Rival's Unique Pistol Rounds

I want to start this playbook a little differently than the others that I've written. I want to look at several interesting defensive pistol rounds of Rival. As much as people like to say that Rival is not a tactic-oriented team, the members' creativity shines brightly on the team's defensive pistol rounds. Let's take a look at Rival on de_train.

de_train

On de_train, Rival runs an overloaded setup on the outside site, which, correct me if I'm wrong (and I know you will in the comments), we first saw in a match last CAL season against TEC.

Here is how the setup works: two players setup on the bomb train, watching the ladder room. This exerts an enormous amount of pressure on these two players. Not only must both defend against the offense using the USP at AWP ranges, but they also must defend against the close-range attackers sweeping in from the alley to attack the front of the bomb train.

Complimenting the bomb train stack, Rival plays two defenders on the CT spawn ramp, who watch the back route from the alley. These two have the large responsibility of not only covering their teammates' backs, but also rotating quickly to back up the inner bombsite defender if attacked.

Rival puts a lot of faith into their ability to retake bombsites on pistol rounds, as we will see in on maps as well. The final defender plays near spawn, spotting the low ramp exiting the white walls. The defender's purpose is not to kill attackers entering from the far ramp, rather his job is to spot attackers entering and communicate the attack to his teammates. How does Rival cover the upper ramp? They don't. This is clearly the weak point in this setup, as the offense could potentially walk quietly across the top of the site.

de_cpl_mill

I can't even explain how amazed I was that SK did not expect this stack at CPL. This is a commonly used pistol setup that the core of Rival has been using since v2m.

This setup is similar to the de_train setup. Rival once again plays a long-range setup, which is designed for retaking the close bombsite and overloading the far bombsite (once again, as we saw on de_train). Three defenders setup a triple stack on the left boxes at the top of the middle ramp. This is a highly effective setup, because it allows the offense to waste any available grenades on the ramp or from the sewers, which will not affect the three defenders. If the bombsite is taken, a retake can be made fairly easily with a few well-placed flashbangs and HE grenades.

The last two defenders create a crossfire on the left side entrance, while the defender inside the bombsite periodically checks the blue squeaky door.

de_dust2

Rival runs several different setups for pistol round on de_dust2, but one setup regularly runs like clockwork: the catwalk setup.

Rival continues its "retake" mentality on this map, running a three man stack on the catwalk. While the defenders may choose from several different setup options, we most often see two defenders watching the catwalk. One defender will often sit on top of the big brown box, while the other sits on the ground directly below him. The remaining catwalk defender floats around the area, occasionally spotting long A from the top of catwalk.

In the setup described above, the defender playing on the ground below the box will sometimes offensively peak the catwalk corner, attempting to spot and bait the offense in to thinking that he is alone.

The alternate setup is not seen often, but is extremely effective. Rival triple-boosts on the catwalk, placing one defender up on the wall ledge and another directly below him. Not only does the boosted defender play in an unexpected position, but he also can see into lower B tunnels. The remaining defender once again spots long A.