The meta of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is complex and ever changing, with strategies and gun usage cycling throughout the years. However, after nearly six years of updates, reworks, nerfs and buffs to the 33 guns (34 with the Zeus) found in CS:GO, some weapons are still nearly completely useless, seeing next to no play in the competitive environment. In this three part series, we’ll go over the untouched guns of CS:GO, and what they need to start seeing play.

The PP-Bizon

The Bizon seems good on paper: A fast rate of fire, a massive magazine of 64 rounds, and a low price at $1400 makes the SMG appear useful. But the Bizon suffers from one simple problem: damage.

Dealing only 11 damage to the chest of an armored opponent, the Bizon has the lowest shot-for-shot damage in all of CS:GO, dealing even less damage to armor than the Glock-18. The Bizon also does less damage to the chest than to the legs, punishing skill and proper aim.

With the MAC-10 costing $1050 and the MP9 costing $1250, there is practically no reason to purchase the more expensive Bizon over its anti-eco counterparts. While it has potential against anunarmored rush with it’s high ammo capacity, the Bizon still does far less damage per second than the other cheap SMGs, and has lower movement accuracy. In its current state, the Bizon has no place in the meta, but lowering the cost could make this niche gun much more interesting. While changing prices is not commonly seen, it has been done before, and lowering the price of the Bizon to something around $1000 would make it far more viable and competitive with the other SMGs.

The Dual Berettas

The Dual Berettas or “Dualies” have seen a number of updates throughout the history of CS:GO, with Valve changing the accuracy, price, and damage of the infamous pistols. However, while the Dualies are certainly better than they’ve been in past years, they still see generally no play.

The Dualies have a fast rate of fire and decent damage at close range, but their accuracy is very low compared to other pistols, even while firing slowly. Controlling the recoil of the Dualies is very difficult while using a fast trigger finger, due to the wide and unpredictable spray pattern. While useful against unarmored players, on pistol rounds the Glock-18, USP-S, and P2000 are all more reliable at hitting headshots due with their much higher accuracy at long ranges.

On eco rounds or force-buys, the Dualies are outclassed by the Five-SeveN and CZ-75 at the same price, due to the much higher damage towards armor of the other $500 pistols. The Dualies are not horrendous, but they simply cannot compete with the other pistols, and have nearly no situational advantages apart from close range spamming against unarmored opponents.

However, with a more controllable spray and less damage falloff, the Dualies could see more play, though it would take a lot to compete with the extremely powerful CZ-75. A price change to $300 could also benefit the weapon’s usage, as it is much more comparable to the $300 P250 than the more expensive pistols.

The M249

The M249 is arguably the worst gun in all of Counter-Strike.

With a perfect storm of the highest price of any weapon in the game, an extremely difficult to control recoil, low movement speed, and an unimpressive fire rate, there is absolutely no reason to buy the M249. The AK-47 deals practically the same damage, has a much more reliable first shot headshot, and is much more accurate at all ranges. The same can be said for the M4A4, and even the lower-end rifles such as the Galil and the Famas are much more controllable at mid to long range, and are much more likely to land a headshot at close range.

Outside of spraying at an enemy’s body while touching them directly, the M249 is completely obsolete. Even during an unarmored eco rush, the M249 struggles due to its random side-to-side accuracy swings. Holding or retaking a site with the M249 is nigh-impossible, and outside of the starter pistols, you would be hard-pressed to find a worse weapon.

The M249 is the heavy version of the Bizon, but it costs $3800 more than its SMG counterpart. To see play at all while keeping its status as a situational heavy weapon, the M249 needs a heavy damage buff. Being able to kill an armored opponent in three hits could make dealing with incoming rushes far easier, as landing four shots with the wild spray of the M249 is highly difficult.

However, hitting headshots with much cheaper weapons is just as viable, so the M249 needs a large price reduction from its current price of $5200. Reducing the weapon’s price to around $2500 and increasing tapping accuracy and damage could help the M249 compete with SMGs against eco rounds and possibly see usage in place of the Galil and Famas against armored opponents.

(I couldn’t even find a good professional play with the M249)

The M4A1-S

Since the start of CS:GO, Valve has struggled to balance the primary Counter-Terrorist rifles: the M4A4 and the M4A1-S. The guns have often traded places in the competitive usage, but never before has the meta between these two weapons been so unbalanced. The M4A1-S has seen next to no play in recent tournaments after nerfs to its fire rate and spray pattern.

While the M4A4 is still harder to control, and the M4A1-S can be easier at longer ranges, skilled players can do anything the M4A1-S can do with an M4A4. On the flip side, the M4A4 has a faster fire rate, 60 more rounds, and much higher magazine capacity. The 20 rounds in the magazine of the M4A1-S and the 60 rounds overall simply cannot accomplish the smoke spams and long spray downs we see so often with the M4A4.

While there is currently almost no reason to purchase an M4A1-S over an M4A4 at a high level, changes can certainly make the weapons more balanced. Instead of changing around prices, Valve can buff the M4A1-S without making it take up a completely different role. The M4A1-S needs to completely outclass the M4A4 at longer ranges to make it viable as it has been in previous years, so the spray pattern and accuracy should be buffed without changing the firerate. The M4A4 can remain better at close range spray downs and the M4A1-S can take up the role of a longer ranged laser without being excellent close up.

However, with both weapons being so situational, I believe that further change is warranted. Both the M4A1-S and the M4A4 should be available for purchase on the CT side. They have different roles on different maps, and with the changes I suggested, neither is perfect in every scenario. With this in mind, I see no reason to force the player to choose between two completely different yet massively important rifles.

(All impressive M4A1-S plays are pre-nerf)

Next time: Negev, R8 revolver, G3S31, and AUG