CS2 Anubis Guide
Anubis Smoke Guide: Mid, Canal, A Site and B Site Utility
Anubis gives both teams several connected routes between Mid, Canal-related areas and the bombsites. Good smoke usage is less about covering every possible angle and more about breaking those connections at the moment your team wants to move. This guide explains how to use Anubis utility to gain space, isolate defenders and control rotations.
Understand the connections before memorizing the smokes
Anubis contains several routes that allow players to move between central areas and the sites. That means a defender who is not physically standing on a bombsite may still influence the execute quickly.
Smoke grenades are valuable because they can temporarily disconnect one route from another. This lets attackers choose which defenders must be fought immediately and which defenders can be delayed.
Think of Anubis as a map of route choices
Anubis becomes easier to understand when you stop viewing A, B, Mid and Canal as separate rooms. They are connected choices. Pressure in one area changes how confidently defenders can rotate through another, and a smoke is often most valuable when it temporarily removes one of those connections from the defense.
This is why the same grenade can have different value from round to round. If your team already controls the route the smoke is meant to protect, another piece of utility may create more value elsewhere. Good Anubis utility starts with reading which connection is currently giving the defense too much freedom.
Mid pressure
Mid control provides information and creates options. Attackers with safe Mid presence can threaten multiple routes instead of committing every player through one entrance.
A Mid smoke should therefore create a usable crossing or remove an important defensive sightline. If nobody uses the protected space, the grenade has accomplished very little.
Force defenders to choose
Pressure is strongest when the defense cannot comfortably watch every route at once. Smokes can create that uncertainty by hiding movement and blocking support between connected positions.
Use Mid presence to make rotations uncomfortable
Mid pressure is useful even when the bomb never travels through Mid. A defender who has to respect a player in the center cannot rotate as early or as directly as a defender who knows Mid is empty. The smoke buys the attacker the chance to establish that presence without taking every duel at once.
When practicing, include the seconds after the smoke. Decide where the first player holds, where the second player can trade, and what information would cause the team to continue or fall back. That turns a lineup into a repeatable map-control routine.
Canal and Water-related control
The lower routes around Anubis provide additional ways to approach important parts of the map. Control here can change how defenders rotate and where attackers can appear during a site execute.
Utility should help players cross exposed sections and prevent defenders from gathering easy information. Again, the objective is not simply to create smoke on the screen; it is to make movement safer.
Canal control is useful when it changes the defender's map
Taking lower control is not automatically valuable. It becomes valuable when it opens a safer route, threatens a rotation, or forces a defender to watch an extra entrance. A smoke should help your team reach that state, not simply hide the first few steps of the route.
Because Canal-related areas can create alternative timings, communication matters. A player arriving early should avoid taking an isolated fight if the rest of the team is still setting up somewhere else. The smoke is strongest when both groups use the protection to arrive together.
A Site executes
A Site attacks become much easier when defenders are separated from supporting positions. A smoke can remove a deep sightline or delay a player who would otherwise trade for the first defender.
Attackers should decide which positions will be smoked and which will be cleared normally. Attempting to smoke every possible threat often uses too much utility and creates confusing smoke edges.
Use the timing window
Once the key smoke lands, the attack should use the temporary advantage. Waiting until the grenade is almost gone gives the defense time to reposition and communicate.
B Site executes
B attacks also benefit from splitting the defense into smaller groups. Rotation denial is especially important because an uncontested defender arriving from another area can change the site fight even after the first entry succeeds.
A good smoke buys enough time for the bomb to be planted and for attackers to establish post-plant positions.
Use site smokes to simplify roles
On both sites, the cleanest executes assign visible and hidden problems separately. If a smoke removes one support angle, the entry player should know exactly which positions remain. Another teammate should be responsible for a possible push through the smoke or for the moment it begins to fade.
A good exercise is to explain the execute without naming any lineup: "this smoke removes the deep support angle, this player clears close, this player watches the smoke." If the plan still makes sense, the utility is supporting the tactic instead of replacing it.
Defensive Anubis smokes
CT-side smokes are useful for denying early space, hiding a reposition or delaying a late execute. A smoke does not need to produce a kill to be successful.
If attackers are forced to wait ten more seconds or reveal additional utility, the defense has gained information and time.
Retake utility
During a retake, identify which attacker-controlled angle prevents access to the bomb. Smoking that angle can allow teammates to clear other parts of the site first.
Keep the solution simple. Retakes rarely provide enough time for complicated setup-heavy lineups.
Practice Anubis with decision points, not a fixed script
Create short practice rounds where you deliberately change the information. In one repetition, imagine the defense has given up Mid; in another, imagine a defender is contesting it. The correct next smoke may change even though your starting lineup knowledge has not.
This helps prevent a common habit: throwing the same utility package every round regardless of what the defense is doing. The goal is to recognize when a lineup solves the current problem and when it should stay in your inventory.
How to practice Anubis smokes
- Learn one route at a time. Mid and site utility become easier to remember when grouped by purpose.
- Repeat the exact starting position. Small differences create large misses.
- Use map geometry as the aim reference. Choose something fixed and recognizable.
- Confirm the required input. Standing, moving and jump throws are different lineups.
- Inspect both sides of the smoke. Look for gaps or favorable edges.
- Practice the follow-up. Know where you move once the grenade lands.
Common Anubis smoke mistakes
- Ignoring central control. Site attacks become predictable when Mid-related routes are never threatened.
- Using smokes without movement. The temporary advantage disappears unused.
- Leaving rotation routes open. Defenders reconnect to the site too quickly.
- Assuming a smoke is safe. Opponents can push through it.
- Memorizing too many lineups at once. Build a dependable core set first.
Build a compact Anubis playbook
A useful personal playbook can be small: one or two reliable ways to support Mid, one route-supporting smoke around Canal, and a few site smokes that match the executes you actually use. Add retake or alternate-start lineups only after those basics are automatic.
Keeping the set compact makes communication easier too. When teammates know the purpose of each smoke, they can adjust around missing utility instead of abandoning the round plan completely.
Practice Anubis with SmokeLine
Use SmokeLine to compare your exact setup with the recorded position, aim and throw references. When a grenade misses, change only one variable at a time so you can identify the real cause.
Anubis smoke FAQ
What should I learn first on Anubis?
Learn utility for the central routes and the site you attack most often. This gives you a useful base without overloading your memory.
Why are rotation smokes important?
Anubis has connected routes that allow defenders to influence fights quickly. Delaying those rotations gives attackers time to establish control.
Should I learn every lineup variation?
No. Start with one reliable version for each important situation and add alternatives only after those become consistent.