In Counter-Strike 2, you must constantly move around the map: get from cover to cover, watch out for enemies, and even collide with them, surprising each other. In order for such meetings not to be your last in a round, you need to know how to peek in CS2. Peeking is a method of moving from behind an obstacle (corner, cover, wall, etc). What are the peeks in CS2? How to peek and counterpeek? CS.MONEY Blog prepared a thorough guide.
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Quality peeking is one of the most vital skills in a player’s arsenal. With successful peeks, you can collect information and effectively engage in firefights. The main task of any peek is simple: to get as much advantage as possible with the least risk. Therefore, a good peek should be lightning-quick, surprising and, at the same time, cautious.
Let’s talk about CS2 peeks. But first, we suggest you make a quick peek at the skins on CS.MONEY. It’s the easiest way to trade: fast deals, prices below Steam and various filters. Don’t hesitate; go style up!
Types of CS2 peeks
There are five types peeks in CS2. Basically, it means you can peek from around the barrier in five ways:
- casual/regular peek
- shoulder peek
- Jiggle-peek
- long/wide peek
- ducking/crouching peek
Casual/regular peeks in CS2 are the easiest. Tease your enemy a little by showing yourself from both sides of the cover (or the only side), counter-strafe and shoot or slip back into cover. It’s important not to go too wide or long; you need to show yourself to the enemy as little as possible.
Shoulder peeks are performed to collect information or bait your enemy for a shot. Here, get out of cover as quickly as possible and go back in an instant. At the same time, try not unveiling yourself to the enemy as much as you can. Showing just a shoulder tip and hiding again is more than enough. Basically, the name says it all.
Jiggle-peeking is an advanced technique. It’s a whole series of small strafes in opposite directions. This technique allows you to check positions one by one without being exposed to enemy fire. Note that Jiggle-peek can still be countered: your enemy can still calculate the moment and click your head.
Long/wide peeks and ducking peeks pretty much speak for themselves. With the first, just jump from your cover at a greater-than-usual distance. With the second, combine it with a duck/crouch. Both techniques have a common idea: to deceive the enemy’s expectations and force them to re-aim, which will buy you some time.
What is MJ Peek? The Michael Jackson Peek in CS2 – Does it Still Exist?
MJ Peek is a bug that caused player models to first come out from behind a corner with their torsos and only then with their legs, which looked like Michael Jackson’s famous dance move. So it’s not a mechanic or a way to peek in CS2, it’s just a visual bug. MJ peek is no longer in CS2, it can’t be repeated or seen: Valve fixed this bug a long time ago, and it didn’t stay in CS2 for long. But it was pretty cool!
How to peek correctly in CS2?
Any good peek in CS2 requires three steps: preparation, timing, and execution. Let’s look at each point in more detail.
Movement plays an important role. It is vital to enter from a good position and stop as quickly as possible. Counter-strafe will help with stopping, but a good position should be discussed separately.
Distance is an important parameter. The closer you are to cover/corner and the further the enemy is from it, the sooner they will notice you and vice versa. Just the usual rules of perspective, no magic. Does this mean that you should choose the maximum distance from cover for a good peek? Yes and no. The choice of distance depends on a whole bunch of factors, starting with the weapon in your hands and ending with the geometry of the map itself. Here the rule for correct peeking is simple: do not press yourself to cover before you peek. Take a step or two back and only then come out.
Timing is also an important element for a successful peek. Catching a good timing is not easy, but possible. To do this, you need to focus on the environment and understand the timings of a particular map.
Finally, aiming. One of the most important skills, if not the most important, in a player’s arsenal. In the case of peeks, the position of the sight plays a key role. Before leaving cover, you need to roughly estimate where the enemy might be standing and aim at that position. It is worth remembering that although the one opening has an advantage due to the peculiarity of the network code, the one receiving stands still and waits for the exit. Therefore, a pre-set sight significantly helps when picking.
Entry’s Advantage
CS2 is an online FPS game. Ideally, all the players and the server have the same game state data. These days people talk about 64 and 128 tickrate servers, gigabit ICs, and a whole bunch of other technologies to get rid of lagging and ping. But in real life, it’s impossible for everyone to have perfect connection. Let’s give credit to Valve’s programmers: in CS2, the Entry player may not have a technical advantage.
See, in CS2, a player to enter by peeking and executing a proper tactic and therefore winning an opening duel is called an entry fragger. Even if you’re just peeking behind a box and not even planning to enter a site, you’re still in an Entry position. You have to enter. And the Entry player (Peeker) always has the advantage equal to the defender’s ping. Indeed, at a LAN game with near zero ping, such a player has no technical advantage, only pure skill. Even when playing online with a ping of about 50 or lower, the advantage of the Entry player is just one factor, but not a decisive one. Aiming time, counterstrafe, and other factors also take time and somewhat reduce the importance of Entry’s technical advantage.
Finally, trying to counter a peek with a ping of over a hundred is a serious problem. In such a situation, the game’s network code gives the defender the same advantage as you would have as an Entry player. You will see the target much earlier and be able to react.
Perspective and Initiation
In addition to the technical advantage, which, as we found out, might be levelled, two more aspects are beneficial for peeking in CS2. First, the Entry player has the Initiative. As long as the defender simply holds the corner, the Entry/Peeker has the Initiative. You can prepare the peek and do everything at your own pace.
This leads to another advantage: by having the Initiative, an Entry player also gets the opportunity to win the fight for Perspective. Simply told, the closer you stand to the corner, the greater part of the field of view this corner blocks. Therefore, it is more profitable for both the defender and the Entry to be as far as possible from cover.
The Entry player can choose the distance to their cover when peeking, but the Defender must work off what they have. This usually means taking a default position at a maximum distance from a corner or cover. Obviously, such a position is easy to read. As a result, the Defender becomes an excellent target for the prefire. That’s basically why and how in CS2 aggressive peeking players like donk, malbs, and others win a lot of duels and are highly valued.
How to counterpeek right?
It’s pretty hard to learn instantly how to counterpeek. If the Entry player (Peeker) does everything right (prepared, aimed, and timed), winning against such a peek/entrance is almost impossible. So the best way to win against a peek is to interfere with their preps and timings.
When facing a peek, you need to constantly move and switch positions. Get closer or further than usual, crouch/duck or vice versa, do a boost, and so on. One can only catch the Entry Peeker by surprise and win the duel by creating chaos. You can also seize the initiative. Having jumped out on a player preparing for the peek, you can quickly make a frag and retreat to your defensive position. This is a risky manoeuvre, but it can be effective.
Speaking of timings, you can follow simple rules. First, make no sound. There is no point in endlessly clicking the zoom or stomping back and forth. No matter how joyful it is to spam your AWP’s sight, it will not help to win the game. Second, you need to understand what and why you are doing on the map. If you are holding a specific pass, don’t leave your position as soon as you hear a flashbang pop somewhere.
Tactics for Peeking in CS2
Peeking is a risky move, high risk and high reward. You can increase the chance of success by using one of the tactics:
- Prefire peek. Which is pretty simple. On all maps there are standard positions that players hold. Just learn them and attack with prefire as it allows you to clear such positions much more effectively.
- Double peek. Another simple move that requires basic communication and a teammate. Coming out from behind cover at the same time and together you can almost guarantee if not a clean frag, then at least an exchange/trade.
- Pop Flash Peek. While holding a position, players aim at a predictable place. This allows you to successfully use flashbangs to gain an advantage when peeking.
- Bold peeking is also possible, but this is the most risky move, which should be saved for desperate situations.
Most Common Mistakes When Peeking
Although peeking is a relatively simple thing that just needs to be mastered in CS2 by playing A LOT, coming out from behind a corner and giving the enemy a headshot, you can make a lot of mistakes when doing it. Most often, players make one or more of the four mistakes below:
- Too many buttons. The easiest way to exit from behind a corner is to move sideways, that is, use the left or right movement keys. Using other movement keys, forward, backward, or jump, usually makes it worse.
- Poor aiming. In an ideal scenario, during a peek, the player stops at the same time as the sight stops on the enemy’s head. If your sight is looking somewhere far from the enemy model, then the peek becomes much less effective.
- Overpeeking. Peeking too often or too aggressively, constantly coming out from behind cover is also a mistake. A shoulder peek is a useful tool that should not be neglected.
- Unprepared peek. In each round, you have two minutes to implement your plan. There is no point in rushing headlong forward. It is better to prepare a peek, collect information, throw a flash, and only then go out to the defenseless enemy.
A peek is an important technique in the player’s arsenal. Timely and high-quality peeks allow you to gain a numerical advantage and significantly increase the chance of winning a round. Therefore, if you want to raise your rating, you should definitely devote time to peek training.
