Everybody buys grenades but I rarely see them
being used effectively, especially by lower
skilled players. Don't buy them just to use
your spare money up, and don't chuck them
for the sake of it. Save them for when you
need them- even if it's not in the current
round.
You can throw them a long way by pressing
the left fire button, or roll them gently
with the right one. If you press both together
then you do a middle throw which I strongly
advise against- not that there's anything
wrong with the throw, but I believe it's better
to master the longer-range one instead. It
won't limit what you can do and it's easier
for your brain to manage.
You can throw grenades EVEN further by running
forwards as you throw them, and EVEN FURTHER
again by jumping JUST before throwing them!
With this you should have no trouble chucking
them as far as you need to. They can bounce
off items so you can even get them around
corners. Learn this and all you'll have to
master will be the timing. Remember, the right
grenade in the wrong place can make all the
difference in the world. If moving, be sure
to be running in a straight line when throwing
them as otherwise their trajectory will be
difficult to plan and things will probably
go wrong. Also be on the look out for teammates,
who seem to love getting in the way of grenades,
particularly the dangerous ones.
I'll now go through each of them separately
and will list the good and bad uses that I've
encountered.
Firstly, the high explosive grenade. It costs
$300 and rarely kills people on its own, but
a well placed grenade can seriously damage
an entire team and a second one can finish
the job. They're best used in tight spaces
where the other team can't avoid them even
if they spot them coming. This sounds easy
in practice but requires coordination and
teamwork. If you can hear the enemy team rushing,
let your teammates know so that they can deploy
the appropriate grenades. When you're on your
own, your approach to grenades changes.
You don't want to have a grenade equipped
when you spot the enemies rushing towards
your position. Grenades take time to aim,
throw and explode and you'll often miss your
chance and will alert the enemy of your intentions.
Because of this I try to keep a weapon equipped,
allowing for me to return fire instantly.
Grenades act as a deterrence which I use to
punish enemies who are going to give me a
hard time. If I have to change position or
do something that will likely get me shot,
I throw a grenade to occupy the enemy. They
can choose to run away and let me live, or
try to shoot me but take grenade damage in
the process. You'll find that most enemies
panic and will try to retreat, letting you
live to fight another day! They also leave
a lot of black smoke for a few seconds after
the explosion which acts as a temporary smoke
screen.
Buying armour reduces the damage a grenade
does by 40%, which doesn't sound like much
but it means that instead of 90 damage it
could cause 54. Definitely worth it. There
are other benefits to armour as well which
I cover in more depth in my advanced grenade
guide. Give it a look if you want to see how
much depth there is to this aspect of CSGO.
It goes without saying that you shouldn't
throw them near teammates or yourself. Be
careful not to keep them equipped for extended
periods of time. They won't explode, but it's
all too easy to accidentally throw them when
you don't want to, and if an enemy kills you,
your grenade will drop and explode whether
you want it to or not.
Next up- flash grenades. They're nowhere near
as dangerous as they were in Counter Strike
Source. If you see them coming, look away
and you'll only be partially blinded. If you
ARE hit by one of these, don't spray wildly
as this will indicate to the enemy that you
were hit. Alternatively, if you aren't blinded,
feel free to fire some shots which will usually
result in the enemy showing himself to try
and shoot you. Mind games are awesome.
Unfortunately, they are easy to see coming
and people will often look away in time. To
overcome this, you can hide them in smoke
grenades. These, and pop-flashes, are pretty
much the only things that work in higher level
games. Pop-flashes are flashes that explode
the moment they're visible to the enemy, meaning
that they have no time to look away. These
require practice and map knowledge. There
are plenty of videos online showing these.
It may be worth learning a few of these on
your favourite maps. You can also throw flash
bangs behind you, which will blind enemies
in front of you a lot more than it blinds
yourself. It puts people in a difficult situation.
Flashes are best used to tip the balance in
your favour if you're rushing into an enemy-infested
area. They can also be used instead of an
explosive grenade to cover your retreat or
to momentarily prevent enemies from shooting
you as you turn a corner.
Smoke grenades obscure vision. They're best
used in confined spaces and getting caught
in one can be totally disorientating. Even
after you've left the smoke you're still blind
for a moment, making you an easy target. They
only produce smoke once they've come to a
stop after being thrown and last for around
25 seconds. Using multiple smokes at the right
times in the same location can block entrances
almost for entire rounds, which puts incredible
pressure on the other team. If you're on the
attacking team they are useful for blocking
up dangerous entrances, reducing the number
of places you need to secure when taking a
bombsite or somewhere similar. Please don't
waste these grenades. As with flashes, there
are plenty of videos online showing useful
places to smoke. Memorise a few of these and
your team will shower you with hugs and kisses.
Molotovs are like firey smoke grenades. They
don't obscure vision quite as much, but on
the plus side they KILL people who run through
it. They're a lot more expensive for CTs than
they are for Terrorists but they behave in
a similar way. I have several videos detailing
common myths regarding these elusive grenades.
It's worth noting that smoke grenades extinguish
the flames. Do NOT chuck a molotov into a
smoke grenade unless you want to waste money!
You're restricted in where you can throw them
because unlike smoke grenades, molotovs detonate
when they hit the ground or if they're in
the air for too long. Practice with these
on an empty server before wasting them in
matches- I'll provide details for doing this
in the description of the video.
And finally, decoy grenades, the cheapest
item in the game and by far the most wasted.
Nobody really knows what to do with them!
Once thrown, they make the sound of your primary
weapon and show up on the enemy's map as a
player, but they're very easy to spot. In
theory this should lead to all sorts of strange
tactics, like everybody chucking them at one
site and then going to the other, or double
bluffing and going to the first one regardless,
but in reality they're just annoying to listen
to. They DO look a bit like flash bangs, so
use them correctly and players may look away
from them to avoid getting blinded, letting
you shoot them while their back is turned.
You have to be careful when throwing them
as they can give away your team's tactics.
For example, if it makes the sound of an SMG
then you might be rushing, or if it's of an
AWP then the enemy will know that there's
a sniper on your team. See if you can come
up with a use for them.
And that concludes this video. I have one
final video in this series which focuses on
practice, improving and winning. It seems
a shame to give up now, right?
