A healthy economy on the CT-Side is the key to success in winning a game but this aspect is often overlooked even on a higher level of competitive play. This guide aims to steer the CTs in the right direction and up their money game.
CSGO can be a hectic game to play at times, especially if you are on the losing side. Seeing your coffers empty during such time not only makes you regret bad economic decisions you made in the rounds gone by but also reduces the practical chances you have of winning the round. This plays a huge role at the point in a game where you are constantly trading rounds against the T-Side (Terrorists).
Trading rounds always favors the Ts and if you don’t have an economy behind you, winning a round with 1-2 players alive won’t set you up for a full buy and most times you will find yourself with weaker equipment than your counterparts even though you won the round. Moreover, even with weaker buys, the Terrorists have the prospect of rushing together and finding strength in numbers instead of equipment, which allows them to win rounds they have no business winning.
And before everyone questions this article citing the CT-Sided meta we are in, they need to understand that in order to justify those numbers you need to consider that the data is obtained by studying professional matches, where team coordination and communication is very much present unlike MM games where it’s difficult to find people with a functioning microphone let alone them coordinating together as a team. The professional scene is CT-Sided today because of the ability of professional players to master the economy management on CT-Side and play as a single unit (... and of course use the M4A1-S).
So, the question arises. What should you do as a Counter-Terrorist?
Finding yourself in difficult clutch situations isn't uncommon for the CTs. Sometimes you may be tempted to give it a try, or even hunt for exit frags. Don’t. That’s a simple answer to these questions which may arise in your mind if you are put into such a situation. Saving in a disadvantageous situation has a lot of benefits.
Don’t feel shy to grab your deceased partner’s weapon or a defeated enemy’s equipment. This will help you in the long run and allow you to conserve money or even help you get better odds in a fight against an enemy. This is the reason that CTs are always on the hunt for AK-47’s and can be seen picking them up over the M4 because of their ability to kill with one bullet to the head, something which the CT rifles fail to provide.
Equipment scavenging should be preferably done after the round is over in order to eliminate the risk of getting killed while scavenging. A good thing to know is that almost everything in the game is scavengable with the exception of Kevlar and Helmet.
Knowing when to scavenge based on a round's situation is what differentiate a good player from a mediocre one.
Asking a normal Solo Queue matchmaking player about his wishes would make you find that Coordinated Buys are a near impossible dream to come true for anybody playing random matchmaking. Don't try to be the teammate who doesn’t coordinate with the team and decides to buy an AWP in the 3rd round when your team is on an eco. Coordinating buys with the team not only gives the whole team a better chance of winning a round but also allows you to have better and more frequent buys which increase your overall chances of winning the match.
Buying as a team is very important on the CT-Side
An important aspect of coordinated buying is to consider the finances of each individual as a combined single unit in a team. Talking with your team and deciding which type of buy you want to go for will allow you to have less firepower disparity and greater amount of utility in your pockets. Asking for drops in such an environment is much easier and also beneficial as you will be able to prioritize Kevlar-Helmet and Utility over buying weapons which will be tossed over to you by the rich players of your team.
It’s uncommon to see Terrorists save because of obvious reasons but some rounds are so far gone that saving what you possess in hand is a good option for them. Hunting the Terrorists seems like a wonderful prospect for the CTs. Killing the Ts after round timer ends doesn't offer them a loss bonus and seriously cripples their finances for the future rounds.
But it’s not always the same and in some situations it’s much wiser to hold on to your equipment rather than taking away the enemy’s. There are times when you may not have enough money to buy the next round even if you win because you failed to survive.
Let’s take a small example here. If you have exhausted your money ($5300) to the brim and have been able to buy the following equipment:
M4A1-S ($2900) + Kevlar-Helmet($1000) + Full Utility($1000-$1400) = $4900-$5300
Now even if you manage to win the round but don’t survive here’s your finances the next round:
Famas($2050) + Kevlar-Helmet ($1000) + Flashbang x2 ($400) = $3450
Winning amount last round is approx. $3500+ which includes a kill bonus too.
One can easily see the difference in the buys, not to mention that losing Round Y will force you to save the next round. On the other hand, if you were to play more cautiously and manage to survive you could have easily saved most of the win bonus for the future rounds apart from using some of it to replenish your utility or even drop for your teammate.
Hunting the Ts should only be done if the situation allows you to. Prioritizing your finances comes first.
This can only be achieved when you analyze the situation in each round correctly and then only take the decision to hunt or not because hunting is not at all something you need to avoid all the times, on the flip side it can be very useful for the CTs if done in the correct way and round.
In some rounds you may get a nice 4K mowdown when the enemy team is on eco. With 15 HP left you may decide it would be good to hunt for the last person as an ace would feel way better than a 4K. Not only you will be putting yourselves in a disadvantageous situation but also may potentially give your weapon over to the enemy who may secure more frags than they should have been allowed to and damage your economy which can alter the course of the game not necessarily to your team’s advantage.
The above-mentioned scenario may not match up with yours but the general idea is present right in front of your eyes. Don’t try to go for kills you don’t need to and allow the weakened enemy to come to you as it presents you with better chances to not die and lose your equipment which will help you start building a healthy financial status for you and your team.
If your team’s alive and only a few enemies remain don’t try to push yourself into a fight especially if you are on a low HP. This will prevent you from giving the Ts a way into the round and help you save your money and equipment.
Perhaps a thing which even the pros falter to sometime, wasting money on replenishing your Kevlar is the most unsmart way of burning away your hard-earned money. In a single glance here’s a definite answer to when you should rebuy your kevlar.
Instead of wasting your time reading some fancy graphs and guides it's easier to just look at the damage reduction kevlar gives, which is 22.5% and 30% for rifles (AK/M4). This means that at most (if every shot hits your armor and not limbs), you will only need 25 armor before you end up dead anyway.
Both armours will provide the same amount of protection before being rendered useless
SMG's suffer around 50% damage reduction (the highest in the game) - so if the enemy is using them then renewing at 50 armor may be a sensible option.
Moreover, having Kevlar in 100% perfect condition allows you to upgrade it to Kevlar-Helmet for just $350 as compared to $1000 if your Kevlar is damaged.
TL;DR - renewing between 25-50 points is sensible.
In the end, this guide has given you a good outlook about certain basic things you need to take care of when you are playing as the CTs in terms of the financial department. Following some of these tips will surely buff up your winrate on the CT-Side and make you feel more comfortable due to the better weapons and equipment you will be able to buy with the help of wise financial decisions you make after following these tips.
This guide may not necessarily contain everything there is to manage the finances on CT-Side but this guide will give you a good basic idea and approach for more advanced tips and tactics. You will find these tips enough to help you at your PUG games and even at a reasonably high level because in the end, even an advanced tactic is nothing without the basics.
TL;DR: Don’t over-aggress, try to save when you think you can’t win the round, scavenge equipment, and please don’t replenish your kevlar when it’s above 50 points.
And as always, play smart, play well and to the best of your abilities. Good luck out there!
