Game within the game: pro players reveal their pre-match routine
Pros don’t get ready. They stay ready.
Before the Counter-Strike 2 Shanghai Major 2024 tournament, 19-year-old Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets from Team Spirit went through his usual routine, and here’s what it looked like when he stepped onto the stage.
That’s Donk fully locked in. His routine is simple:
“Basically I wake up, go to eat, and have training sessions with my team. After that we have theory sessions as we’re trying to improve our tactics and strats. After the team practice is done I can play for myself and I play up to seven games a day excluding team practice. If I believe that I need to do more, I go and play some more.”
– donk to esports.gg, May 2024
That’s the Donk formula. But not every pro trains the same way, some focus on aim training right before matches using tools like Aim Labs or Kovaak’s. Here’s how former star player of Sentinel, TenZ, does it before the Valorant Champions Tournament.
“I wanted to simulate that panic into a game mode, so [players] can practice being chill, calm, and precise,”
– TenZ to oneesports.gg, March 2024
Panic is a skill issue. Here are TenZ’s three Aim Lab tasks that you can use to improve your gameplay and skills:
VCT NA Trainer – Targets will rush you, and if you miss three, you lose
180s Simulation – Quick 180-degree turns while entrying site.
Haven Clutch Standard- You need to hold site against two opponents at once.
I ran these tasks before my last ranked session and here’s what happened.
It might not look like the highlight clips from pro players, but it’s still progress. Donk and TenZ make it seem effortless, but for everyone else, it takes consistent grinding to not be a bot and be cracked at the game.
