Writes about way too many things. Has way too many opinions. Wants to tell all the interesting stories in the world.

Jun 17, 2019

The great irony of the spike in the AUG’s usage is that even though it was brought upon us by a price buff, it remained prevalent after that change was reverted later down the line. Were we playing CS:GO “wrong” all these years? That’s a question we’ll never know the answer to. What is clear though is that having a viable scoped primary rifle for the CT side has changed the way the game is played, and many pros argue that it’s not necessarily for the better. An interesting Twitter discussion unfolded yesterday between OpTic’s k0nfig and MiBR’s FalleN about the weapon we all seem to love to hate nowadays:

CS was better without AUG. Just a solid fact — Kristian Wienecke (@k0nfigCS) June 16, 2019 Game is definitely much more aimbased than it was before. Can’t really say if it’s better or not just different strengths for sure — Gabriel Toledo (@FalleNCS) June 16, 2019 I just don’t like the crouch and spray from AUG, they should change it to KREIG same firerate and recoil but keep the aug dmg — Kristian Wienecke (@k0nfigCS) June 16, 2019 I ran out of ideas on how to balance it. Fact is terrorists now have a hard time trying to strafe and find kills when opening areas because one error is fatal — Gabriel Toledo (@FalleNCS) June 16, 2019 We need to keep thinking mr Gabriel. We might need to talk and ask mr @csgo_dev to come with ideas too — Kristian Wienecke (@k0nfigCS) June 16, 2019

While it’s not exactly a representative sample size, it’s safe to say that the pro community is fairly divided on the newfound popularity of the CT’s scoped rifle. It’s changed the way the game is played for sure, allowing for different engagement ranges and angles for the counter-terrorists in many scenarios across multiple maps. While it seems funny in retrospect how much the gun’s been ignored for so long considering its prowess, its gameplay implications are not necessarily positive. It’s not necessarily a question of the weapon’s current stats, either: FURIA have rocked the world with their aggressive use of the SG553 (affectionately known as the Krieg) after its minor price reduction, and could very well end up as trend-setters in this regard. The AUG itself also survived its re-adjustment to the original $3350 price without a hitch, though it has to be said that the economy changes likely made it more viable despite its price returning to normal: the longer-lasting loss bonus makes the CT’s expensive equipment a lesser hurdle to manage, likely making it a better choice than it would have been before either the money system or the AUG itself was changed by the all-knowing developers.