CS2 Smoke Lineups: Essential Smokes for Every Map

Why Smokes Matter

Smoke grenades are the single most important utility in CS2. A well-placed smoke blocks enemy vision for 18 seconds, creates safe plant positions, delays rotations, and enables your team to take map control without firing a shot. Bad smokes — or worse, no smokes — leave your team exposed to angles they cannot trade.

What Makes a Good Smoke

• •Blocks the most dangerous angle at the point of contact — your smoke should neutralize AWP positions and crossfire setups.
• •Lands consistently from a safe position — you should never have to expose yourself to throw it.
• •Has a clear follow-up — every smoke should enable your team to do something: plant, push, flash over, or rotate.
• •Does not smoke off your own team — a poorly placed smoke can block your teammates more than your enemies.

In CS2, the volumetric smoke system means smokes are slightly less opaque at the edges and can be affected by HE grenades. This makes precision more important than ever — a smoke that is even slightly off can be seen through or pushed through with utility.

Mirage Essential Smokes

Mirage is the most smoke-dependent map in CS2. A standard A-site execute requires three smokes minimum (connector, CT, and jungle), and mid control requires at least one (window). Here are the smokes you must know.

A-Site Smokes

1. 1.Connector Smoke — Stand in the back-left corner of T-Ramp (A main entrance). Align your crosshair with the bottom of the antenna on the skybox building. Left-click throw. This blocks the connector player from seeing your team push onto site.
2. 2.Window Smoke (from T-Spawn) — Stand on the left side of the T-Spawn boxes. Aim at the corner where the building meets the sky above mid. Jump-throw bind. This blocks the AWPer watching mid from window and is critical for any mid-to-A split.
3. 3.Jungle Smoke — From T-Ramp, align with the electrical box on the left wall. Aim at the top of the white building trim. Running left-click throw. This isolates the jungle player and prevents them from spraying into your team during the plant.

B-Site Smokes

• •Short/Catwalk Smoke — Thrown from B apartments to block the short rotation. Essential for delaying CTs rotating from mid.
• •Market Window Smoke — Blocks the market player from watching the plant spot. Throw from the back of B apartments using the doorframe as alignment.

Inferno Essential Smokes

Inferno has the tightest chokepoints in the game. Without proper smokes, pushing banana or taking A-site is nearly impossible against coordinated teams.

Banana Control

1. 1.Banana Smoke (deep) — From T-side second mid, aim at the top of the wooden structure past banana. Jump-throw. This smokes off the CT holding the bottom of banana and lets your team push up safely.
2. 2.Moto Smoke — From banana after taking control, throw a smoke at the motorcycle/car area to block the CT who plays close from the B-site corner. This is essential before committing to the B-site take.
3. 3.CT Smoke — From the bottom of banana, aim above the CT-spawn archway. Left-click throw. This blocks rotations from CT-spawn and isolates the B anchor.

A-Site Smokes

• •Arch-side Smoke — Blocks the arch player from watching apartments exit. Critical for any A execute.
• •Library Smoke — Thrown from apartments to block the library angle. Pairs with the arch smoke to create safe plant conditions.
• •Pit Smoke — Blocks the pit AWPer on A-site. Only necessary if you have intel that an AWP is playing pit.

Practice Routine

Knowing lineups intellectually is useless if you cannot throw them under pressure. Here is a 15-minute practice routine to build consistency.

1. 1.Load a private server with sv_cheats 1, sv_infinite_ammo 1, sv_grenade_trajectory_prac_pipreview 1, and bind a key to noclip.
2. 2.Pick one map and throw each smoke 10 times in a row. If you miss even once, restart the count for that smoke.
3. 3.After landing all 10 consistently, practice the full execute sequence: throw all 3-4 smokes in rapid succession as if it were a real round.
4. 4.Time yourself. A good A-execute smoke sequence on Mirage should take under 4 seconds from first throw to last smoke landing.
5. 5.Repeat this routine for 3 days, then move to the next map. After 2 weeks, cycle back and verify retention.

Use the console command sv_grenade_trajectory_prac_pipreview 1 in CS2 to see exactly where your smoke will land before you throw it. This is the single best tool for learning lineups quickly.