CS-Nation

Covering the future of Counter-Strike
counter-strike economics
article: counter-strike economics
Through the miracle of the Internet I have written this guide to provide you, the up-and-coming CAL or UGS team, with a basis of play that will constantly keep money in your pocket. The following is an approach for an amateur or new team to competitive Counter-Strike. This guide will assist you in maintaining the best economic advantage in your matches and scrims as possible. This guide will NOT, however, make you win rounds. That is up to the accuracy and skill of your team. If you do follow this format, you should have the bare minimum save rounds needed whilst maximizing firepower in your squad. This guide was created based around CAL's max rounds 12 format, and the recent changes to Counter-Strike which make save rounds, or "eco" rounds, strategically less valuable.

I've been leading nomine impunidad, my Counter-Strike team, competitively since CAL-open season 2. Entering into CAL-main season 10, you can rest assured that I've tried many, many styles and ideas of play since we began way back when. Because this is a basic guide, it focuses on excluding the AWP. Mainly this is for the reason that the AWP is a risk in modern matchplay; one misfire and the player is dead and the rounds of saving for it were useless. The AWP can be used, but its price is not accounted for in this guide.

pistol round
Entering a scrim or a match, every player on your team begins with $800. It's only natural that he (or she) who racks up the most frags in-game will wind up with the most money. The way I'll be approaching this guide is an attempt to give your team the most firepower possible throughout the entire game, and thus minimizing save rounds.


Team CS-Nation in action.
We'll begin with basics. As a Terrorist, one may be inclined to buy armor and rush with a Glock. Tip: do not buy ammo for your Glock. You have 40 shots in reserve and with 20 loaded you have a grand total of 60.

With the Glock's added strength in CS 1.6, I say that you should almost never use burst fire. I think that burst fire is a waste of bullets and a waste of accuracy, but if you are good with burst then have a ball. If you must use the Glock on your pistol round, just do not buy extra ammo. It may seem like small change now, but a few rounds later you may need that extra money to buy clips for your AK.

One of the most important things for the Terrorists to do the first round (or any other round) is to get the bomb down. Plant that sucker! Even if your team loses, it will receive $800 per player simply for planting the bomb.

As for the CT side of things, it's all going to come down to how your team wants to play the round. My team will often split up its buying. Two people buying kits (each kit carrier is at a different site) and others purchasing armor. Again, this all rides on how you feel your team can perform in the pistol round—does the other side have good accuracy? Do you think you'll need the armor to protect yourself from nades and/or Glock spam?

The main thing to remember is to communicate at all times. The pistol round is one of the most important rounds to win in a max rounds 12 format. By having a kit carrier at each site, you can be assured that you'll have the tools needed to defuse the bomb if the enemy penetrates your team's defenses.


nomine impunidad using this article's method against cal-main veterans tmo.
early gun rounds
Let's assume you won your pistol round. Call out (but preferably type) your money to each other—the man with the least money DOES NOT BUY ANYTHING except armor/helmet. The best way to facilitate this exchange is by having your in-game leader make the decisions. If you're a Terrorist, buy a Galil and armor/helmet. Counter-Terrorists should buy an MP5 and armor/helmet.

As a Terrorist do NOT buy MP5—the Galil's benefits far outweigh the MP5 now. The Galil has the ability to pierce walls and, as such, the Galil can be a lasting force throughout the half. Buying an MP5 is only a temporary solution, as most players end up throwing it down a few rounds later in favor of a better weapon.

As I said, the player with the least money should save this round. In all likelihood, the other team will save with pistols after losing the pistol round. Thus, it shouldn't be too difficult for an armored team with rifles to overpower an unarmored team with pistols. By having one man not buy but still having your team win the round, there is no negative effect—rather, he just saves more money to be used in future rounds.

If your Terrorist team loses, we'll have to mix things up a bit. As a standard, Terrorists can save either one round or two. With the new Galil as a buying option, a one-round save means your team will be able to purchase the Galil and armor, and possibly win the third round. Not all teams opt for this, however. Many will save two rounds and finally buy AK-47's plus armor on the forth round of the half.

Because of the price of Counter-Terrorist weapons and the inclination to use AWP's and M4A1's, Counter-Terrorists will almost always save two rounds after losing a pistol. This is recommended if you are a Counter-Terrorist. For my purposes, I recommend only saving once as a Terrorist, but make sure not to underestimate your opponent.