Esports
The latest CS:GO patch has confused many by massively changing the early game economy. We got the experts to break it down for us.
If there’s one thing that you can always be sure of when it comes to the infamously mysterious Valve, it’s that they will quite happily drop a massive patch to either CS:GO or Dota 2 with absolutely no warning and send the competitive scene into a frenzy, as they try to figure it out in time for their next set of matches.
That’s exactly what happened in the CS:GO scene last week, as Valve dropped a patch that didn’t merely tweak a few maps, but entirely up-ended the game’s meta. Now the first round of each half will give teams a $1,900 loss bonus, which effectively means they start the match with a one round loss bonus when it comes to the money side of things. Then both the SG553 and AUG have had their prices reduced to $2,750 and $3,150 respectively. It’s safe to say that for the most part these changes initially did not go down well.
“At first [my reaction] was one of shock, considering there are so many other things that need fixing or adjusting in CS:GO more than this,” says James Banks, a top esports host and former Counter-Strike pro. “Messing with the economy was certainly not needed.”
The change to the first round economy is certainly the main talking point here. For years it's been accepted that winning the pistol gives you a great chance to get an early two or three round lead, but with this extra loss bonus for the losing team it feels like, on paper at least, teams should be in a better position to compete in the second round.
“It seemed as if Valve wanted to try and remove the huge importance of the pistol round,” says Jack ‘Jacky’ Peters, a CS caster with years of experience. “However, I don't feel like the changes have really achieved this – it's just left us in a position where it almost feels like it's not worth getting that opening pistol round win. A bomb plant is now worth its weight in gold on T side and the pistol hardly means anything.”
With the new loss bonus and the ability to get more cash from planting the bomb the T side can make a ton of money even if they lose the round. Weapons being cheaper on the T side, as well the new economy, has certainly made it more attractive for the Ts to try and save for a better buy in the second round, and almost write off the pistol.
“We may go back into a scenario where we see more flat out eco rounds of only USPs or Glocks coming into play,” says Banks. “My strategy with these current changes would certainly be to not buy on the T side, rush a bomb site, keep the max amount of money, get the plant in and just try and overrun teams. Then you could still be in control regardless of the pistol round.”
This is a strategy that some have tried to use even in these early days of the new economy, saving all their starting money in the opening round to try and have almost a full buy in the second if the round goes well. It's totally changed how the pistol round works. Whereas previously armour and some utility was common, many teams are now diving in with nothing but their default weapon. It can also work for the CT side, despite it being harder for them to build into the more powerful weapons.
“One CT pistol round we used during a group game at epicLAN [a small tournament played this weekend] was on CT Overpass – no one on the CT side bought and we kept $800 each,” says Peters. “We sent the first three players to B site to double boost, and sent the two other players with the A spawns to hold short / balloons. We won the round and we were left an absolute bankroll of money, putting us into a fantastic position to still try and convert the following two rounds, rather than being run over by Ts that aren't even actively trying to win the pistol, but instead just want the quick bomb plant and start the loss bonus.”
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Clearly there's a lot to discuss with this new system, and with a lot of the top teams yet to play a competitive match with these new rules it will take some time to see how it actually plays out. However, in the early days it's clear that there are many concerns about this. The pistol is less important, and it could mean a lot of early game lead changes creating more unstable games.
“For me, an option I'd like to look at would be not kicking in the new money system, keeping the rest of the changes from the patch and seeing how it plays out,” says Banks. “If we must change the economy I would say $1,400 normal between 3-0, say, then the other team wins a round at 3-1 and then lose, the reset isn't as hard and you've got $1,900 after that. That to me would be some sort of middle ground and is up for discussion.”
The other changes that Banks refers to mostly relate to weapon balance. The CZ has seen some changes and the Tec9 has been buffed a little, while the SG553 and AUG have both had nice price cuts. It’s these price cuts that seem to be the ones that will have a real impact, with many speculating that both will see an uptick in use at the pro level.
