What the data is
A FACEIT scraper pulls recent de_mirage matches for a set of pro players via
the FACEIT Data API. Each demo is decompressed and parsed with the Rust-backed
demoparser2, which extracts every round's opening kill
— the first kill of the round — along with the attacker's name, side, weapon,
whether it was a headshot, the kill location, and the attacker's approach path
over the preceding ticks. Locations are mapped to named callouts using the
de_mirage radar calibration.
The sample is 169 opening kills across 12 demos from five players (ropz, m0NESY, s1mple, donk666, ZywOo). Every record in this set is a T-side opening kill, so the findings below describe how the attacking side opens rounds on Mirage.
Opening kills cluster in three places
Almost two-thirds of all opening kills happen in Palace — the single most contested entry point on the map. A Ramp and B Site account for nearly all of the rest. In other words, the T-side opening duel is decided on the A side far more often than on B.
| Callout | Opening kills | Share | HS% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palace | 108 | 64% | 44% |
| A Ramp | 32 | 19% | 41% |
| B Site | 29 | 17% | 45% |
Read together: roughly 83% of opening kills land on the A side (Palace + A Ramp) versus 17% on B. Headshot rates are remarkably even across all three spots — between 41% and 45% — suggesting these are practised, pre-aimed angles rather than reactive duels.
The weapon mix is split between the AWP and pistols
The AWP takes the most opening kills (28%), which fits Palace being an AWP-friendly long angle. But the second most common opening weapon is the Desert Eagle (20%) — a one-tap pistol — ahead of both rifles. Across the board, opening kills favour high-damage, first-shot weapons over spray-based rifles.
| Weapon | Opening kills |
|---|---|
| AWP | 47 |
| Desert Eagle | 34 |
| AK-47 | 33 |
| M4A1-S | 33 |
| Galil | 22 |
Headshot rate separates the entry fraggers
All five players take a similar number of opening duels, but their accuracy differs sharply. s1mple lands a headshot on 53% of his opening kills and ropz on 48%, while donk666 and ZywOo sit in the mid-30s — a gap that shows up clearly even in a small per-player sample.
| Player | Opening kills | HS% |
|---|---|---|
| ropz | 40 | 48% |
| m0NESY | 37 | 43% |
| s1mple | 34 | 53% |
| donk666 | 31 | 35% |
| ZywOo | 27 | 37% |
Takeaways
- T-side opening kills concentrate at Palace (64%); A Ramp and B Site take the rest.
- The A side sees roughly five opening kills for every one on B.
- Opening weapons skew toward first-shot picks — AWP and Deagle lead, ahead of rifles.
- Headshot rate, not duel count, is what separates the top entry fraggers.
Sample: 169 opening kills, 12 demos, 5 players, T-side only. Numbers will shift as more demos are added; the pipeline regenerates them from the parsed records.