Due to our player “camera” being placed in the center of the player head, enemies may be able to see other parts of our body before we can see any of theirs. This can typically be thought of as an arm sticking out from behind cover. Now, it is easy to understand why they are able to see our arm, while we cannot see them in this situation. Because well, the arm is sticking out (surprise surprise). However, it may not be as obvious when someone is able to see you before you can see them, when you are not close to cover. Nothing is sticking out per se, but the same issue may apply to a lesser degree.
This is what is known as angle advantage. It is quite simple, but the implications of angle advantage in short TTK FPS like CSGO is massive.

Novice

The simple rule of angle advantage while peeking to the sides is that the player further away from the wall that is peeked has the angle advantage. They are able to see the player closer to the wall first due to geometry.
insert tiny angle advantage picture

Take one step back

The first and most important take away is to, whenever possible, hold far away from the wall of contact. If possible, stay further away from the wall than the enemy. This gives you more time to react and an easier time hitting your shots.

Holding with angle advantage

We want to set up in a position with angle advantage whenever possible. We want to make the time where we see them, but they do not see us as big as possible. This includes almost exclusively playing angles where we are further away from the wall than the enemy.

Peeking at angle disadvantage

When the enemy has the angle advantage on you (typically the defender sets up like this, so for now we can assume we are always at a angle disadvantage when peeking), you want to lower the time where they see you while you are not seeing them as much as possible. This include peeking at full sprint speed. As we need to stay silent most of the time, we must practice hitting the max movement speed before a step sound is made. Of course, if making stepping sounds doesnt matter, we want to run at full speed. More on peeking techniques in the peeking techniques chapter gif – fast peek at disadvantage

Intermediate

Holding at angle disadvantage

It is highly risky to hold an angle where you are at angle disadvantage. If the enemy walk peeks the corner, they will see you first, giving them the advantage. If you want or need to hold this kind of angle, there are a couple different ideas to keep in mind. First, the risk may be worth it if other factors make the spot good. These are typically spots which are not that common, and players may not clear them effectively. If the enemy is not checking your spot, angle advantage does not matter.
insert gif of player walking in looking elsewhere
Second point is, if you play a spot that is likely to be checked, while you are at angle disadvantage, you want to be peeking. You need to lower the time at which they see you before you see them. This is typically where you will hold the spot while jiggling/ peeking every now and then.
holding a spot at angle disadvantage while jiggling

Peeking with angle advantage

Peeking with angle advantage is rather rare. The defender will usually choose to setup at spots where they have the advantage. However, if you are at the advantage, these are spots you want to shift peek. Peeking slowly will increase our time of advantage. Ultimately we want to learn all common spots where we may end up peeking with angle advantage, and keep peeking them slowly.

Insert – jumping across the angle, shift peek the awper on the corner

Learning spots to play and how to move around the map

We need to start thinking about which spots have the advantage around the map, and how to handle them. It is not so much about remembering which spots are at advantage, rather to get used to thinking about angle advantage at every position. To practice this, load a custom map and go through each part of the map on attacker side and defender side. Typically we need to focus on attacker side, and learn how to clear each spot. Most spots have angle advantage for the defender, so we need to peek them fast. Try to find which spots have “attacker advantage”. These spots can be walk peeked. Additionally in this practice, we should think about where we should jiggle peek, and if some spots are better to wide swing instead of the typical short peek etc. Typically we want to jiggle if there are multiple spots peeked simultaneously that we cannot divide (like vertical spots, or typical crossfire spots). To further expand on this, check out the post on entry pathing.

Advanced

Right hand advantage

You know when we said that the players “camera” is placed in the middle of the playermodels head? Well, that is not completely true. In fact, it is placed a tiny bit to the player’s right hand side, or rather the player model is not completely symmetric. The left foot is sticking further out from the center. While the difference is not big, it does make a real difference for certain spots. Whenever possible, one should try to show the right hand side of your body, rather than the left. If you are both the same distance from the wall, the right hand player will see the enemy first. Additionally, less of the body will be shown if shortpeeking into a fight on that side. One important implication of this is that prefiring is especially good on the right hand side. From the other players perspective it may look like almost only the shoulder is visible. gif – right hand side pre-fire vs left hand side pre-fire

Maximizing the output of angle advantage

When holding an angle it may be tempting to try to max out the angle advantage, and stay on the longest ranges possible. While this does increase the advantage time, it does not always increase the output of the advantage. The reason for this is that you are not always hitting your first bullet. Therefore we need to consider your effective range for the different modes of firing. If you are at a distance to spray, any angle advantage is bigger because the shot is easier to hit AND you have more bullets before the “advantage window” is closed. gif – close range advantage vs long range advantage