Mechanics and fundamentals - 4.5
To take a duel or not
In one line: Before fighting, ask four things: what do I know, how is my position, what utility do I have and how much time is there. Take duels where you have at least one edge; otherwise delay, wait or go another way.
Read first: Peeking and angles
An even duel is a coin flip
Two players of similar skill, both ready, facing each other: who wins? About half the time each. An even duel is a coin toss, and leaving rounds to coin tosses is the fastest way to lose them.
Strong players do not win every duel. They choose duels where they have an edge and decline (or delay) the ones where they do not. The result is that, even with aim similar to yours, they win far more duels: because they fight the right ones.
The four questions
Before a duel, quickly ask four things. If one or two answers are in your favor, it is a good duel.
- Information: do I know where the enemy is, and do they know where I am? If you know and they do not, that is a huge edge.
- Position: am I in an angle they do not expect? Do I have cover nearby to fall back to? Are they exposed to several angles?
- Utility: do I (or a teammate) have a flash, smoke, drone or molly to change the duel?
- Time: do I need to fight now? If waiting suits me (on defense, in the post-plant), they are the ones who have to come looking.
On top of these comes the numbers question: if I win, is someone behind them who kills me straight away? If I lose, is a teammate there to trade?
How to decline a duel
Declining a duel is not running away: it is choosing a better moment. The most common ways:
- delay: stay in cover and let the enemy move towards you, ideally into an angle you know;
- change angle: move a few meters so the enemy waiting for you is looking at the wrong spot;
- use utility: a flash, a smoke or an ability that forces them to move;
- call for help: say where they are and wait for a teammate to double peek or set a crossfire;
- go another way: on attack, sometimes the best thing is simply to go where nobody is.
On defense especially, declining a bad duel and passing on the information is often worth more than a kill.
Isolating: one enemy at a time
The most important version of "the right duel" is to isolate: making sure you face only one enemy at a time. A 1v1 is a coin flip, but a 1v2 at the same instant is almost always lost, even for great aimers.
You isolate with positioning (an angle that sees only part of the site), with utility (a smoke on one angle so you only face the other) or with time (waiting for enemies to arrive one by one).
Duels and the economy
A duel's value also depends on what you are holding. On an eco round, pistols against rifles, a long-range duel is almost always lost: look for tight angles, fight up close and as a group. On an anti-eco, the opposite: the enemy has to close the distance, so you keep yours and leave the risks to them.
Armor matters too: without heavy armor some shots you would normally survive become lethal. Before a duel, take into account your equipment and the enemy's.
Examples of good choices
Example
The duel worth taking
You are attacking and your initiator has just revealed a defender behind a box. They do not know you are a few meters away. Information and position are yours: swing the box with your crosshair already at head height. This is a duel to take.
Example
The duel to decline
You are defending alone on a site and hear three sets of footsteps. Your nearest teammate is 10 seconds away. Fighting now is three on one: even if you kill one, you lose the site and your life. The right call is an ability to delay, the call "three B" and a position you can retake from.
Note that in the second example you did not "lose": you gave your team the information and the time to retake the site four against three.
In short
Before every duel, a one-second check: do I have an edge? If yes, fight decisively. If not, try to create one (information, position, utility, a teammate) or leave that duel for a better moment. You will win fewer "heroic" duels and many more rounds.
Remember
- An even duel is a coin flip: always look for an extra edge.
- Information, position, utility, time: the four questions.
- Do not take a duel just because it is there.
- Declining a duel is an active choice, not fear.
What not to do
Taking every duel that comes along.
Instead Ask whether winning it changes the round and whether you have at least one edge.
Fighting one against two.
Instead Isolate one enemy or wait for a teammate to trade.
Fighting a rifle at range without armor.
Instead Close the distance under cover or skip that duel: pick tight angles.
Chasing a hurt enemy into their teammates.
Instead Let them go if chasing puts you at a numbers disadvantage.