Filling in the Gaps

Posted by: DLight

Article by David "deLiGHT" Light

When someone mentions gaps, the last thing on anyone's mind is Counter-Strike. Most sane individuals will let their mind wander to American Football, and maybe even to the likes of two-gap defensive tackles like Marcus Stroud or big John Henderson... others will joke about Michael Strahan. But, for me, gaps are one thing -- a necessity to control in any good defensive scheme.

In Counter-Strike, the understanding of gaps is a very basic thing -- the B tunnels, catwalk, banana. Everyone has an understanding of gaps, even though they don't necessarily view them as such. A gap is basically any spacing in which needs to be covered to prevent penetration from the offense. Generally, gaps are covered somewhat in isolation -- two guys may be defending the catwalk gap, but neither is helping any other gap on the map. This, is where gap-control defense comes into play. When I mentioned big John Henderson as being a two-gap defensive tackle, I was hinting at something. Henderson has the ability to not only play his own gap, but control the gap next to him as well. Why not in Counter-Strike?

Gap control defense has been used for a good amount of time in Counter-Strike, but rarely has it been so openly discussed, or even understood. The thought process behind it, is that why limit players to one gap at a time? Why not allow personnel to have a primary, and secondary responsibility? We could learn a lot from "help-defense" in basketball here, as well. It's really the same idea -- where one is good, more is better. Imagine being able to draw up a defensive scheme that can allow you, at least on some occasions, to guard every major gap with two or three players?

To the right you will find a very good example of a strong gap-control defensive setup (click for an expanded view). The map is de_train, and the game is Counter-Strike 1.6, but the ideas behind the defensive positions are what really matter here.

Look closely at the picture, and figure out what the primary gap is for each player. Got it? Good. Now, figure out their secondary gap, and then their third gap... do you understand? What a quality defensive setup presents, is an opportunity for players to go beyond their own responsibility and play help defense in another -- while not necessarily jeopardizing their position. Player 1 is in the sniper tower, and his primary gap (which you can see if you click the picture) is to cover the ladder train. However, if any action comes out of middle, he's immediately able to help that gap -- the same is true for ivy. Player 2's primary responsibility is the offensive middle (he's on his way to the other end of the train in the picture). He can also easily backtrack and support Ivy from atop of the same train -- either from close, or afar -- and has the ability to take down any enemies that rise to the top of ladder train as well (or attempt to crash into the defensive connector). The last player, Player 3 relies a lot on communication from his teammates, but he is really not as vulnerable as he looks. His primary coverage point is Ivy, but with a simple twist to the left he can support the offensive middle, and by backing up or ducking under the train he can easily support land-lovers coming from Ladder train.

To put this bluntly, not only is every gap controlled outside, but every gap is within sight of three defenders. Should a team split 2-3 Middle and Ivy, they'll be in huge trouble. Should they all go middle, again they'll be in trouble. There are of course weaknesses to this specific strategy -- savvy offenses will begin to move through ladder unnoticed by staying on the ground, and playing quiet. But this is not a strategy that is intended to be called every play. It is simply one of many plays in a defense's arsenal. But, hypothetically you could also defend that described weakness with the same exact strategy, simply by rotating the primary gaps --Player 1 watches Middle instead of Ivy, Player 2 watches Ivy instead of Middle and Player 3 watches Ladder train from the floor instead of watching Ivy. This works because all players are within sight of every gap, so in theory you could use almost any combination of coverages from the same positions to confuse opponents -- the difference in each being that the first "help" defender comes from a different location; the location they thought was initially clear.

Help, or multi-gap control defense is not really a specific strategy as much as it is a philosophy; put your best players in positions to make plays. Entrust players with certain skill sets to have a larger impact on the round, and with time, you'll be rewarded greatly. Try and experiment with this ideal, and put your players in positions where they can make plays outside of their own area with relative ease. Try to figure out defensive setups on maps that utilize, if not three, then at least two defenders within sight of each major gap and work it slowly into your playbook. After all, if your gaps are good you just might win. Ask Strahan.