Awping 101 (The Basics)

"The 3 Basic Moves"

The AWP is the most feared and hated gun in Counter-strike. Some common complaints cried by players are: “It’s cheap”, “It’s a noob gun”, or “Why don’t you use a real gun?”. All these complaints arise from people who have no clue how to use the awp or are upset that they died by one. Below i'll explain to you 3 very basic awp skills that every good awper should know.

"The Line-up Shot"

One of the most fundamental awping techniques is “the line-up shot”. This move is a building block for all budding awpers and requires almost no aim to be successful.

The procedure for a “line up shot” is described in the 3 obvious steps below:

1. Get a good angle
2. Let your enemy walk into your cross-hair
3. Click your mouse when your target is lined up.

The key this technique is your ability to anticipate your opponents movements. If you hear your opponent running out of a hallway, simply follow the steps above, and you'll win 75% of the time (Assuming they don't know your position).

You’ll be amazed at how many average players fall for this; it will seem like they’re herding towards the little dot in the center of your scope.

Keep in mind good players will check spots before running into the open, so make sure you change positions and stay on the move.

One of the major malfunctions of new awpers is their curiosity. Have you ever heard the term, "curiosity killed the cat?" If you briefly see or hear an awper, don't peek and walk into his line of sight. Chances are he's waiting for you to herd into his cross-hair. For some reason new players have the urge to do this and it is one of the hardest habits to break. You need to understand that you never know who is on the other end of that awp. If they out-skill you, you’re dead. Even if you out-skill them, your reactions won’t always be top notch. You’re better off letting them come to you, giving you the edge. You can do this through another popular move...

"The Taunt Shot"

This is one of my favorite moves in a awp versus awp situation. The idea is very simple. Shoot to miss first. For example, say your opponent is a terrorist with an awp on Dust2 watching down middle from terrorist spawn. As a CT, you could quickly strafe and fire at double-doors before peeking into your opponent's line of sight. As soon as you hear them return fire, this time strafe out, line them up for the kill. This works in a nearly every awp versus awp situation. Most awpers will react to your "taunt shot" instinctively and will fire blindly at you. Due to the fact that you fired first, your reload will be about 1-2 seconds ahead of theirs. As long as you line them up in these 1-2 seconds after you heard their shot, you will win because they'll be unable to hit you because of their reload time.

"The Creep"

This technique was introduced by the snipers back in the days of Quake-world Team Fortress. It's exactly as it sounds. It involves you slowly creeping out around a corner or obstacle while moving the mouse to scan for enemies.

The beauty of this move is that you're basically using your cross-hair as the scanner, and it makes for very easy kills on unsuspecting, slower reacting players. Start out by strafing out slowly from a wall while sweeping your mouse towards the wall you are creeping out from. Make sure you get a wide angle to start with, nearly 90 degrees perpendicular to the wall you're strafing out from, and you should have no problem picking your target. As in all awp moves, this one works best when your opponent is not expecting you to creep out. If they are aware of your position, it's best not to peek.

In upcoming posts, i will cover much more advanced methods of awping, but this should be a good start for new awpers to sharpen their teeth in the meantime.