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Will the AWP nerf change CS:GO?

CS:GO has been dramatically changed by the latest update. But necessarily because of the AWP nerf. In many people’s... Radu M. | 24. November 2022

CS:GO has been dramatically changed by the latest update. But necessarily because of the AWP nerf. In many people’s eyes, that’s the smallest change that was made to the game. Several other things, including the removal of Dust II from the Active Duty Map Pool and the M4A1-S nerf are probably much bigger changes.

But despite how the community perceives the changes, having fewer bullets to work with can seriously hinder a player’s ability to win rounds with the AWP. If anything, we’ll probably see fewer aces achieved with this gun.

For someone like Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev or Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, the fact that the AWP now has five bullets instead of 10 may not be a problem. Because these players rarely miss their shots. But for most, it will probably discourage them from buying it on certain maps.

The strengths of the AWP

The AWP is the most broken weapon in the game. For a specialist who can aim with precision, there simply isn’t any other weapon that can achieve the same results. The time required to get a kill with the AWP is much better than the one it takes to get a kill with any other weapon.

On top of this, the AWP has its scope, which guarantees that if you know how to flick, you will get the kill every time, almost instantly. There is no way to win a duel against an AWP player who knows what he’s doing unless you have unbelievably good movement and aim.

But even in such situations, you’ll probably still need a flashbang to eliminate the disadvantage of having to move your crossfire while the opponent already has his on you.

The AWP is the perfect weapon for holding a position from mid and long ranges. If you can hide behind a crate, the enemy will have a hard time refragging. You can kill one target after another and the enemy team will not be able to stop you. And even if they do, they will suffer multiple losses.

How the nerf will affect the AWP

From the outside, it seems like the nerf is a big one because of the significant reload time of the weapon mixed with the fact that you often need to fight against more than two enemies with it. And if you miss when you only have five bullets, you’re lost. But for players like s1mple, the change is insignificant.

He said it himself during a press conference at the ongoing BLAST Premier Fall Finals:

I said it eight or nine months ago that they need to nerf AWP. They heard me after nine months. Actually, nothing has changed, to be honest. It’s only the way when you’re alone on a side and they are splitting you, you cannot miss if you want to kill all five.”

Header: Valve Corporation