Can maps be imbalanced towards the offense or the defense? This infamous question has led to many debates on forums, but hardly a clear answer has emerged. I will tackle this often paradoxical question in the hopes that a clear understanding will emerge.   The questions I will raise in part one are: What do people commonly believe about the maps? What is the paradox I'm describing? Are maps imbalanced, and if so, are the imbalances inherent, or apparent? What are the stakes of this question? If maps are inherently imbalanced, is it true that whoever starts with the “least-favored” side on a map has at least some grounds for complaint if they lose?

Common Beliefs

People often have beliefs about maps that they vocalize during a scrimmage.  “Don't worry guys, this map is offense-sided,” a teammate will say after your team has a bad defensive half.  Most people believe that dust2 is such a map, strongly favoring the offense.  It's safe to say that most CS players believe that at least some maps are inherently biased towards offense or defense, whether they have sound facts or statistics to back this belief up, or merely a firm conviction based on experience.  Then there are some who simply need an excuse for their own failings on a particular half.  In any case, this belief is very common and its no surprise that many have asked the question this article seeks to answer.  Prior to looking at statistics,

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Teams come and go all the time and often it's not a case of lacking raw
talent.  How you organize and blend that talent is what will most
likely decide how complete a team will become.  Motivating and bringing
together a group of differing personalities and approaches is not easy
though.  Just as in the work place the fields of team management and
psychology have their different philosophies for achieving group
solidarity and harmony so the area of CS teams deserve a little time in
the spotlight of such analysis.

In this article, I will address the important topic of gun control.  Players often ask questions such as “When should I use this shooting style over that one?"  That is exactly what this article seeks to analyze.  Rather than demonstrate the superiority of one style over another, I will attempt to show how each style is useful in different situations.  First I will define 3 shooting styles, then I will examine the concepts of mobility and damage.  Finally, I will apply these concepts to the shooting styles to construct 4 fighting styles.

Shooting style definitions:

Tapping – This is accomplished by tapping your mouse button instead of holding it down, firing off one bullet after another in rapid succession – traditionally 3 with the AK-47, 4 with the M4A1, for accurate bullet grouping.

Bursting – This is accomplished by holding your mouse button for the fraction of a second needed to fire a quick burst – traditionally 1-2 shots with the AK-47, and 2-3 with the M4A1.

Spraying – This is accomplished by holding down the trigger, compensating for recoil by pulling down and side to side.

I will discuss mobility and damage to help the reader understand the use of these styles.

Mobility

A moving target is harder to hit than a stationary one.  If you've ever played CSDM, you know that a target strafing at full sideways speed on your screen at almost any distance is a nuisance to hit.  The reason why experienced players recommend

A question I often hear asked by players is, "Which is better: silenced or unsilenced colt?"  The usual answer people give is, "preference!"  This article seeks to avoid that answer and give a concrete analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of both options.

Unsilenced Colt vs Silenced Colt - Overview

I'm going to break down the unsilenced and silenced colt in four areas: accuracy, damage, range, and noise.  A very useful tool that I've used to help with damage and range can be found here:

Back in early 2003 Team3D were firmly on top of the North American team
having won CPL Winter 2002.  Meanwhile TEC was one of the up and coming
teams, fresh off a 9th-12th at the CPL and with elude developing into a
full blown all-star aided by his many POV demos of CAL-i and CAL-d (the
draft league) play.  When the team took on a number of North American
CS' most high profile names to build a powerhouse fans soon got caught
up in the excitement of the team.  A victory over 3D at KillerLAN and a
horrendous disappointment at CPL Summer 2003 marked the highs and lows
of the team.  Key member Jon "elude" Gilbert looked back on that team
with me.

We've all played enough scrims that it becomes commonplace to compete. 
You play a scrim and begin to lose or struggle to keep pace with an
opponent and familiar reactions may be anger, frustration and a desire
to either swiftly move onto another map or stop playing for the night
entirely.  Still when it comes to official competition, when a match
matters, when the results of this next round mean something and every
round win in practice no longer matters if these rounds are lost...
then anxiety takes hold.  You miss a shot you always hit, you make a
bad decision which forces you into a difficult situation which you then
lose.  Pretty soon nagging doubts creep in and you second guess
yourself instead of acting decisively.  Better play it safe this round,
better scrap that new strat it's not working.  In comes our old friend
fear, his favourite seat prepared and waiting for him.

Before anyone gets too excited this is not a new movie.  This movie
came out circa 2005 when lurppis was still a player, along with his
team wings, striving to gain some recognition both domestically and
internationally.  Still, since he refuses to put out a newer movie it's
worth giving this one a look if your curiosity is piqued by the name of
its creator.  Featuring plenty of footage against well known teams and
from official competition lurppis shows us his 'crucial shots' in this
the third of his movies.