CS2 101: How To Play Outside On Nuke CT Side

In Counter-Strike, every position is important. No matter where you’re playing, you have a job to do, and you are a piece of a wider puzzle. However, not all positions are created equal. Some positions are so important, challenging, and detailed that they require a higher level of knowledge, skill, and confidence to play properly. Today, we’re taking a look at one such spot.

Playing Outside on Nuke CT side is, arguably, the most important position on the map. There is a reason that the best players in the world tend to play there. It is also a position with some considerable nuance to it. Let’s take a look at the absolute basics of how to play Outside on Nuke CT side, including some default utility, common spots, and gimmick plays.

General Philosophy

As the Outside player on Nuke’s CT side, you have a very important job to do. A good Nuke T side is all about taking map control, cutting off potential CT rotates, and obfuscating your intentions for the end of the round. Naturally, then, the ability to take Outside control on the T side is crucial for the longevity of a successful half. Therefore, you want to stop them from being able to do this.

As the CT player, your job is fairly simple, if difficult. You need to be the guy with your finger on the pulse of the round, understanding when the Ts are taking Outside control, communicating everything you see – or don’t see – and being the voice through which your teammates can inform their rotations or targeted pushes inside.

You’re not always going to be able to stop an Outside play, if the T-side throw serious numbers at it. Rarely will you be able to stonewall them. Your job is to make them bleed for it, time and time again. Learn your smoke spams, understand the minutiae of your opponent’s timings, and learn to read the game from your position – the rest of your team, and your CT half, rely on it.

Must-Know Utility

For those of you new to playing Outside on Nuke, let’s take a quick look at a few of the most useful default nades. First, let’s look at the Anti-Rush incendiary.

Anti-Rush Incendiary

This is a very useful incendiary, which should be thrown as quickly as possible at the start of the round. It is designed to stop the Ts from being able to flood into Outside quickly, taking a bit of pace away from them. First, you’re going to run along this yellow line, out of CT Spawn.

Then, you’re going to wait until this pole comes into view, as shown below:

Once you see the pole, you’re going to take a couple of steps forward and left-click throw. This might seem tricky at first, but a few reps in a NADR server and you’ll be throwing this consistently. When thrown correctly, it should land like this:

gla1ve Smoke

This is a super useful smoke, for a few reasons. It blocks the line of sight for the T Mid player. It allows you to work around it up close, if you’re looking for a gimmick play. And it slows down the Ts if they wanted to path close to Main for a wrap or Main pop play. It is also absurdly simple to throw.

The easiest way to throw the Glaive smoke is like this: Run out of CT Spawn at the start of the round and wait until you have clear line of sight to the Glaive box, like this:

Then simply give it a left-click throw. It should land like this:

Silo HE Grenade

Finally, let’s take a look at this handy little nade. You’d be surprised how many people don’t realise you can dunk a nade right onto the pesky Silo player with relative ease. Simple stand outside Main as shown below:

And jumpthrow. Boom – their Silo player has just been chunked to half HP.

Common Positions

Okay, we’ve looked at the general philosophy of playing Outside on Nuke CT side, as well as a few useful bits of utility. Finally, let’s take a look at some of the most common positions you can play in this role.

Garage

Garage is a very common spot for good reason. It offers you a lot of information gathering, as you can hear almost everything and time your peeks for info. It’s also quite good for taking straight-up fights, as you can choose your peek timings to be the aggressor in the engagement.

It is very commonly held, however, so much like with any position, don’t play it 100% of the time.

EliGE

Going slightly deeper into Garage, this spot is called EliGE:

This spot is very situational, but has its strengths. Essentially, when playing EliGE, you’re giving up your information for the majority of Outside. Consequently, this is best played in tandem with a rotate player from Heaven, or a Secret player.

The major strength of this position is that you have information on any drops or wraps into Main, and you will go uncleared the majority of the time in lower Elo. It is usually good for a free kill, and should be used if your team are doing something aggressive into Lobby.

Secret

Secret is a position you’re all doubtless familiar with. It can be a power position, and is super annoying to have to constantly think about on the T Side. Whether you start Secret early in the round taking fights in tandem with another Outside player, or you stay hidden in Secret waiting for the T-side to simply shift into your crosshair, Secret control can be a very important weapon in your arsenal.

However, be aware that Secret should only really be played a coupe of times in a half, as it can begin to get quite predictable and can be easily countered by the T-side.

Unbreakable

Unbreakable is quite a strong position, as you can choose any of a variety of ways to take fights from this spot. It is also super annoying to deal with as a T player, as a CT playing from Unbreakable can disengage safely whenever they want.

This spot also gives you fast access to the Ramp rotate, should you need to hustle down to the B site.

Now that you know the basics of how to play Outside on CT-side Nuke, you’re perfectly set up to get on the grind. If you want to perfect some of the utility shown in this article, you can load up a NADR server and get to work. If you’re in the mood to scrub up on your AWPing, you can check this article out. And, of course, don’t be afraid to get yourself into some matchmaking or FACEIT games to try out your newfound knowledge!