The Eco Round - Part 2 Variations in the Early Game

Now that you know the importance of ecoing, we can discuss certain situations. The classic round structure of ecoing in counter-strike was losing the first round and then ecoing twice. From that point forward you only eco once. This is mostly still the truth and the correct way to compete successfully in cs:go. However, if your opponents' score is fourteen or fifteen you do not have the luxury of ecoing since there might not be another round to capitalize on that saved money. This is only true for matchmaking, since competitive games otherwise have overtime if tied, 15-15. In that case, you might stand a better chance of winning the map if you go for the tie rather than buying what you can.

When you have mastered the understanding of the eco round, you will find that with that knowledge a whole new metagame appears. Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is a metagame?! A metagame is the influence knowledge of the game mechanics and people's standard actions has on the gameplay. That is my definition, and I believe that it is sufficient for my point, which is explaining to you that not all games of cs:go is the same.

Consider the following situation, which you will know of if you read the entry about the eco round here:

It is the first round of a cs:go matchmaking game. The counter-terrorists loses the round and therefore they decide to eco the next one. This means they will not buy anything.

This happens almost every cs:go game, unless you do not know about ecoing, which puts your team at a disadvantage. This is the standard procedure, and the terrorist team knows about this. This means they know that they will be favored in firepower and armor, and since the counter-terrorists are not buying, they decide to buy sub-machine guns instead of rifles and P-90s, which is a lot cheaper and still have them at the firepower advantage. Frags with these weapons also earn their user extra cash rewards in cs:go, which is yet another reason to buy those MAC-10s, MP-7s, and Bizons when winning the first round. Another reason not to buy a rifle or P-90 this round is, heaven forbid, you get fragged by the counter-terrorists and they liberate your firepower to their team. This could translate to a sudden comeback from the counter-terrorist side and is a major reason why sub-machine guns should be bought.

This procedure makes sure that the terrorist team's economy will be looking great for the mid game, and that they have a bank if they were to lose a round or two. If the terrorists manages to win the second round as expected, the counter-terrorists are going to make a second eco on the third round. This is a familiar pattern, but let us break it down a bit. I think it is safe to assume that the terrorist during the second round might have taken some casualties even though they have the advantage all over the board. Even if the counter-terrorists are making a second eco round, those casualties will not be buying typical anti-eco weapons (the smgs etc.) This is because if they win and survive, the anti-eco weapons will be outmatched by the counter-terrorists' M4s and AWPs, and they will need to upgrade wasting their sub-machine guns. Just remember to not expose your upgraded gun to liberation and all is fine.

To deal with this, the teammates of the fragged terrorists will upgrade to an AK-47 or AWP during the third round even though the counter-terrorists are ecoing. Their previous weapons are then picked up by the respawned teammates. If two terrorists were fragged, only two terrorists should upgrade. We do this inconvenience to boost our chances of success. Counter-strike is a game with an economy mechanic and using it wisely gives you an advantage. More advantages lead to more victories, which is the point of competitive matchmaking.

This is all logical, but there are variations to this. Especially in cs:go has the metagame evolved from the first round loss translating to a second and third round eco into certain other lines of play. Let us use the same scenario for simplicity. The terrorists win the first round. The counter-terrorists know that they are being expected to make a full save, and that the opponents will be on an anti-eco strategy. This opens up the possibility of an "armor, helmet and pistol"-buy from the counter-terrorist side. In cs:go the P250 is a cheap pistol with good accuracy, rate of fire, and firepower. Paired with armor and helmet, the P250, or the recently added CZ75 Auto, the counter-terrorists now have the advantage against anti-eco buying terrorists. Therefore, it could sometimes be correct of the terrorist team to have some of their players buy rifles even though they are expecting an eco round. This is something that would almost be unforgivable in counter-strike's past since it could risk the expected 3-0 start from winning the pistol round by allowing liberation of firepower.

The reason the P250, armor and helmet buy is so effective is because anti-eco weapons are poor against armored opponents. It is also the reason why a liberated AK or M4 is more dangerous than a liberated Bizon or MP-7. If captured, the sub-machine gun will not be an efficient threat to your armored teammates. A liberated AK-47 will.

There is another variation playing as counter-terrorists and losing the first round. If the opponents buy a mix of sub-machine guns and rifles, the pistol, armor and helmet buy round two will be poor. Therefore, they could decide to eco and make a full save the second round. However, instead of ecoing the third round as well, they go for the rarely seen "FAMAS buy". One of my favorite quotes state "when nothing but second best will do" and this also happens to be the perfect description to the FAMAS buy. What it is, is a third round full buy, only that the weapon purchased is a FAMAS instead of a M4, P-90 or AWP. Much like the second round pistol, armor and helmet buy, this is a shock tactic used to capture the enemy off guard. The upside of the FAMAS buy is that you get one round less of ecoing if you win and you do not have to upgrade if you do. Remember, if you take casualties, have the surviving teammates upgrade and drop their FAMASes to save money. The downside, well, you lack the firepower of the M4 or the AWP and maybe even some of the auxiliary items such as grenades.

This pretty much summarizes the, by me, legalized early game actions for losing the first round as counter-terrorists. Unfortunately, this is not true if we switch the scenario to the counter-terrorist winning first round and have the terrorists ecoing. In short, terrorist eco decisions in the early game are based around the bomb being planted or not. Why? Because the terrorists are awarded extra cash for planting the bomb, effectively canceling out a round they otherwise would have needed to eco. That, combined with guns cheaper than the counter-terrorists' mean the terrorists eco less than the counter-terrorists.

The easiest scenario is losing first round as terrorists and ecoing the second. If no plants are made during any of those rounds, the terrorists will eco the third round as well. However, if they manage to plant the bomb once or twice during the first and second round, they will have a full third round buy, which is bad news for the counter-terrorists if they have anti-eco weapons. This is only possible if the terrorists did not make an armor, helmet, and pistol buy round two. Because of this, the losing terrorists main goal is to get the bomb planted. This means that a strategy that gets the bomb planted but loses the round is actually a winning play in the end. This is a fine example of the metagame warping the actual gameplay.

The terrorists are of course able to to the second round armor, helmet, and pistol buy, or a rarely seen third round GALIL buy if they feel it is the correct decision. Mostly, it is better to go for the plant and a third round full buy though. Therefore the easiest eco decision is when the terrorists lose the first round but got the bomb planted. That translates to a second round full save since the third round full buy is already secured. 

That was my advice regarding ecos and the early game. Be sure to comment if you find anything strange, faulty or missing.

Stay tuned to be the next Sir Fragalot!