How to Use “Smart” Utility - A CS:GO Guide

The utility meta-game is what separates CS:GO from several other shooter games, making the game more than just headshots and flicks. In other words, it is what separates a tactical shooter from a traditional FPS, or what separates a pro CS player from your best friend that got forty kills in Quake once. 

The impact that utility has on the game has been made kind of obvious at this point, but there really is a true difference between how it is used at various different levels of play. The pressure that the five different nades add to the already complicated gunplay can prove to be a challenge at first, and important nades tend to be wasted, sometimes without even realizing. This guide will help you understand how to use "smart" utility.

“Smart” Utility Defined

“Smart” utility is defined as utility that is used with some kind of express purpose, as opposed to throwing something for the sake of using it. “Smart” utility doesn’t necessarily have to be “smart,” but rather a piece of the utility belt that is thrown because you feel like it needs to be used to help you and your team advance in the round.

Utility examples are used for incredibly different purposes depending on which side you are playing on, so to break down the many ways you can use your utility to your advantage, we will talk about nades on each side.

T-Side

The Terrorist side, being the “attacking” side, uses their utility to obtain map control and help take bombsites, making the number of things they need to aim at very small. For example, when trying to get control of the middle of de_mirage, many will want to use their smoke or their molotov to keep an AWPer from getting a free kill in the sniper’s nest.

Where T-Side utility tends to become more complicated, and therefore becomes wasted, is when utility is used unnecessarily. This can happen when common site smokes aren’t communicated, therefore the same spot can be smoked too many times. However, the most common mistake made with T-Side utility is when it is thrown for the sake of getting it out of your utility belt. 

This is seen from bad pop flashes, smokes that don’t really have any purpose for you or team, or a molotov that is thrown in a part of the map that no one should be occupying, but you throw it “just in case.” This can be remedied by just giving thought to each piece of utility before it is thrown. Why am I throwing this? What will my team do with this piece of utility? How will the Counter-Terrorist players react when I throw this utility? 

CT-Side

On the other side of the map, we find the Counter-Terrorist side, who by definition, are playing a more defensive position on the map. Therefore, almost all of the nades used will be to prevent the T-Side from taking control of the map in different areas. Nades that are wasted on the CT side are easier to define since depending on what part of the map you are in charge of, most of your nades will go into specific areas. 

Grenades are VITAL to having a good CT side, sometimes using your entire nade set on A-Ramp because one flashbang flew over can let the Terrorists know that they can have an easier time executing on the bombsite than they would if they pulled zero of your grenades. In the same way that thinking about how the opponent will react to the nades they see on the T-Side, thinking the same way on the CT-Side can allow you to use utility in a more opportune time. 

For example, if the Terrorists pressure B Apartments on Mirage with a smoke and a couple flashbangs, how many people could be there? Well with the amount of nades thrown, immediately rushing to throw every piece of your utility might let the Terrorists have a field day knowing that you have a limited ability to stop all five of your opponents from rushing the site. Now imagine, the same round plays out but this time you throw a single smoke. The T-Side players have to stop, unless they want to push through a smoke, giving you and your teammates the favorable duel. After they wait through the smoke, your teammate throws their smoke in the same spot, now giving the T-Side even less time to decide what to do. At this point, they must either push the smoke, giving you and your teammates the fights you want, while making the enemy team take the site feeling as uncomfortable as possible. It goes without saying that in order to throw “smarter” utility, every piece of it that comes out of your hand needs to count. 

Economy

A less discussed factor to wasted utility is the huge economic factor that it poses on your team. If you look at each nade as an investment, every single dollar spent should be used intelligently. If not, well... each round you’ll find yourself wasting thousands and thousands of dollars in utility that could’ve helped your team out immensely. Thinking about every piece of utility as a financial consequence might seem completely ridiculous, but it might help shape the way you use your nades.

The Time Factor

Time is unavoidable in CS:GO, and when it comes to utility usage, it can completely crush less experienced players. On T-Side, if you don’t use your utility to take proper control of maps until very late, you can just completely lose to time if your opponents have never used their grenades. If on CT-Side, using your utility too early might make the rest of the round near-impossible. Time can be crushing, but you can also use it to your advantage regardless of either side you're on. If we look at pure numbers, a smoke grenade lasts exactly eighteen seconds and a molotov lasts seven. With that utility being deployed, that period of time is effectively cut out of the round (unless you get some crazy Stewie2K wannabes) so every second counts. 

Time is a tremendous factor to each round, so why not use it to your advantage? 

Communication

Next, you should always be talking with your teammates, something that I’m sure we all dread in our MM games, but sometimes it can prove to be beneficial when it comes to utility usage. I’ve seen this happen in many ways, whether it be asking for flashes to take a peek or asking teammates to smoke or molly a choke point because you already had to use yours or were unable to afford one. “Smart” utility doesn’t always have to come from just one person, it can be a team effort. Sometimes there is nothing more satisfying than working with your team to run an on the fly peek or a popflash that helps you get a multikill. Sometimes, just talking with your team can make every piece of your utility count.

Watch the Pros

The ultimate way to figure out how to incorporate “smart” utility is to watch the people who get paid to do it for a living. Just watching a pros POV can change the way you throw a flashbang, or even teach you how to throw a smoke at the beginning of a round. Everyone has their lineup video that they have watched a million times, but seeing a professional throw a nade that you’ve never seen before just feels cool. You can add all of these to your mental toolset and unleash it to impress your teammates and feel like you have properly used “smart” utility. Of course, if you accidentally drop it on the floor you might look a little “not smart.”

Practice, Practice, Practice

But at the end of the day, nothing “smart” can be perfected without lots of practice. No matter how much theory you read, or lineups you watch, the best way to perfect your utility is to get hours of practice. MM games or FaceIt pugs are great avenues to find good teammates to play with and prove to be great environments to play against players who are also looking for every opportunity to outsmart you. Just going into your next game thinking about how to use your grenades more wisely is your first step to become an even better player.

Conclusion

No matter what, proper utility usage will always be a topic that is open for discussion. It is for this reason that I am hesitant to use the word “smart” as a definite description. To me, any nade that is used with some kind of thought towards how the round plays out around is “smart.” But I don’t think you can define being “smart” with your utility as one specific thing. Any CS player can play smart and a great player. The beauty of CS:GO is that anyone can be “smart” at the game, all it takes is a bit of forethought and the willingness to improve. So practice your lineups, and your headshots, but never forget to use your brain, it will always beat sick aim. 

But most of the time aim wins. Maybe I should just go play Quake.

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