Cobblestone has seen many iterations over the years. Up until this current version, it's been heavily CT-sided. Since this isn't the case anymore, you will have to be a bit more creative if you want to score those rounds.

First, let's talk about the map itself. Most games tend to be centered around the B-site. There are several reasons for this. First of all it's easy to isolate defending players on B with smokes. Secondly the terrorists will generally use AK47 whereas you are stuck with M4A4 or M4A1-s. They can prefire the most common angles with a weapon that has the potential to kill you with a single bullet. You will have to react to them stepping out, and if you're fast enough you will still have to hit them at least twice.

Then you have the stairs between B-halls and mid. If they rotate from B to A they can simply drop down the stairs and be there in no time. It takes a lot longer to run up the stairs and rotate from A to B.

The lone soldier on A

Unless you notice that the terrorists have a tendency to attack A, I would recommend to play with only one defender on A. His job will be to support the B-players as much as he can as well as to push for information and call for backup if needed. A lot of the time he won't need his smoke, so he can throw it over to B and smoke off long. That way you'll have four smokes ready on B.

After that he should sit around corners at CT ramp, long A or stairs. He will listen for footsteps and check for flashes and smokes. If he thinks that they're coming to A, he should try to survive for as long as possible. If the B-players manage to take control over long B or other key areas around B, the A-guy can fall back to the bombsite and one of the players from B can rotate and support him.

If he can't see or hear anyone he can try to move in for the backstab through Z. If he does, timing is crucial. Wait for the terrorists to initiate their attack, or else there's a good chance they will have at least one player waiting for the lurker coming in from behind.

Should problem arise over at B, your brave soldier from A shouldn't hesitate. He can either go in through connector door and call for a flash from drop room or throw the flash himself. This flash will blind any terrorist tucked in the corner outside door, making it a lot easier to initiate the retake attempt.

On the next page: getting creative around B.

Creative B-plays

If you decide to play with only one player at A, you will have four players at your disposal for some really creative B-plays. For starters you want to go for less obvious angles and try your best to cause communication breakdown (great song, great band, great hair!) and force the terrorists to check more angles. Boosting a player up on top of the cube is one way to achieve this effect. That player will also be able to peek over most of the smokes that the terrorists might use:

If your opponents have a tendency to push long B, you can slow them down with a smoke, followed by a molotov and a flash. Stand next to the cube and throw the smoke. After that you can line up the molotov and call for a flashbang from a teammate. What will happen is that your enemies will get blinded and hopefully back off to the corner just outside arch. If that's the case, they won't know that they're slowly burning to death!

Even if they don't you will slow down the push, allowing both the A-player to move in from behind and the guys around drop to be a little creative. Used with proper timing the boost from drop room can be lethal, but remember: it's a risk! First of all you want to lay down a smoke screen before you boost, unless the boost is used to peek for information. Try to smoke sometimes even if you don't boost. That way it will be more difficult for the terrorists to read the play when you actually go for it.

Drop room can be quite tricky to defend. I like to have one player just outside and one close to connector, ready to assist. If you stand inside drop, chances are you will get flashed and subsequently killed without being able to help your team at all that round. This flash can work wonders. Try it a few times and you'll get the timing right. If the terrorists turn their backs, you will turn those backs into swiss cheese. If they don't, they won't be able see a thing and you can just finish them off.

Be careful!

It's tempting to hide inside the hen house and try to be a little sneaky. But remember that a single molotov will force you out in the open to a very disadvantageous position where you can consider yourself lucky if you're able to fire even a single bullet.

You have to be careful when you try to lurk around the map. If the A-player gets caught with his pants down, you might not have enough time to rotate over to A. And even if you do, they might turn around and attack B instead. Cobblestone is a map where you really need all your players alive until your opponents commit to one site.

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