CSGO Blog

PC for CS:GO – Which Parts to Choose

Do you plan to switch from CS 1.6 or Source to a new version while being uncertain about your computer to have enough performance to run it? Do you want to upgrade your PC and wish to know about required specifications? In this case, you read the right article! Here you can see which PC can run CS:GO at 300 FPS.

Which PC is Required for CS:GO?

To run this great game, the appropriate equipment is required. Otherwise, it won’t work smoothly. Lags, freeze frames, FPS drops and other pleasant thins will appear, too. This all will make CS:GO impossible to play it even with bots.

Which PC can run this game with the lowest preset of graphics?

• A PC needs 2 GB of RAM or more.
• A graphics card needs 256 MB or more video memory and support the DirectX 9.0c technology. The better the graphics card is, the better is your in-game picture quality.
• The minimal processor is the Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 or AMD Phenom X3 8750.
• 8 GB of free HDD memory.
• Operating system: Windows XP or newer.

These requirements are higher for laptops: their hardware gets less performance possibilities to reach the wanted mobility level.

Optimal system requirements look like the following:

• CPU: Intel i3-4130, AMD FX 4100 or newer.
• RAM: 8 GB or more.
• GPU: 1 GB of VRAM and DirectX 9.0c support.
• 10 GB of HDD space.

What to do when the PC does not respond even the minimal system requirements? The answer is obvious: to buy a new one!

Approximate CS:GO PC Budget

A gaming PC is a thing you can’t buy cheap. As we said, CS;GO has certain requirements for the gamer’s hardware. So you need to know which parts are able to provide you with the required level of performance.

You should not forget that CS:GO is the game old enough. You can spend nearly $500-600 to build a PC able to give you more than 60 FPS on Maximum graphics preset in Counter Strike: Global Offensive. For instance, you can be enough with the rig based on Ryzen 5 1400 CPU paired with the NVidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti video card and 8 GB of RAM.

And if you want to get the greatest gaming experience, it is possible to pay more than $1000 for a PC and get 300 FPS on maxed settings. This gaming rig will be able to run all modern games with no problems. For instance, consider building a PC based on Intel Core i5 9600 paired with GeForce GTX 1060 and 16 GB of RAM.

Additional Devices for CS: GO PC

The gaming PC is not limited with the internal hardware only. It will be nothing but a box with expensive details without a keyboard, a display and a mouse. So you should think about buying appropriate peripheral devices at once.

Keyboard

First, you should take care of a high-quality keyboard. It should be responsive and not lagging. If it is more comfortable for you to have additional keys for binding, choose the required model. This is a matter of personal taste and nothing more.

The CS:GO keyboard should have the minimal reaction time. Even a single step made in time lets you win. While a button sending a false signal at the wrong moment can throw the whole match for you.

Display

A low-quality display will never show you the whole beauty of graphics even if the PC is able to run it on maxed settings. The display should have good resolution (the current minimal standard is 1920x1080 pixels) and a high refresh rate in order to prevent your 300 FPS from turning into 55-70 due to the inappropriate display.

Mouse

A good mouse is equally important to a good keyboard. The faster is the response time, the faster and more precise will be your reaction and shooting. The more buttons are on the mouse, the more comfortable it will be to bind in-game actions to them.

Improving Your CS:GO Skill

In this guide, I would like to share some tips on improving one’s playing skill in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. How to make your aiming better? How to learn correct positioning? How to throw grenades well? Here you’ll find answers to these questions.

When playing CS:GO, many gamers underestimate the importance of certain details for their skill. They try to copy professional tricks and to use brain exploding strategies, but they usually do not pay enough attention to the basis of every victorious round.

Let’s give smaller details the attention they deserve.  

CS GO Skill Improvement: Always Keep Calm

This tip sounds banal, but you better keep it all the time.

Did your teammate begin raging on you? Ask what your fault was.

Is there any reasonable and constructive criticism? You can say you’re sorry and then correct your playstyle a bit.

Do they insult you for no reason? Mute them and continue playing the game.

Discuss Teamplay Actions

If your team is open for contact, you’ve got 50% of your victory because this is how players become more coordinated. You’ll start winning more frequently and this will bring you confidence. And confidence about your abilities is a perfect catalyst for improvement of your individual CS:GO skill.

Improve Aiming and Accuracy

Economics determine your weapons. Train it first of all.

Beginner players often suffer problems with shooting. They constantly start buying P90 even when there is no need to do that. Here are some tips on shooting improvement:

• Watch the items of your team. This is the main rule in team playing. The fact that you have money does not mean every player of your team has it. Type or say the word “eco” and don’t buy a thing. Sometimes, you’ll have to lose four rounds in a row for Counter-Terrorists before the team gets enough funds. And that is normal.
• No panic. Panic is the reason to make wrong decisions: for instance, to spray with M4 or AK-47 at a long range. Sometimes, you’ll have enough time to make a strafe, stop quickly and give out a headshot. But you need to control your mind to do that successfully

Pistol Rounds

Terrorists: newbie players have the habit to buy TEC-9. That is not always correct. It is better to buy armor or grenades (smoke, flashbangs) when rushing the round. Just throw your grenades to right points. Did enemies kill you? No problem, you helped your team. You can get Tec-9 or P250 if you took 2 flashbangs or 1 flash and 1 smoke.

Counter-Terrorists: you can take even Molotov. Don’t be too greedy: buy a flashbang or a smoke. When playing as CT, Five-seveN is a great choice.

The main point here is armor.

Economy (Eco) Rounds

Buy P250 or walk around with your default Glock/USP sidearm. Does everyone on your team have 3700+ of money? Buy normal items then!

“Call of Victory” Rounds

You may laugh, but this is a round when the team decides to buy items after losing the pistol round. In this case, take Five-seveN or Tec-9. You can get smokes or flashbangs. P250 is an option to consider, too.

Armor is still a must.

Standard Items

Forget about SG553, P90, or AUG if there is enough money in your pocket. Otherwise, you’ll get used to those guns and stop training yourself. As your rank grows, this weapon can only lead to defeats.

Terrorists: minimum funds to buy: $3700 for AK + vest and helmet + a set of grenades.

Counter-Terrorists: minimum funds to buy: $3750 for M4 + vest and helmet + a set of grenades.

Aim Training

Do not ignore special aim training maps. Play them every day before entering the competitive matchmaking mode.

Improve your shooting in Deathmatch games. Train the required weapon. You don’t need to wait till the round ends: the respawn is instant.

General Tips to Improve Your Individual CS:GO Skill

• If you feel the game is not “yours”, you lose frequently, can’t hit the enemy that stands still: just make a break. Your mood is an important game element.
• Analyze your mistakes on purpose. Did you buy wrong weapons, hurried in front of a team, blind your teammates? Don’t get desperate. Try to avoid making same mistakes next time. The point is to recognize the mistake.
• Train grenade throwing. There are special maps and guides. Don’t be too lazy to learn grenade spots on all maps.
• Make your place comfortable for you. The position of your mouse, mousepad keyboard, display, or anything has to satisfy you. There is no way to think about discomfort while playing competitive matches in CS:GO.
• Set your sight to be comfortable.
• Watch streams from esports events and pro game records. You’ll see different useful tricks there.
• Set the goal for yourself: for example, to become a cool AWP-player or to be the best AK-47 shooter.

And the last thing: motivate yourself and go in for training regularly. Follow these basic recommendations and you’ll notice your CS:GO skill to get improved pretty soon.

CS GO: A Way to Global Elite

I’m sure you often watch esports streams on Twitch and keep an eye on professional CS players. After that, you are motivated and enter the game matchmaking trying to carry games as cool as pros do.

Still, things are not as easy in practice as they seem on a stream or a lucky highlight video. In this article, I’ll describe the system that would help you reach the highest rank. I’ll tell you how to become a Global Elite player in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (thanks for help SirAzAzeL's CSGO FAQ).

Well… Go, go, go!

The Way to CS:GO Global Elite Rank

I’ll start with saying the most important thing: if you came here hoping to read a magic phrase that would change your gaming life and make you the CS:GO Global, you made a mistake. Global Elite is the highest rank in CSGO. To get it and keep it after, you need to work on yourself and your game very much. So, there won’t be anything “simple” in CS battlefields. Gain patience and let’s move on.

Mood

To get CSGO Global Elite rank, you’ll need a lot of time and practice. There won’t be quick result. Only people obsessed by their goal can reach highest results, and you are not an exception. Reaching the Global Elite rank is not only the reason to show off for friends. This rank gives you the way to the esports world able to make you rich and famous. So, you better treat it seriously.

Work on Yourself

A defeat is an experience and nothing more. If you lost the game and then worked on your mistakes, you became better and more experienced. Always review your failures and perceive them as free tips. Only players getting good experience from negative moments can become CS:GO Global Elite rank holders.

Physical Condition

To make it all perfect, you better go in for sports. To begin, don’t drink alcohol before and during your games. You physical condition means your reaction. To make it quick, you need to sleep well, be sober and keep yourself in a good shape.

Mental Condition

Things are much more complicated here. To keep your physical condition, it is enough to sleep well, eat well, exercise regularly and refuse drinking. Mental condition requires more self-control. If you didn’t do enough warm-up and entered the matchmaking too quickly, you start losing rounds. When you start losing rounds, you start raging. Rage is the first enemy of concentration. Your reaction might get faster but you stop thinking and make wrong decisions. So, if you want to reach Global Elite rank in CS:GO, you have to control your emotions. I’ll tell how to deal with psychological load later, it a separate article.

Time Management

To make your learning process effective, you need to play regularly. It is important to play productively, to improve your weaknesses, to analyze your game and mechanics, and not only to play many hours in a row. If you manage your time effectively, your learning and rank progress will be much faster.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Determine what you are strong and weak at clearly. Many global elite players have their special features: some of them are extremely accurate with AWP, others destroy people in pistol rounds and have a lightning-fast reaction. Be proud of your strengths and always improve your weaknesses.

Aiming

Here we proceed to in-game basics. The most important thing in CS GO is your aiming. If you can’t shoot accurately, all the tips mentioned above are useless. This skill is the hardest one in Counter-Strike. Numerous esports players still feel it difficult to aim perfectly: they can position their crosshair greatly but think for too long to shoot in time. So, ass the future global elite player, you need to know aiming as your basic skill.

Crosshair Positioning

Your main goal is to keep your crosshair at your opponent’s head level. No matter how difficult it seems to be, you need to gain that habit.

Shooting Mode

Shooting tactics is another important moment for global elite CS GO players. You can go in for 3-bullet burst, 2-bullet shots, single one shooting, etc. Every method is good, you only need to choose the one suitable for you and practice it. It is possible to watch esports broadcasts and copy professional tactics, that’s not forbidden.

Bullet Spray

Take every gun, stand in front of a wall and shoot all bullets out. Learn where the 2nd, the 3rd, the 10th bullet flies. You need to know spraying of each kind of weapon you use. Difficult situations will be frequent: you’ll have to push the LMB and shoot the whole magazine out. At that moment, you need to know precisely where to move your crosshair to make bullets hit your enemy.

Training Maps

Training maps are the best places to practice and warm yourself up before competitive games. They are very important for a player willing to become the Global Elite.

After entering the matchmaking mode, you should get 500 to 1000 frags on training maps: this guarantees you a good warm-up and safety for statistics. Don’t forget to practice all weapons you use on training maps, not only AK-47 or AWP.

Other Important Moments

Flashbangs and Smoke Grenades

These seem to be negligible details you were rare to use. But grenades are necessary for players willing to reach CS GO Global Elite rank. You can search YouTube videos to find out when and how to use these grenades: it is quite difficult to describe principles with text, but the video is much easier to perceive it.

Game Replays

Always watch your replays and think how you could act in this or that situation. If you don’t watch replays, you won’t notice your mistakes and correct them. In addition, you can watch esports games to see how professionals play and which tactics they use. This will help you correct your playstyle.

Movement

Global Elite players continue moving. It looks like a philosophic quote but in fact that is an important in-game rule. During the game, you have to be mobile. If you stand still, you are a perfect target. Learn how to move correctly.

To Conclude

You should remember: nobody becomes the CS GO Global Elite player since first games. Global Elite means working on yourself and a good perspective. So, just treat it as a good investment. Never give up, improve your skills and one day you’ll raise a CS GO major esports cup above your head.

Have a good luck!

See you soon!

CS:GO Gaming Headsets: Best Ones to Choose

Do you need a great gaming headset? Do you want to hear every step of your enemy or just want to know which headphones actually can help in gaming? In any case, read this article. We’ll explain nuances and offer you certain models of gaming headsets.

Why Good Headphones Matter in CS:GO?

Each sound in CS:GO is very important. Hearing what your enemies do you can predict their actions and win. Additionally, you need not only to hear WHAT they do but WHERE EXACTLY that happens. Do they run on the right or on the left? Do they throw a grenade or shoot the wall? As we all know, who sees the enemy first, shots first. Who shots first usually wins.

You won’t need any WallHack if you have good ears and nice headphones. Your ears will let you “see” through the walls and determine the enemy’s movement with millimeter preciseness.

Main Qualities of CS:GO Headphones

First, let’s find out criteria to consider when choosing “best” gaming headsets for CS:GO. What should be their possibilities to give you the most impact? What to pay attention to when choosing your headset?

To hear it all, you need to buy headphones with appropriate specifications.

Your new headset should be:

• Light and comfortable enough to let you concentrate on the gameplay during long clashes.
• Having a surrounding 3D sound allowing hearing where exactly the enemy runs or shoots.
• Able to suppress noises in order to prevent external factors from distracting your attention and isolate in-game sounds to prevent irritating people around.
• Providing you with the ability to hear steps loud and clear enough, this means to have high-quality sound.
• Equipped with a microphone in order to provide your teammates with the in-game data.

Of course, such headphones will have not the lowest price. But that is the necessity which will let you win more frequently for sure. You’ll literally see through the walls without using cheat-programs.

How to Choose CS:GO Headphones

The first factor is the price. After determining your budget, you can exclude too cheap or too expensive devices at once. You should expect the price of high-quality headsets to be high, but that is the cost of professionalism.

Then, you’ll need to choose a brand you like the most and which is known by its quality models. For instance, you can choose special gaming headsets by SteelSeries or Sennheiser, or you can go for cheaper propositions by SVEN or A4Tech.

Finally, it is time to choose a certain design and model of a headset. Design matters as well, because any thing should not only function properly but satisfy its owner. Still, functionality has a bigger impact for competitive CS:GO players.

What is the Cost of Good CS:GO Headphones?

Good headphones are usually pricy enough. You can’t buy a high-quality device able to fulfill all requirements for 5 dollars.

So, first you’ll have to determine the approximate budget you are ready to pay for your CS:GO gaming headset. For instance, $30-40. It will become your basis. As a rule, you’ll feel these headphones not to be enough some time later. But then you can buy a device of a slightly higher price but providing you with a much higher level of quality and comfort due to your natural progress as a player.

Best CS:GO Gaming Headphones

Let’s take a look at some models which will easily fulfill all demands for a gaming headset. Devices were chosen from different price categories to simplify the process for every CS:GO player.

A4Tech HS-60

A cheap device of not the highest quality but quite good performance in its main task: to determine sounds and locations. These headphones will fit beginners who want to make first steps. A disadvantage: they won’t be good for music as their sound quality is far from being perfect. Price: not more than $15.

Plantronics GameCom 388

This model is a bit better and more expensive. It provides you with good 3D sound so you could know the enemy’s position precisely enough. They are actual gaming headphones of the entry level. Serious disadvantage: a very bad sound insulation. Price: nearly $30.

Kingston HyperX Cloud Core

These headphones give you high-quality sound with good 3D effect, pleasant and comfortable design. The headset is light and well-positioned, too. The unpleasant moment: they won’t fit the built-in soundcard because of being too quiet in that case. Price: nearly $70.

Logitech Wireless Gaming Headset G930

These are perfect headphones. They are expensive and serious, created specially for professional gamers. Their feature is the excellent quality packed with multiple adjustment options and software solutions. This device can fulfill any requirements. Negative notes: weak plastic body and exclusively wireless usage. Price: nearly $160.

Red More about Best CSGO Mouse

8 Ways to Earn Money on Gaming

Sooner or later, every gamer thinks over a question: “How could I earn some money on my favorite hobby?” Of course, light minds of people invented several dozens of ways to monetize their hobby long ago, and this article will touch the most popular ones.

Disclaimer: due to clear reasons, you won’t find a literal “how-to” action guide below. This text is not a learning material to teach you get a lot of funds in your pocket, it only describes main ways to earn funds in computer games. Telling about more detailed things, every particular case has them different. We’re sure that you’ve heard about most examples shown below, but we still hope we can wonder you.

1. Esports

Esports is probably the first thing people mention when it comes to earning funds on computer games. Throughout recent years, the market of esports competitions grew up multiple times, and hundreds of millions of dollars get invested into it every year. Nowadays, esports balances on the edge between big professional sports and show-business, and this allows it taking only best features from both fields.

Becoming a pro player is a great job and it has no matter what discipline you play at. “Extra-class” gamers competing with each other on world level tournaments can earn 10-15 thousand dollars monthly and get percent from competitive victories and advertisement or sponsorship contracts. There are not many masters of such a high level but they exist.

Obviously, the level of incomes depends on professional results directly. The better you play, the thicker your wallet becomes. The main pleasure of this system is that you don’t really have to be best of the best in order to get enough money for a good life. Amateur and half-pro teams create great conditions for career growth of players. If you have a talent and a wish to go on with development, you’ll find a team with good system of bonuses/encouragements easily.  Then, you’ll only have to win small tournaments and wait for your chance to enter the world’s arena.

2. Betting

If you were not lucky enough to be born as a esports player, don’t get desperate! Yes, the professional gamer’s career will remain only a dream, but you still can earn funds on games of other people. Of course we mean bets on matches through different esports betting services.

Only lazy betting portals do not pay their attention to esportss nowadays. Luckier and more serious companies work in this field for a long time already. Earning on esports bets is quite risky, but almost everyone can get big money in this activity if provide systematic approaches and careful analysis. All you need is a good knowledge of esports scene, a reliable betting platform (or some of them at once) and some luck.

Remember, there are websites where you can bet in-game items (skins, cases, weapons etc.). So, you don’t even need to have startup money to begin betting. It is enough to find some unnecessary things in your Steam inventory.

3. Trading

Selling in-game items is another popular way to earn money on gaming. If to take a look on projects by Valve, victories in DotA 2 and Counter Strike: Global offensive can bring you different rewards as things, skins, item-sets etc. If you are lucky enough, you can earn good money after selling such things. But this income source will doubtfully make you happy due to its instability: worthy (expensive) things are extremely rare to appear.

Being a trader means being aware of all changes on “your market” all the time. You’ll have to monitor price dynamics regularly, track the demand of users and other traders. If you are decisive enough to start trading, you better store patience: it is a time-taking business impossible to get much money instantly with it.

4. Streaming

It is difficult not to mention how the age of video bloggers gets gradually changed with the age of streamers and “let’s-players”. Modern internet technologies combined with the diversity and availability of streaming services (GoodGame, YouTube, Twitch, Azubu, Hitbox, etc.) can turn almost everyone into a “screen star”. If you like playing games, have an attractive look, pleasant voice and charisma, just let other players watch how you play. Money will come on its own.

The main goal of any streamer is to expand their audience and increase the number of channel subscribers. The logic is simple enough here: the more people watch the translation, the more money a streamer receives. Chasing the number of viewers, many home standup masters act on the edge of rules and often get their channels banned by moderators. Nevertheless, there appear more and more people willing to earn this easy money.

Additionally, the streamer earns percent from advertisements and partnership programs for the number of subscribers on their channel. At this point, every streaming service has different rules we won’t discuss here. One more source of income for streamers is donation: charity transactions from thankful viewers. Ways to ask for money are limited only with your imagination, moral principles and streaming service rules.

5. Coaching

What to do if you don’t know how to play? Of course, to teach other people! In our times, personal “coaching” is not as popular as it used to be a few years ago. This field touches individual games mostly. In team disciplines and MOBA games it can be used much rarer.

The main task of a coach is to analyze the “student’s” gaming skills and to help them improve their level. The criteria of a successful coaching are usually the player’s progress in ladders or moving from a low league into a higher one. The most frequent people to become coaches are experienced players having much theoretical knowledge in their minds but unable to use them in practice due to some reason. Still, people say that a teacher has to be just one step forward of their student to teach them.

If you don’t have a relatively successful esportss career behind your back, then your chances to become a coach are low. Reputation and past achievements play huge roles in this field. Every coach evaluates is or her job individually, depending on the coaching methods, time spent and final results.

6. Account Boosting

There frequently happen situations when people don’t want to spend time improving their gaming skills. They are sure about their strengths, and their weak leagues or low MMR is just a system error of calibrations. Boosters who reach required ranks on their accounts help such people and take some money in exchange.

Boosters can be met in almost every competitive game starting with StarCraft 2 and ending with Counter Strike: Global Offensive. As a rule, they are people spending much time in a game and having good ladder statistics but unable to make it to pro-level due to some reason. The booster’s income depends directly on the difficulty of the task. If it is required to boost the account from nothing, the sum is high. If only a slight calibration is needed, then the payment is different.

Boosting income can’t be regular, and you will doubtfully be pleased with your earnings. On the other side, if you spend days of your life playing games, then it is better to find some sense and financial profit in this activity.

7. Game Services

Continuing the topic of account boosting, let’s take a look onto other types of in-game services. It is better to make a step away from esportss and look on MMORPG genre. Special features of incomes in this field are better visible in the particular game or even a particular game server while paying attention to the local gaming environment. The main principle is stable almost all the time: stronger players help newbie ones dealing with troubles and dangers of virtual worlds. Of course, they get paid for their time and experience.

The highest demand exists on assistance to pass special in-game quests. Newbie players often buy a “guide” through the instance or a whole team of “mercenaries” helping to deal with raid bosses. In-game items are valuable goods which can be easily monetized if you have an interested and lazy client.

Except items, in MMORPG games you can sell everything: from in-game currency to a special “coverage” from strongest players. There are numerous possibilities and everything depends only on your imagination.

8. Dealers

Dealers belong to a special category of people: they don’t usually play games but are important elements of any game universe. They help regular users complete financial operations in the certain project.

If you want to make a donation into the game to buy some fashionable things for your character, the system will offer you using payment options set by game developers only: Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, some additional services and that’s it. Dealers can offer much wider withdrawal possibilities. They have dozens of bank accounts in different countries around the world and they work with all popular payment systems. Additionally, many dealers can give credits, especially if the client is stable and trustworthy.

Of course, dealers work not for free: they get a commission percent from every withdrawal which gets changed depending on the payment option you choose. Dealers provide whole clans with services and mostly cooperate only with stable clients. They value their reputation very much so there is no way for them to cheat you. In some projects, even administration representatives can guarantee the official dealer’s reputation.

To Conclude

At this point, our small training about earning money in computer games comes to an end. Maybe we’ll come back to this topic in future and describe other interesting income sources. We hope you liked the article. If you’ve got an original concept of getting financial profits from any game, please share it in comments.

Best CSGO Tips I Ever Heard from Raging Teammates

Playing competitive shooter games supposes constant criticism flowing to you on purpose. I think, CSGO is especially spectacular in this field because a dead team continues talking to you through a voice chat while waiting for the round to end. Four virtual comrades watch you from your shoulder when you are the last player standing for your team and your victory.

I had that experience hundreds of times: I fight till my last breath and a person I’ve never met before tells me what weapon I should pick to retake A on Nuke, or pretends to beat me for using a grenade in 1 on 1 situation. It irritates. But in fact, I’m appreciated for that heavy criticism because it really helped me get rid of many bad habits.

Here below, I would like to present a list of moments when raging teammates really gave me some useful piece of advice.

“No Reloading!”

Shooters, especially single-player FPS games, create that reloading reflex in your mind. And it is what new CSGO players should stop doing as soon as they can. Almost all weapons in CS take 2 to 4 seconds from you to reload: in terms of a firefight, that’s eternity. This time is enough for enemies to check you behind the corner or to pass through the position you need to hold. What’s more important is that the reload will be heard by a foe standing within a close range. What’s better to have: a reloaded weapon and a rival knowing your position or a partially full mag and a frag for the eliminated hostile?

You shouldn’t underestimate your abilities with four or five bullets loaded. You only need three or four precise shots to kill a full-health enemy (no headshot). And a chance to meet a 100 HP foe is even lower when the round is coming to an end.

“Stop Showing it Off!”

A few months ago my teammate noticed this habit. “What the heck are you doing, mate? I bet you’ve seen that on Twitch, didn’t you?”

Well, he was right. I was quickly moving right-left to glimpse out from the corner on Inferno. That thing was pointless and had no tactical value. I was just pretending to do something useful. You can compare that with soccer, when players show cool dribbling techniques even if there is no need in them for the current game moment.

Yes, it is great to test things you’ve seen pro CS players do. But a huge step towards success is next: understand the situation and the value of every move they do during the game. I’ve watched some ESL pro games and started turning out from my flashbangs. Yes, I’ve learned that from pros. But then I found out my grenades were quite average. I just did things I saw, no matter if they were necessary.

“Please, not a Grenade…”

Put it back to your pocket. I’ve frequently witnessed how they overestimate HE-grenades in CSGO, partially because I used to be a guy who starts retaking the position by throwing a grenade in.

All in all, after teammates raged on me, I got the point: my grenade won’t kill anyone. Even if you are a grenade master and can throw it right into the enemy’s face, it can bring only 57 points of damage. If you used to play CS: S for long (there grenades could give 72 damage to armored targets), just think about that: now a perfect grenade throw is equal to 2 shots.

In most situations, especially in one-on-one round finals, a rifle will bring a kill faster and it will be safer that throwing a HE. Flash grenades are good for many situations, but I can’t call them reliable. You can’t say for sure how well you blinded someone. There were many rounds and games I could take if only I left a weapon in my arms instead of taking a grenade.

“Don’t Turn a 3 vs 1 into Many 1 vs 1”

This is a tip I started giving every player after beginning to play competitive games alone. It’s easy to win a round in a 3 vs 1 or 4 vs 2 situation. The easiest way to throw a round is dying alone being caught in the uncomfortable position. When you defend a plant from an enemy team, your main task is to exchange. When the enemy goes in for a kill on a player A, he has to be in sight of a player B.

“Man, Are You Afraid of Your Sidearm?”

Pistols are very useful in this game. For me, CZ75 remains the best in its price/performance correlation. It allows ending a duel with a hostile after a miss with the AWP or when your M4 mag got empty.

“Stop Crouching, Mate!”

This is a very old tip, but I sometimes see casual players continuing to do that. Crouching out from the corner always gives the advantage for a player holding that corner. First, they’ll see your weapon. Then, they’ll see your knees and shoot you even before you see them. If you need to look behind the corner, do that while standing. Just take a quick glimpse without showing much of your body to see the enemy’s position and then go back as quickly as possible.

How to Become a CS: GO Pro Player

In this article, you will be able to find out how to become a professional cybersports player n CSGO and other disciplines. To be honest, this question interests a lot of gamers, both “newbie” and “veteran” ones. So, this topic is quite wanted, especially by teenagers and young men. As a rule, the most part of cybersports professionals are 14 to 26 years old.

Let’s try to find out what kind of “sports” is the point and to understand how to get better in CSGO and become a pro player. This guide is suitable for other games, too.

Let’s roll!

What’s That?

First, we’ll need to understand the overall subject of discussion. What is that cybersports? It is important for you to know the deal before joining the world of cybersport professionals. What if that is a dangerous and unpredictable thing?

Honestly, there is some piece of danger cybersports can bring your organism. It actually can harm your nerves. Cybersports mean playing computer games for points. In other words, it is a professional PC gaming. Mostly, people play for money or other prizes. It is a kind of competition where computers have important roles: they define a place and methods for players to compete with each other.

But how to become a pro player in CS: GO or any other cybersports discipline? In general, there is no special algorithm. But there are 10 simple steps for you to make. After you do, you’ll become a master of your sports.

It is worth to mention one thing at once: competitions mostly touch shooter or MOBA games (Counter Strike or DotA 2). Still, other games can become competitive, too. Sometimes, there are tournaments in different virtual simulators like The Sims.

And finally, let’s try to find out how to become a pro player in CS: GO, DotA 2, League of Legends, Rainbow Six: Siege and other computer games.

1. Be Calm. Just Be Calm

Everything begins with your self-improvement here. To say more precisely, you need to improve your health. As we said above, cybersports are activities which are quite dangerous for your nerves. It’s all fine when you take part in some amateur tournament. But when the point is the world-level competition, even the smallest mistake can drive you mad and make you inadequate. As scientists say, neural cells are very slow to recover.

So, if you want to become a pro player in CS (actually, the game does not really matter here), you need to learn how to stay calm in various life situations. You can skip this step if you want. But if you do, there is a probability for you to gain reputation of a nervous, unstable and inadequate person even if you are not like that in reality. Cybersports may sometimes make you play very tough matches.

In addition, it is very difficult to act quickly and make correct decisions while having a worried mind. Calmness is not only useful for your health but able to help you win a tournament.

Are you ready? Then, let’s move on.

2. Situation Analysis

Now, we need to say: you will have to learn how to analyze situations in order to become a pro CS: GO player. And your analysis has to be quick, precise and correct. Otherwise, your slowness can harm you and your team.

To learn how to do that, watch recordings of competitive games by professional players. Study their tactics, tricks and maneuvers. With time, you’ll memorize them. And of course, this experience will definitely be useful in future.

It would be good for you to learn analyzing real life situations, too. This should be a talent in your blood. Otherwise, your mistakes may cause your personal loss or hit the whole team. If possible, test your conclusions and ideas in practice. This means, participate in amateur competitions.

3. Combine Things

For example, you need to learn combining your job, your studying and your hobbies. Becoming a pro player takes a lot of time and energy. Remaining a pro player takes much more. Sometimes it can make you diffuse in it totally and to prevent you from noticing anything around you.

That is why it is always important to find a proper balance between studying, job and cybersports. You won’t be able to become a sportsman in this field without that balance. People who do nothing but gaming are often despised.

Yes, it is not easy to reach harmony here. But many players are successful about this task. You only need to go on living your life and developing your personality. Just play computer games regularly, too.

Avoid addiction! It will only harm you and your team. Treat cybersports as usual competitions, and you’ll make it obligatory.

4. Gaming Communities

Pro players state that you’ll have to communicate with different communities of gamers to build a career. Moreover, you’ll have to become their part. Sometimes it is not just difficult to achieve this goal but quite pricy as well. Not in terms of money, of course.

If you want to become a pro player in a single game, there won’t be problems. Find out how to join the appropriate community, demonstrate your skills, and negotiate about participation conditions. Then, it’s done.

But if you are interested in becoming a pro player in many games then a lot of time will be spent for gaming communities.

Take into account the fact that you’ll have to communicate with your hobby fellows everyday and to visit meetings, too. Each game has its community nowadays. On one side, it’s good: you won’t get confused. On the other side, it is very uncomfortable, because a pro cybersports player has to join and participate in many groups.

All in all, you’ll cope with this problem with time. It’s not too difficult to support contacts with people. Getting into their group of interests is much harder.

5. Self-Control

Self-control is another important step helping you understand how to become a pro CS: GO player. Don’t confuse it with calmness. These are different things.

Take into account the fact that even the very best player loses nearly 50% of their matches. And this number is normal. Nevertheless, many gamers think that a pro player is a master unable or vey rare to lose. Unfortunately, that’s not true at all.

As many players say, you need to lose before gaining your victory. Defeats are necessary parts of cybersports. To become a pro player, you need to learn how to control your feelings and emotions and to take losses as something normal. Yes, unfortunately they happen. But there is nothing you can do about them.

6. Talent or Calling

Of course, not all people who aimed to become a pro cybersports player made it. Many people think it has to be your calling and you need to have a talent.

So, before joining the top world of pro gamers, think if you need it that much. Maybe, you just lack physical or mental health and durability. Cybersports is the activity requiring certain skills despite all competitions happen at PC desktops. Sometimes such tournaments tire gamers even more than real Olympic Games.

If you feel any doubts, it will be better for you to refuse the idea of becoming a pro gamer. There is no need to get exhausted and to let your team down. Don’t forget: a good player, a professional is the one carrying a natural talent first of all. You can develop your skills on your own, but it is very difficult to reach this goal.

7. Personal Life

Don’t forget you are a human. Even the most devoted and passionate players should have personal lives. Cybersports can be perceived as a usual hobby, an entertainment able to bring incomes and fame at the same time. So you shouldn’t concentrate on it too much.

This is a correct choice. Here is the point: it is possible to become a famous pro player while combining your gaming hobby and usual life. But gamers concentrated on computers only and having no personal lives have much less chances to reach success.

Here they meet emotional tension and constant depressions. Additionally, people concentrated on something too much have almost no chances to become really good in their field.

Go on living, be glad with your life, build a family and don’t forget about computers. After finding a proper balance (this process is not easy in most cases) you’ll obligatory reach your success in pro gaming.

8. Training

Here is another thing you need to understand: to become a professional gamer, you’ll need huge experience and much practice. Constant practice. Analysis, tactics and harmonious regular life are just wonderful but you’ll not be able to become successful in cybersports without practice.

What do you need to do to get better in CSGO? Just play. Play and get experience. A good gamer sometimes has to spend 10-14 hours daily for playing in order to reach the appropriate level.

Don’t forget: after certain patches and updates are released, you need to study them at once and then to use them in practice. Your competitors do the same and can master new moves and tactics faster than you. And then you’ll have to sweat two times more to reach top levels of your gaming mechanics.

9. Relations with People

After you decide to become a pro CS: GO player, accept this fact: despite cybersports are official in many countries, people don’t yet value it that much.

People might not think you to be a sportsman. Many of them will say that you waste your time, do nothing and so on. It’s almost impossible to avoid such behavior. You’ll have to learn how to interact with a society as a pro gamer. Self-control and calmness will help you here.

10. Study Games

Following previous tips will make you a pro gamer. But here is another important moment: studying games which developers offer. They are of different genres and types. And good players should be aware about new games.

As we already mentioned, shooters, MOBA-games and strategies are most frequent to become cybersports disciplines. This means you shouldn’t concentrate on improving your skills in a single game but to study new games of a genre, too. Pay attention to big projects only, and build your career of a pro player.

5 Best Gaming Mouse Devices for CSGO

The best gaming mouse for CS: GO you can buy right now is the Razer DeathAdder Elite device. It has an attractive price, cool tech parameters, design and usability comfort.

So if you don’t like to read about characteristics and to look for the information about different models and just want to get the best possible item, then the Razer DeathAdder Elite mouse is exactly your choice.

Do you need more options or some tips about how to buy a perfect gaming mouse? Then read this article.

What is Important in the Gaming Mouse?

When choosing a gaming mouse, you should take multiple factors into account. If to talk about specifications, it is worth to pay attention to the DPI (Dots Per Inch) sensor resolution: you better look for models offering 8000-16000 DPI. Tracking and acceleration are important, too.

Obviously, the number of buttons is equally important to the design and the grip type (don’t forget there are different ways to hold a mouse: palm, claw and finger tip grips, and it is good if you know which one suits you the most).

Additionally, you should know if a mouse is symmetric in its design or not, as many models are designed for right-handed or left-handed persons only. Another nuance to pay attention to is the availability of any programmed buttons: some devices are oriented towards shooter gaming while other ones are better to use in real time strategy games.

And finally, there goes the price of a device. This is the main factor dictating your choice. I think a good gaming mouse can be bought for the price of $100 or lower, so do not pay more unless you need additional wireless possibilities.

Best CS: GO Gaming Mouse Ranking

Razer Deathadder Elite

• Category: best 2018 gaming mouse for CS:GO
• Rating: 5.0
• Pros: sensor
• Cons: build quality

It is equipped with a sensor having sensitivity of 16000 dots per inch with 99,4% preciseness, has an ergonomic design for right-handed gamers and mechanical switches. This mouse is the best gaming device of 2018 as for me. And the fact that it is supplied with the additional Razer Chroma lighting system (the adjustable 16,8 million color lighting), great Razer Synapse software, good scroll wheel and perfectly placed side buttons make me say this mouse is the ideal purchase for the below $100 category now.

SteelSeries Rival 700

• Category: best 2018 gaming mouse for CS: GO
• Rating: 5.0
• Pros: OLED display
• Cons: no

SteelSeries is serious about gaming mouse devices they produce. SteelSeries Rival 700 with the innovative OLED display is their new proposition fitting our price category. This black-and-white display actually supports DotA 2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Minecraft and other games to provide the gamer with the key data about the match. But it is possible to use it for showing animated GIF-files. Specs are top: 16000 dpi sensor, modular design and programmed buttons.

Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum

• Category: best wired gaming mouse 
• Rating: 4.5
• Pros: comfortable buttons
• Cons: weight

If the weight of a mouse matters for you, Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum is the item you should consider obligatory: it is shipped with six additional weight circles (overall weight is 3,6 grams). So if you need a heavier device for gaming, this one is for you. Other features are: scroll wheel with a free scrolling option and overwhelming quantity of additional buttons: 11! Additionally, Logitech offers their own RGB lighting technology with traditional 16,8 million colors to choose.

SteelSeries Sensei 310

• Category: best budget gaming mouse
• Rating: 4.5
• Pros: 12 000 dpi
• Cons: body

Sensei 310 has its minuses: no weight regulation and a weak body. But it can compensate lacks with advantages. Taking into account its symmetric design suitable for both right-handed and left-handed gamers, the 12000 dpi sensor and a lightened body (only 92 grams!), this mouse is one of the best gaming devices of the year.

SteelSeries Rival 310

• Category: best FPS gaming mouse
• Rating: 4.5
• Pros: software
• Cons: no

It is pretty similar to Sensei 310. SteelSeries Rival 310 offers immense possibilities for its price of $60. A light body combined with a 12000 dpi sensor makes it perfect for first person shooters like CSGO, COD or PUBG. No weight regulation possibilities disappoint a bit, but the performance statistics allow you forgetting about this minus.

Counter Strike: the Story of the Most Popular Shooter Game Ever

Today, Counter Strike: Global Offensive is one of the most popular video games in the world. It takes highest rankings in the Steam gaming service popularity ratings, and probably every young person knows about its existence.

Still, 18 years ago when the first version of this game just appeared nobody could predict such a huge success.

Counter Strike: What is it?

Counter Strike is the multiplayer online first person shooter video game. Its point being the fight between two teams: terrorists and counter-terrorists (Special Forces). Both teams have certain goals for each game round: they can get the point by achieving goals or just eliminating the enemy team.

After winning a certain number of rounds, a team wins a match. The most popular game map scenery is the demolition: terrorists need to plant the bomb in the certain point of the map and let it explode, while counter-terrorists need to avoid their enemies from planting and exploding a charge.

Precursors and Origins of Counter Strike

The idea of a videogame about the fight of terrorists and Special Forces appeared in late 90’s, which means before the 9/11 attack and before the show-up of a world terrorism threat. Its creator was Minh «Gooseman» Le, the Canadian citizen of a Vietnamese origin. He aimed to create not a commercial product touching the actual and urgent social problem, but a modification – a mod – for the other game, putting it into the concept and the topic which were interesting for him.

Before CS appeared, multiplayer shooters were fast-paced games in fantasy settings having completely unreal physics (like FPS games of Unreal Tournament and Quake franchises). Minh Le used to create modifications for those games as well, and they were quite successful: Navy Seals (a mod for Quake I) and Action Quake 2 (a mod for Quake II created together with a popular A-TEAM modding community).

But there came the time of a fresh Valve masterpiece: Half-Life. It was just a perfect game of that time making all other titles look old and primitive. Half-Life became exactly that game for Minh Le’s modification because its engine gave lots of possibilities for a developer’s imagination. It had a comfortable multiplayer, an up-to-date instrument kit (for the year 1999) and decorations more suitable to bring the Minh’s idea to life.

As the developer himself said later, he worked on the mod for 30 to 40 hours per week during his university studies. He hoped at least some people to play his game, to start with a few players and grow a community later.

But the feedback from players after the release was just stunning. Le was impressed and inspired with a lot of positivity and enthusiasm coming from them, so he decided to continue working on the project. All the feedback was gathered from the website administrated by Jess Cliffe, the other CS developer.  

Le himself told later that the mod development became common because the community of players put a lot of efforts to create it as well. He also added that developers never made a single map for CS on their own. Levels were sent by fans. Minh and Jess only had to choose what to include into the game for a release. So, the game had been created by Le, Cliffe, and their community.

The first CS beta version appeared on June 19, 1999. The work continued, new weapons and maps appeared on purpose. They fixed a lot of “bugs” and the popularity of the game grew. Counter Strike began to become widely known between years 1999 and 2000 when the fifth beta was released.

The original AK-47 considered as the best rifle in the game

Le’s daring towards the creation of a more realistic shooter brought him dividends: in 2000, Valve got interested in his modification. They contacted Minh and offered him a job. As we all know today, this decision was of the best ones ever made by the company.

Comparing with Quake and Unreal Tournament, Counter Strike had a slower gameplay and relied on teamwork more. The first standalone CS version 1.0 (a separate client with its own launcher) was released on the 8th of November, 2000. Previous builds required a Half-Life client installed to launch them.

Valve Age

Under the management from Valve, Counter Strike becomes a hit game. Simple gameplay mechanics and realism make it attractive for gamers and help in cybersports promotions. The “easy to learn, hard to master” principle has always been a priority for Minh Le, and he notes this as the reason for CS to reach its huge success.

At the very beginning, a lot of game modes were presented: hostage rescue, VIP-player escort, escape, jumping and surfing maps not that connected with shooting, etc. Still, the most popular mode was the demolition: terrorists need to plant the bomb and let it explode while counter-terrorists have to eliminate all terrorists or defuse a bomb. Terrorists can just kill the enemy team, too.

An important feature is that if the whole terrorist team is killed but could plant the bomb successfully before dying, they still can win a round if the charge explodes. The bomb explosion only one second before defuse… you know that feeling, don’t you?

On October 11, 2003 the most popular and “long-lasting” version of the game appears: CS 1.6. This was exactly the greatest game of middle 2000’s for school and college students. And this was exactly the game which started conquering the world with its victorious cybersports campaign.

Cybersports and Counter Strike

Prize pools of tournaments and competitions reached hundreds of thousands of dollars, and Counter Strike joined the hall of titans by becoming an equal with great franchises of Starcraft, Warcraft and Quake 3.

After the 1.6 version, new ones were still released:

• Counter Strike Condition Zero – almost similar to 1.6, but using another engine. Released on March 23, 2004.
• Counter Strike Source – not all gamers liked it and many continued playing the 1.6 version. Released on October 7, 2004

And finally, on the day of August 12, 2011 Valve announced the Counter Strike: Global Offensive game. The same gameplay was packed into top-quality graphics, got a refreshed game engine, trading options and the Steam Workshop service available. One year later, on August 21, 2012, the game was released.

The same AK-47 in Counter Strike Source version

Modern Counter Strike

In this version, CS became the most popular cybersports discipline in the world. Prize pools reaching $1 000 000, huge premier, major and minor tournaments, sponsorship contracts and many other things appear. It becomes cool, prestigious, fashionable and profitable to be a professional CS:GO player.

The future of CS looks unbelievably bright. The number of players grows every year: according to Steam statistics, it was more popular than DotA 2. Overwatch was thought to become a new CS but it does not show results that amazing, and its cybersports components could be much better than they are.

More than $ 3 million were included into CS:GO premier tournament prize pools during only the 1st quarter of 2018. Nearly $ 1 million additionally appeared on major tournaments.  

The skill level of players increases with every year as well. Cybersports federations appear. CS appears on television slowly but surely. Despite the fact that FPS games and video games in general changed a lot since 2000, CS remained almost unchanged but still millions of people play it.

And there will be more of them.

It’s a wonderful story. Just think about it: one usual modification changed the whole video game industry.

And its story is doubtful to be over in the nearest future.