CS2 Molotov and Incendiary Lineups

Fire is the cheapest way to make a piece of a map unusable without looking at it. A molotov lineup is not about damage — it is about taking a corner, a plant spot or an approach off the table for seven seconds.

Molotov versus incendiary

They are two grenades that do close to the same job for different teams at different prices. The Terrorist molotov is cheaper; the Counter-Terrorist incendiary costs more and ignites into its full spread slightly faster and slightly wider, which matters when you are throwing it as a reaction rather than as part of a plan.

Molotov (T): $400
Incendiary (CT): $600
Burn time: roughly 7 seconds
Carry limit: one, within the four-grenade total

Both break on impact with the ground rather than bouncing, which is why fire lineups are usually shorter and flatter than smoke lineups — you are aiming at a surface, not lobbing over an obstacle. A molotov that clips a railing on the way in spreads from the railing, not from where you wanted it.

What fire is actually for

Denying a plant or a defuse. Fire on the bomb makes the action impossible for its duration, and unlike a kill it cannot be traded.
Breaking a hold. A player in a strong corner does not have to be killed, only moved. Fire moves them at a known moment, which lets your team time an entry.
Buying time on the CT side. An incendiary across a choke point costs the attacking team either the push or several seconds, both of which are worth $600 on a full buy.
Clearing another molotov. Fire and smoke cancel each other, so a smoke is often the counter — and knowing that, throwing fire onto ground you expect to be smoked is wasted money.

Chip damage is a side effect, not the point. Standing in fire hurts, but anyone competent leaves it immediately; if you are counting on the damage you have already misunderstood the throw.

Timing beats precision

A smoke thrown a second late still blocks vision. A molotov thrown a second late burns out a second late, and if your team arrives during the last flicker they walk into a player who has already repositioned. Fire lineups are the ones where the air time listed on the lineup page is most worth reading, and the ones most worth practising as part of a sequence rather than in isolation.

Fire on the retake

The most under-used fire lineups are the post-plant ones. A molotov onto the bomb from a position the retaking team cannot see you in buys the whole seven seconds back, and does it without you having to win a duel. If your map has one from a common post-plant hiding spot, it is worth more than a second site-execute molotov you will throw once a half.

The fire lineups worth learning first

The post-plant molotov onto the bomb, from wherever your team usually holds after planting. This is the highest-value fire throw on almost every map and the one fewest players know.
The CT-side incendiary into the choke your site is entered through. It does not need to kill anyone; it needs to make the entry happen a few seconds later, at a moment you have chosen.
The corner-clear on the site you take most often. Every site has one or two positions a defender can hold that cannot be cleared safely. Fire clears them without a duel.
The mid-control molotov. Denying the middle of the map for seven seconds early in a round shapes the whole round, and it is cheap.

Notice what is not on that list: fire thrown speculatively at a site on the off-chance somebody is standing in it. That is $400 and a grenade slot spent on a guess.

Throwing fire around corners

Because a molotov breaks on the first thing it touches, the useful fire lineups are frequently the ones that get the grenade over a wall and down onto ground you cannot see. Those are exactly the throws that are impossible to eyeball, because there is no visual feedback until it is too late — which is what makes a written lineup worth having. They are also the ones most sensitive to your standing position, since a small angular error at the throw becomes a large one by the time the grenade clears the wall.

Common mistakes

Throwing fire onto ground you are about to smoke, or that a teammate is about to smoke. They cancel; you have spent two grenades to get one result, and not the one you wanted.
Standing in your own fire to finish a trade. The damage is real and it does not care whose grenade it was.
Using the molotov as an opener when the defender has not committed to a position yet. Fire moves a player who is already somewhere; against someone still choosing, it just tells them where you are.
Forgetting the CT version costs $600. On a marginal buy that is the difference between a full utility load and a partial one.