[bravetraveler]

Indeed, a key part of this crosshair placement is 'prefiring' - knowing you're about to shoot before peeking.

The time-to-kill is rather low, the victor is [usually] who prepared the most - not who has the best natural aim.

I decide where I go each round by my spawn point - that's one of the easiest advantages you can have; knowing which allows you to beat the other team to a position/setup.

Once that initial fun is over, it's mostly about keeping a mental model of where the other team 'should be', and preparing for that.

Public games are a wild animal, you lose a lot of this 'reasoning' when it's no longer 5v5 or some reasonable number.

You generally assume a 2-1-2 split on the left/mid/right 'lanes' of the map; but some teams may stack when economically challenged. Many pistols beat one/two rifles, and can turn the round around!