A few decide against choosing the Desert Eagle or CZ75-Auto during force buys and ecos on the CT Side. Not everyone has the mechanical skills required to put these weapons to good use, while for others, it just doesn’t suit their playstyle. A suitable alternative needs to be found.
One of the most important rounds in CSGO which can determine the outcome of the game are the ones in which the economy’s not in your favor and the opponent’s buy is stronger than yours. Chances of winning such rounds are low but not impossible. Carefully investing in your equipment during these cash-strapped rounds to make the playing field as level as possible is what separates a great team or an individual from a mediocre one.
For the longest time, the Desert Eagle (Deagle for short) and the CZ75-Auto (CZ or CZ75-A for short) have been the trusty sidearm of players during these dire situations as the Deagle offers them a one-shot HS potential for a mere amount of $700, something which even the CT Rifles fail to provide.On the other hand, the CZ is a great weapon to play tight corners and close fights even against rifles at the rate of $500.
But the bad recoil, small clip size, and high mechanical skills required to put these weapons to good use make the average CSGO player stay away from them. Even at a professional level, both these pistols can be inconsistent at times. One cannot forget they are incredibly prone to whiffing, and missing your first shot quickly turns into a death sentence most of the time.
At this point, it’s smart to look for alternatives because frag movies and montages try to showcase these weapons as easy clip generators, but an experienced veteran can tell when these clip generating mayhem machines can turn out to be a nightmare to operate. This is where the Five-Seven comes into the fray.
A small note before I start the guide is that I will mostly be focusing on the Five-Seven and the Deagle. While this may be heartbreaking for all the CZ75-A lovers round the world, it has lost its viability as a trusty sidearm since the 2018 nerf and has largely been wiped out from the top tier of the game.
Five-Seven is one of the most neglected sidearms present in Counter-Strike, not seeing much action on the big stage. Although many pros have started to choose it over the CZ75-A and Deagle since the start of this year, it's still nowhere near in taking over the Deagle in terms of usage.
The share of CZ75-A has seen a very steep decline since the past few years due to the nerfs it suffered in 2018 but it is still wielded by a small niche of players to this day.
In Professional Play, the Five-Seven is nowhere to be seen. Image from HLTV
The Five-Seven is what we can rightly call untapped potential because when coming down to the stats and talking by the numbers, the Deagle only reigns supreme against the Five-Seven in 3 departments (Base Damage, Accurate Range and Armor Penetration [Negligible Lead]). On the other hand, the CZ75-A outshines the Five-Seven only in terms of the fire rate. It holds a total of 24 bullets (12/12) compared to the 120 bullets (20/100) the Five-Seven holds. It's also worth a mention that the Five-Seven has a higher equip and reload time as compared to the CZ75-A. The only reason you would still want to hold on to a CZ75-A in 2022 would be either because of your pure nostalgia for the weapon or the higher fire rate it has compared to other sidearms.
Images Courtesy of CSGO-Stats
By studying these graphic one can easily make out that using the Five-Seven is the smarter choice at least against the CZ75-A and keeping in mind that both the weapons hold the same slot in the buy menu, you should not be hesitant for even a single second to swap out the CZ75-Auto for the Five-Seven. So if you have set yourself up to fight close quarters and take mid-range duels, the Five-Seven is the best gun to do so due to the large magazine size, good recoil control, and its ability to kill an opponent with a single bullet in these close and mid-range fights.
The more bullets and good recoil control also allows for spamming smokes and grants the ability to grab multi-kills by surprising the opponents at tight corners, making easy work of them with the high fire rate it provides (compared to the Deagle).
The Five-Seven provides the same impact against both Armored and Unarmored opponents
The highlight ability of the Five-Seven is for sure is the one-shot HS it can deliver at close and mid-ranges just like its counterpart (Deagle) with a lower price tag of $500. Some may not consider $200 much of a difference until they are reminded about the M4’s situation, where swapping the prices is being touted as the remedy for the overpowered antics of the M4A1-S. If you are one of these players, reconsider it, as I am sure many will agree that a well-placed Flashbang and a Five-Seven will pay more dividends most of the time than the .50 Caliber beast ever could.
The important things to keep in mind from this section is that all these benefits will only be available in close and mid-range fights. So be careful and wise with your positioning if you do opt for the Five-Seven. Always choose tight positions on all the maps instead of trying to take long-range duels, in which case it would be wiser to put the Desert Eagle’s greater accurate range to good use.
For deeper statistics, you can refer to this spreadsheet.
This guide is specifically aiming at cash-strapped rounds i.e ecos and force buys. Due to this, the price becomes a huge factor in choosing one gun over another.
The Five-Seven costs $500 while the Deagle costs $700. This difference can be huge in terms of these rounds as the extra $200 can be well invested in utility. This also allows players the ability to buy the Five-Seven more often.
Here are three example loadouts which can be opted in on a cash strapped round:
Buying the utility should be prioritized if the finances allow. Carrying the Five-Seven will allow you to buy another Flashbang which can be utilized properly to provide maximum impact.
All in all it’s not too costly to invest in any of these equipment sets. You will find such buys much more often in a force buy round than an eco (in which case you will be mostly operating only with the weapon and your aim). One of these above buys can be made if you have a couple of thousand dollars in your pocket and your loss bonus is riled up pretty high. In these cases, you are not in a position to buy a full rifle set, but buying one of the above combo’s gives you a pretty good advantage and a chance to win the round. Do remember that you will still have enough money to fully buy in the next round as well.
For example, if you have $3100 in a round and your loss bonus has piled up to $3400 you can invest $1650 in the current round.
This allows you to have a chance to win the round and, if you are able to do so, sets up a very healthy economy for the rounds ahead, which will help you to win the match in the long term. This just goes to show how much these low buy rounds can dictate the outcome of a match.
The best situation to use the Five-Seven is definitely when you want to take close or mid-range fights. I can’t stress the importance of this enough. You need to utilize the one-shot HS that the Five-Seven offers in these close fights. Otherwise, you may be put into a false sense of security and find yourself obliterated by the Terrorists, only to open your console which shows you tagged one for 90+. Also remember to spam through smokes if you sense an enemy lurking behind. Use the liberty the Five-Seven’s greater magazine size provides you and take your shot because it’s unlikely you will run out of bullets. One of these blind spams may provide a crucial opening for your team and allow you to take the round in your hands.
The Desert Eagle, which is currently the more popular choice, should be used to take long-range duels. Aiming for the head is the name of the game if you decide to rock this .50 Cal sidearm. I am not trying to say that taking mid or close-range fights would be your end. You may even find that the high base damage makes body shots a feasible option in tight situations, but the same argument can be put forth for the Five-Seven due to its high fire rate and good recoil control. So, if you are feeling yourself and believe that you can hit some good shots then the Deagle won’t disappoint you.
Perhaps the biggest question this guide raises in the mind of the reader is whether the Five-Seven is viable. My one-word answer is “Yes”. It’s perfectly viable to be used in the current state it is in. This goes for the average CS:GO player, can the same be said for the professional scene which has seemingly chosen the Deagle over the Five-Seven?
When we have a look through the Professional Lens, the criteria of mechanical skills can be ignored while comparing these weapons as the players in the pro scene are the best mechanically skilled players you can find, seldomly missing shots and converting most of the opportunities presented to them. Hence, we can compare these 3 weapons, out of which two (the Deagle and the CZ75-A) require significantly more skills than the Five-Seven to operate.
No doubt that having a good aim is necessary even if you have a Five-Seven equipped, but the forgiving nature of the gun makes it much more beginner-friendly than the other two, as they demand for the initial shots to be accurate. Otherwise, it’s a nightmare to control them.
The above are the reasons due to which the pros use the Deagle over the Five-Seven or CZ. Their experience and gameplay compensate for the immense skills required to use the Deagle. Also, their ability to successfully take successful duels and convert the fights they take into kills makes the one-shot HS of the Deagle at any range a more useful feature than recoil control or clip size.
But as I have stated time and time again, the Five-Seven still has a place in the professional scene and can still be useful if you decide to adapt the playstyle of the Five-Seven, i.e playing tight spaces on the map and taking close and mid-range duels. Due to this many pros have started adopting the Five-Seven and choose it over the Deagle or CZ75-A, the latter being non-existent on the big stage now. A look at this clip from Heroic player Ismail “refrezh” Ali demonstrates how the Five-Seven can come on top of the Deagle and be put to good use to give your team an advantage in low-buy rounds. His close positioning is also ideal for a Five-Seven player and must be followed and replicated on the other maps where such choke points are present.
A good example of this will be the B Apps on Mirage where a narrow chokepoint is the only thing which allows the bombsite access from B Halls to the Terrorists. A Five-Seven and several pieces of utility should be a good choice to play this position on a low buy round.
Overall, the biggest takeaway you can have from this guide is to at least give the Five-Seven a shot in your next Matchmaking or FaceIt game and try it for yourself. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone immediately makes the switch from the Desert Eagle to the Five-Seven. A kind request for the readers is to not use the Five-Seven on very long-range duels. You won’t be very happy when you peek Sniper Nest on Mirage with this wonder gun only to get one-tapped by the Terrorist whom you unloaded your bullets on.
It’s pretty obvious that you need to choose one pistol over another depending how you want to play out that round. The Five-Seven will never replace the Deagle because at the end of the day, it all comes down to the personal preference of the player. The same goes for the other way too.
When it comes to answering whether the Five-Seven can replace the Deagle, my answer is a “Yes”. It’s possible for a player to use Five-Seven and still be able to provide equal if not greater impact than the Deagle and make heroic plays. It wouldn’t be wrong of me to say that the day is not far when Five-Seven mowdowns will be held as prestigious as the Deagle highlights.
TL;DR: The Five-Seven is an absolute MUST to add to one’s arsenal of weapons.
And as always, play smart, play well, and to the best of your abilities. Good luck out there!
