Skill Supersedes Stats: an Analysis of Professional Eco Rounds

There’s no question that the strength of Eco pistols, such as the Five-Seven and Tec-9, have received scrutiny from average players and pros alike – most faulting their characteristics that go most against the traditional mechanics of Counter-Strike as the reasons behind their success. The Tec-9 and Five-Seven boast incredible accuracy while moving, allowing darting back and forth to avoid shots while clicking at head level of their opponents to be a viable tactic. A pistol-wielder’s high movement speed, coupled with the comparatively low tagging applied to pistol-users who are shot by their opponents, allow an Ecoing player to be incredibly difficult to hit while dealing fatal damage.

 Fatih "gob b" Dayik with an impressive Eco ace Vs. PENTA Sports, showcasing the Five-Seven's running accuracy.

These Eco pistols are one-hit headshots at close ranges, which is particularly strong for Counter-Terrorists as they dictate the positions they play in the area or site they are defending. All it takes is for a Counter-Terrorist to hold a position close to a choke point for a powerful eco pistol like the Five-Seven, and to an extent, the P250, to get one or even more kills.

A down to the wire Tec-9 ace from Olof "Olofmeister" Kajbjer

The strength in the Terrorists’ Tec-9 is its large magazine and extremely high running accuracy. While terrorists don’t have the advantage of being able to choose the angles they hold, they are able to cover a lot of ground with the high movement speed of the Tec-9, the low tagging applied to them by the guns their opponents wield, and the relatively large magazines of their weapons. These large magazines allow the Terrorists to close the distance between the CTs and themselves while still maintaining pressure on them by firing while moving, allowing for an engagement more advantageous to the close-ranged strengths of their pistols.

An INSANE Deagle 1v5 from Nikola "NiKo" Kovac, exhibiting his ridiculous pinpoint aim

Unlike its cheaper counterparts, the Desert Eagle, more commonly referred to as the “Deagle,” has yet to be the subject of public controversy. The Deagle, a pistol whose weaknesses are the very strengths of its Eco pistol counterparts, has horrendous movement accuracy and punishes spamming as each bullet fired in quick succession after the first has a large amount of random spread applied to it. These factors make it difficult to use the Deagle at close range, which is something that other Eco pistols excel at. Its niche, being able to deliver one-hit headshots onto a fully armored opponent at any range and its high first-bullet accuracy, made up for its shortcomings in most other areas, causing the Deagle to be deemed by many as the “fairest” of the viable Eco pistols. It leaves as much up to skill as possible, rewarding pinpoint aim and proper usage of traditional Counter-Strike mechanics and punishes the use of sloppy mechanics such as running and shooting or spamming at close ranges.

Despite this, the Deagle is seeing more and more use in professional play, with teams even going so far as to frequently buy five Deagles on their Eco rounds during the latest Major. As it turns out, the kill percentage of the Deagle at Dreamhack Cluj was tied with that of the Tec-9, at 3% (Source). Why is it that the Deagle, a pistol hailed as the most balanced of the viable eco options, saw as much success in the tournament as the Tec-9?

An impressive Deagle round from Alexander "s1mple" Kostylev

On paper, the Deagle seems well balanced, its flaws at close ranges and harsh punishment for missing your initial shot being made up for with the potential for quick and efficient kills, granted that its user has the skill to do so. In those instances where the player’s aim is at a caliber high enough that crisp, quick headshots happen often, such as in professional play, the Deagle can compare to even rifles despite being only a fraction of the price. An AK-47 delivers a one-hit headshot at any range much like the Deagle, and even the M4a1-S and M4a4 don’t have this capability. While any other pistol cannot deal enough damage at long ranges to kill a full-health opponent with one shot to the head, allowing them to have a chance to shoot back, the Deagle does not grant this opportunity. In this sense, it can be on par with, or even better than, the main rifles of the game. At a high enough level, the talent of those using the Deagle allow a balanced weapon to turn into a ruthless killing machine, with the potential to upheave entire rounds off of a player’s sheer skill.

The stats behind the cheap Eco pistols are considered by many to take away from the need for skill in those using them. Yet teams such as EnvyUs and Fnatic, revered for the caliber of aim their players possess, are infamous for their capability to win Eco rounds. Not only this, but the Deagle in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is the weakest iteration of the Deagle compared to past CS titles, yet Deagle Eco rounds now see far more success than they ever had previously. It has become the norm in Pro play to buy armor and a cheap, efficient Eco pistol after losing a pistol round in order to either deal economic damage to the other team or to even win the whole round. Teams have come up with other creative methods to increase their chance of winning Eco rounds, such as stacking more players towards a single bombsite in order to catch the unsuspecting Terrorists off guard, or coordinating between teammates as one throws a well-timed flashbang while the other peeks out and mows down many blind opponents in a choke point with an Eco pistol. Although pistols such as the Five-Seven and Tec-9 definitely warrant a nerf in their movement accuracy and ability to deliver one-hit headshots at close ranges, this begs the question: Are pistols really that overpowered, or have pros just learned how to use them more effectively?

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