If there’s a weapon class in Counter-Strike that is barely used in competitive play, it is, without a doubt, the Light Machine Guns. But I can almost bet that the majority of players know how fun it is to use something like the Negev when the stars align in your favor.

The Negev has a very particular set of characteristics that makes it very good in a long-range scenario, and we’ll be taking a look at some of those in this article. Not only that, but you’ll also hopefully be able to identify other spots where Negev can excel. Also, there’s another thing that makes the Negev a super interesting buy… but more on that later.

The Negev has a very interesting recoil pattern. The first few bullets are almost impossible to control, but if you manage to hold your ground, it will essentially become a super-strong laser gun… almost literally. The weapon shoots a super accurate barrage of bullets that simply mows down your opponents and that’s why it’s so good on long-range positions.

What we are looking out for are small chokepoints where the opposing players have to cross to get somewhere - generally the bombsite - effectively making the Negev more effective on the CT-side, at least when looking to take advantage of the positions I’m going to be listing later.

And we still haven’t touched the price of the Negev! It’s just $1700, which makes it super viable in a myriad of different economic situations, especially semi-buys and ecos where one of the players has much more money than the others.

Let’s take a look at some of those positions:

Inferno’s Banana

This is a classic one - you have a long corridor that allows you to spray and pray with that Negev. You just need to start shooting, wait for the recoil to stabilize, and appear from behind the Car.

To make this position even more effective, make sure to have your teammate flashing for you from the Bombsite, as your opponents can simply try to spam the wood on Car, killing you even before you have a chance to appear.

Mirage’s B Apartments

You need to be fast to pull this one, which means that having a teammate that can boost you up to the balcony at the beginning of the round is crucial. This is another spot that works better when your opponents decide to rush and, I mean, what’s more usual than a fast rush B on Mirage?

Make your teammate throw an Incendiary in front of you so that your opponents can’t discern you easily.

Dust2’s Long Double Doors

If you have a good spawn as a CT and have a teammate throw a well-timed flashbang, you can start shooting to Long as soon as you’re close to the corner of the wall and have the laser gun shoot right into the doors as soon as the T’s start appearing, making them easy prey (but be careful for the AWPs).

One small piece of advice I can give you is to walk left while shooting, so that you’ll be further and further from the wall, essentially making you safer by the second from the AWPs. And make sure to have a backup teammate at the beginning of the round at all times!

Nuke’s Squeaky

Run, climb, drop and shoot. How many rounds on Nuke just start with at least one or two players running out Squeaky, most of the time trying to drop down vents to B? You know where I’m going with this… use the Negev and don’t let them pass. They have to go through a super small door frame, making them easy targets for a weapon that shoots like the Negev.

You just need to make sure you get there before them, which shouldn’t be a problem unless you have the furthest spawn and don’t know how to strafe climb the ladder (just climb it “sideways”, with A or D and not with W).

Ancient’s A Entrance

The “new” map had to be here! The CTs have a good spawn that allows them to get to this position faster than the Ts, but don’t get right in front of the archway- instead, do it relatively sideways like the image below so that you’re better protected and so that you can have them line up for you easily.

This one is rather different than the others and it just goes to show how versatile the Negev can be to hold pushes from the other team.

Those are just some of the many positions that the Negev can excel in, so get out there and look for more during your matches! Also, remember that the Negev works better on less mobile players as you walk super slow while using it. Sure, you can run with the knife or the pistol out, but switching to the Negev also takes time, making it better for holding angles and not looking for aggressive picks - which, again, makes it better for the CT side in my opinion.

What also makes it so good for the CTs is the price. Like I said earlier in the article, it only costs $1700, making it a viable option for different economic situations. Maybe you don’t have that much money compared to your teammates and they decide to buy - you can use the Negev. Maybe your team wants to semi-buy and you have money to spare - you can use the Negev. The possibilities are endless and you can even use it to scare away your opponents from attacking a bombsite. Let’s say you’re playing Inferno. You can take the Negev to B during a semi-buy and have all the other players stack on A. There’s a chance that your opponents will run the other way if they see you unloading hundreds of bullets down Banana… and eventually find themselves locked in the middle of a stack.

It’s a weapon with very good damage values for its price while also being able to be used with a more tactical approach! And all that for only $1700. I mean, what’s not to love about it?!

Thank you for reading this article! You can reach out to me for feedback or suggestions via Twitter!

Visit our partner VIE for the safest market and best customer care in esports betting.
Must be age 18+ and reside in a country where online gambling is legal. Gamble responsibly.