• Set up your mouse (mind there's 3 places to config it: Windows, mouse software and in-game) so that it balances good movement and good aim. Set up keyboard so that it's comfy. Also, this goes for righthanded ppl: some keyboards aren't straight, but bent/split in half, so if yours is straight, just tilt it so the left side is up.
  
• Keys config are imp, don't be afraid to try new configs, small or big changes at a time. In the long run, if the final result is a config that suits you best, I say it's worth getting killed a few times. Also choose one with which u can do basic movement and shoot/reload/switch weap (replace "/" with "and/or" hehe). And when I say basic movement, I mean sprint+direction+jump, followed by crouch. In addition to all those simultaneous actions, u should also be able to zoom and crouch, for campers hehe.
  
• Some people use/bind mousewheel for eg for jumping or previous weapon (for yoyo`ing) because a long finger scroll might mean 8 scrolls so it's faster, more chances of jumping earlier and not missing a jump like with spacebar; but bear in mind that you tend to jump too early with scroll so spacebar might be more precise for those with patience to master it.. it's a compromise
  
• read more here: https://university.hl2dm.community/hl2dm_102.html

• Since it's dm here, always be ready to whip your ggun out, I mean always. You can have approaching enemy with a rifle (might throw an orb), nade (u can play nade tenis, although you shouldn't, as you can't catch an orb or prop if your ggun is holding a nade) or any other weapon (and there's at least one object around that can be thrown). Or you can run by important items, but with 3 quick moves (ggun, alt fire, last weap) you can get at least one. Or you can pass over the items but fail to get the last one, again, use ggun. Or in the middle of a firefight grab an H-pack that's between you and the enemy. OR! Have u ever played a bouncy air map and found yourself in the air with too little health, like under 10 (forgot to take health or have been attacked)? Well, with some air control, land near or over an h-pack but be quick to grab it with the ggun first, so that the fall doesn't kill you. Pretty cool this ggun thingy, isn't it? U can also run with a health pack when jumping off a roof or when u hear a nade (or several..) coming or any imminent attack and no way to avoid taking damage.
  
• QuickGrab: The idea was first mentioned in 'Drill 103.2 - Gravity Gun Practise' here https://university.hl2dm.community/hl2dm_103.html . But it's not just for ggun practice (also check out my Weapons Training guide linked at the top). It's a good habit to have, because expect the unexpected, always be prepared for an encounter. Even when enemy has ar2 and you think you are prepared for an orb since you have ggun out, a good player will adjust and just kill you with ar2 instead. So whether you are actively fighting or passively gathering, you should be moving around the map with a weapon other than the ggun. Then near pickups, as mentioned above, you do the 3 quick moves to get the item. With a small mention that you do not need to switch back to exactly the gun you previously had. If I pick up an ar2, I might as well switch to it. If I had shotgun but I picked up an smg nade, I might as well switch to smg. The drill is for even when the item is right in our path, and for some of us it's well ingrained in our muscle memory. And that is because what if in a split second there's an explosion and the pickup is moved from its spawnpoint? You could have gotten it with the quickgrab before your playermodel physically reaching it. More importantly, the drill mentions not stopping, and that's where advanced movement comes in (also check out my Movement Training guide linked at the top). Because sometimes you might have to look away from the direction in which you are moving, and it's imperative that you keep flowing through the map.
  https://youtu.be/4QfnpnwkPyQ
  
• Always gather all kinds of items when u have the chance, you can never have too little health/suit and you can always run out of ammo, that is unless you want to go all ninja and never be heard, which is also a strategy if you're usually hard to kill as it is. Take the time to play the map offline in order for you to learn it, key places and items etc.
  
• Watch the spawn points after 1 player dies, or else the newly spawned can prop kill you from behind. In turn, always expect to get spawn killed so if it's a prop coming at you, be ready to deflect, or if it's a bolt, just nudge to the side.
  
• Sprint crouch jump. Crouch whenever feet are in the air (unless you wanna brake a bit if you intend to land on something closer; you can even use fwd/back for a full stop to land on something specific). This helps in so many ways: over bounce, strafe jump and skate, jumping over stuff without getting stuck in them or on them, landing further, moving without noise (try the ladders, too). Also, here's what I haven't seen in other tutorials, but noticed it a few times: combined with air control, you can achieve smooth landing on those far ledges, meaning no damage :) (see the movement tut) But never forget that without crouch you have more control over your movement on ground.
  
• Air control - no hop, for those who hate glitches, this requires only strafe keys and crouch. Whether if it had been a glitch or not in dm or just any other game, u would still turn in different directions while in air, to evade getting shot at, right? Never use bouncers/lifts straight up and never move in a straight line, in air or on ground, u never know who's watchin. Make your moves frantic at times and unpredictable, at least for your number 1 hunter.
  
• I know other tutorials mention setting up a route around a map, I say set up many routes, just remember the main points and go back from time to time, cus runnin around in a circle in just one direction is a big no no. Having just one routine, you're likely to be interrupted right before the big stash, a trick that you could use against your enemy. You should take the time to study his movement, style of combat and habits and think of ways to break their routine, steal their resources and counteract their next move in close combat. I've seen very few ppl do that. You can and WILL adapt to any holy $h1tter in this game LOL
  
• For those who don't hate advanced movement: you can also evade any situation and splash weaps like rpg, nades and smg nades. It takes timing and being aware of your surroundings. Not only check behind you once in a while, but listen! to every little sound, learn each weapon's and alt fire's sound (this was also said in other tuts) and learn to localize them so u will be ready for imminent danger from whatever distance and angle, whether it's right behind u, above u or under u or just right in front but your eyes fail u (If you hear a nade, better get ggun out and right click many times, look around for it, with a bit of luck, u might even catch it from behind!). Better yet, if you hate being taken by surprise, get to higher ground so you're the one surprising. This could also lead to the vulture tactics, which is spotting two or more enemies and nading them or waiting until they are weak, then finishing them off.
  
• Harass players using a supercharger. You don't have to have a direct line of fire, just use xbow/nades/smg nades/orbs/rpg/props behind walls/explosive barrels thrown in an arc figure. You don't have to kill them, just get them off it or make it not worth, aka they end up with less hp than they started. If you can't fully deny the charger, contest it. If you can't contest it, harass them aka suppressive fire. They don't get to charge for free.
  
• The math behind going for RPG vs chasing a kill is this: 3 kills are better than 1. On any map that's RPG centered and where RPG is available right away, if we spawn close to it, we need to go straight for it, starting at 0m0s.
  
• If you are in the lead, it's OK if an enemy with RPG chooses to camp, and it is still OK if they choose to hunt, as long as you can avoid their RPG by being on the opposite side of the map, or under them, or simply running away. It's all part of RPG counter. And keeping a lead in general.
  
• Preparedness is a counter to patterns and tendencies. That includes versus players that like to rush, because always being ready to fight (expect the unexpected) punishes overly aggressive playstyle which would otherwise catch you offguard, but if you are ready for it, the enemy will end up feeding. Another example is if the enemy goes for a big stash regularly, be prepared the next time they are about to do it so you can intercept them, which will result in a kill.
  
• In general, 'looking for kills' is done either when behind or comfortably ahead.
  
• Tele: Following enemy into tp is risky, they could be waiting with a prop, explosive barrel, shotgun, nade. Also if you don't know where enemy is, tp is risky. It could be blocked by a prop. Or enemy or a nade could be waiting.

ImHo (stress that: in my Very Humble opinion, because I know some might not agree with this) first take out the one who can inflict more damage to you at that time (if you have the resources and possibility; even nicer, use a multikill weapon: splash weapons and shotgun; yes, shotgun; line them up, I tell ya!). The most dangerous is either the one with the stronger weapon, or the greater skills, or the camping one. That's right, mind the camper! Even though the enemy near you is an easy kill, 2 kills are better than 1. Plus, by leaving the most dangerous one alive, he can

• kill you;
  
• change place in case it's the camper; you should take him out as soon as you find out his location
  
• gather more health/items
  
• steal your kills
  
• kill u again

WTF now why would you want all that at the price of one lousy kill?
Overwatch teaches us a similar lesson: Rpg wh0r3 must go down first. It's a common goal achieved by forced teaming against the spammer. I'd rather let the one next to me live, take the chance of getting killed by him once (I'm gonna get killed by the spammer, anyway) and attack the spammer, rather than getting that one lousy kill but letting the spammer do X multikills while I die, respawn and get kills at a normal rate. I can't see a way of winning OR having fun like that, can you? So, I choose to attack and I can either:

• stop/distract him from getting kills
  
• weaken him
  
• kill him
  
• throw him off the roof
  
• convince the guy next to me to do the same and succeed in any of the 4 above, in this round or the next

As for other strategies (see the weapons training for even more):

• At close range, don't try and shoot someone carrying a prop. It's best to catch and return it, or ofc do 1 really fast shot + ggun switch. At medium and long range, back away from people carrying props and shoot them with whatever weapon you like!
  
• Throw props when you can see the enemy is carrying a gun rather than a ggun and he'll most likely not be able to swich fast enough to return it. You should still expect a return.
  
• The timer resets on the orbs and nades when you re-catch them after firing. Orbs can live forever like this (same goes for nades)
  
• If you spawn and feel stuck, it's probably because u spawned into a prop and need to look down, push with ggun and (crouch) jump to set yourself free.
  
• If you think your orb, or distant nade/crossbow is likely or assured to kill someone, don't waste time watching them die, just keep on playing, looking in any direction. But if such a slow projectile (including smg nade) is not a sure kill, again, don't wait for it to hit the target, but attack with something else in the meantime.
  
• Don't kill someone up close who is carrying a SLAM >_< It's a suicide bomber!
  
• Wearing headphones will give you an advantage over speakers in that you can pinpoint players in quiet situations.
  
• Listen for people spawning, using chargers, lifts, ladders, moving (sprint, footsteps, fall), picking up items, breaking glass, boxes, entering secret areas etc.
  
• Explosives can be used to mask own sounds, but it's not effective 100%
  
• Noises in general can be used to trick the player about your whereabouts or to lure him into a trap (a well known example being the lockdown rpg vent sound)
  
• Avoid 1v1s with spectators present (in official matches this is forbidden), for sprinting or even ghosting can occur: spectator feeding the enemy info about you
  
• Chat can also be used, against those that pay attention to it.
  • noticing/accusing someone's weapon in particular, like commenting about mag, can sometimes make the player use other weapons in fear of a ban. Other general remarks and accuses can also make the player go easier, then the accuser can get a lead or even win the map.
    
  • getting player to answer to 'nice shot' or random questions while you're dying, then spawning and killing him as he replies
    
  • distracting the player by any means, either annoying him or entertaining him
  Mind you, I don't suggest these, just warn about these.
  
• Watch out for slowly moving props that have just been thrown about, they can kill you with a feather's touch..
  
• Common sense rules: don't run around naked (get some suit after spawn) and look both ways when crossing a street (or going out of a room/corridor)

Imo in ffa this is usually obvious (I've noticed them even after 1 death) but since others are blind as a bat, here are some signs..
First it takes a bit of knowledge about each player's skill level and normal kpd, so (unless you see something blunt as 2 players feeding themselves health packs) it's a good idea to check the score from time to time for irregularities like a half-arsed nab in the top 3 for instance. From that point on, observing can commence. Also, if you find yourself often being the first to be attacked in 3 player situations, this also requires further observation. As for what to actually observe, you can start with the 1 odd guy on the scoreboard or 1 of the other 2 in the '3some'. In mid combat, or in spec, or right after you die but avoid spawning for as long as you can, check if that player:

• repeatedly attacks with the help of another player, after which they don't attach each other
  
• constantly avoids killing or even attacking a certain player, as in turn away from him or pretending to shoot but constantly missing til something better comes along.
  
• never kills a certain player (notice kill feed or console history if you guessed his team mate)
  
• stays and controls one side of the map (while the other takes care of the rest)
  
• says 'sorry' (after a 'team kill') or shows some affiliation (you can even check their friends list) to 1 particular player, in chat

Now, as for what do do with such people that can't win a map through other means, it's up to you. If they're easy targets, have fun with them, if not, ask them for a 2v2 (they always say 'no'..), but in general it's best to let the admin know and then move on to a different server, as this offers them an unfair advantage over the other players trying to free-for-all.

This tactic is OP (due to nades being inherently OP) if the 4 below conditions are met, otherwise should only be used in tdm with friendlyfire off or pub:

• good assertion of damage inflicted during last fight
  
• good enemy tracking
  
• good/very good nades
  
• survivability after spawn

Most players overestimate themselves when it comes to these 4 skills and their nade rushes can lead to a string of deaths. Even one nade rush can mean sounding the alarm of their spawn spot while being vulnerable as a fresh spawn with no suit and no weapons. An OK alternative, if they absolutely cannot wait out the spawn timer and sit quietly as to not reveal position, is a shotgun rush. First, players on average have better shotgun than nade. Second, this isn't instant, plenty can happen between them spawning and finding a shotgun, or finding the enemy; who knows, they might pick up suit along the way. Third, this is quieter, it discourages sounding the alarm because it forces them to first spot the enemy then shoot, as opposed to throwing a nade in a random direction; it also means poor tracking won't work against them.

When dying a lot/in fast sequence, and are playing possibly from behind, you do have options to take back control, psychological and map wise.
This is the most obvious one. Think of multiple approaches, micro and macro, preferably before the match. Or you will be forced to adapt on the spot, which not many can do. This comes with the bonus of breaking any pattern you showed to the enemy. It can even be something silly/funny, that will make the enemy go wtf and prone to be taken by surprise with your next deadly barrage.
On a more serious note, it could be setting up an ambush, or controlling an area to slowly get back into the game.

• Don't rush a respawn with mad clicking (this can also make enemy turn/walk away if they're waiting longer than usual). Don't run upon spawn, contrary to your instincts. Pause and reflect. You don't need to stand perfectly still, you will be an easy target if you are in enemy's sight. You just need to take a moment, or 10, and slow down the pace of the game.
  
• This is the first step to take back psy control, as the pace set by the enemy is now disrupted. Killing sprees can have this 'wind beneath the wings' effect that sometimes heightens senses. Be calm and stay hidden, this will diminish or remove that effect from the enemy. They will also be confused, or even amused, and either option can throw them off. Confusion can be more powerful than a well established map strategy.
  
• This mental reset will help figure out your next move in order to take back map control. It turns off your autopilot.
  
• If you're the type of player that gets more incentivized when playing from behind, this is not for you. But I think it's just a matter of degree, or for some, a bell curve. Find your chart of frag difference/death streak, and how your comeback attempts are going as your death count climbs.

I don't think many players have a comfort zone. But imo It's good to have one on every map.

• It's not about taking your established routes around the map, although it could be part of them.
  
• It's not a camp/control spot per se, you don't have to camp it or control it. (You can still try to control it, but if you are down frags, you have to get back out there and seek kills.)
  
• It doesn't have to be a specific place on each map, as you might not have thought of one for every new map in the pool. It can also be where weapon x or alt-fire y, or a big stash spawns; or where crate z resides. For example, if you have a favorite weapon, that could be your default comfort zone regardless of map.
  
• All it needs to be is a general area where you feel most comfortable. Or in control. Or where you win most fights, or feel powerful. Where you can go when you feel 'lost'. As in no idea what your next move is when something is not working.
  
• It's similar to the Pause, but not necessarily done after a death. It serves to turn off autopilot, you have to intentionally go there. And helps mental reset. For example, for some it's easier to start a poem from the top than to remember the next line when stuck.
  
• It can also confuse the enemy, if you showed a pattern so far and just now are breaking it.

Not to be confused with plain rushing, which can be done any time you think the enemy is low enough that it's worth the risk of dying 2 times in a row. If you're bad at rushing, practice it outside official matches. If this is you dying a 3rd time in a row or more, or rushing failed once, it is no longer recommended (some might argue it's in fact worth trying more than once, it depends etc). Take your time.
The reset concept is more for matches, rather than for ffa or pub tdm. And it will apply more to 1o1 rather than tdm, since a team is usually (or at least should be) formed of players with similar skill level and one specific player wouldn't normally get too far ahead of everyone else. But it can be extended to tdm.

• It's similar to Counter-Strike's suicide rush. The goal is to take 1 or 2 enemies down with you, at any cost. It's not a joke, I promise. You are jihading, or trying to. It's an extreme measure for an extreme circumstance. To reiterate, a plain rush is only when you think enemy is low after you die in one round, and your goal is only to kill them, not to die with them in the next round. A reset attempt doesn't have to be rushed, aka immediately after you died in the previous round. But one similarity is, if you get killed before your attack (not during/after), do not try reset/rush again. Try something else. Note, I keep saying 'round' because you might be on a 10 death streak, but you tried other things after the first 9 deaths, before resorting to rushing/resetting after the 10th.
  
• The reset is possible via firefight, but most preferably via close up explosives in this game. They are super hard to avoid and counter. The jihad nades in hl2dm are one of the hardest (if not THE hardest) things to avoid. Everyone spawns with nades, they have OP damage and handleability. And players can pretty much run away, jump away, catch, detonate, or duck behind wall for everything else, except a jihad nade. The enemy will have a tiny chance of punting it away before you can catch it in your ggun, IF you are close enough at the start of it. That's the only counter, besides them one shotting you which can happen no matter what weapon you have. Plus that is now harder for them to focus on when you're running at them with a live one and their instinct might be to run away and/or switch to ggun towards the end of the ticks. The jihad nade is also the easiest jihad to perform mid air if need be. So look for a jihad nade opportunity when your enemy is godlike and obviously close enough.
  
• The psy control will now be in your hands, because you no longer play by what the enemy dictates. You decided you will both die, and there is nothing they can do about it. They will also be scared from that point on that you might repeat this move, and so they will consider playing more reserved. You set a new pace.
  
• It's a little-known concept, barely used because of that, but it's a very important option to have in the back of your mind. It's very underrated. Practice this just like any other technique, people used to do it for fun and you might annoy some folk, but hey, there's no rule against it. Bear in mind enemy can punt it and it will do one reset (I believe only 1 is possible) which will add at least one tick and you have to chase them bit longer til the boom.
  
• It helps stop the killing spree effect mentioned above, that's going on in their body and mind. Their consecutive kill count is reset.
  
• If they have full arsenal and full hp/suit, it helps reset those. Part of their spree might be due to them having rpg or ar2 and not needing to go for weapon pickup. They're allowed to safely play off of ammo or alt-fire alone, if they choose to. But if they die at all cost, they need to pick up those weapons again, start over from scratch, no inventory or suit advantage.
  
• In king-of-the-hill maps, or maps with a high control index, if you can sneak up on them, this will also reset their terrain advantage.

Avoid blaming team mate(s), even yourself. In TDM this might lead to never returning to the demo for review. Short term, unless a glaring or repeating issue needs to be addressed and you know that it CAN be remedied, it's usually not worth it. You have to carefully word it in a non toxic way, the player must be the type of player that can take criticism or tidbits of advice mid game and can apply the change on the fly, the game must be long enough or of little consequence, too many factors to consider! Stick to callouts/strats and positive reinforcements, or silence when playing from behind.

Comeback methods continued, since Steam guides have a character limit per Section.
You can wait for the enemy to make a mistake, but be prepared to punish. Missed opportunities can be viewed as your mistakes.
You can also look to force the enemy to make mistakes, force a misstep or misposition. This can be done via juke, diversion, or smoking the enemy out from their comfortable position.
This does not mean rushing the enemy, because it's rarely necessarily and rarely done correctly. And it does not mean suddenly playing correctly. If you have been playing suboptimally, that's something to be addressed/revised first and foremost. Because good habits are hard to turn off just as it would be hard to suddenly aim away from an enemy or to randomly stop a bhop, it's just muscle memory. If you put yourself in a slum, that's on you, and not what this point is about. This point is about you being down on your luck in the first few minutes of the game or even first half, whether due to unlucky spawns or the opponent being on a hot streak. And you suddenly giving a little bit of a darn, not too much to see red and play worse, but enough to light a small fire under your butt, and starting to hustle to get back into the game. This needs to be calm and calculated with a slight rush, but not rage, not mindlessly rushing the enemy. You can rush towards an rpg, because 3 kills are better than 1. You can rush towards a charger instead of chasing a low enemy behind a wall because they might wait for you with a prop. The rules of the game will still apply, and incorrect plays can still be punishing. The rush is for you to do/play better. Sometimes that's faster gathering, better aiming with ggun for those pickups. Faster thinking after spawn, 'OK where do I want to go next so I don't run into the enemy unprepared'. The hustle is NOT for you to rush the enemy.
There's ways to train this, in pub you can play lightly and go 0-5, 0-7 etc then rise up to the top of the scoreboard. In 1v1 with a player around your level I would also suggest playing lightly but not suboptimally, so as to not enforce bad habits.
This does not exclude all other comeback methods.
I will detail what I mentioned above: the hustle factor and other comeback methods can be practiced either during FFA, friendly scrims or training sessions, any environment where you are up against weaker players or somewhat around your level. In those scenarios anything can be practiced such as a specific weapon, advanced movement, a specific technique like nade jihad, or tracking 6 players at the same time. Set goals for yourself.
You first force a deficit by either repeated suicides in 1v1, or joining late in a pub, or letting yourself get killed repeatedly, or playing without sound, or be half afk. Something you would not otherwise normally do. But do not 'let enemy win', 'let up', 'play loose'. This is important. You don't want to create bad habits by playing suboptimally such as ignoring suit etc.
This number of frags you have to make up for will be something you have to figure out based on the crowd.
Then the hustle factor etc can start and you can still pubstomp and attempt to run the score by the end of the map.

General tip for all games: when you have an advantage, think of the 1 way you might lose it. In HL2: DM it could be something like, OK I have RPG, 100 200, vantage point and a little wiggle so I don't get sniped or orb'd, then I ask myself: "how do I lose here?" or "how can I lose here?".

Here are some unique styles or strats for keeping a lead:

In general, getting the first hit acts like a first move advantage. In chess or turn based games, you might get that first move by default. In other types of games, and in real life, first move is an aggressive type of play. You force the enemy to constantly react to you and play YOUR game. Even in FPS games with doors where team A might look like they are trapped/surrounded in a house, not really controlling a vantage point, they are in fact the ones making the first move by setting up the terrain. "Whoever is first in the field and awaits" something something. Team B might look like they're making the first move by coming in, but they are falling into a trap, and team A ends up getting the first shot. In this game in particular, HL2DM, an obvious advantage of a first hit is the 1 shot potential.
So 'first shot style' or 'first shot strat' or in short 'first shot' is constantly looking for opportunities to land the first HIT on the enemy, or creating such opportunities (the set-up here is the true first move), and then choosing a smart play after the shot. The next play depends on multiple factors, such as: did you hit or miss, did they get a chance to shoot and did the enemy hit or miss, what is the score, what's the distance between you and the enemy, is enemy partially or fully behind cover, what weapon do you each have out, etc. There's running around the map and spotting the enemy before they see you or simply reacting faster, but that's just one round and possibly unintentional. The first shot style is intentional, and lasting multiple rounds. It can run in parallel with other styles. It is hard to apply on tig, easier to apply in 1v1, easier to apply when several frags ahead, it's trash to fully engage with long range shotty when enemy hasn't spotted you, hard to do with nades since they're not snappy enough.
One reason it works is because you get to briefly watch specific areas like points of entry, while the enemy has to scan the entire area to spot you. It's like a mini camp, but with camping in time they realize where you are. This is too brief for them to tell. You also get to listen for a while obviously, and gauge enemy inventory and position or ETA. You could say 'briefly holding angles' is a part of this style.
In the examples shown in the video linked below, the basic theme is 'first shot, reposition'. This can also mean refusing to engage at all if enemy gets first shot chance, even if you took 0 damage and are ahead. It's a mini-game where you fight for who gets 'first shot' first. You stumbled into their set up, maybe there's a barrel somewhere behind you, one that usually spawns there, or one placed by the enemy. Enemy first shot, especially from behind or from the side, is something we want to reposition from.

Whether micro as included in the first shot style, or macro as a style of its own, 'running away' can sometimes be seen as 'shuffling the deck'. And drawing the next set of cards. In other words, I'm attempting fights, but not fully committing to them until I see something I like, something that experience tells me it will work. Enemy has terrain advantage, I peace out. Enemy is in a tight spot literally and I have orbs, it's disco time. Enemy made a mistake, I punish. Etc. It's not mindlessly running away all the time, or doing short trades only. If it makes sense to stay, I stay. It's different from peeking, and a benefit is you can bait out a heavier enemy shot like a rocket. Different from escaping. Different from gathering after spawn. Different from bailing out on someone. Unlike first shot which is easier to apply in 1v1, running away can easily be applied in TDM and FFA, and should be applied because an extended fight in TDM means risking another enemy showing up sooner than an ally, and in FFA an extended fight means you can easily be 3rd partied.
By itself, the style's drawbacks would be no terrain/kill set up, just run til you see the back of the enemy's head. If enemy backtracks though, you risk bumping into them early and unprepared.
Running away can include first shot. But it doesn't have to. If I'm ahead in frags and I can circle around you and I don't have to face you, just get the stash underneath the stairs in ld or get rpg and spam to keep you at bay, or keep running every time you see me, I win. I don't have to camp. And I don't need to set up for first shot in the eventuality of an encounter, if I can avoid encounters altogether.
It's a style of its own, confusing or avoiding enemy, controlling resources, OR running away to circle around and shoot enemy in the back/from a side. Or stalling, let the timer run out. Or being silly, having fun in a 'hit and run' kind of way.

Both of these styles can contain each other in various amounts. And this is what the next part is about. Not only it's a mix of these styles, but it's got less of the drawbacks and more of the advantages.

This 'proactive running away' can be attempted at any point when ahead, even slightly, in order to keep the lead. When enemy is desperate for kills to make up for the frag difference and needs to come to you, just keep running away and go where the enemy isn't. This style is not camping nor hiding, but constantly running away or escaping, while looking back from time to time and most importantly, setting up for the next kill. The set-up here is the hardest part to pull off and both of these styles will need to be practiced before hand separately, and probably combined as well. This will not be achieved easily and naturally.
https://youtu.be/GMWXSr3j_xI

• control rpg area, deny access to it, and/or take it yourself and btw you don't necessarily have to use it; control rpg ammo
  
• get airborne so they have no surface like floor, wall or railing to aim for; dodge rocket sideways if close enough or if they didn't aim for floor surface
  
• be on opposite side of map, where enemy isn't, to avoid interaction, and follow their tracks in parallel til you are equally strong; or hide/run away while trying to bait out rockets
  
• get plenty of suit to survive shots
  
• orbs. the ultimate counter. the biggest power struggle in the game
  
• mag hs, they cannot guide rocket downwards to your feet the second they are dead, it will just go in a straight line and it will be an easy dodge
  
• reset them, such as nade jihad (see Reset section above)
  
• detonate rockets early with props

Here are a few examples of residue habits formed during practice or other scenarios that are otherwise deadly in real matches or try hard pubs:

• reloading too soon, such as after getting a kill, but there are still enemies around left alive;
  
• re-trying a failed jump, immediately after failing it, instead of turning around, or finding another path, or doing a less difficult jump; now is not the time to prove anything to anyone as lingering on a lower level can get you killed;
  
• still bouncing/jumping after being spotted; only super fast or erratic players can get away with this; the majority need to press S or whatever direction key that will either stop their playermodel or stop the repetitive and predictable movement and instead side step in a different direction;
  
• landing crouched after being spotted; landing crouched will make you slide longer than intended and if you lack the advanced movement to do a quick butt turn around a corner or something, you're just a slow sliding duck moving in a straight line; stand up.

Comment if you can think of more!

This section will not give you hints on how to lower your ping.

Pros:

• Aim training: This is by far the best reason to play on high ping servers. I cannot attest to using aim trainers, some say that's placebo, others say that does help. I can however attest to training aim on high ping servers, especially on maps where you spawn with mag etc already, or aim train specific maps. Aim does transfer from other games, especially other fps games, but the best way to train aim for a specific game is to grind aim training in that game. By simply playing more, or better opponents, or specific maps to learn angles, or specific weapons, or techniques, or on high ping servers. This will teach you to trust your instinct and not your eyes in this messy netcode with buggy hitboxes game.
  
• Reflex training: Key/button pressing timings pushed to the limits.
  
• Anticipation training: You'll be forced to pull ggun out faster and faster to the point where you will anticipate the player cooking a nade, charging an orb, or throwing a prop before they even think about it. "Anticipate, don't react". You can catch and return nades on good servers as high as 210-260 ping, I don't recommend catching and attempting to cook though.
  
• Timings automation: Nade timings could be memorized to where you don't need to listen to the ticks on normal/high ping, helpful during loud explosions or mic spam. Or mechanically bouncing off the floor at the right time to the point where you don't need the visual cue, this is forced by your view being desynced from your playermodel. Watch out for delayed shotgun reload timing though.
  
• More players around the clock: Game isn't exactly flourishing in terms of number of players, so one way to get around that is to play different continents outside peak times on your own continent. Or find/seed (populated) servers that play specific maps you find fun.
  
• Variations in style, technique, difficulty: It isn't just a wider pool of players, it's a more diverse pool of players. Continents/timezones do have slightly different ways of playing the game and specific maps. And then there's trend setters, meta dictators, and just plain unique players, all around the globe. Get out of your comfort zone, it will help you improve.

Cons that can be observed at least once per session:

• Killfeed delay: Makes you keep shooting for a bit after a kill.
  
• Longer delay of view angles correction upon spawn: Confusing, hard to assess your own spawn location fast enough.
  
• Can't fast orb.
  
• Can't catch or throw own nade: Happens in normal ping if server is bad so this will happen even more when lag or high ping.
  
• Walking past door entries or floor pickups.
  
• Playermodel ahead of what you see, so advanced movement suffers due to delayed jumping.
  
• Bumping into other playermodels, sticky players. This is less common on wide open maps.
  
• Switching to ggun to pick something up will accidentally right click the previous weapon like shotgun, xbow or smg alt (rip).
  
• Lots of fake blood, even for headshots on a sitting duck. Hitreg is wonky at normal ping, too, therefore worse with lag or high ping. No one can have 100% accuracy with hitscan weapons in this game, period.
  
• Longer and jittery mag recoil animation. Visible via sourceTV. It's not slower nor delayed, just that the last frames get repeated.
  
• Specific sound after death, like something being dragged on the floor. This can be heard even at 29 ping if temp lag or server unstable.
  
• More often than not, a victim, not perpetrator, of shots from behind corners/walls. These shots can happen below 100 ping, just less often.
  Silent unofficial rant: Lag comp is the server giving a break to the high ping player, NOT giving all the shots to the high ping player. It creates a middle version between 2 players of different pings, NOT constantly teleporting the low ping player back to a position that suits the high ping player's aim (LOL). It serves to lessen the disadvantage of the high ping player (there is still a disadvantage!), NOT to give the high ping player an unfair advantage over all low ping players. The low ping player should still factually get more shots than the high ping player on targets going behind walls or crossing their view. Literally watch any lag compensation video. And higher lag compensation will appear at higher ping difference. If the high ping player is constantly the sole beneficiary of lag comp that should be double sided, and not to mention getting huge lag comp for a below average ping difference, that's not legit. That's backtracking. To be continued.

There's a few more cons but client side only. Comment if you can think of more!

Not all mistakes lead to immediate death, or for some mistakes you might not even be punished for. Don't be results oriented, try to spot the 1/10 (low percentage) plays that magically worked, and the 9/10 (high percentage) plays that unfortunately didn't work. And not all deaths are mistakes, either.
There's rare cases of tactical deaths, like in my Compatriotism Youtube video where I suicide at 5HP to give my ally the rpg with full ammo, or a suicide to avoid death when there's fraglimit only (this happened when I ran one of my kbh tourneys). Or other niche scenarios like resetting enemy with rpg at all cost including via jihad with nade or smg nade. Sometimes hanging on for dear life for as long as possible and constantly being on the run with 1HP is not worth if you are behind in frags (TDM as well) and running out of time to catch up score wise when you should be looking for kills rather than barely staying alive, just accept the death and start fresh; the enemy might opt for silly cat and mouse plays and delay killing you as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gdl9SoWiRc

There's plenty listed in the weapons tut and the movement tut, here are some uncategorized:

• (useless) Spray on spray sometimes u can see whats under if u press flashlight
  
• (useless) Saw blades can be hidden and wiped off the map by looking at one on the ground and doing a quick right click, left click with ggun.
  
• (useful) use any item on the floor, even a second stunstick, shotgun ammo and hold it in the middle or so, then xbow won't hit u; works like a shield. Apparently xbow bolt hits like a vertical arrow, and not just a dot, so takes everything on the line u shoot, even on floor, a sitting weapon gets hit.
  
• (useful) holding a resource (item or weapon) in ggun will not allow it to re-spawn. Can be used on overwatch for instance, when having leading score and camping up top, holding rpg in ggun will not allow enemy to take it with a nade shot from its default spawn spot.

Never stop learning AND improving, never settle, always go for bigger fish and try to find out as much as you can about this game. It's constantly changing, bugs becoming part of it so just.. adapt! Of course you can pause at times and go for them sure kills in matches.
And going back to basics from time to time is helpful when you've automated something that in time stops working because you've diluted some basic step.

Last edited on: 08-12-2025, corrected video name.