How to build a CS2 playbook
A playbook is your team's plays, written down so everyone knows the call. Keep one book per map, sort the plays by the round they are for, give every player a job in each one, and name them so the IGL can call them in two words.
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One book per map
Every map has its own spots, timings and grenades, so plays don't move between maps. Start with the maps in your pool and keep each book short. Ten plays the team can run beat thirty nobody remembers.
The plays every book needs
- Pistol rounds: a plan for both sides, with what each player buys.
- Defaults: how you spread out and take map control before anything is called.
- Executes: a full hit on a site with set smokes, flashes and molotovs.
- Eco and half buy: what to do with little money, like stacking one spot or playing for picks.
- Anti-eco: how to play a team that is saving without handing them cheap kills and your rifles.
- Full-buy CT setups and retakes, so the CT side has plays too.
A job for every slot
A play is five jobs, not one idea. For each slot, write down the route, the task, the utility to throw and the buy. Then put players in slots by position: entry, AWP, support, lurk and IGL.
When a player leaves or changes role, you move a player into the slot, and the play still works.
Names and tags
Name each play so it can be called in a second: a site and an idea, like B split or Mid to B. Tag plays by site and style, such as A, mid, B, fake, rush, split, retake and lurk, so you find the right one between rounds.
Building it in Subtick
Subtick's strat book keeps one book per map. Plays have a type (pistol round, eco, half buy, anti-eco, full buy, default or execute) and tags (A, mid, B, fake, rush, contact, split, retake and lurk). Each slot has a route, a task, the utility and a buy: weapon, armour, kit and grenades.
- Draw a play on the radar, or run it on your server and type .addstrat with a name. .playstrat plays it back as bots.
- Save any round from your own demos or a pro match as a draft, then make it yours.
- The coach or IGL can send a play to the team live.
- After a team demo, Subtick suggests which play each round was. The coach confirms or rejects it, and the suggestions learn from that.
Questions
How many plays should a CS2 playbook have?
Fewer than you think. A few defaults and executes per side that everyone knows well beat a long list. Add a play when the team can run the ones it has.
What is the difference between a default and an execute?
A default spreads the team out to take map control and gather information before a site is called. An execute is a set hit on one site with planned utility.
Where should a team keep its playbook?
Somewhere everyone opens before practice, with the routes and grenades drawn on the map. A document works, but a strat book like Subtick's keeps the radar, the slots and the buys together and plays a strat back as bots.
Can we copy plays from pro teams?
Yes, as a starting point. On Subtick, save any pro round as a draft, then change the routes, tasks and buys for your team.