CS:GO Guide: Stacking & Boosting Spots on de_dust2

Welcome to CS:GO 101, our new article / video series focusing on the more technical and competitive aspects of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Over the next few months, ESEA News will be breaking down several key aspects of the game engine, including spamming, stacking, map design and grenade spots – amongst others – so that both new and old players alike can refine their play as the beta develops! When the game is finally released next year, we’ll have built the definitive collection of CS:GO tips and tricks. No stone will be left unturned; no game mechanic unexplored!

First up this week, we’re going to take a look at some stacking spots on de_dust2, the only competitive map released in the beta so far. Grab some teammates, start a local server, and try some of the following spots out for yourselves!

In Counter-Strike, "stacking" is the act of using crouched or stationery teammates to climb higher than you are able to individually, often providing access to previously unreachable locations. By stacking in unusual defensive spots, Counter-Terrorists are able to catch opponents off-guard as they push choke points, or create a more defensible angle from which to hold a bombsite. On the Terrorist side, stacks are often used to peek over objects or climb up onto the map props, allowing the attacking team to press a bombsite or get a pick from an unexpected height.

We’ll kick things off with a really simple stack at long A. By crouching on the bonnet of the car, a Counter-Terrorist is able to elevate one of his teammates to a slightly higher angle, allowing them to see over the corner of the concrete blocks and down long A. Any Terrorists that turn the corner are clearly visible, and would be easy kills for an AWPer holding this position. On the downside, this is one of the more obvious stacks, and defending players holding it are also clearly visible to the pushing Terrorists. Combine that with the relative difficulty of leaving the position after being seen, vulnerability to flashbangs, and an awkward skybox above the car, and the value of this stack may be fairly low in competitive play.

Our second stack at long A is WAY cooler, and actually allows defending CTs to see through the roof of long connector, spotting any Terrorists who are pushing through. This is most definitely a glitch, and it isn’t possible to fire at opponents or throw grenades through the skybox, but being able to see anybody pushing the choke point is extremely valuable, especially considering that the position is fairly unexpected as well. You can even see which weapons the Terrorists are holding, allowing you to turn away from flashbangs before they are even thrown. The downside is that this stack takes a little longer to assemble, and requires three people to see properly into Terrorist connector. A quicker alternative is to use just two people, with the second player jumping up and down on the wooden beams in order to peek into connector instead (though this makes you audible to opponents). The competitive value of this stack seems fairly high – provided that you have enough time to do it – and playing with another CT on the corner of long A would make this a very useful split setup.

Another fairly complex but interesting stack at long A is for the Terrorists, and requires three people initially. One player stands on the bricks and boosts two of his teammates onto the blue dumpster, from which they are both able to jump across to the top of the archway, as shown in the screenshot below. From there, the two players can stack on one another to peek the car, checking for any defending CTs. Sure, it’s a complex stack for just one pick, but in a tightly contested game there’s always scope to be thorough. The fence around the balcony is also a solid object, and reduces the damage of any shots that pass through it, meaning that any picks from this position will almost always need to be AWP headshots. Judge for yourselves how useful this one is!

Moving away from long A now, there’s also a very useful stack to be found in CT mid. By using the bricks near CT spawn to jump onto the scaffolding, CTs are able to stack up onto the concrete block, creating a higher position from which to AWP mid. The stacked player is actually higher than even the double doors and archway in mid, and can easily pick any Terrorists near the corner at the top. This setup takes no time at all, can be performed relatively safely at the beginning of a round, and is even difficult to spot from a Terrorist’s perspective. The only downside to this position in competitive play would be vulnerability to flashbangs, as well as a Terrorist rush through the double doors. There is little the Terrorists can do to devalue the spot (aside from smoking the top of mid themselves), and getting onto catwalk suddenly becomes a far harder task, as even the jump onto xbox is covered.

Another quick and easy stack is this position on the CT portion of catwalk. By standing at the very edge of the platform, a CT is able to elevate his teammate into the new windows that sink into the wall, creating a high and unorthodox angle from which to look into mid. Any Terrorists checking catwalk from mid are likely to have their crosshair positioned far lower, giving the CT the initial advantage, and any other attackers who are heading down mid to double doors or tunnels are an easy pick. However, the position is still very vulnerable to flashbangs, and the only way out is to drop down behind the stairs and then run back up. In the event of a sudden Terrorist catwalk push, it’s a risky place to be.

The added detail on CS:GO props and boxes means that a lot of two-player stacks from 1.6 and Source can now be accomplished by a single player alone, and this position in CT spawn is a particularly good example. Getting onto the CT spawn boxes in CS: Source meant having to use your teammates head, but in GO you can simply jump up the protruding edges of crates, reaching the position with relative ease. In the screenshots above, no stacking was necessary, and the player was able to reach the spots by simply climbing boxes and jumping across to the left hand side. The third screenshot shows an extremely useful position for holding CT mid / B ramp, as it’s very difficult for attackers to clear the angle without overcommitting. A CT playing the position is able to hide behind the box by crouching, forcing Terrorists to come right into CT spawn to get the kill, and is even able to see over most smoke grenades thrown into mid.

There are two other positions that required a stack in 1.6 and Source but are now accessible individually in CS:GO. The first (and most useful) is the tall box immediately beside the tunnel entrance in B bombsite, which can now be climbed up without the help of a teammate. By standing flush with the wall and crouch jumping, players are able to jump onto the first small ledge, upon which they can strafe right a little and jump up again to reach the top. The second position is on the boxes in long A connector, which can also be climbed up individually in CS:GO. While fairly useless to Terrorists, any aggressive CTs that manage to push into connector and have a little time to work may find it a useful holding position. At the very least, it’s an unusual spot to find a CT, and forces any pushing Terrorists to move their crosshair upward for the shot, giving the crosshair placement advantage to the defending CT.

So there you go! A tour-de-force of some initial stacks and interesting positions from the CS:GO version of dust2. It’ll be interesting to see what value many of these spots actually have in competitive play, though we’re a long way off being able to properly test that. In the meantime, Valve are going to be regularly patching and updating the beta over the coming months, so there’s no telling what will eventually be fixed or removed.

Stay tuned to ESEA News over the next few weeks for even more exclusive CS:GO content, and the continuation of this article series! If you’re still in search of a CS:GO beta key, be sure to like the ESEA Facebook page and join the Steam Community group for regular giveaways.

Oh and P.S... massive thanks to my teammates Joe Clement, Danny Hayes and Mike Mock for spending three straight hours stacking with me! We really like this game ;)