Smoke is one of the main grenade types in CS2, alongside flashbangs and incendiary grenades. After being thrown, it creates a dense cloud that lasts for a limited time and blocks vision. Enemies and teammates cannot be seen through dense smoke, but the player's own crosshair remains on screen. The word refers both to a grenade in a player's equipment and to the cloud it produces.
Players use smoke to conceal movement or block an opponent's view of an important area. For example, a team can smoke off a window overlooking a passage and cross open ground with less risk. However, smoke does not stop bullets: an opponent can shoot through it without seeing a target. A passage being “smoked off” therefore means that direct vision is blocked, not that it is impassable.
Attackers often smoke off defensive positions before entering a bombsite. Defenders can use smoke to hinder opponents coming through a narrow passage or cover a retreat. Smoke can also conceal an attempt to defuse the bomb, but it does not protect the defusing player from gunfire.
How it works in the game
The grenade's trajectory and landing spot determine whether smoke covers the intended angle or leaves a gap. Practiced throws form part of a team's coordinated grenade use. To repeat a throw reliably, players memorize a starting position, an aiming reference, and a throwing method.
Smoke can also deceive opponents: a cloud in one location may make them expect an attack from that direction. The cloud itself does not prove that anyone is nearby.
Bullets temporarily create gaps in smoke, while an HE grenade explosion briefly disperses the cloud. This can reveal the space behind it for a short time.
Where the term comes from
The term comes from “smoke grenade.” Russian-speaking players adopted a shortened phonetic form, “smok,” and use it in phrases equivalent to “place a smoke.” They also formed slang verbs meaning “to smoke off,” as in “to smoke off a passage.”