Thread: Tips on making calls

Unclemarks post about up and coming shot callers prompted me to write this up for aspiring callers. This is mostly for guys that are new at calling or would like to try it out. I'm just going to address some very commons mistakes, and give a few pointers on how to be an effective play caller.

1. Brevity
Be as short and concise with your calls as possible. Good calls are generally no more than a string of known map locations put together in the order you want them run through:

Example on Inferno: First 2 out of spawn fake mid, Everyone else: Alt mid to B apartments, screen door, Jump out of window, Back down Alt Mid, Banana to A.

That's a pretty complex call in the grander scheme of CSS, but it's much simpler when you just rattle off the directions as locations.

Example on Nuke: First group down vents, Everyone else: Outside to Downstairs, hold for 5 seconds, Reverse Upstairs, Heaven to A.

Again, just rattling off the locations in the order you want them executed is all that’s really needed which keeps it simple, clear and concise.

2. Repeat the call.
The examples I gave above might throw some people off, especially newcomers. Simply repeating the call while you're executing helps keep everyone on track. This is especially important when it's lengthy or unusual.

3. Spawn points
I’m consistently amazed at how few people take spawn position into account when making a call. Most people understand what a “B” jump is on Dust2, but I’ll re-state for reference here: when 4 players spawn on the B side of the wall in T spawn, that’s a B jump. Your team is pre-positioned best to attack B. Pretty much everything else is an A jump.

Now you can call an A strat with a B jump, but realize that your team will arrive at their positions later than they would if you called an A strat with an A jump. This can lead to your team getting stomped on at short A, or the CT’s getting to pit before the T’s can get out of long double doors… that slight delay can spell disaster… both for the team, and you as a the caller.

So, being a student of spawn positioning will make calling much easier for you. You won’t have to think as much when deciding which bombsite to attack, it’s randomly generated for you every round by the spawn positions. This has the added effect of making you more unpredictable, so use it!

Some other examples of calls based on spawn positions:
Piranesi: Go B when there’s a T on the very top right of the T spawn ramp. That’s a B jump because that player is the closest the T’s will ever get to B out of spawn. That player needs to buy flashes and lead that rush!

Nuke: When you get ½ the team spawning way up front, and the other in the back, that’s a split spawn and is a great position. Send the front half one way, the other half forking the other.

For example: 1st half go Outside to A, back ½ go straight into A (pincer move!)
OR
1st half go Outside to Downstairs to B, back half delay ramp to B (another pincer!)

You get the idea, keep your eye on the team spawn to help you best match starting position to objective.

4. Groups and Names
The most common groups I know of are “top 2 & bomb” or “top 3 & bomb”, know when to use which. Generally, you want “top 2 & bomb” when there are 7 or less players on the CT team OR if you intend to go with the bomb group and are not in the top 3. Use “top 3 & bomb” when there are 8 or more CT’s.
Obviously you can vary this by making the group larger or smaller, but realize that a small fake team may not really fake CT’s enough, and a bomb group that’s too small may not be able to hold onto the bombsite (or sometimes doesn’t even take it). So, as a general rule, I keep it to 4 players on the bomb team when CT’s have 8 or more players.

Tip: Say the names of the top 2 or 3 when a bunch of non-regs are on. This helps make sure everyone gets to where their supposed to be.

5. Strategy
Ok, here’s where you will shine. Here’s why you decided to become a strat caller. You want to out-think your opponent. You want have the answer when everything is going wrong…. Well, no matter how good you are, you won’t always have the answer BUT you can certainly be prepared.

We talked about the importance of spawn position already, but spawn position really only matters on a rush because of the speed requirement. If you’re doing anything else, don’t worry about it. In general strats come in 4 varieties.

The Rush
By far the most popular. You get to a point as fast as possible so as to outnumber the opponent at the point of attack, thereby overwhelming them with superior force. You may or may not be surprised to know how few people realize that speed is of the essence in a rush… lagging behind, stopping for picks, etc. This is your primary tool, so this is where you really need to get everyone working together. Use this when you’ve got cash, you’ve got the team behind you, you’ve got the CT’s off balance. Also use rushes to set up other calls on subsequent rounds.

For instance: On Inferno, you might call mid to B as a rush. The next round you might call "Around the World", hoping the CTs will remember your mid to B rush and over-rotate to it, leaving Banana vacant. I call this running a series. Don't do it always or you'll be predictable, but be aware that the efficacy/action of your previous call may cause a CT response, and learn to exploit it.

The Fake
You get the majority (hopefully all) of the CTs moving to one site, while you attack another. Get a bomb team together and have them sit it out somewhere out of the way. Everyone else rushes a sight. Use this to try and get the CT team off balance and to prevent fast rotation, when you’re down on cash just to get some plant money, or as a twist when the straight rushes are working (you know they will over-rotate).

The Slow-play
You either try to pick away at them, or camp them. Slow-play is mostly about numeric superiority in players or cash.
When to slow-play? If you’re short on cash, try a glock rush or slow-play. If they have 2 or more players than you, slow-play. If they’re rushing you, turn the tables and become CTs by calling a slow-play. If you need to give the team a breather, slow-play. If you couldn’t get the call off in time, or the bomb is afk, slow-play. Sometimes it’s good to fake a rush/throw some flashes & grenades into a site and then slow-play to see if you can catch rotators. Try to get up 2-4 players, then make a move.

The Set-up
sort of a slow-play, sort of a fake. You get into position first, then rush! This is best used when you’re trying to attack one site from 2 or 3 positions that aren’t normally set up for it. Aztec’s bombsites are examples of this. You get some guys in the water with smoke, then rush DD and water when you’re in position. Another example is B site on D2. You get some guys flashing long and short, then going mid. When they get to mid, the other half rushes B tunnels to B. There are plenty of calls waiting to be created here. This is where you can really dream it up and bring new call content to CS.

6. Maps
When looking at what calls to make on a map, you should consider a few basic things.

The chokepoints
All maps have these, but you want to find multiple ways to attack the sites. Cobble is an example of a map with really only 1 way to attack each site and so is a tough map for T’s. On the other hand, Piranesi has 3 ways to get to A, and you can stay out of sight until you’re at B making it significantly more T friendly. Make sure to think about how you’re attacking sites, and the natural timing of when players will arrive at different locations to help plan strats.

The CT and T connectors
Always good to know how fast you can get from one side of the map to another. Again Cobble is tough for T’s because CT’s can rotate from A to B in just a few seconds with their connector. Nuke is easier for T rotation for the same reason as long as they’re covering the rear. Be sure to think about this when you’re faking sites or if you decide it’s time to reverse a call.

Visibility
You really want maps where T’s can stay out of sight of the CT’s until they’re right outside of the bombsite. Maps like Cobble and Inferno aren’t good for that, as the T’s can be spotted long before they get to where they’re going. Dust2 is good because T’s can stay out of sight until they’re at B or Short A by using smoke, same with Piranesi. Try to keep the bomber out of sight until you’re where you want to be.

Most of all, win or lose, be sure to have fun.

Great article Manno.