4 stages, built from what we already document about Vertigo: 46 described callouts, 15 grenade lineups and 2 utility sequences. Nothing here is scored, timed or rated.
The rule this order comes fromEach stage comes after everything its own data is written in terms of. A callout description names only the position itself. A grenade lineup names a callout at each end, so it is unreadable until you know those two places. A utility sequence names a list of lineups in throw order, so it is unreadable until you know those grenades. That is a dependency between the datasets, not a ranking of difficulty — nothing on this page is scored, timed, or rated.
On the map itself: Vertigo callouts & map guide · Vertigo grenade lineups · practice config for Vertigo
Why it sits hereNothing else here can be read without this. Every grenade lineup below is stored as a pair of place names, and every utility sequence is stored as a list of those grenades — so the names are the vocabulary the rest of the map is written in.
A set — no order impliedA set, not a ladder. The shortlist is shown most-referenced first — how many of this map’s strategic datasets (control areas, AWP angles, clearing paths, plant spots) already name the position. That is a count of appearances, not a difficulty order, and learning them in any order is fine.
The long open slope up to A site — the map's primary choke and the target of most T utility.
Key areaCommon AWP angleCleared on entryPost-plant position
The wooden crate between A Ramp and Bridge — staging cover for Ramp pushes.
Cleared on entryBomb plant spotPost-plant position
The dim pocket between A Ramp and Big Box — checked before every Ramp climb.
Cleared on entryPost-plant positionBomb plant spot
The corridor joining mid to B site and CT spawn — the CT rotation pivot.
Reached from a key areaKey area
The central floor area between T Mid and Top Mid — the link between the two sites.
Decides roundsCommon AWP angle
The cubby beside A Ramp stacked with building material — a classic close-hold surprise spot.
Cleared on entryPost-plant position
The upper-floor A bombsite between A Ramp, Scaffold, and the Elevator, with open building edges.
Reached from a key area
The lower B bombsite between Electric Box, Catwalk, and Back B, beside CT spawn.
Reached from a key area
The far end of A site away from the Ramp entrance, toward the CT approach. It is the anchor's fallback ground and the last space a T entry has to clear.
Cleared on entry
The connecting space between A site and CT spawn with an elevated look over the site.
Cleared on entry
These 11 are not the whole map. They are the positions that already appear in Vertigo's own strategic data — a control area, an AWP angle, a step in a clearing path, a plant spot or the position it is held from — so the shortlist maintains itself instead of being a fourth hand-written list. The other 35 described Vertigo callouts are all on the map page, and the radar there has a quiz mode for drilling them.
Why it sits hereEvery one of these is stored as a throw between two named places, so it only becomes readable once you know the places. Nothing else gates it: these are the grenades whose whole payoff lands the moment they do, which means one player in an empty server can practise and use them.
A set — no order impliedA set, in the order the lineup dataset stores them. We have no data-derived reason to put one of these before another, so none is implied — the "Essential" marks come from a curated list and badge rows rather than reordering them.
A grenade you can throw alone has one precondition: knowing the two places its record names. A grenade thrown to open a site for somebody else has a second one — the somebody else. Solo-throwable utility is therefore reachable earlier, which is a statement about what you need, not about what is hard.
1 of these 5are in the curated “Essential” set on the lineups page. That curation is editorial, not derived from anything measurable, so it badges rows here rather than reordering them. Practise them offline first: generate a practice config with Vertigo preselected.
Why it sits hereSame two named places, plus one thing the solo set does not need: another player. These grenades are thrown to open a space for somebody walking behind them, so the utility is spent for nothing when nobody does. That extra precondition is why they sit after the solo set — not because the throws are harder.
A set — no order impliedA set, in the order the lineup dataset stores them. We have no data-derived reason to put one of these before another, so none is implied — the "Essential" marks come from a curated list and badge rows rather than reordering them.
5 of these 10are in the curated “Essential” set on the lineups page. That curation is editorial, not derived from anything measurable, so it badges rows here rather than reordering them. Practise them offline first: generate a practice config with Vertigo preselected.
Why it sits hereA sequence is stored as a list of the grenades above, in throw order. It is not a new thing to learn so much as the point of having learned them — and it is the one place on this page where an order is real, because the dataset records which grenade lands first.
A set — no order impliedA set of alternatives, listed fewest-players-first — each sequence states in its own data how many players it takes, and one you cannot assemble is one you cannot run. Inside each sequence the throw order is the dataset’s, and that order is real.
Vertigo A is a ramp fight followed by a three-grenade site take. Compact enough for solo queue if two teammates follow the smoke.
The quieter route to B. The mid smoke is the tell-free approach; from stairs the hit itself needs only the standard three grenades.
These are the standard versions, not the only correct ones — variations are legitimate, and a sequence is not something extra to learn so much as the reason the grenades above were worth learning. Full write-ups live on the Vertigo lineups page.
A learning order is an editorial claim, so it should be possible to check it. This one rests on a single rule, applied to data that was already here: each stage comes after everything its own records are written in terms of. Callout descriptions name only the position itself. A grenade lineup is stored as a name, a type, and two place names — where it is thrown from and where it lands. A utility sequence is stored as a list of lineup ids in throw order.
The middle link in that chain is measurable, so here is the measurement: 17 of the 30 endpoint names across Vertigo's 15 lineups match a callout we document on this map by name, and each of those is linked above. The remaining 13 are wordings the lineup dataset uses that our callout list does not carry under that exact spelling — we leave those as plain text rather than guessing a link, which is why some throws above are only half linked.
What this page deliberately does not do.It gives nothing a difficulty score, a skill rating, an estimated time or a point value. Those numbers look authoritative and are unfalsifiable, and the map data supports none of them — the lineup dataset's own difficulty field is documented as a mechanical judgement that says nothing about tactical priority, which is exactly why it is not used to order anything here.
Where an ordering could not be justified, none is implied. Inside the utility stages the lineups appear in the order the dataset stores them, and that is stated on the stage rather than dressed up as a progression. The two orderings that do appear inside a stage come from counts the data already holds: how many of a map's strategic datasets name a callout, and how many players a sequence says it needs.