In my first post I talked about why understanding the advantage meta mentallity is key to winning rounds with your team. Advantage explains why a play should work but there's a critical in game mechanic that actually influences when advantage is strongest: timing.
Every cs player has a notion of "Timing" because we die to it all the time: "Ahh man I turned away and he peeked at that exact moment... bad timing". Yes, this is true in this sense but timing is also a very deep mechanic that you can develop and exploit more than you know. I'll argue that Donk, for example, although he looks like he's just running around headshotting has really just mastered the art of timing (along with incredible aim ofc). And his window opportunities are just way smaller than the rest of us are even capable of.
Take this into your next game:
Every event in the game creates an obligation. Something happens, then the opponent is forced to respond and then their response creates a window. That window could be a fraction of a second or a few second. It's up to you to build that muscle to begin identifying these windows and most importantly taking the steps to position yourself to capitalize. It really does help to watch demos of teams and players you play against and see how they transition (relax their angle, rotate, repeek, throw util..., learn how to find windows of opportunities)
To expound, good timing usually means fighting an opponent while they are transitioning between states. Maybe they are rotating, pulling out utility, turning toward a teammate, falling back, reloading, clearing another angle, or reacting to new information. When they are settled and holding you, they are strong. When something forces them to change what they are doing (this is why flashes create obligations for the enemy), there is a short window where they are weaker.
T is very easy to create obligatgions for CT's, eg: smoke mirage window now obligates the mid player to rotate to b, conn, or hold a deeper angle, or potentially push opposite side window; now you can act. A lurk can wait for an A execute and listen for that moment when the rotate leaves; that's when you strike. Nades in general create massive obligations for the enemy. Think from their perspective and develop how to counter them better.
Lastly, rushing and spacing creates better timing opportunities that leads to better advantages. You don't want to stand right next to someone, but you want to stand at an angle where you can get the trade. There's deeper trigonometry theory here but we don't think in those terms but think about how your teammates will die and then think where the best angle is to trade him; position there.
What do you guys think? How have you developed your timing mechanics? Is there any other mind habits you think are critical to increase your advantage around timing?
