The best T side strats and grenades for Shortdust in CSGO Wingman

M Alzamora Published 17/01/2020

Shortdust is one of the most popular maps in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and it’s an easy map to win with the right strategies and grenades.

The miniature version of CSGO’s Dust restricts players to a central site, but much of the action takes place around the outside of the map. The site itself has four entrances, and each side has two that favor their starting spawns. 

Winning Wingman matches on Shortdust requires that each side takes favorable duels and sticks with their partner. The mode is called Wingman for a reason, but many players decide to split up at the beginning of a round. This gives the teams that move together a huge advantage. 

Below is a solid first-round strategy for the attacking side, as well as an unbeatable flash if the attackers want to take outside control. After that, we’ve listed several retake grenades for Shortdust.

Best T side pistol round strategy on Shortdust

This strategy gives T side the best chance to start off well on Shortdust. The player with the bomb should buy a Molotov while their partner purchases a Molotov and a smoke. The lack of armor is less relevant here, as the strategy will put the attacking side into close quarters where their Glocks have an advantage.

After rushing inside up ladder, the planter throws a Molotov into the left hallway while the attacker without the bomb throws theirs over the site boxes to block off rat hole. Immediately after mollying rat hole, they then smoke site boxes to give cover for their partner to plant. With a few practice runs offline, this strategy will work more often than not. 

If the attackers want to take the outside ramp, here’s a flash that will absolutely blind any defender holding outside. A player should head stairs, crouch, and aim about halfway in between the doorframe. This flash takes practice, but pops so fast that only the quickest of reaction times will save the defender.

CT side Shortdust retake smoke and incendiary grenades

Attackers will often beat the defenders to the bombsite when they rush, mostly because most players still think you have to crouch at the truck entrance. They don’t. Counter incendiaries with a smoke grenade to extinguish any flames can reward aggressive defender plays. Once again, players do not need to crouch to enter the bomb site.

Letting the T side plant and then retaking is the preferred defender’s strategy on Shortdust. Luckily, there are some great retake grenades to set the CT side up for success.

If the CTs retake from ladder, a quick left-click incendiary grenade can flush an attacker out from barrels. It’s the most common spot attackers will hold a default plant from, so this incendiary is golden. A partner can hold an angle for the burning enemy or smoke and stick the defuse.

The defender coming ladder should check the cubby behind and above ladder quickly without going up the ramp. Nine times out of ten, they’ll accidentally get stuck on the ladder. Clearing cubby from the floor of ladder room is much safer.

A short smoke isolates the defender from their partner, so using either the smoke or the incendiary is the best bet. Line up at the second column on short and left-click while aiming here.

The smoke blocks off both ladder and barrels. Tapping the bomb is usually enough to panic an attacker holding behind the smoke, forcing them to make a quick decision. The defender has a ton of options here, especially with the attacker isolated behind the smoke.

Wingman is about working together as a team. Players can always split up, but being in a position to trade or support their partner is the way Wingman is won. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is built around the teamwork that Wingman teaches, so working together in the two-versus-two game mode teaches skills that translate well to competitive games.

M Alzamora

About M Alzamora

There are few things that writer M Alzamora loves more in life than Pokemon. And there are even fewer things that she loves more than her favorite Pokemon, Eevee. But M’s appreciation for gaming isn’t just limited to Nintendo’s famous pocket monsters. She’s interested in every type of game across every genre of gaming, and she has the credentials to prove it. M’s work has also been seen on Working Classicists and gaming sites.

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