
Using Utils – Make the Most of Yours CS2 Nades
Learning how to use utility in CS2 correctly is the biggest improvement players can make. The best CS2 teams have rigorous utility routines that allow them to execute various strategies. Getting to this level might not seem achievable for every player, but there are steps you can take to improve your CS2 nades, smokes, and flashes.

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CS2 Nades
The HE grenade is the most basic piece of utility in Counter-Strike. Costing $300, the idea is simple – you throw the nade, it explodes. However, it can be used in more tactical ways, such as blowing open doors.
HE grenades are great for stopping a T rush onto a bombsite. It’s easy to get blindsided by an unexpected rush, and you can offset this by pre-throwing a nade where you expect it to come from. Think Nuke A-site Hut rush for example. It might not stop the enemies, but it can certainly slow them down and hit them for huge damage.
You can also coordinate your HE grenades with your teammates for a free kill. If you know where someone’s hiding every round, simply have yourself and a teammate lob a nade at the spot. You should get the kill, and it’s unlikely they’ll keep trying that spot, ruling out another place to clear later.
If you’re new to the game, you should use CS2 nade practice commands to get to grips with the basics of HE grenades.
Flashes in Counter-Strike
Flashes are an underrated piece of utility, and shouldn’t be underestimated. At $200 each, you can carry two of these at a time to help you rise through the CS2 ranks.
They have two main purposes in Counter-Strike. First, you can use them to take bomb sites. As you’re entering a site, you or a teammate should flash into the site as you clear. That’ll give you a moment to clear the site of enemies while minimizing the risk of dying. It won’t work every time, but it’ll absolutely increase your chances of making it into the site.
Another key use is to clear corners. It sounds simple, but it makes a big difference. The best example is Inferno, where the A site has plenty of difficult entry points. Your best chance to enter A site will almost certainly come from a well-placed flashbang, and a swift headshot coming around the corner.

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Counter-Strike Smokes
In CS2, smokes are perhaps the most useful piece of utility, and the one with the highest skill ceiling.
You may have seen smoke line ups in professional games. These line ups are the best way to attack and defend bombsites, but there’s a reason they’re not common in lower ranks. They’re hard to pull off and coordinate, and even the best players mess them up. Do them right, however, and you’ve got a free pass into any bombsite.
When learning how to 1v1 in Counter-Strike smokes are crucial. When looking to defuse, a ninja defuse could be the right move. When 1v1, Terrorists play more cautiously if the bomb is planted. Often, you can simply wait until they run away, smoke the bomb, and ninja defuse. They’ll come running back, and you must hope they don’t hit you through the smoke. It won’t always work, but when it does it can cause the entire enemy team to tilt.
FAQs
The best place for any beginner to start is on a practice map. There are plenty of practice maps out there on the Steam Workshop that have lineups available to teach you. On these maps, you can practice to your heart’s desire, until the lineups are second nature. For any beginner, these are a must-try. You can also watch professional demos as another way to improve, but until you’re more familiar with the game, you won’t get as much from these as you should. I've got no idea how to use my CS2 nades - where can I start?
This is difficult, because a great CS2 player has a use for every piece of utility in their arsenal. That said, it feels as though newer players don’t appreciate the value of a well-placed flash grenade as much as better players do. This is because flash grenades can be used alongside communication, to take pretty much any location in the game. One player calls for a flash around a corner, another throws it. It helps to play with friends in this regard, and it’s useful when said friends actually know how to use flashes. Get the right people around you, and flashes become indispensable. What is the most underrated piece of CS2 utility?
The most expensive piece of utility is the Cs2 nade, at $600 on the CT side. The reason it’s so expensive, is that it can instantly prevent T rushes into a bomb site, potentially saving the entire round. Most CT players buy one of these per round, and usually throw it right at the beginning to halt the T approach. These can be counteracted by throwing a smoke grenade on top of it, but emerging from the other side alive becomes a difficult task by itself. What is the most expensive piece of utility in CS2?
Not particularly. If it’s the final round of the half and it’s all you can afford, go for it. Otherwise, don’t bother, and save your money for something a little bit more useful.Do decoy grenades have much use in CS2?