the Cone of Awareness - A CS2 Theory

[@Dasani77]

I was searching videos on how to be more aware of your surroundings and how to use utility to your advantage and in a way that makes sense. This video has given me a better picture on how to play the game. Thank you so much for sharing this video and I'm looking forward to your future videos.

[@chemtrailsmoker]

Incredibly informative video!

[@psychoticskittle7805]

only 4:30 into the video but it seems like anyone with avid fps experience subconsciously puts this theory into play. (if they are good at least) still great that your explaining it into detail bc like it said before better players just do this withouth thinking

[@bixcs2]

this is fascinating stuff. I think you are one of the only people who is trying to break down the game in this way

[@natosaphix2nd200]

Over the years I’ve had many thoughts and now that I am retired it is more easy for me to refine them in an easily digestible way Happy you like it!

[@PieTheLost]

Glad I found your channel. This information is very valuable for meta gameplay

[@1bird_d]

great video, you're articulating what I couldn't while I was playing Advanced. if i was to try and explain this to someone i would sound unhinged haha

[@sofarsogod]

This is the thing I struggle the most with specially in maps like mirage or inferno with too many angles to clean, nowadays everybody plays too many off angles and always jiggle peek, or jiggle bait you to shoot and they wide swing onto you, or even double swing the game became too hardcore, and sometimes I overthink it too much to the point where my opponents play it default and move in a standard way but Im still waiting for them to obliterate me from this angles that dont even exist, and this is because theres too many boosted people, too many cheaters and also too many trolls in order for one to think oh wait I know this, they are doing this or doing that because at my elo everyone plays this way, but nope you cant just have that, I think this is what happens to pros when they play against chaotic people Its hard to read something unpredictable, so my cone of awareness gets bigger everytime xd

[@Neilltheone]

This is a pretty advanced technique when it comes to cs. I wouldnt really put it in the same realm of things to practice because your theory requires you to understand hundreds of possible scenarios so it’s impossible to pretty much replicate every single possible thing that can happen. Which in itself is another important concept naturally training through experience. Very cool video

[@owenrichardson5021]

Respectfully, I think you might be mostly missing the point. You should be using this “cone theory” as a guiding principle to learn from your mistakes and to more explicitly explain in words why some angles/routing/fights might feel intuitively easier/harder to you. All things competitive, sports gaming or any job for that matter, require 100s of reps to learn and improve of course. But having a framework to be able to process the outcomes of those reps will be more effective at giving you direction on where you need to adjust and improve. It’s not really a technique imo but a tool to help you get more out of your reps and improve faster.

[@natosaphix2nd200]

I'm not getting the feeling he is missing the point exactly but I definitely agree with your take that it's a tool to help you visualize why something may or may not be working The cone can also be used when designing a team strategy, where the cone is used to explain why certain utils block off areas, so the entry (or anyone following up) is able to safely narrow his cone.

[@natureboy1281]

@@owenrichardson5021Well said. I agree 100%

[@natosaphix2nd200]

When this video goes LIVE, I'll be livestreaming on my Twitch channel www.twitch.tv/NaToSaphiX

[@snoozathon]

this video is really good thanks!

[@Noswiatel]

So just basic principle of isolation. Honestly, Ive expected something more metaphysical, but I'll watch it and elaborate a little. Smoke isnt a wall, a molly isnt a wall, still obvious. I like the poker metaphor you've used to describe a play someone unthoughtful of tactics may make. Indeed plenty of people carry on to higher ranks relying simply on mechanical aim, am one of those examples.

[@Noswiatel]

Ok, it is a good base theory for explaining plays and aim mechanics, but definitely needs expanding on to introduce other game mechanics, which may be difficult. Definitely makes sense. I would highly suggest looking up what light cone is in physics. You should expand on sound cues and the radar, perhaps perform a thought experiment on what wallhack means to an awareness cone, and most importantly, go into depth with spotting accuracy and timings. Im pretty sure I could help out explaining it a little. Especially after reading some more into theory of games

[@1azey]

So you provided 4 examples of macro team-based approach. You mentioned that having a wide cone playing defensive is the more effective approach to a “Russian pug” style of ct defense. This is because you won’t be caught off guard (you have a wide cone thus expecting more things.) However, I wished you went more in depth about this macro aspect. For example, would there be situations where this approach would not be as good? Explaining the pros and cons of a theory is important to understanding how to best implement these ideas into a practical situation. E.g. It works effectively against pug style teams. But you also mentioned other teams like BIG would never push thru smoke. So, it would be crucial to mention why this approach may or may not have the same effect. I’m curious, because you don’t mention any negative to having a wide cone while playing defensive. Why would a team switch approaches? You didn’t say anything of *when not to do it.* Going back to my point of knowing the theory well enough to implement it into our game. But This is my assumption though. The flaws to this approach would be lesser chances of winning straight duels. Because the team is maintaining a wide cone, there will be more distance and more difficulty to hit your shots. Additionally, you could be inefficient and wasting time if the opponent is a more standard type team. You are holding angles for nothing. You are on edge for nothing. I could be wrong though. Because the way you made it sound is, it sounds like there’s no flaws. You will never get caught off guard (aggro teams) + you cannot be punished since they won’t push you anyways (standard teams). But overall, fascinating analysis and I really enjoyed learning this concept. How does one join these offline sessions?

[@9ty1]

I think that aggressive or defensive teamplay is up to the read of the IGL. The reasons to play aggressively or defensively could be any number of things - ex. utility the opponents are using, the space they take and the rate at which they scale, etc.. The main relation of the cone theory for macro would be the IGL being able to call whether or not a wider cone is necessary either based on the tendency of the opponents to disrespect or use unexpected tactics. Other than that, the slicing of angles and how wide a cone an individual tends to play with would often end up being shaped by things like tactics, sens, positioning playstyle and such.

[@natosaphix2nd200]

I think you've understood exactly what I was trying to say and I think your questions are very good! You sort of gave the answer yourself but playing against a team like BIG, a defensive wide cone would be detrimental due to the fact that you'd be approaching things too carefully and thus wasting time. On top of this, the wide cone will be another negative due to your crosshair placement being more erratic when in reality you should expect the "obvious" or the "high % play" from a team like BIG. The idea behind the "cone of awareness theory" is being able to explain something complicated more easily - it's I guess in a way more a model that you can use to fit your playstyle to counter your opponent. Having everyone on the same page and being able to efficiently communicate these things quickly is one of the places where the cone is valuable, in my opinion. A good professional team will be able to change things up also - BIG might start off slow but as they lose rounds, they will adapt a different playstyle since any good team will always come up with solutions to fix their problems. Being able to use the "cone-concept" to adapt your playstyle will allow an IGL to explain a change of pace/awareness in seconds, which normally might sound like just a bunch of words of frustration; "Let's be ready for anything, play slow" - Sticks in your mind a lot less and sounds almost like a complaint "Let's widen our cone and play defensively" - Sounds like a tactical approach with reason (at least to me)

[@natosaphix2nd200]

I'm happy to see that there are multiple people who have understood the concept the way I intend it from watching the video Thank you for helping with the explanation!

[@natosaphix2nd200]

You can join the sessions by using the link in the description for 30 days free coaching at GOSU Academy Afterwards it is $30 a month for up to 3 sessions weekly (one of them with me)

[@9ty1]

@@natosaphix2nd200 Happy to help! I find explaining things to others often forces you to reflect and leads to a deeper understanding of any subject. On another note, thank you for uploading these sessions! They are a goldmine of knowledge for us and seeing things from your perspective is an invaluable resource IMO. I've always resonated with how you teach, even back from the Faceit cheat code days. :)

[@andreg3861]

funny, since i started playing this was always something I kept in mind, it's just obvious for me. I never really thought about it as a "theory" is just natural to me. How are u supposed to play the game without this?? You just can't

[@wale7342]

What res are you playing at?

[@natosaphix2nd200]

Lately it has been 4:3 1440x1080 but I have recently switched to 16:10 1680x1050

[@viacheslavkiselev3125]

so true about "russian facit grinders"

[@dmitry7967]

have u ever heard about shoot head theory .. it says u can be smart how the fck u wont u will never win against donk

[@ravidesai1251]

Sorry, I may have missed the point. I had this on in the background. But I tuned in half way when you went through Anubis. This “cone of awareness” just seems like being aware of the idea that things can be happening outside your fov, thus implying you need to clear angles (hence these guys going on about the old phrase slicing the pie). A narrow cone is just a small set of angles in front of you that an enemy can possible come from. This isn’t a hard or detailed concept, it’s surely something we’d expect a child to understand? As you move around your surroundings change and therefore the positions relative to you where an enemy can be changes… this is something I’ve never thought about in any form of detail let alone thought I’d need an hour long video on 😂 and I’m faceit 10/ global after 200 hours when I started in 2023, valorant too 0.1% - there’s much better things we could learn with our time! The line cracked me up “I told my players that even if util is down make sure your cone of awareness is 360 degrees” or as a normal human would say “they might push smokes based on how they’ve played so just be ready for all angles / off angles” - this surely is a concept someone even with 100 hours on an fps will understand - how you have made a video on this baffles me 😂

[@natosaphix2nd200]

Yes, I believe you have misunderstood the concept I recommend watching the video - maybe you will learn something😊 In fact if you take your "they might push smokes based on how they've played so just be ready for all angles/ off angles" and compare it to "Let's widen the cone", one is much more effective at communicating than the other but the concept of the cone has more applications than this, so I do believe you have missed some crucial parts

[@seeko555]

@@natosaphix2nd200hahahhaha

[@juh0e]

I think the misunderstanding here is pretty much summarized by Natosaphix explaining a theory, whereas ravidesai is expecting to receive tips and tricks. Cone of awarness as a normative concept is indeed not ground breaking, as fov and ”slicing/pie-ing” are already pretty common practices. However, you should study the video as what is the tittle: a theory. Theory in explaining why things happen as the way they happen, and why should we care about it. In this sense cone of awarness is indeed eye-opening in understanding why non-smoked monster leads to monster aggression, and not short push by the Ts. Brilliant stuff.