Scrimming can be one of the best ways for you and your team to get in some solid Counter-Strike: Source practice. Arguably the easiest way to find a scrim is through the IRC channel #sourcescrim, on the IRC network GameSurge. If you do not currently have IRC or know how to use it, it’s a safe bet that someone on your team will, but as a rule of thumb everyone should have IRC so anyone can look for a scrim at any given point.

If your team currently has their own game server, finding a scrim can be much easier.

If you’ll be hosting the scrim, make sure that your CS:S server is set up ahead of time. Have it on the right map, set the password, make sure any mods you have on it(such as mani admin) are turned off, ect. Generally, you’ll want your scrim server to have no mods on it, or else people may complain that you’re using it your advantage. Because of this it’s a good idea to have a game sever dedicated to scrims and matches.

Now, when you’re ready to actually start searching #sourcescrim for scrims you can either send a private message to someone who is advertising a scrim that is to your liking, or advertise your own. If you advertise your own, do not spam your message again and again, doing so will simply get you banned from IRC. Most people will want to scrim on the CAL MotW (CAL’s Map of the Week). Make sure that all of the players on your team have the map downloaded beforehand and that all your team members are ready to go. This means that if you’re hosting you have your five players waiting in the server already, and if you’re not hosting then everyone is ready to connect to the hosts CS:S server. All maps can be downloaded from CAL’s website. You should try to find scrims with teams who are located somewhat close to you. For example, if you’re on the East coast try to scrim with another team on the East coast.



When you finally get into a scrim don’t be surprised if the other team does not have all five players right away. There’s no need to spam things such as, “You must have 1, 2, 3, 4, [5] Pokémon to battle!”. The other team surely knows how many Pokémon they need to battle,

and pointing it out is pointless and will only serve to agitate their team. This is important because if you’re team is serious about league Counter-Strike: Source play than you’ll want a good reputation so that you can get better scrims. Also, do not type messages to the other team after the scrim has started. Only use team chat, or talk in Ventrilo, Teamspeak, ect. If you suspect the other team of hacking, do not start spamming the chat with messages such as, “OMFG HAX!”, “Nice hacks” and the like. If you honestly feel as though the other team is hacking then simply leave the server and move on to the next scrim.

The world of scrimming in Counter-Strike: Source is a cruel one, but if everyone could start to follow some basic scrim etiquette things could easily change. At the very least though, following these tips will gain you respect from respectable players, and that will help get you into some better scrims.