enemy’s sights. It also allows you to get a better idea of the enemy’s attack or defense.
Practising Peeking in CS2
Improving your peeking skills for CS2 games requires constant practice:
- The first way to practice your peeking skills is to play Deathmatch mode or Retakes regularly. It puts you in different interaction scenarios, allowing you to hone your skills.
- The second option is to use practice aiming maps, such as aim_botz. We have recommended some of the maps here and here. These maps can help you work on your aim position and shooting accuracy, which is essential for effective peeking.
- If you are a fan of the eSports scene, try watching the pros and learn how to peek like a pro in CS2 in different situations. Their gameplay tells you a lot about timing, angles, and sneak peek strategies.
- Review your matches to determine the strengths and weaknesses of your peeking style. Look for patterns or mistakes in your approach and work to correct them.
And, of course, set aside time for specific peek practice. Work on different types of peeks and use various strategies to figure out what works best for you.
What Settings Help Perform Peeking Better
The fact that Counter-Strike 2 uses a new and improved engine means one thing – the graphics are better than ever before. While this is good news for most players, one thing to keep in mind is shadows.
If you or your enemy is using the highest settings, you can see the shadows of players on the ground. Depending on the angle and situation, there may be instances where enemies can see your shadow as you wait around the corner, even if you haven’t peeked yet.
You must choose the correct sound settings. Understanding your enemy’s location by the sounds they make will allow you to quickly peek and shoot at them with little to no danger or delay.
You also need to keep the crosshair and graphics settings in mind. In our article, we talked about the best settings for CS2 in detail.
Key Skills for Successful Peeking in CS2
To learn how to peek, you need to master several skills:
Aiming. You will only have a fraction of a second to kill you while peeking. In that time, you must aim for your enemy’s head, take the shot, and retreat to cover.
We have a great guide on improving your aim with map recommendations.
Strafe. Mastering the left hand is the difference between life and death during a sneak peek. A couple more moments in the enemy’s sights, and you’re dead.
Using sound to gather information. Understanding your enemy’s location by the sounds they make will allow you to quickly peek and shoot at them with virtually no danger or delay.
Summary
Learning to sneak peek in CS2 will significantly improve your gameplay, giving you an edge in competitive matches. Pay attention to the most common mistakes to avoid ruining the whole game.
Please don’t take too many risks; it can make you an easy target. Practice peeking to gather information with minimal risk. Repeating the same peeking patterns makes you predictable. Change your approach.
A lack of map awareness can derail your efforts. Map knowledge helps you anticipate where to peek and aim ahead of time. Never ignore sounds. Pay attention to sound cues to gain an advantage and make informed decisions.
