CSGO Mirage Callouts & Full Guide

Formerly known as Strike, Mirage is the most popular bomb defusal map in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO). Regular updates on this map has made Mirage Callouts fun and worth trying out. In this article we will highlight on how to play the map and all of it’s callouts.

Set in a fictitious Morrocan town, Mirage is a highly popular map played on CS:GO servers as well as in competitive gaming. It is the only map that is featured in all 15 CS:GO Major Championships to date. Despite its relatively easy-looking map configuration, there are actually a ton of map callouts that you can effectively use with your teammates in the game.

To put it simply, a map callout is a simplified term used during a game, where you describe your location or your enemy’s over chat. Once you’re familiar with Mirage Callouts, you’ll be able to provide critical information for your teammates such as when you encountered an enemy, or if you’re killed in a specific spot. Information like these are especially useful in competitive gaming since every second counts towards the outcome of the match. Hence, you should learn and identify basic Mirage callouts before venturing into the Morrocan town.

For instance, after the January 29 update which includes the addition of an AWP wallbang spot from palace to scaffolding close corner (A site), bench (Mid) to allow jump up to window boost spot/peek towards cat, Widened T entrance to Mid and Lowered trim around balcony (B Site). Understanding basic Mirage callouts will ensure that you’ll be largely unaffected with your strategies as you’ll be able to immediately identify map changes quickly and adapt to them.

An overview of Mirage

As mentioned earlier, Mirage is a relatively simple CS:GO map that many players are choosing for a casual or competitive match. Although it has been said to be positioned as a Counter-Terrorist-friendly map, it is actually proven to be a fairly equal map as seen in competitive gaming. Mirage allows players to be creative in grenade play and develop innovative strategies that could work in your favor, no matter which team you are on. It is widely believed that consistent tactical usage of grenades at the right place and time can in fact, work in favor of Terrorists.

We can also see that over the years, Valve has made significant improvements to Mirage that we can now safely say that it is an evenly distributed map for both sides. 

Terrorists begin in a Back Alley that connects to an Arcade and a building Balcony, to Bombsite A on a small Plaza. On the other side, it leads to midway passage (Mid) that branches off into different shortcuts to both bomb sites. Terrorists can also climb to the apartment complex and target bombsite B from above.

Counter-Terrorists, on the other hand, begin next to a city gate. They can then choose from three (3) passageways – either by the ramp straight to bombsite A, by the window shaft to a sniper’s nest overviewing mid, or through the market to the bombsite B. 

Moreover, the connector (an archway between mid and bombsite A), the catwalk leading to short B (a quick route between mid ramp and bombsite B) and the underpass (sometimes called “rat”, a staircase to an underground passage connecting the foot of sniper’s nest to the apartments near bombsite B) can enable both teams to quickly maneuver between all three main lanes of the map.

Mirage’s layout may seem like a map where simplest storming strategies are sufficient at first glance. However, the variety of props and the slight verticality difference between all bombsites allow for many iterations using similar approaches. When it comes to bombsites, Counter-Terrorists arrive just very shortly before Terrorists, so it just allows getting better positioning but makes it harder to push for Counter-Terrorists. 

Mid was considered to be strongly in favor of CTs because of the sniper’s nest. However, on CSGO Mirage smokes properly cast on mid can totally obscure the view and allow Ts for a quick, strong siege on bombsite B through short B.

In order for you to better understand what we’ve explained above, our team over at SkinCashier will be covering some of the most important Mirage Callouts that you’ll possibly get to understand and identify new, game-changing tactics for your teams’ strategy. So, here are some of the essential map callouts that you’ll likely benefit from learning and identifying:

47 Mirage Callouts that you need to know

1. Mid : A large open area right in the middle of Mirage.
2. B Site : One of two areas to plant the bomb.
3. A Site : One of two areas to plant the bomb. (Within proximity of CT Spawn)
4. T Spawn : The area where T Spawn occurred.
5. T Roof : Also known as Ledge, this is a waiting area for Terrorists to enter A Site through A Ramp.
6. A Ramp : Terrorist entry point to A Site. 
7. Palace : A Stone throw away from the Balcony, it is another entry point to A Site. Terrorists favorite scouting location.
8. Pillars : A big room close to A Site. An ambush spot for Counter-Terrorists.
9. Balcony : Another Counter-Terrorists ambush spot within A Site.
10. Tetris : Boxes near A Ramp, which Terrorists often use them to protect themselves after entering A Site. Another favorite Counter-Terrorists ambush site.
11. Sandwich : A spot to observe Balcony and A Site.
12. Stairs : Another spot to observe A Site from above.
13. Firebox : Located behind boxes on A Site, it is a hiding spot for Terrorists after planting the bomb, and a defensive spot for Counter-Terrorists.
14. CT : A spot where Counter-Terrorists spawn
15. Ticket Booth : Also known as Ticket, it is a spot where Counter-Terrorists move to A Site. Perfect for snipers.
16. Trash : Also known as Trash Can, it is a great hiding spot. 
17. CT Spawn : The area where counter-terrorists spawn at the beginning of the match.
18. Jungle : A room near Connector, where it’s used for Counter-Terrorists to wait for their enemies. 
19. Connector : One of the primary entrances to A Site for Terrorists. 
20. Vent : A hole for Counter-Terrorists to move to Mid.
21. Sniper’s Nest : A big window area for Snipers to observe Mid 
22. Ladder Room : Also known as Ladder. Use this room to move from B Short to Sniper’s Nest and Jungle.
23. Underpass : An underground passageway to move from B Apartments to Mid.
24. Boost : Players use these ledges together in order to reach Sniper’s Nest.
25. Chair : Also known as Delpan, it is a chair in Mid.
26. Top Mid : A large area where Terrorists enter Mid, hidden from Sniper’s Nest.
27. Default : Default bomb planting sites, marked with letters A and B.
28. Triple Box : Also known as Triple, they are boxes on A Site, located close to Default and CT entrance.
29. Catwalk : A wide passageway in Mid for Terrorists to move to B Site.
30. Short Corner : A spot between Mid (Catwalk) and B Site.
31. Market : A shop located between CT Spawn and B Site.
32. Window : A window in Market to observe B Site.
33. Door : A door in Market for Counter-Terrorists to enter B Site 
34. Bench : A bench on B Site.
35. Van : A vehicle on B Site that players can use to access B Apartments.
36. B Apartments : A frequent spot for terrorists to launch an assault on B Site.
37. TV : A TV set in House.
38. Cart : An area between T Spawn and Mid.
39. Arches : A structure located between B Short and B Site.
40. Empty : A pillar in B Site, closest to the Door of Market.
41. E Box : A spot in B Site, closest to Window of Market.
42. House : Terrorists pass by this building while moving from T Spawn to B Apartments.
43. Shadows : Also known as Wood, It is an area beneath the wooden construction.
44. Side Alley : An area between T-spawn and Mid.
45. Mid Boxes : T’s cover from the sniper’s net in Mid.
46. Back Alley : A narrow area connecting House, Underpass, and Apartments.
47. Kitchen : A camping spot located within Apartments.

Memorise these Mirage Callouts to your advantage 

In addition to the long list of Mirage Callouts above, there are a couple more Callouts which have been used by players over the years. Some are even more detailed callouts that may occasionally be heard from the audio steam. But more often than not, they are used to refer to specific objects found inside Mirage. 

Ideally, you may use a fair bit of time to practice on the Mirage map. Together with the 47 Mirage Callouts which we’ve shared above, you should be able to identify the exact spot over time, once you’re familiar with the map. Map callouts are certainly crucial information that can define your winning strategy at any given match in Mirage, and to pinpoint the location of your enemies so that you and your teammates will be better prepared with communication using these callouts.

If you’re curious as to how to go about using them, do check out video streams of various popular CS:GO YouTubers and learn from them on how to use these terms appropriately, and use them to your advantage.

CSGO Mirage Tactics

The amount of approaches one can have to skirmishing on CSGO Mirage is almost limitless. Basically, the main thing is to decide which of the three main routes will be used and which bombsite will be heavily attacked or protected. It’s very often that both teams meet strongly in Mid and then retrace their path depending on the intensity of the clash. On casual servers, teams very often just rush one of the bomb sites – typically, bombsite A – because it means that the battle begins very quickly. However, a swift ganker can use that occasion to cherry-pick kills from a different angle or to circumnavigate the enemy team and start killing from behind.

With competitive play, because the map allows a clash to happen so quickly, extra caution is advised and approaching the meeting point needs to be very intentional. For example, Terrorists will often deceive by causing a commotion in A ramp only to have some part of the team pop from the palace’s balcony or the other way around. If the Counter-Terrorists are too focused on the A, they might get ganked from the connector. On the other hand, Counter-Terrorists can easily maneuver to the back alley and break a clumsy attack on bombsite B.

Master the map and win more matches!

Some people have claimed that Mirage is a successor to Dust 2, due to its popularity and the amount of attention to the detailed strategy it gets from competitive players. And they have every reason to believe so. Even though most Majors have been called off or postponed due to repercussions brought about by the 2020 Pandemic, we’ll still be expecting millions of players logged on via Steam to engage in a battle inside this exciting Morrocan town.

Thus, it is a perfect CS:GO map for you to refine your skill, especially when it comes to throwing grenades and formulating other tactics. Familiarising yourself with the 47 basic Mirage Callout is a necessary step forward, as it can not only help you and your teammates tremendously in Mirage, but also the entire CS:GO game eventually.