In my latest article, I discussed the economic issues that CS:GO is subject to. In this article, the focus is on another issue that currently occupies CS:GO, and that is the problem with utility. CS:GO’s changes to utility from past games are not entirely bad, and some changes just make the game unique and new in the face of a franchise that has existed for more than a decade. Many forget that CS:GO had introduced a new form of utility to the Counter-Strike franchise, the molotov/incendiary. Many teams were resistant to it at first, but it has now become an integral part of the game. Even so, CS:GO has some deep-seated problems and rewarding nuggets relating to utility that need to be brought to light. The need for an exploration such as this, in its own way, reveals the scary lack of awareness as it relates to utility, a deeply important aspect of the game.

Let’s begin with the molotov and incendiary. This form of utility is best used as a way to zone or force opponents into certain positions. For example, a molotov can be thrown into a corner and be used to drive out the player, or a molotov can be thrown at a choke point in prevention of a certain player advancing further or having a clear line-of-fire. Molotovs and incendiaries do a good job at this because they will kill the player if they don’t avoid the flames, they last a long time and they can obfuscate vision somewhat. Neither smokes nor HE grenades capture all of these features, which makes the molotov/incendiary such a unique weapon.

HE grenades are excellent for doing quick damage to an opponent. Instantly can a grenade bring an opponent below half health. HE grenades are beneficial in situations where a player would be better suited by not peeking an opponent as grenades deal splash damage and can bounce off surfaces. Use of an HE grenade is vastly superior to having to flash oneself in and attacking the player. Worse yet, is completely ignoring the option of nading the opponent at all and going in without any utility whatsoever. In such a situation, it would be better to save since the person you are peeking is prepared, probably behind cover, and isn’t affected by moving accuracy. As you can see, HE grenades and other forms of utility, put otherwise disadvantaged players into the upper hand. For only $300, a player can purchase this round-saving, game-changing, piece of utility.

Flashbangs saw a bit of a change in CS:GO. In 1.6, turning away from the intense explosion of blinding light would not protect the player as much as it does in CS:GO. The inescapability of the flashbang in 1.6 made the item more reliable, versatile, and effective. Despite that, in CS:GO, for the low, low, value of $200 you can make your enemies virtually powerless. On a save round versus rifles, for example, a player that correctly uses a flash can blind one of the riflers, rendering him useless, and upon killing him, pick up his rifle. Due to the ability to force situations like the aforementioned one, flashes have the potential to be the most game-changing, table-turning piece of utility in CS:GO. On the flip side, if used incorrectly, the player can do more harm than good than any utility item. That means the player throwing the flashbang has to be on top of his positioning, his knowledge of the opponent’s position, his teammates’ positions, and timing. Use of flashbangs is a skill that puts the less mechanically skilled players in positions where aim doesn’t really matter but not without some risk to his team.

Smokes are probably what comes to mind when you hear the word ‘utility’ in the context of Counter-Strike. Smokes have been an integral part of the game, and failure to use them has been the downfall of many teams. They are so important that players and coaches will spend hours in a server trying to figure out the next revolutionary smoke. Smokes have been used in a number of ways, such as in ninja defuses, but more often than not, teams use smokes to either stop pushes or to zone enemies during a push. Smokes are a valuable tool in the kit of a Counter-Strike player, but that’s when smokes actually provide coverage. Smokes have a tendency to generate differently based on the graphical settings of a player, meaning that there are times when a player can see through a smoke while the other is still denied vision. This issue is present with other utility, but it is less important with the others as the smoke associated with grenades and molotovs is more of a secondary effect.

Utility hasn’t ever been at the forefront of Counter-Strike, and no one is asking for it to be. All we are saying is that it makes competition more “interesting.” In that spirit, we should try to make utility as “interesting” as possible. Some of the utility is overpowered and needs to be nerfed to allow other aspects of the game to be more prominent, and other utility needs to be more influential.

Going off that “interesting” component, flash bangs blinding no matter the direction a player is looking would undoubtedly change up gameplay. It wouldn’t necessarily benefit attackers or defenders because this change is double-edged sword in all situations. Imagine a group of terrorists trying to take Banana on Inferno. They would be able to blind a player hiding behind the boxes. That same CT could also throw a flash into the air, blinding everyone, since they couldn’t look away, but also blinding himself if he were to peek. This mechanic would make it much more difficult to flash oneself into position as it is no longer beneficial to turn away, and as a result, it would increase the need for teamwork.

Flashes wouldn’t necessarily have to be exactly like they were in 1.6, but it would be intriguing if flashes would cause significant visual distortion if faced away, though not five second complete blindness. Presently, when turned away from a flashbang explosion, a player will receive a very slight distortion, enough to indicate that it went off, but the changes I am proposing would be more pronounced than that.

Molotovs are nearly perfect, but like everything else in CS:GO it seems, they are somewhat random. Randomness can be a huge problem when trying to do something with great precision, and the limited range of molotovs due to their in-air explosion if in the air for too long covers up this issue somewhat. In spite of that, there have been multiple instances where a player has been able to stay away from the flames in clutch situations. There is now a graffiti on Overpass when Olofmeister stuck a defuse right next to a molotov and won the round. This issue isn’t going to be something plainly game breaking, but it goes back to CS:GO’s problem of randomness. Even though the differences in price, damage, and coverage create problems, molotovs and incendiaries are one of the most balanced things in CS:GO.

HE grenades deal very specific damage based on location. This problem is most apparent when the explosion is blocked by a stair. This could be improved if grenades selectively ignored certain surfaces, like that of stairs, but not walls. HE grenades could also be made more impactful if they had less of a damage drop-off. Currently, a player has to be right on top of the grenade for it to do real damage, and such perfect placement, especially when the player is hidden, is down to chance. Expanding the radius where significant but not crippling damage is done while maintaining the overall radius would be the most obvious change at this time. Even though one might associate HEs with a passive style, this change would actually promote a more active playstyle because people hiding in easily naded corners cannot simply wait for the peek while they are holding an SMG. In these close-quarters situations, the aggressor has no option but to peek, and SMG’s often win out in close-quarters. Instead of benefitting the player with the cheaper gun, the other player with the rifle and nades can use a grenade instead of having to face off in a poor position. This would not only improve grenade usage but also go towards solving the SMG problem.

Finally, we arrive at the smoke. Perhaps, the most common complaint with utility is with the smoke since it can be used to delay rushes and slow down the game. This has the effect of making the game boring because there will be some time spent waiting for it to dissipate, but it also gives the CT’s too much power. The devs tried to solve this with changes to the round timer, but we still saw problems on maps with chokepoints, like Inferno, hence their reworks. This was not an issue in CS 1.6 because smokes were much weaker. They didn’t provide the same amount of blockage though they did last longer. To achieve this previous level of balance in Counter-Strike, I, as well as many other experts, believe that the duration of smokes should be shortened.

I believe it was Thorin who mentioned the idea of a single player being able to buy nades for the whole team. Stars wouldn’t have to always to prepare a smoke execute. Support players could flash in star players more often. It would add another dimension to more tactically-based, teamplay-oriented teams as well as to the G2’s of the world where there are clearly defined roles and stand-out players. Since the roles and stars are so clearly defined on G2 compared to others, G2’s stars would be more enabled to make plays than the less defined teams. For the more team-based teams, they would be playing with less risk because, when the nade carrier dies, there won’t be the issue of losing all but one of the grenades.

Although none of these ideas are necessarily what I want to be implemented straight into the game, I do believe that we can benefit as a community by entertaining these ideas. By thinking about them and discussing them, we refine them, and by refining them, we provide more perfect solutions to CS:GO’s utility issues. As a result of this discussion, we also generate awareness to the potential uses of utility, which would go towards solving the problem of its neglect by both pros and plebs.

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