Tips for improving the understanding of the game
Macro play is understanding what’s going on in the round/map. With strong macro you can mid-round call in your stack and win the round.
How do you improve it?
Let’s start with macro. There’s really one way — watch a lot of demos. But it’s not just about watching, you need to do it right.
First, ask yourself: “What do I want to learn from this demo?”
- You can watch POVs (first-person demos) to figure out how a specific player thinks.
- Or focus on teamplay and see how the squad works together.
- Or even just look for cool nades.
Whatever you choose, when you’re watching POVs, mid-round situations (mid calls), or searching for nades — you should always talk through what’s happening on screen. And ask yourself:
“Why did this player make that decision? What info did he have? What happened on the map? What progression markers did he notice?”
Example of progression markers:
On Mirage, if Ts throw in the early round:
- molly under window
- molly short
— that’s a clear sign the Ts want to play for mid control. Those are progression markers.
What if watching demos doesn’t help?
Here’s a couple of tips:
✅ Watch demos with a friend or someone higher-skilled (or even at your level — two perspectives are better than one).
✅ If you don’t have someone like that, I recommend checking out Jerry256. He’s a former pro player and has FREE demo reviews of tier-1 and tier-2 teams, explained in simple language. Highly recommend: youtube.com/Jerry256