Counter-Strike is simpler than most FPS games, but one of its unique complexities is the existence of an in-game economy. The cost of everything you use is a significant aspect of the game and, though it’s not as visible as the guns, it’s just as impactful. Here is a guide to how the economy works.
While it might seem like the deciding factor in most rounds of Counter Strike is who is the better aimer, the economy has just as much influence on every round as the guns. If you don’t have the weapons and utility you need, it’s going to be much harder to win. The way to give your team the best chance of having the weapons you need is through the economy. Every round you win, every gun you drop, and every enemy you eliminate affects the economy in different ways.
Understanding the economy and being able to work around it effectively is a core part of what makes a Counter-Strike team good. Before diving into in-game applications and complicated concepts, here is a quick explanation of how the economy works in CS:
“Economy” is a term used to describe the money you, your team, and your opponents have and it is crucial to succeeding. In Counter-Strike, you don’t spawn with anything other than a default pistol so you have to buy all your armor, weapons, and utility using money. The better guns like rifles and snipers cost a lot, while things like pistols and SMGs are usually cheaper. Things like armor and utility aren’t expensive on their own, but you need a decent amount of money to buy them in addition to guns.
There are a few ways to earn money, such as getting kills and winning rounds, with different outcomes leading to different rewards. You also get money for losing rounds, though the system is more complicated. All of these factor into how much money you have at the start of a round, which determines what you can buy. The economy is crucial in the early game because both teams lack reserve cash, meaning you have to be more strategic with your purchases. However, the economy is a constant throughout the game that must always be considered.
The primary influence on you and your opponent’s economies are the round outcomes. There are a few different ways a round of CS can end and each has unique economic effects on both sides:
Despite the many intricacies in every game, there are only five ways a round of CS can end: Ts eliminate CTs (T-win), CTs eliminate Ts (CT-win), the bomb is defused (CT-win), the bomb is detonated (T-win), or time expires (CT-win). All five outcomes have different effects on each side’s economy.
If one team eliminates the other, the losing team will have to re-buy everything and make little money as they completed no objectives. This is very harmful to their economy. The winning team will keep most of their weapons and get extra money from eliminating enemies. The winners will also get $3250 per player for winning by elimination.
Unless someone ninja defuses, the only way for CTs to defuse the bomb is to kill most, if not all, of the Ts. Defusing the bomb grants more per player than winning by elimination with each receiving $3500. This means CTs will have a lot of money and people alive, boosting their economy significantly. The Ts will lose all of their guns but do get an extra $800 per player for planting, so re-buying may be possible depending on how much they have in reserve.
If the bomb detonates, then Ts managed to plant but did not kill every CT. Both teams end the round with people alive and enter the next round with some weapons, though the Ts likely have more. Bomb detonation grants $3500 to every T, giving them a huge amount of money. However, CTs can still buy around the surviving players.
If after the initial 1:55 timer, neither team has been eliminated and the bomb has not been planted, the CTs win by default. This is a rare occurrence in games and means both sides get to keep people alive going into the next round with CTs getting a bonus of $3250. While the Ts that died do get a loss bonus, those who survive to the end of the round do not receive any money.
While round winners make a lot of money based purely on the outcome of the round, the losers aren’t left empty-handed. Every round the losers get a loss bonus, though it is often significantly lower than the winners. Unlike the winning bonus, the amount of money given depends on the loss streak rather than the round result.
The loss bonus can be one of five values from $1400 to $3400 depending on how many rounds have been lost in a row. The more rounds you or your opponent lose, the more money you get from every loss. This mechanic stops games from becoming blowouts where it’s impossible to regain momentum after going down early. If you start losing, you are given more to try and succeed.
Outside of round outcomes, the other way to make money is by eliminating your opponents. Just like weapons cost different amounts, they also give you different rewards. Generally speaking, the easier it is to get a kill with a gun, the less reward you will get for it. Shotguns and SMGs are not very effective once the game gets going, so they have high rewards, while powerful weapons like rifles and snipers have low rewards. Outside of a few exceptions, the kill reward is based on the category a gun falls into. Here are the rewards you get after eliminating an opponent:
Now that you know how to make money, it’s time to learn how to spend it. The way your team makes economic decisions is by choosing what buy they go for. A “buy” refers to how much money the team spends on equipment and how much they have left in their bank after. Choosing your buy is an important strategic decision and learning about the various options is a great way to improve your game. Here are the main kinds of buys your team can use:
A full buy is when you buy everything you need for a round. Rifles, utility, and armor get purchased to give the team the best possible chance of winning. This is when you show your full force as a team. It requires a lot of money in the bank, and you may not have much money after buying. The team should full-buy whenever they have enough money to get everything they need. This is what you aim to get every round, though it will often not be possible.
Half-buys are when you purchase some things to win the round, but don’t spend all of your money. Things like light armor, upgraded pistols, and maybe some utility are common as they are cheap but still allow you to have some firepower. Make sure that, after buying, you have enough money left to full-buy in the next round. Half-buys come when the team has some money to spend, but not enough to put a full-buy together. Instead of spending or saving everything, you half-buy to save some money while still doing damage.
Saving, also known as an eco, is when you buy nothing other than maybe a pistol. The goal is to save as much money as possible because you don’t have enough money for a full or half-buy. Save rounds are usually lost, but they are effective for making money and crucial to managing your economy. If your team has little to no money, then you should save to get your economy back on track. It isn’t ideal, but it is a smart choice to take one round loss rather than get multiple weak buys in a row.
A force buy is when you don’t have enough money for a full-buy, but still want to spend all your money to get the most firepower possible. This means buying SMGs, light armor, and some utility. If you don’t have enough money for a full-buy but suspect you can beat your opponents without it, you can always invest everything into a force buy. This may backfire but could pay off big as well.
Understanding how and when to use these different buys is critical to managing your team’s economy throughout a game. You might use every one of these options in one game or might only use a few. It’s all about thinking about what gives your team the best chance of winning the most rounds.
There are many intricacies to the CS economy and many tips are just small things to do that will help you and the team. These things are small on their own, but add up to make a real impact. Here are a few easy ways to manage your economy better:
Buy After Wins
As a general rule, the winners of the previous round should always fully invest in the next one. You never save after a win because you should always have more money than your opponents, even if your buy is imperfect.
Drop Guns to Teammates
If you have a huge amount of money and your teammates aren’t as lucky, help them out. Buy them guns or utility and drop them so the whole team can have similar amounts of money. This is beneficial to your economy and team morale.
Upgrade Weapons
An easy way to save money is to pick up better weapons when you see them on the ground. Buying powerful rifles is expensive so if you have a weak gun and eliminate an opponent with a better one, take the free upgrade!
Save Where You Can
Even though it is nice to have everything you want, sometimes it’s more useful to leave some money in reserves for a future round. Instead of having all five CTs buy kits, you can have one or two players forgo this to get more utility if the money is tight. CTs can also buy just Kevlar with no helmet to save money as many T weapons like the AK-47 and SG-553 are a one-shot to the head regardless.
Don’t Attempt Every Round
As hard as it is to do, sometimes it’s best to save at the end of a round instead of trying to win it. For example, imagine the Ts have taken a site and now you sit in a 2v4 retake with no utility. It’s better to save your guns for the next round than throw them away on one that’s already lost. This is always a judgment call, but if you think a round is lost, saving for future rounds is a great idea.
The economy can seem very abstract and distant from what you play, so it’s important to see how this information fits into the game. Now that you have some economic knowledge, it’s time to apply it to real in-game situations.
There are no economic decisions to be made in the pistol round, so round two is when the economic game kicks off. The pistol can end in any of the four main scenarios and your buy for round two should be based on which of them happened. Time expiration is extremely rare in pistols, so it is not listed. After the early rounds, one team is going to have money, weapons, and a lead while the other will be broke, on an eco, and starting the game on the wrong foot. Here’s what you can do in each scenario to give your team the edge in the early game:
Note: Regardless of the strategy you choose, the most important thing is to decide as a team. If your team wants to save but you think they should buy, it’s better to save as a team than to buy on your own.
The existence of an in-game economy is one of the things that makes Counter-Strike unique. The intricacies of it take time to learn and apply in your games, but they can be a massive advantage once you figure them out. Tracking your economy, buying strategically, and working around your opponents will allow your team to be more consistent and effective on the server. As with anything in CS, it is most important to discuss ideas with your team, form a plan, and execute it together. It’s easy to forget that there is more to CS than shooting, so think a little more about the economy to help get the team what they need to play their best.
Good luck and have fun!
