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How to Master CS2 Communication

Picture this: you are in an extremely tense rank-up game, and as you enter a one versus three scenario, your teammate, in a half grumble, yells over the voice chat, “he is over there.” What could have been a game-changing round is lost simply because of a poor statement. Effective communication is the key to success in a game where players rely heavily upon one another. CS2 is an extremely fast-paced, competitive environment in which every second matters. The most minor mistakes can lead to round loss or, even worse, lost games. Crucial information must be transferred between a team of 5 rapidly if any team looks for success.

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What Is Communication Within CS2?

CS2 offers a wide variety of communication methods to all players. From custom pings to voice commands and even active voice chat, CS2 has many ways to communicate. Possibly the most commonly used feature is team chat, an open chatlog that players from the same team may use to communicate ideas or plans with the other four teammates playing with them. Communication can be the smallest ping of a direction or location to an exact callout or plan for the round; no matter what, communicating is essential to any game of CS2. Commonly, communications are related to what’s going on within the round, such as enemy locations, discussing strategy, or acknowledging dangers.

What Are The Best Forms Of Communication?

Though all communication is helpful in some way, the best communication is through voice chat. Whether through external calling platforms like Discord and Teamspeak or simply the in-game voice chat, communicating through the spoken word allows critical information to be shared far faster than typing it out in any text chat. Alternative forms of communication, such as text chat and pings, are helpful, but both require using either keys or time. What could be a simple sentence spoken out loud takes twice the time to type out, not only wasting precious time within the round but also leaving you exposed as you stand still and type. Although voice chat can be challenging to use when speaking to strangers, by far, it is the best way to communicate clearly and concisely within a team.

How Can You Improve Your CS2 Communication?

5. Specific terms

An essential part of communication in a high-paced shooter environment is clear and concise communication on the location of enemy positions throughout the match. The worst thing to hear well in a clutch situation is, “he’s over there.” this statement is almost detrimental to the team as vague statements leave everyone confused and afraid. A more effective example would be, for instance, on the popular map Mirage, to say “one palace.” This is a perfect example of simple communication as it simply informs the team of the location of at least one hostile. Learning the primary locations and calls of the popular maps within CS2 is simple and essential to any CS2 player. The higher the accuracy of communication, the better chance you give your team to succeed, as they have more information to work with and process.

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4. Helpful And Supportive Communication Skills

We have all been in extreme despair as the team goes wild, pointing fingers at one another for a mistake. Keeping team morale up within a lobby is crucial to every match you play. Communicating in a supportive way creates a more positive team environment where fun and improvement can be fostered to form proper teammates. Cussing out a teammate for a simple or big mistake is beyond detrimental, as a player’s mental can be shattered after even one comment. When speaking with a teammate, regardless of a good or bad performance, the use of positive upliftment can go so much further than hate and malice towards one another. A simple “nice try” or “good play” can boost someone’s mental through the roof as positive bonds can be formed, paving the way for a more effective team overall. Toxic communication is not the only detrimental form within CS2; joke calls or useless communication can commonly distract a player or, even worse, an entire team. An important skill to develop is acknowledging when communicating with toxic. You, as a human being, should not be forced to put up with toxic individuals, especially when playing a video game. Learning to mute in the place of arguing or responding to trolls is very important to the team and you as an individual. Keeping comments relevant to the moment at hand and accurate to what’s currently happening is essential to reliable team communication skills. Of course, constructive feedback has its place within a team’s communication, but the focus of advice should not be the sudden transformation that you, a simple player, have to become a professional coach; instead, simple times should be provided.

3. Choosing Who You Play With

Why play with someone you know lacks the social skills to assist you within CS2? It’s a problematic idea to agree with, but some individuals lack the maturity or dedication to provide concise feedback to the team. Additionally, choosing the team you succeed with is essential. Merely playing with strangers is essentially rolling the dice every time you click the accept match button, as you have no idea whether or not random strangers even have the simplest of communicative abilities. Queueing with a predetermined team of players (commonly known as a “5 stack”) allows for the highest form of effective communication to be produced as not only do you as an individual feel more comfortable in a setting where you are familiar with the players at your side, but also know that your teammates know how to communicate in a way you can understand properly is essential to CS2 communication.

2. Keep Communications Short And To The Point

Your teammates do not need to describe the pixel your enemy is standing on. A simple call (ideally shorter than five words) keeps the focus uninterrupted. Going hand in hand with this idea is the topic of communication after death; the first thing you should do upon death is give the information you know about the enemy and then be quiet. Backseat gaming is one of the highest levels of frustration any gamer can experience, regardless of the game. Your teammate does not need chatter in their ear in ninety percent of post-death scenarios. Another critical point of this topic is the communication rules in a 1vX scenario. Regardless of how many enemies your solo teammate is up against, the best way to aid them is to stay silent (unless otherwise asked for information.) At the very least, you should be communicating if you are sure they missed the enemy (or enemies) and you caught them.

1. Discuss Strategies

The worst scenario in any round is an unplanned rush or, worse, a team split simply going kill-thirsty. Communicating a plan such as “rushing b site” or ” slow a rush” can be essential, no matter the simple nature of the comment. Blindly playing the game is the exact issue that traps players in the lowest ranks, as they will be outplayed by any team with a strategy and effective communication. Learning some basic plays and teaching sed plays to your team can lead to significant improvements as the team moves like a well-lubricated machine.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read our article! Many tips could significantly improve your team’s communication, but we hope these five help you the most. If you have more strategies that have helped you communicate, please share them below!