Credit: Steam Community Not so long ago, we described every CS:GO role players can choose according to their game style preferences.
This time we’d like to go more deeply into the essential points of being an In-Game Leader or IGL in CS:GO matches.
Every role has its own pros and cons. There’s something for every player out there. It doesn’t matter if you like ganking, flanking, sniping, blasting, or storming sites like a madman–you’ll always fit into one of the roles.
However, things change when it comes to being IGL. It’s no secret that IGLs are the biggest playmakers and captains of the team.
Leading a team means that you’ll need to have more than one role. You’ll need to be everything at once and more. And by more, we mean you’ll need to know every player and their roles on both your and enemy teams. And that still won’t be enough.
You’ll also need to be the most credible and respected player who knows how to handle pressure from your enemies and teammates. For that, you’ll need to have a special quality.
Imagine juggling between your enemy’s potential tactics, the stubbornness or hotheadedness of your teammates who can’t follow through with your orders, and your gameplay to stay on top.
It’s a difficult task, but not an impossible one.
Keep reading our article to see what it really takes to be a good IGL and how to become a better one.
What Does an IGL Do?
IGLs are usually the most experienced, top players on the team. These savvy “wiseguys” will learn and assess meta so other players won’t have to.
The role of an IGL is to analyze the enemy, learn every nook and cranny of all maps, know their teammates’ strengths and weaknesses, and be an overall good player that can fill into every role if necessary.
If you know that you have a reliable and charismatic IGL in play, you can instantly bet on that team without blinking an eye. A good IGL means a good night’s sleep.
If you take a look at what exactly will an IGL do besides command and show up with the best strategy from round to round, you’ll see that these players often have a somewhat of a support role.
However, that doesn’t mean IGL won’t step in as second fraggers or even entry fraggers if needed. But whatever they decide to do, they’ll almost always be close to their teammates.
The greatest role that IGL needs to play is to assess as much intel as possible. Based on what’s happening on the map, they will need to decide what sites should be taken or defended and what firepower your team should have.
Usually, IGLs will say the plan at the beginning of a round, as well as if you’re going eco round or not. They will tell AWPers where to nest and entry fraggers what sites to push.
IGL tactics will change depending on what team they play on. Terrorist IGLs need to estimate what and when to push a site, while CT IGLs need to observe what’s happening and instruct the team on whether to rotate or not.
As you can see, being a leader doesn’t mean that you come up with one plan and stick to it until the end. On the contrary, leaders need to adjust their tactics timely and according to enemy movement.
That means constant communication and interaction between teammates and IGL is necessary for a team to function correctly.
To be able to come up with a proper strategy, IGLs must learn how their teammates react to certain situations and what roles suit them the best.
IGLs must learn how their enemy thinks and what their favorite tactics are at the same time. Having this information thus requires IGLs to get in the role way long before a round starts.
But being a mastermind is not only experience and hard work. These players also seem to have something innate that drives them to coordinate and lead defense and offense in the best way possible.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t provoke these traits and find them deep in yourself. The only thing you’ll need are hours, self-belief, and the following tips for being a better IGL than others.
Tips for Being Better IGL
We could start this shortlist with a general tip that you must be an experienced player in order to lead your team the best way.
To get the best experience you can, take a look at these few tips some of the pro IGLs utilize in their games.
Learn to Play Best
You must learn and master the basics in order to master the advanced tactics. We already spoke about what is the ABC of any CS:GO player in this article.
Get your hours in and learn how to counter-strafe in order to improve your mechanics. Every role requires you to have an excellent aim, and you should make headshots your default setting if you expect to be the best of the best.
Learn Maps
Learn every popular map that is played today. However, start by mastering one popular map, like Mirage, for example. The knowledge of the map will make you more familiar with what your opponents might do as the round passes.
And we mean you should know every single screw and rock there is to turn on a map. If you know where you can wall-bang, you can develop tactics that won’t even require entry fraggers.
If a map has many hallways and choke points, practice how to utilize support’s mollies, smokes, flashes, and HE grenades.
Learn Timing
This might seem like an odd tip, but learning how much time your and the enemy team need to cross from spawns to sites will give you an upper hand.
Then learn how much time your and the enemy team need to rotate to switch between sites. Then think about how much time you need for accessing all the other critical locations.
Finally, learn the “right time,” meaning you should develop a sense of being at the right place at the right time. Know when to order a push or a rotation and other crucial commands.
Learn to Play Every Role
Being an IGL means you are a captain that can fill any role your team needs at a certain moment. That’s why you should have experience playing all CS:GO roles.
There will seldom be an occasion when your whole team completes a round well and alive. That’s why you should be ready to be AWP, anchor, support, and whatever fragger you need to be for the team.
Have a Friendly Team
If you have online friends that you enjoy playing with, start strategizing with them so you can learn more about their play styles.
Having knowledge of your teammates’ preferences and their tempers will make things way easier when playing rounds.
Also, another tip is that it is way better to have friendly teammates that aren’t that skillful than to have a godlike lurker that will disobey orders and go on solo ventures.
Do Research on Your Opponents
As much as you should know your friends, you should do extensive research on your opponents if that’s possible.
This won’t be that easy if you’re playing with random strangers online. However, certain patterns players show during rounds can reveal the moves they might make in the late game.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask
Although IGLs are the leaders, don’t be afraid to ask your teammates for opinions if you feel like you can’t guess the enemy’s next move or feel unsure about anything.
Don’t try to act all tough and refuse to listen to your comrades when things go south. Remember, you can’t have all the info on your own. Maybe your teammate’s insights will help you develop different winning tactics.
Stay Positive and Stress-Free
Finally, our last tip is always to have good communication in the team. Don’t go berating others for things they missed or couldn’t do in a round you just lost.
Negativity will only cause more damage and open doors to more stress you and your team can carry on your shoulders.
That’s why you should always remain clear-minded and seal all canals that can get jammed with bully and troll comments.
Remember, if your team sees their IGL distressed and angry, the negativity will quickly spread onto them.
CS:GO Roles: In-Game Leader Conclusion
As you can see, being a good leader isn’t a simple task you can achieve after a few rounds of playing.
It will require years of experience in CS:GO so you could achieve that sweet spot of having enough skill, knowledge, and charisma to be a good IGL.
Of course, we don’t suggest you need to read all Simon Sinek has to say about leadership, but you’ll undoubtedly need to put some effort and hours in.
In the end, having a leadership role in a match doesn’t mean other roles are inferior. In fact, no single role is sufficient to win a game.
Only a well-organized collective of CS:GO roles can strive for success. And players who know how to organize them the best way are known as IGLs.
