Bombsite A (5)

Learn how to attack Bombsite A on Mirage in Counter-Strike: Source. Covers strategies for A Main, Palace, and Connector, including key callouts and smoke grenade spots.

Site A on Mirage is a relatively open area that coordinated T sides can attack with relative ease. The only bad news is CTs get immediate access to it out of spawn and can guard and rotate into it from a large number of angles. Most T sides will stage an A attack through either A Main (or Tunnels) or Palace, occassionally sending a lurk player down Mid to pounce in from Connector.

A Main is simple to get to from T spawn, just take the south facing ramp and follow the lower path. There is a "staircase" you can jump onto to get to a ledge, and that will make throwing flashes and smokes over the wall a little easier for A executes. However, keep in mind CTs can Mollie over the wall onto the ledge as well, so use with discretion. Go to YouTube to learn the three A smokes for CT, Jungle (the little stretch of walkway that connects Sniper to the site) and Stairs, and you can provide excellent cover as you run onto the site. Places to check as you begin the execute are Tetris (the stack of boxes and construction supplies on your right as you exit the tunnel), Lower Dark (under the scaffolding next to Palace), Sandwich (also called Get Right, the gap between Stairs and Tetris) and, depending on how well the CT smoke was thrown, Tollbooth for adventerous AWPers or autos.

If you can't coordinate the A smokes, are on eco and/or want to avoid bottlenecking A Main, then take the upper path out of T spawn and enter A through Palace. You should take care when moving up here, since ambitious CTs will try to beat you here for a cheeky entry or two. If there aren't any, then Palace is all yours and you are in a prime position to support your team with grenades or AWP fire if you can spare one. Keep an eye out for CTs playing on Scaffold, and use the shadows on this level to your advantage (some inexperienced CTs may have the nose of their gun casting one in front of the exit).

To get to A Site from Mid, just take the short staircase off to your left (called Connector). There are platforms on each side of the stairs that are easily campable, so take care when pushing through here. Also, there are some wooden planks on the left interior wall of the bombsite exit. These can be wallbanged with rifles, so be careful when camping here.