When Source was first released many people asked what would be needed for it to be as succesful as 1.6. The clear answer would have to be more competitive maps that Valve didn't feel the need to port over. CPL Fire was a much needed map for the Source community. I really enjoy this port over from the 1.6 map, as it is much more similar to its 1.6 counterpart than the other maps. With many of Source's players coming over from other games I figured I would give them some information on the map they might not know. CPL Fire is really not a heavily sided map as Train or Nuke. With the right rotations and execution any team can be successful on offense or defense. I will give you some ideas for set-ups and strats you can run with your team and see how they can make you guys more successful on this newly ported map.

Offense
CPL Fire is very different than all the other maps due to the simple fact that it is very wide and open. With CPL Fire being so wide, it allows your offense to spread out and work towards one goal. With the right picks you can get teams to over-rotate and not be able to recover once they realize it was a fake. While you are working your offensive strats you have to make sure everyone is doing their job or your very likely to get flanked. CPL Fire has five choke points (where you can expect an enemy to be watching) that you will need to get familiar with. With so many ways to attack the defense you have many options in the way which you will want to attack and how. I will explain to you a few ways I think will be beneficial for you and your team.

Attacking the A bombsite

If you plan on working the A bombsite there are a few key things you will want to establish before making the move up short A or A halls. The defense will more than likely have one player in the middle with an awp trying to pick you off as you make a move in middle. Another player will be watching short A, he can either push and play up-close or rely on his shot and play from the site. Once you come up middle you will need to establish middle and make their middle player fall back and make some unconfirmed calls. To do this you will need to place some key flashes/smokes. If you set different players to do these flashes/smokes they will become a lot more beneficial.



With these flashes placed in the right spots at the right times, the middle player will be completely clueless of what to call or even do. I would also recommend throwing some smokes in middle against the fence to give you a bit of cover. Once you have worked your way towards short A you will now have to throw another key smoke to keep your team from getting picked by a rotator. For this attack on A to be succesful I would suggest sending three up middle then towards short A with the flahes/smokes and two rushing A tunnels to keep the A players unbalanced. If this is run with good timing and execution it could be a very effective default for any team.



Attacking the B bombsite

Some consider the B bombsite to be more effective to attack, mainly because you don't have to deal with middle and the B bombsite is much harder for the defense to regain control of. The most effective way to take B would have to be with some sort of split. You want to avoid sending all five players one way whether it be all upper B or all lower B. When you send all your players one way you close the gap in which the defense has to defend. If they know you are all coming up from lower A they will have all their flashes and nades right on top of you. If you spread out your players you make them defend a much larger area. When you start to work B you will need good placed smokes/flashes as it has very narrow entry points. I will give some suggestions and you can add to them if you must. The biggest problem about working B is the threat of a good AWPer shutting down the upper B tunnels; well this can be overcome by just a few key smokes. The next thing to worry about it a player hiding in a unknown spot with an m4 just waiting for the entry kills. Both of those key postions will be utilized in what I am about to show you.



Once the round starts you will want to run straight to this postion and have three guys smoke over the wall and it should land right in the front of upper B blocking out any AWPer set up in the back of the site.



After you feel you have cover from the smokes in the front of B you will need to start flashing the site to blind the players defending it. With these key flashes you will blind all the spots the defenders will be playing, making the entry kills simple. Make sure you have three guys upper A and two guys lower A. Once you guys all get set up throw the flashes from upper A and lower A then continue with the rush.