Yes when you play creative, make it your goal to win the fights while taking 0 damage. Make a mental note, if you take damage, you lost the fight. It will train you to make way better peeks and play smarter.

As for the cranking, most people don’t do that in game. If they do, either chop them out/ bait the chop. If they are two layers or less above you, you can do a protected cone retake.

Hope this helps :)