Key terms for communication in CS2

Communication is a key aspect of every successful team, and that includes Counter-Strike 2 teams.

In CS2, communication comes thick and fast, and being able to understand what people as well as say the right thing in an instant can be the difference between winning or losing a round. Having a nice aim certainly helps, but we've done a guide on that elsewhere.

The keywords and terminology used by CS players is something that has been developed over decades, so don't worry if you're new to the game and you're struggling to get a hang of it.

If you are one of those players, then this article is for you. We here at BLAST.tv have created a CS2 communication guide, putting together a list of all of the most important key terms in Counter-Strike 2.

CS2 positional communication terms

Let's start off with positional communication in CS2. These terms will help you to understand more about the roles within the game so that you can set your team up better in-game.

• Anchor - An anchor is the principal defender of a bombsite. These are often left alone and they will be the last player to rotate from the bombsite.
• Anti-flash - 'Playing anti-flash' or 'going anti-flash' refers to looking at the floor or a wall in order to decrease the effectiveness of an enemy flashbang. This is a tactic normally employed with a teammate nearby as it limits visibility.
• Bombsite/Site - The objectives on the map. The CTs defend them, and the Ts attack them.
• Boost - Boost can have two meanings. The first will refer to you or a teammate asking to 'boost' on the other's head by jumping on top of them, this will provide a height advantage. The second can refer to a spot on a map that requires a boost to reach. The most famous of these spots is on Cache.
• Entry Fragger - The first player to run out and attack a bombsite.
• Gamble stack - Guessing at where the T side will go at the end of the round and placing the majority of your numbers there, typically done in a man-down situation.
• Lurker - A terrorist role suitable for players who are comfortable playing alone and are smart enough to see gaps within the CT side to gain an advantage.
• Rotator - Rotators are CT players who play active positions, often looking for early fights for map control and rotating to new spots on the map when there is the information to do so.
• Stack - The decision to put all of your players on one bombsite at the start of a round. Typically done on eco rounds.

CS2 gunfight communication terms

These CS2 communication keywords will help you understand the different types of fights within the game.

• Bait - Acting as bait for your teammate t have a more advantageous fight. Effective when on low HP.
• Baiting - Can be used negatively if a player refuses to go first or isn’t trading properly, but also can be used in the positive sense in regards to a player trading someone who is acting as the aforementioned bait.
• Dink - A headshot on an armoured opponent that hasn't killed them.
• Dry-peek - Peeking an angle without any form of supportive utility, such as flashbangs, being thrown.
• Get exits/Exit frag - Kills from a player who is already saving towards the end of a round. These kills can be valuable for damaging the economy of the opposing team.
• Gush - A headshot on an unarmoured opponent that hasn't killed them.
• Hold/holding - The position your crosshair is currently fixed on.
• Jiggle-peek/Shoulder-peek - Peeking your shoulder out from behind cover in an attempt to bait out enemy gunfire and gain information on the location of an enemy.
• Legged - Hitting an AWP shot without killing the opponent.
• No-scope - Attempting a shot with an AWP, Scout, or Auto-Sniper without scoping in.
• Lit - A term for describing heavy damage that has been taken or inflicted.
• One-tap/One-deag - Killing an enemy with a single bullet to the head. Called a one-deag when doing so with a Desert Eagle.
• Pop-flash - A flashbang that gives no warning to the enemy that it is about to explode.
• Pre-aim - Pre-emptively aiming at a specific spot that a player is likely to be in when going around a corner.
• Pre-fire - Shooting at a known enemy position before seeing the enemy.
• Quickscope - Quickly scoping in with an AWP, Scout, or Auto-Sniper and firing instantly for a precise shot.
• Refrag/Trade frag/Trade - Killing an enemy soon after they have killed your teammate.
• Spam - Firing into a smoke or wall, often without concrete information, to try and kill or tag an opponent who is likely to be behind whatever you are spamming.
• Spray - Holding down the trigger to keep firing in full-auto.
• Tag - Hitting an enemy once or twice to gain info on their whereabouts due to blood or sound cues.
• Wallbang - Hitting or killing someone by shooting them through a wall.
• Whiff - An embarrassing missed shot.

CS2 round-based communication terms

These next CS2 communication keywords are words that you may hear during rounds when teammates are telling you what the plan for the round should be.

• Anti-eco - A round where teammates are expecting the enemy team to have a lower buy with weaker guns and less utility. Your teammates will want to play a more passive style as a result.
• Anti-strat/Counter-strat - A round in which the strategy is specifically designed to counter what the enemy team has been doing.
• Contact - Creeping towards a bombsite with the aim of bursting onto it once the CTs see you.
• Counter-utility - Utility thrown in response to utility thrown by the enemy team, often to prevent them from attempting to take map control.
• Default - A default is the default strategy employed by the T side on a map. These setups usually involve the T's spreading across the map in order to gain information on what the CTs are doing.
• Double eco - When the team has so little money and a weak enough loss bonus that it is better to force-buy because they will otherwise be forced to save for two rounds in a row.
• Eco/Full-eco - ‘Eco’ is short for economy. Therefore, this term is used to describe a round in which either team has bought nothing at all.
• Execute - A set, organised effort by the T side to take a bombsite with the use of smokes, flashbangs, and Molotovs that is designed to force the defenders out of position and split them up.
• Fake - Throwing utility or making noise towards one bombsite in order to pull rotations before executing onto the other bombsite.
• Force-buy - A round in which the team can’t buy everything they need but decide to buy everything they can anyway. This will be done because they can either buy an amount they deem to be enough or because the enemy team also has a weak economic situation.
• Hero-AK/Hero buy - A round in which a maximum of one or two players can buy a primary weapon. This is typically done as part of a force-buy or if one player has a large sum of money more than his teammates so it won’t affect the next round. Can also be done with an AWP, although that will typically be done by CTs.
• Ninja defuse - Defusing the bomb without being seen by the enemies.
• Reset - Breaking a team’s economy so it is weakened enough to the point they are forced to save or are on double-eco.
• Retake - Attempting to recapture a position after the enemy team has taken it. This will typically be used after the bomb has been planted but could be said in regard to map control.
• Rotating - Moving to a new position based on information or after being seen.
• Rush - Running straight at a bombsite at the start of the round with the hope of catching the CTs off-guard.
• Save - Deciding not to continue trying to win the round so that equipment can be carried into the next round. It can also be said at the start of a round when calling to save for an eco round.
• Smoke-defuse - Using a smoke to obscure vision of the bomb to make defusing it easier.

General terms for communication in CS2

These are general terms for communication you will hear during your time playing CS2.

• 1g - Named after the streamer summit1g, this refers to burning to death in your own Molotov.
• ADR - The ‘average damage per round’ statistic.
• CTs - The Counter-Terrorist side.
• Demo - A replay of a previously played match, downloaded to be re-watched and analysed.
• Drop - Dropping an item or weapon to a teammate.
• Game sense - Refers to a player’s intellectual ability within the game. This relates to how they read situations and respond to them.
• Glass cannon - Buying an AWP without armour.
• Peeker’s advantage - The inherent advantage that a player has when peeking an opponent, can be made more powerful by network latency.
• Reset - Breaking a team’s economy so it is weakened enough to the point they are forced to save or are on double-eco.
• T’s - The terrorist side.
• Utility - The grenades within the game: HE grenades, flashbangs, smoke grenades, Molotovs, decoy grenades, and incendiary grenades.
• Walls - A colloquial term for wall hacks, a cheat that allows people to see through walls.