Professional Opinions: Economy Changes
With the economy updates having the potential to be meta-shifting, DreamTeam wanted the opinions of some of the sharpest minds in professional CS:GO about how the change is affecting strategy. We talked with both coaches and IGLs of four of the biggest teams in the world including Na’Vi coach, Kane, Gambit coach, b1ad3, HellRaisers IGL, ANGE1, and Fnatic IGL Xizt.
We asked each of these four the same three questions so that we could compare them against one another. The first question we asked was: “How do you think the new economy will affect the beginning of halves both for Ts and CTs?”
I think it will be very interesting because you will have different options how to do in the 2nd round, either you can full eco or still force buy. It’s not like before when you bought almost every time when you lost the pistol round, unless you planted the bomb. It’s not as predictable as before which opens up for mind games. -Xizt
HellRaisers IGL, ANGE1, also brought up the idea of mind games at the beginning of halves when we asked him.
The main difference between this and the previous update is that we will see many more full ecos in the 2nd round after losing the pistol and then full gunfights in the 3rd. Now it’s kind of a mind game at the start, because after winning the pistol you can’t afford to buy 3/4/5 farm guns or a scout yourself, for example. 90% of the time you’re going to play the 1st buy round with the same guns, and the enemy will have an m4/armor or an ak/armor. Now it makes sense to just upgrade your armor in the 2nd round and just keep the same pistol you ended the 1st round with, so you can guarantee yourself an awp/ak+nades in the 3rd. -ANGE1
The coach for Na’Vi, Kane, praised the update for its potential to bring more excitement to fans throughout the game.
I do not think that it will change something drastically, in the sense that it won’t give an unfair advantage either to terrorists or counter-terrorists. It will simply give more options for the development of events for both sides, and I believe this is a positive development for Counter-Strike because viewers will see more exciting rounds. -Kane
And Gambit coach, b1ad3, gave us the most in-depth analysis that we’ve ever read, so we’re going to give you his summary here and then link to his full answer. This is a must-read for anyone who is a student of the game: https://bit.ly/2PwI1mB
It depends on scenarios. But it will definitely give more space for maneuvering and additional opportunities for teams. Now, they will have more solutions. -b1ad3
We wanted to know how each of these pros’ teams had been affected by the change or if they expected anything significant to be different from before the update. So, we asked: “Are you happy with the update and do you think it will have any impact on your team, specifically, either positively or negatively?” The overall response was positive, with the belief that new changes create opportunities.
We are happy with the update and I don’t think it has any negative impact on our team. It’s good that Valve updates and do changes in the game, maybe not all of them are great but this update will definitely change the meta in an interesting way. -Xizt
To be honest we don’t know yet. The new economy gives you the option to force in the 2nd with much more utility, and maybe it’s a good way for us to play. Or, it could help us be better prepared for 3rd rounds with AKs/m4d and limited utility. We need more experience, especially on LAN. -ANGE1
Well, we are pleased with the update, because you know how they do it. Updates are not always to our liking, but in this case, Valve did well. And we as a team do our best to have many strategic options. Therefore, we believe that for us this change will have a positive effect. -Kane
I am ok with the update. From time to time, we need updates to make the game more interesting by changing the meta a little. I don’t think that it will affect my team more or less than any other team. We will adapt to it like everyone else. -b1ad3
And the last question we asked our 4 professionals was about the pistol round, specifically. We wanted to know if the update had taken some importance away from the first round of each half. “Do you think this change will de-emphasize the pistol round somewhat, and is that a good thing or bad thing?”
No, not really. The pistol round is still very important and I think teams will play them in the same way. -Xizt
Maybe. I think any minor updates that don’t change the game completely are good, because, in my opinion, one of the most important qualities of any gamer/team is how fast he/they can adapt to new things. -ANGE1
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