Esports
In Red Bull Flick, the premier 2v2 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament, communication is king. We speak to some CS:GO pros about their in-game chat.
Red Bull Flick has given us some incredible displays of in-sync gameplay, pitting duos against each other in a series of tense Counter-Strike: Global Offensive matches. When a team feels too big, but going it alone seems too lonely, a duo is the perfect way to show off your skills in an innovative and challenging way.
Successful duo-ship comes in many forms, utilising unique dynamics and each person's varied abilities and strengths. Complementary characteristics are necessary for a winning duo, but the key to a perfect two-person team is communication. The flow of information from one half of the duo to the other is crucial throughout the game, and a moment of ill-timed silence could cost you the entire game. Likewise, you don't want to be blabbering in their ear for the whole match, so finding that natural ebb and flow of chatter is paramount when teaming up for Red Bull Flick and other 2v2 tournaments.
We got together with a number of the biggest CS:GO stars of the moment, and asked them about the importance of their communication skills, and how they may have grown or been challenged to use them throughout their careers.
stavn – Heroic
Danish-born Martin 'stavn' Lund is competing in the upcoming Red Bull Flick competition on behalf of his team, Heroic. He's been active on the CS:GO scene since 2016, when he was just 14-years-old, so he's had plenty of time to perfect his co-op technique. "Communication is one of the most important things to try and master if you want to be a good team," he says, "It's often overlooked by upcoming players, who have a bad habit of relying too much on their individual skill. It's important to remember that it's a team game and for a team to function you need good communication all around."
But knowing when to share and when to keep quiet is also a virtue when your head's in the game, says stavn, though it comes with a certain level of rapport. "There definitely comes a time where you can move off each other without communicating exactly what you're doing, but it's hard to reach that goal and it takes time. You need to develop a good synergy between each other on the server. It's very hard to do with a player you haven't played with before."
To build this sort of rapport, stavn recommends having a frank talk with your team-mates before and after a game, so you can decide your strategy explicitly. "Once you talk about how you want to approach the game as a team, the understanding and communication on the server naturally becomes better," he says.
KSCERATO & drop – Furia
Furia's Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato and André 'drop' Abreu have been in the game long enough to know how to get the message across quickly. They say that the most important thing you can share is exactly what you saw and where you saw it, and to always be "clear and concise, don't take too long explaining something during a game".
Sometimes it just isn't that simple, however, and the team or duo need to make snap judgements. When there really isn't time to get the words out, a duo needs to be rehearsed and comfortable enough with each other that they can interpret more subtle signs. "You don't always have time to communicate fully," they explain, "so we need the ability to quickly read what is happening and make the best decision. We've created some special nicknames for certain positions so we can communicate faster and be more clear."
But the duo say there's no time limit on forming that bond. "We've known each other for almost a year," they say, explaining how both their unspoken and spoken communication is finely tuned. "Sometimes it just happens very fast, sometimes it never happens. At the end of the day, it's a matter of chemistry."
Raalz and birdfromsky – CPH Flames
Occasionally, language differences may spring up, given the international nature of many esports teams and competitions. Rasmus 'raalz' Steensborg and Thomas 'birdfromsky' Due Frederiksen are a part of CPH Flames, and both hail from Denmark, but their time in the CS:GO community has seen them work together with people from all over the world. Successful teams, they argue, find a way around these barriers, and either learn or adapt. "We've played in international teams, which have led to less communication, due to not talking in our own language," they admit, "but you find strength in having more freedom and playing on your instinct more."
Being able to adapt like this to the needs of your team-mates is crucial and the duo have also found a use for themselves once their character dies, so they can remain helpful to their team. "Your other team-mates can talk for you if they're dead," they explain, "because they have the whole overview of the team and can see how you're moving and reacting." So even if you get caught up in the moment, there should be an emphasis on whole-team communication.
Krimbo and skyye – BIG
Another way that teams can use communication to their advantage is to alter the meaning of their words, so that the opposing team isn't able to listen in. As important as communication between team-mates is, accidentally giving away your position by shouting it too loud could be your downfall. BIG team-mates, Karim 'Krimbo' Moussa and Tom 'skyye' Hagedorn have an alternative. "When we're training we have many different names for things, like when we have a really good flank or when we just freeze and hold for pushes," says skyye. "For example," Krimbo elaborates, "we call corners 'seized' in general, which isn't easy to understand when you hear it for the first time."
The key communication takeaways from the pros reinforce the idea that it's the most crucial element of a team game. Your communication skills can be expanded upon when you start to play competitively, by discussing moves with your team-mates in advance, coming up with nicknames for moves, and adapting to the needs of a multilingual team.
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