Table of Contents
What is CS:GO?
CS:GO is a first-person shooter game from Valve. CS:GO is an abbreviation for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. A first-person shooter game is a game where you see everything from a personal point of view and shoot at enemies. The game came out in 2012, but there are earlier editions of the game. The first Counter-Strike game was only released as a test game but became so popular that Valve continued to develop the series.
What is the Game About?
Two teams of 5 players each play the game. The goal is to win 16 rounds per game. A round can last between 20 seconds and 2 minutes to 40 seconds, depending on how the game is played. To win a round, you must either eliminate the entire opposing team or disarm a bomb if it is reinforced. There are two bomb locations called A and B. If terrorists (T) manage to get to a bomb site and arm the bomb, the counter terrorist (CT) has 40 seconds to get to the bomb site and disarm the bomb. Otherwise, the bomb explodes, and T wins the round.
Games in CS:GO are usually played as Best of 1, BO1, or Best of 3, BO3. Finals in large tournaments are sometimes played as BO5. This indicates how many of the maps you must win to be crowned the winner. In a match played as BO3, you must win two of the maps as best of three to be the winner, and in a BO5, you must win three of the maps. In professional games in CS: GO, there are 7 different maps to choose from. The most common method for selecting maps in professional games is the ban system. In the case of a BO3, it looks like this:
- Team 1 blocks one map (6 maps left)
- Team 2 bans one map (5 maps left)
- Team 1 picks one map (4 maps left) – Team 2 decides which team to start with
- Team 2 picks one map (3 maps left) – Team 1 decides which team to start with
- Team 1 bans one map (2 maps left)
- Team 2 chooses the last map. Team 1 selects the team with which they want to start.
When the ban process is complete, the match starts. During the first round, which is called the pistol round, both teams can start with 800 USD per player, as well as with the standard pistol, which is different for the different teams. Terrorists can start with a Glock-18, and the anti-terrorists can choose between a USP-S and a P2000.
After the weapons round, both teams have money to buy weapons. The team that won the Weapon Round has at least 3250 USD per player, and the team that lost it has at least 1900 USD per player. During this round, the winning team always buys weapons, as they have a financial advantage. However, the team that lost the weapon has a choice. They can either spend their money and make a so-called Force Buy – which means that they spend all their money on cheaper weapons like pistols, SMGs, and shotguns while saving on things like Kevlar and grenades.
They can also save all their money for the next round (this is called the eco-round), where instead they have as good financial conditions as their opposing team. In this case, the downside is that they basically give away this round because it is very difficult to win it, and the opponents have such powerful weapons to resist.
In the first phase of the game, 15 rounds are played, then there is a change of sides. To win a map, you have to win 16 rounds. For example, if 10-5 is displayed after the first 15 rounds, team 1 must win 6 rounds, and team 2 must win 11 rounds after the change of sides to win the match. If it is 15-15, the result is either counted as a tie, which is most common in competitions with table systems. Or there is an extension where each team can play 3 rounds per side until a winner can be chosen.
Money and Weapons
At the beginning of the first round, you will receive 800 US dollars, a pistol, and a knife. In each round, you will receive bonus money depending on whether you managed to arm or disarm a bomb and depending on how many kills, i.e., how many on the opposing team did you kill? If you bought a weapon during a round or picked it up from the ground, you will have it with you in the next round if you did not die. If you die, you have to wait until the next round starts.
In the next round, you spawn, materialize, you with a gun if you die, and the money you already had plus the money you earned in the previous round. Everyone on your team is created in the same place. At the beginning of each round, you can buy weapons, kevlar, and grenades. If you are CT, you can also buy a disarmament set, which will allow you to disarm bombs faster.
The different weapons that are offered for sale can be divided into four categories. Rifles, SMGs, pistols, and heavy weapons are also called heavy. Rifles include AK-47 for T and M4 for CT and AWP. In the SMG category, there are different types of SMGs. An SMG is a smaller semi-automatic weapon that usually shoots faster but does less damage. In the category Pistols, there are different small pistols. Last in the category Heavy, where there are shotguns, m249 and Negev. An m249 and the Negev are different types of heavy machine guns.
Strategy
The most common strategy for CT is to have 2 players at each bomb plant and one player in the middle. You have one player in the middle so that he can turn to the place that needs help. For T, it is common to have the whole team leading to one site. As with CT, you usually throw smoke grenades at the entrances to the bomb site, making it more difficult for T to get there.
If you have some money for a round, you can do an eco-round, which means you don’t buy anything. They allow you to buy better weapons and more grenades in the next round. You can also be forced to make a forced purchase, which means you buy weapons when you have some money, so you don’t lose an important round.
Information
There are different calls for different courses. It is used to tell where the opponents are in relation to their teammates. For example, an example of a call, you can say “Popdog,” but you only say this in the turn folder where there is a room called Popdog. It is said that it will be easier and faster for your teammates to act, take protection, or attack the opponent. Another way to use calls is to use abbreviations in places such as “I’m smoking a plug.” This means that you throw a smoke grenade at the location connector.
The same applies if you throw a stun grenade, grenade, Molotov, or deck grenade.
Breaks During the Game
During a game, you can have a one-minute timeout where you can drink water, go to the toilet, or restart the game if it crashes. You cannot pause a game because it is an online game. If you leave a game, you cannot play another game in 30 minutes. If you have left games several times, you can be locked or suspended for different periods of time.
What to Learn
It is important to cooperate in the game because you usually win much more than if you don’t cooperate. Sometimes you can win without cooperation, but usually, it’s because some people in the team are better individually than others in the team. Since CS:GO is a big game and is played worldwide, it is important to be able to speak English. This will help you get used to speaking English. You will also get a better ability to react because you have to be able to shoot your opponent before he has time to shoot you.
Skins and Vines
In the game, there are skins for the different weapons in the game, which change the look of your weapon. Some skins can cost $0.20, while others can cost up to $1000.
In the game, different ranks show how good you are. There are 9 ranks, and of these, Global Elite is the highest rank.
CS:GO as E-sport
CS:GO is one of the biggest e-sports. Every year many tournaments are played, two of which are “majors.” It is the same as a soccer tournament, you meet other teams, and the loser is eliminated from the tournament. The two teams that reach the final are fighting for a large amount of money, which you win. In 2018 there was a prize pool of 1.000.000 USD.
The best team in the world at the moment is Astralis because they have good individual players, work well together, and have experience in playing together, which lets them know what the others will do.
Gaming Accessories for CS:GO
The most important game accessory for you playing CS:GO is the best playing monitor that allows you to keep up with the fast-paced movements in CS:GO. The most important thing about a good gaming screen is that it has a high refresh rate, preferably 144 Hz or higher. The other gaming accessories you should have are good gaming headphones. This makes it easier for you to find opponents.
Our Best Reviews:
- Best Gaming Monitors Under $300
- Best Gaming Laptops Under $1500
- Best Modems for Gaming
- Best Gaming Chairs Under $200
- Best Gaming Glasses
Useful Links
Steam Workshop – here, you can download maps created by other CS:GO players. There are many different niche practice maps, target maps, maps to configure your crosshairs, custom bomb maps, and much more.
Map suggestions: Recoil Card, Smokes on Mirage, Target Card, Crosshair Generator.
HLTV – here, you can get information about future games, take part in interesting interviews, go through many statistics, and download demos to check out.
Valves official blog for CS:GO – here, you can read about updates of the game and get information before tournaments.
Twitch – Famous streaming site where you can follow more or less talented people playing CS:GO and/or other games. Here you will find many professional streams, and you can follow practically all tournaments.