How to Counter Strafe in CS2

Many different techniques exist for movement in CS2, and today I will talk about counter-strafing. You are probably wondering what “Counter Strafe” is and I will make sure to explain everything in detail, and you will be amazed at how much it can improve your peeking, aiming, and in the end, scoreline. Here’s how to counter strafe in CS2. Most pro players do it!

What is Counter Strafing in CS2?

So, you are all probably aware that when you are running in most FPS games, your aim will be significantly swayed, and you won’t hit the mark in almost all cases. Therefore, you need to fully stop, before restoring your accuracy to 100%.

Now, the usual way people go about doing this is just letting go of the movement keys altogether, and allowing your character to stop on its own. However, the Counter Strafing technique is something that allows you to stop your character faster, and hold it in a steady position! The procedure is simple in theory, but you might need some time to adapt.

To counter strafe in CS2, you need to move in one direction (let’s say, you’re moving right, and holding D) and then you need to press and hold the opposite movement button (A, in this case) while NOT letting go of the other key. It may seem unnatural to you at first, but it is what it is.

What effect does this produce?

While holding both A and D, your character can’t move sideways, and also, due to counter strafing, your character will try to add velocity to the opposite vector of movement, rather than just letting the movement speed of your side step fade away naturally. This leads you to a marginally faster stopping of your movement, believe it or not. In a sense, it’s like hitting a brake on your car.

Competitive FPS games are where fractions of a second matter so I believe this should help you. At any rate, you can test out your movement speed in single-player. Boot up an empty map and type in sv_cheats 1 and then cl_showpos 1 and then, in the top-left corner of your screen, you can see your speed (velocity). Now, compare how fast it decreases to zero if you just let go of the controls, with the counter strafe technique. The difference is visible to the naked eye.

If you commit enough time to practice this method, you are bound to see results quickly.

How to Peek Better in CS2

In conclusion, short advice: Do not peek around the corner while moving forward. It will be impossible to counter-strafe. It will take some time to practice this, but I assure you, it’s more effective to just use the sideways movement buttons for peeking. Also, at the time of writing this article, peeker’s advantage is HUGE, so you ought to become decent in this discipline.

That’s all for this guide. Make sure to check out how to most efficiently rank up in CS2 competitive matchmaking.