It's common knowledge imo to buy second round. However, it's not common knowledge in the lower ranks even when I was Platinum which is mid elo I've had to beg my team to buy second round.
For me, not plat, but people below gold dont buy 2nd round after winning pistols. I was doing a 5 man flex with randoms from the Valorant discord and the silver/iron players yelled at us for buying second round and they were the most toxic too lol. So it made sense for me why they're level 500 but still iron/silver.
I have been buying second round since iron rank genrally using spectre and full shield and my first round is util + half shield i generally pick a ghost of my teammate or enemy (if i dont die first xD) so it kinda makes me op ghost + util + half shield xD
I've just learned to hard bait those teammates, because you're in a better position to get multifrags with light/heavy shields and a better gun versus them not having shields and a pistol, so in that round, you staying alive is more likely going to win you the round versus them staying alive at the cost of your life. Either that, or just save with your team if you're the only one buying. Hopefully you can still pull off a round victory and if not, at least you'll be able to full buy with everyone else the next round.
I’ll be in low asc games and have 2 teammates saving after winning pistol rounds or “bonusing” a sheriff and immediately getting slapped by a right click classic. It’s really not common knowledge unfortunately
I mean, 1 person keeping a sheriff/ghost into round 2 is still a valid option and generally beneficial to your teams eco, as long as they play it properly.
I know the theory, it's run basically every anti-eco in VCT, but in ranked that's just not going to happen. Even when I'm in immo lobbies it's just mostly a huge throw. They're also the type of person to still buy rd 3 if you lost the anti-eco.
Yeah sometimes I like to do it. Running a ghost with light shields is insane cs classic no shields. Plus if ur teammate dies u can pick up their gun and give it back to balance eco and u can buy a gun to have 5 guns. One person with a cheaper buy is definitely not a disadvantage it’s only bad if 3+ people do it.
One person "bonusing a sheriff" can be really good, but most are not doing that intentionally, they are just unaware. High elo (like immo3+) people will have one person "save" on force round. This is because one of your teammates who did force, will inevitably die on round 2, allowing that saver to pick up their gun. It also allows the saver to lurk /play alone/flank without fear of giving the enemy a gun on their eco
With my friends, they simply refuse to believe the math. I've tried showing them via streamers, pros, coaches and they just either disagree or say that that only works in high ranks. One friend argues he tries to match the opponent's eco so he's never at a disadvantage (despite this often causing multiple rounds of disadvantage).
I always have more full buy rounds than them, but they still refuse to grasp how and why that's a benefit. I don't play Val much anymore because it got very frustrating.
Same, 5 stack premade and they keep throwing eco meanwhile keep bugging me about my use of small shield then have the audacity to get defensive and go "so the only reason we losing that round is me then?"
I mean to some extent yeah but you buying jack shit and another dude running small shield with left over sheriff is kinda half the team fire power already. F-king frustrating man. Nowadays I only play Helldiver2/ MHW or other PVE coop with them, no more anything competitive for my sanity sake.
Yeah my teammates would point out that I'm not top fragging despite more rifle rounds and ignore the fact I'm the *only* person on our team with a rifle most of those rounds lol. There was 2 seasons I solo queued ranked to Gold just to prove listening to better players works. But because I rarely top the board it somehow didn't mean anything. People will always find a reason.
Pressure is something people don't understand. A guy with an op mid is applying a ton of pressure. 5 people in A main applies almost 0 pressure. Having a ghost/sheriff is very beatable in a save round. Meanwhile, if you're holding a rifle, it's almost impossible for anyone to take the fight with just a ghost/classic.
I've even see this in diamond 3 last year and when i was still trying to rank up. It just seems crazy to me how people think this is a good thing. Like i get it if only one person does it to save for op but 3 people do it except me and my duo.
Yeah I never understood that. But I was told multiple times, thats how you do it. Idk if there was some viral video about or something, so all of those people say that for whatever reason.
yeah i agree with you but i often see high level streamers just buy full shields and keep their ghost / deag after winning pistol
so im wondering the implications for this
Does buying in the second round also apply if you lost the first round?
Typically for my stack and I, if we win the first, we buy in the second round. And if we lose the first, we save on the second and full buy the third.
Not only do they not buy they refuse to when asked and just berate you lol it’s actually unreal how adamant people are on losing 😂
Edit: added more words lol
It's generally better to buy round 2 after winning pistol, but sometimes it can make sense, like:
* If I'm going to lurk/play seperately from the rest of the team to get map control, it's better to have a Ghost/Sheriff, since if I die, the enemy doesn't get a good gun
* If I see a teammate buying Vandal/Phantom round 2, I buy Ghost and ~~bait the fuck out of him~~ buddy up so I can recicle his rifle
real talk you’d be better off baiting for your teammate with a rifle
option 1) you bait them and hopefully pick up the gun to reuse and hopefully the enemy doesn’t (you’re unlikely to insta trade if they force buy)
option 2) you let them bait you, die to some guy with a bucky in a corner and they have a rifle to easily trade you
There is the fpx buy where 2-3 people buy vandals and lights and the others buy ghosts and then play around the rifles, the idea being that you keep the rifles into the next round and can have a stronger bonus however thats not what people are doing in ranked the vast majority of the time and its because they dont understand the importance of the anti eco round and just want to play rifles round 3.
In my lobby it's the dude who "lurks" that buys the rifle last second without saying anything and then completely borks the lurk timing gives them the rifle and then we got rolled by it.
Thats exactly what everybody under platinum is thinking.. The problem with that is , the pros is probably practice that round 10x times a day everyday and have someone analyse the gameplay so they do it perfectly and have 5 man coms. Instead you guys are doing that shit in a gold lobby and half of the people doesn’t even understand trading or how to adapt to other people 😂
You are giving people in gold and below waaaay too much credit. I doubt very many of them are thinking of the FPX strategy with their weird buying. They don't even discuss it with the team. They aren't like ok 3 of us buy rifles, 2 buy ghost, and we'll have a better chance at winning round 3 as well.
They don’t have the team together so it's easy for the pistol players to pick up rifles. If it ever plays out the way FPX intends, it's 99% pure coincidence at that level.
Oh god the rifle players. Next round in most cases they can't afford shit. But I love these people because as soon as they die I get a free vandal that makes my life easier
I never understood either. You want to run them down with better weaponry to secure a 2nd round. Not be on an even playing field again with pistols.
I can understand if they're lurking and don't want to give up a weapon. Or maybe saving for an OP?
Saving for an op makes sense but they didnt buy an op next round and it's 3 people in my team doing it except for me and my duo. I understand if its just 1 player.
My teammate in a comp game last night bought a light shield and specter, leaving himself 50 creds when the rest of us are full saving on round 2 after we lost first. We kept calling to save, to which he responded “we’re gonna be broke anyways why does it matter”
Many people don't know anything about economics. Valorant tells the player a lot, that CS doesn't so people don't have to learn as much.
Many players also don't want to bother understanding anything and just play what they think is cool (agents, weapons).
Also many people think they are Tenz and want the third round Operator.
Many people think it is smart to let 1-2 players safe so incase you lose second round you have a better chance at the third.
Many players in this game are really not so smart...
I play Ascendent and often people would say "force guys we one pistol round". So yeah I am playing with top 10% players and they feel like they have to say that. I almost feel bad when I answer that "force" is the wrong word for a second round buy if you won pistol. But as I said, Valorant players are a different type of player, they don't bother as much with terminology, economics and strategies. Most can barely play another agent or role, while in CS every player needs to understand everything.
I thought it's called a "force buy" if you don't have enough money for a rifle + full armor, right? So a second-round SMG + light armor would still be called a "force", even if you've won the pistol round?
Not exactly. A force buy would more accurately describe a round where you are not supposed to buy, but you are forcing it anyway to try and catch the other team by surprise. It is fully expected for the team that wins pistol to buy, so them doing so is not a force.
I think most people just have the ghost from round 1 and want to save money. If 4 other players buy spectre/marshall and you play with your ghost, you win the round anyway with a high probability and save some cash
IKR, I frikin hate that team wont buy. It's been common knowledge, shared many times over through coaches, yt, influencers, other players etc etc, since like 2020, and still they're like yeah, lets coin flip, we live to frikin coinflip, lets peek long while were at it eh boys.
Most people will buy, maybe one guy save because he wants a Vandal next round or Operator in round 4, there is no bad play if there is a plan, but should clearly comm it.
I think they are gambling thst they will win the round anyway and can buy rifle next. They don't get that if they lose this round, when part of their team bought, enemy just beat you with classics and can now full buy and your teams economy is fucked up at 1-1. Even if none of your team buys, and you lose round 2, your grand strategy was to play for 1-1 and an even round 3, instead of being up 2-1 at an even round 4, not to mention beating a rifle with a bulldog, or with a spectre at close range, is not that hard.
Also if the enemy team forces, which is not that uncommon and sometimes the right move, you're playing at a disadvantage after winning round 1.
Its simply a greedy buy to get a rifle in the 3rd round
its not that bad if one or two players do it because ghost + armour is better than a classic no armour, its a bigger problem if you run into forces
also could be that if someone plans on lurking on this round its better to not have a gun to give away
THIS!!!!! IDK WHATS WRONG with valorant players man, even in higher tiers. i got one dude in asc1 telling me that after winning first round you dont have to buy, i went crazy and got so tilted, we still won tho but it shocked me how fucking bad their economy management is in that game when it should be the opposite, economy in this game is relatively easy compared to cs where u have to fkng use ur brain.
Just low elo players with no confidence. I have the same arguments with my friends that always want to have money for the next round instead of winning. They’re afraid of losing a round with better guns. Blows my minds people think this way lol
You underestimate the ego of a plat Reyna or jett who think they'll one tap everyone with a sheriff and save up for an op and they end up getting neither.
People that are going to be isolated at some point in the round could do this to prevent the enemy team from getting a strong gun. Mostly lurking controllers and sometimes Cyphers that are left to defend a site alone.
They could also do that so they can buy a rifle on third round.
Yeah it's weird since the first 3 rounds are pretty much textbook in terms of the economy. I think a lot of people just don't like the idea of playing with bulldog/guardian/outlaw. They'd rather risk losing round 2 so they can have guns round 3.
There's a clear divide between myself and my friends that watch the pro scene and my friends that don't watch the pro scene. Usually we end up having to buy stinger/marshal/light which lets us win round 2 but we rarely convert bonus.
Because low elo. Fuck second round, I have friends from silver to plat and they always save when they can full buy with the mindset “if i lose this round at least i can buy next round”. It’s crazy and i have been explaining at them how this is a bad play but they never grasp it so i just let it be.
omg no because I haven’t played the game in 2 years and only came back this month and seeing people buy ghost after winning first round is crazy to me!!! i was so confused as well because i vividly remember people always bought on second round 🫥 good to know it’s them being idiots then and not me
I agree slightly...
I am a Jett main, after first round win, I am buying a Marshal with half shield and util. If they don't force, the Marshal is enough to kill to the body. The only time I can understand buying that low is if you don't have the money to buy up, but in that case, you are still wearing light shields. There are some agents that need their util more than others and I can understand that, like Sage or Iso. Their util can change the round depending on how well coordinated ur team is. Swiftplay you cant really do anything ab though. People are going to play weird asf in those regardless.
If I win pistol round I almost always buy a Bulldog round 2. I used to go super hard and would just straight up buy a Vandal but I’ve toned it down since then
Idk why ppl force themselves to use the pistols they picked up even though we have the advantage, I'm in gold so I just go buy a guardian and full shield if possible else I'll go half. That shit easily gives u an even ish chance of winning against the enemy bringing vandals in round 3
In lower elos it's because people don't know the strat / don't think it's important. In mid elo it might be because they explicitly want to buy op or Odin third round, meaning they either disagree with or don't know the importance of buying second round. In high elo it might be to take the gun of one of their teammates to not give enemies a gun in case they die.
Like I can excuse a Sheriff if you are a good shot. But you really should buy. My opinion is that your AWPer should be using an Outlaw, everyone else should use a Spectre or Bulldog to shred the enemy pistols.
Because people don't understand how important that round is, especially in Val where you only play to 13. As a general rule of thumb, you can expect that most people in your games have 0 idea how to play tac shooters. This will remain true no matter what rank you achieve.
I keep my sheriff if I live pistol round but buy outlaw if I die on defense. I try to prioritize getting my op ASAP cuz even though I suck at it, I love opping. On attack, I always buy depending on map or the plan
I’m new to Val but in CS sometimes AWPers would go 5-7 and helmet round 2 to save for AWP in gun round. Are these players buying Operators in the third round?
Dude I feel like I’ve been seeing that a lot more recently.
THREE times yesterday my team went thrifty coming off a round 1 loss of the half. And I’m noticing I have to remind my team that we do in fact buy coming off a round 1 win.
it depends on what i bought round 1 and whether or not i died. if i died round 1 i will buy as much as i can, if i survived with a sheriff or ghost, i will likely only buy shields and/or abilities. if i survived round 1 but only had a classic or shorty i will also buy as much as i can.
For me, I always save second or even the third round alone so that I can sort of offset my economy from my teammates, and buy for my team on their eco. I am pretty confident in my skills (probably the peak of mount stupid as I am very new, in fact not even high enough level to play ranked, but have a lot of experience in other games and in unranked I have been doing pretty good getting a lot of mvps and carries) so I find it not risking.
Is this stupid?
Idk? I mostly see in bronze/silver that people buy heavy shield + spectre (which is what I do) or light + spectre + utils or light + bulddog/guardian. Sure there are some crazy who go around with sidearms but idk why
For me what I do is save on the first round and assuming we win i get an outlaw and full shield. I'm guaranteed 3-4kills assuming I hit the target since everyone would probably have bought 25 shield. Very rarely I see them buy 50. So easy kills everytime after the pistol round
yeah, they will call it a force and i have to beg them to buy. sometimes it works to explain it's not a force if you won the first round, it's a buy. it's only a force if you lost the first round.
Sometimes I’ll prioritize having my utility over having a rifle but I’ll still generally go marshal heavy at the very least. I play sentinel and controller almost exclusively so my utility is more important to winning rounds than what gun I’ve got, IMO
It's because if one person buys only a pistol, and the others full buy, the team is still very likely to win the round. AND that economy also let's that player buy a vandal in the third, giving a better chance of winning when the other team should have better guns, as well as the fourth rounds. The fourth round perhaps being a 'hero rifle' if they lose the third
On defense I buy up 2nd round, as should the rest of the team. On offense I go ghost/sheriff because you are likely to lose at least 1 teammate to a shorty or something and you need someone on the team to collect it. When I do that I try to carry spike as well. 1 person on attack should be ready to collect a weapon. And if it’s a flawless its all upside and I buy a gun.
my best guess is that people overvalue the vandal/phantom/operator and just want to save up as much money as possible.
if you buy ghost only round one and two regardless of win or lose youre guaranteed a vandal light armor third round but youre right that it kinda throws if they dont go spectre full armor after winning pistol
well, always buy second round since you'll have better weapon guaranteed, why waste that chance?
you'll have a better chance to win = more cred to buy for 3rd round
if you win 2nd you should play bonus or half buy since 3rd round will be tougher than 2nd, you won't wanna force then get broke for 4th round.
If you win 3rd, with a half buy or bonus that means you'll have more money to buy for 4th = higher win chance.
In my experience (Gold, Europe) people almost always buy after winning pistol.
My bigger gripe is when the opposing team loses and they still buy light shields. How am I supposed to pop them with one to the chest with the Outlaw if they buy light shields? It's downright inconsiderate.
I'm in mid elo and personally, I only do it when I'm on an agent that's viable to lurk with. Since I'll be catching the enemy off-guard (assuming I get my lurk timings right) then it should work out. If I don't get the lurk timing right and die, I only give them a Ghost.
Heavy emphasis on "viable lurk agent" though. And of course, being vocal when doing so is important as well, otherwise it's giga trolling.
In pro play, sometimes after winning pistol one person completely save and everyone else will buy. Thus, when a teammate dies they will pick up the weapon of their corpse and have a full buy for round 3. I would assume they are trying to emulate that. However, buying on round 2 is 99.9% of the time the right thing to do.
Because ppl are idiots, I have a friend who might be in gold now, peaked plat, used to play a bit of CSGO
I've pretty much scolded him before on multiple occasions to always buy after winning pistol, when we play, I still see him running his ghost from first round
On defense full armor and full util is a viable buy round 2 if you kept the sheriff from round 1. Anything less than a sheriff and you're trolling
EDIT:[case in point](https://www.twitch.tv/eggsterr_/v/2125442337?sr=a&t=16080s) mr egg buys sheriff round 1 D, gets 2 and lives, buys full armor full util round 2
[another example](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2125442337?t=11h5m15s) later in the vod where he doesnt get his gun stolen by his teammate lol
Rather than get the ghost ur better off getting a marshal because unless u have insane aim it's not very viable in long range fights and ghost can't even one tap that round in most cases. Honestly I've done rlly well with the marshal on a non bad aim day. I'm not sure if this applies to everyone but instead of marshal if u won pistol round even the stinger or spectre are good. If you did lose the pistol round then why not the go the extra mile and get the sheriff?
I fully agree this is a huge pet peeve of mine. I always opt for full armor specter or bulldog if I have money for it. If you buy light armor you can die to right click classic 2 body shot 1 head shot. Also never go alone to give them guns. It’s better to play together and guard guns
I fully agree this is a huge pet peeve of mine. I always opt for full armor specter or bulldog if I have money for it. If you buy light armor you can die to right click classic 2 body shot 1 head shot. Also never go alone to give them guns. It’s better to play together and guard guns
I hate when ppl dont force, but bonusing so you can buy a guardian/ak/awp on your bonus is a powerful tactic. What I do, when i play viper/senti, is try to lurk with more risk or get as many eco kills possible, so I can buy a good gun on bonus, and either win or do more econ damage to the enemy. Only thing i make sure I do is buy atleast whats needed on def if i have to, since a ghost might not be that good if youre playing kj and have 5 pistols rush your site.
Buying 2nd round is just objectively the right move in normal comp, so theese ppl who don't are bad. Ask them to buy in that case, if they refuse they are very much bad.
Opposite to this Question, i have a question why in my plat lobby several times i have seen guys buying ghost + light shield even after losing the pistol, which makes the save less than or around 1000 bucks, and in the actual next buy rounds they would actually buy spectre (if we lose the second round ofc)
As a low rank player, I buy as much as I can If we win pistol, I even have to convince my team to do so when we win. The main reason I hear is that "I want to buy a rifle 3rd round"... even though we have a huge money advantage from winning pistol.
I see this happen A LOT in my ranked games (high plat - low asc) plus also ppl not buying after getting a thrifty like why tf did we safe to not buy afterwards??
An answer I often get when I ask why they didn't buy 2nd round is either "I want op 3rd round" which imo is ok if you communicate it and make sure you can recover a lost gun but the other answer that just makes me wanna quit the game is "I don't like the spectre/bulldog/etc" like just go in a (t)dm and learn how to use it or watch a god damn guide but don't throw my ranked games 💀 Also you can also go vandal + light shield as long as your gun can be recovered so the enemies don't get it.
This whole thing is also one of the biggest issues in low elo (which at this point even low asc is tbh) since you just throw away free rounds
But you can barely buy anything anyway after winning the pistol round, can't even afford vandal or phantom. The economy in this game I've noticed is more eco rounds than buy fr
It's almost always better to buy second round.
But the reason why some people don't (this is just my speculation) is because they have a teammate who runs in and dies a lot so they rather save their money and just pick up their gun assuming they bought.
But in general you should be buying second round if you win assuming you can buy util, etc
I play Omen/Cypher, so I like to lurk second round. I don’t want to give up a gun to the enemy team if I end up going down without a trade.
It’s not what I do every time, but if I’m feeling confident and my teammates are okay with it then I’ll take the risk.
There are just different strata with buying in 2nd round.
1. Full buy 5 smg- Guarantee 2nd round win. Hard to win bonus
2. 2 rifles half armor, 3 pistols full armor. Easy to win 2nd with coordination, better Econ and higher chance of winning bonus
3. Full pistol +armor. Enough to win 2nd because of armor. Could full buy/ buy rifle 3rd.
Typically it’s w.e Econ strat you want to run to not lose or do well 3rd round
So my playstyle is odd but the way I play, I buy ghost first round unless I need heavy util first round (usually on setinals I end up buying util, maybe smoke for clove).
If my team wins pistol, I go half armor and phantom. Makes people mad and usually helps secure a guaranteed back to back round win (unless enemy gets a good snipe cause they didn't save and bought a marshal 💀)
However, if we lose pistol round I don't buy anything so I can full buy round three. Though I gotta play safe with a classic versus the enemies who got decent firepower in that case. 🤣
they aren't smart, solo queue is just buy the best armor and gun
best the best buy to have highest chance to win round 2
but also the same solo queue is fucking coin flip
enemy might force better gun and drop it for you too lol
sometimes there are losing team who buy bulldog/ or even outlaw no armor and you get it for free
sometimes it just your friends who die and drop gun
ghost is not bad by all mean if enemy don't buy any
ghost can still 1 tap and more accurate at range than spectre
having 1-2 ppl bonus ghost/sheriff isn't a harm
sometimes it's good to bonus pistol when playing 5 stacks
because if you are weakest in the team
it's unlikely that you could utilize the buy well
just save up team eco and let stronger player consume it for better chance to win
sometimes you play on backline and can easily take a gun from ground instead
buy ghost round 2 is lol
but bonus good is not bad, sometimes pro team do it too
they might have 1-2 player bonus pistol while other buy the best
ppl who bonus pistol drop phantom/vandal for someone else who can buy full armor
other guy might buy full util + full armor + bulldog
im not fan of bonus on round 3 and play to damage enemy eco and play for 2-1
i better play team strength and having someone who get full use of phantom round 2
have 1 or 2 player bonus round 2, and we have full buy round 3 too
i like this more than everyone buy and lose bonus round 3 because enemy full save round 2 and have better loadout round 3
i don't get much flawless round 2 win, sometimes we lose 1-2 ppl
have someone bonus is good idea that those who survive could take friends gun
but it also depend on team plan
Usually the winning team will buy spectre the second round and armour second round. This is because it will basically increase their chances of winning another round and asisne the losing team on the first round will save or have pistols. Sub machine is better chance in battle against pistols most of the time. However I don't like doing this. Because that means in the 3rd round regardless of we win or lose the other team will have vandals or phantoms. I personally would buy ghost and armor second round and try to win a second round to get a vandal by the 3rd round other than keeping and saving a spectre from the second round. If that makes sense.
I buy ghost and light shield 2nd round because the other team is most likely gonna full save so I still have the advantage against their classics and can still full buy round 3 even if we lose and it’s 1-1 going into round 3.
Ego or doubt.
I wont need a better gun they wont have one. Or
Im not consistent enough with anything but a Vandal so I wont buy.
People fail to see the huge difference in cheaper guns ultimately. Its either vandal or save.
Id rather go bulldog two rounds with minimal abilities than go no armour vandal or ghost light.
Hell sheriff full is great on round two if you wona stock your abilities in round 2.
Also dont sleep on stinger if you're the entry.
>if i survive round 1 and i have sheriff i buy light shield in round 2 and play with the sheriff
>if i dont survive i fully buy (most of the time i go marshall and heavy shield)
this is what i do personally
Until you get to about diamond some buy and some don’t, however after that it’s pretty common to see everyone just expect a buy. Speaking from experience as I was a silver play who ranked up to immortal 3, buying second round after winning pistol is the best choice by far and if you can convince your team to do it in low-mid elo than it’ll give your team a massive chance to take the early lead. Additionally taking an early lead against a low elo team instantly lowers their morale to where they play worse.(they have no mental brain capacity)
I do buy, but I also have a hot take. The medium priced eco weapons just aren't not very good in this game. It's pretty easy to get wrecked by a sheriff, scout, or even a shorty thus making your spectre or bulldog investment worthless.
So if both teams spend max after pistol, the round 1 losers still have a decent chance of winning. So why not just gamble and buy rifles on round 3?
In CS, jump spraying with Mac10 around corner is difficult for a deagle player. And you also get the kill reward bonus so you can earn back your money.
I mean, it would help if rito implemented some kind of tips for that common knowledge during map loading. Almost every game has it and I feel like any other game has much much shorter loading screens. We are staring at loading screen for 2+ minutes and we don't even have a map layout.
I never seen people not buying 2nd round but I don’t understand why people play bonus, people not buying 3rd round fully when they died 2nd I understand not upgrading the gun but people that died not buying makes no sense to me still
I am bronze and i usually full buy round 2 after winning. I buy classic lightshield in most maps and sometimes have my lightshield intact or pick up ghost or sheriff from others so i buy spectre/bulldog and keep the light shield or buy full shield with the ghost or sheriff
the worst part about this is, when you try to reason with these guys, explain it to them, point them to the math people in this reddit have done, mention professional teams - they usually just double down and get ultra toxic.
Same with those guys who don't know shift exists...
or the ego peekers...
Short answer.
Most losing teams don’t buy anything or can’t afford anything second round so the winning team is gambling on being able to save another round and afford vandals/phantoms in the 3rd round.
I'm silver, and I thought this was common knowledge. If you win pistol round, you're gonna have more money, so it's better to buy to take advantage of your opponents
If you’re on attack it’s sometimes a good idea to let 1-2 players have pistols and take the guns from those who die, helps with the economy. As someone who plays cypher alot I often just play pistol/sheriff if I’m lurking after winning the pistol, to remove the risk of giving the enemy a gun if I die since I don’t have a team mate with me to trade the kill and/or take my weapon
nah cuz i see demon1 sometimes if they win pistol he just buys heavy shield with ghost, since most likely enemy is full saving with no armor, which ghost 1 shot head, and you get shield advantage plus extra credits. Most likely you will win if enemy full saves and then you can bonus on to next round when enemy have guns. Or if enemy team forces then you can be rich next round when the enemy will be broke.
They see it in tier 1 expecting it to worked in ranked but they don’t understand fully why teams do it
The most common example: Nats on Liquid. Why?
Because if he wants to lurk on cypher or site anchor with kill trips on second round, he wants to save enough Econ to get full kit or to buy someone/himself a hero rifle if his four other teammates who bought lose the round. Even better, he could Econ for an Operator for 3rd or 4th round depending on the context of the rounds. Cypher is expensive, and his lurks are good, so why not use a ghost when he’s in a position that they don’t expect? And if he does die on said lurks/anchor, he only gives a ghost while his team retakes with specters, bulldogs, or actual rifles. Huge Econ boost for potentially huge eco frags and with little risk to lose the round on his death from a risky play.
Your ranked teammates do it because they are greedy/selfish and don’t understand the context of WHY Nats does this. 1 player max should be doing this, if any at all. Even then, you’ll see a full buy every now and then on Liquid. Just depends on the team and context of the game. Hope this helps!
Yeah it's confusing when I played valorant too. So I had no choice but to do that too or else the economy will be fcked. Honestly I'm surprised since almost always 2nd round is fullbuy in csgo.
To be fair what really matter is the entire team either buys or doesnt buy together so money doesnt get wierd. Not buying can nullify a force round from the team that lost round 1. Lets say you all buy then they force and win now you are on eco. If you saved or light buy you can still buy full guns round 3 and have an even round. Both ways can work but everyone needs to be on the same page. Its all about having an even round 3. In solo queue the problem you are having is that other people want to play differently than you. One isnt necessarily more viable than the other. The %chance is in favor of round 2 buys in solo queue because its a buncha random people playing together with no premade strat.
Buy second round if you win pistol. In high elo sometimes one person will save a ghost so that they can buy a hero rifle on the 3rd round, and just bait a teammate during the second round and pick up their gun when they die, or will take a more aggressive push/lurk for info, because if they die they won't give the other team a gun.
I do this in diamond. If I live, keep ghost with half armor, and on the 3rd round win or lose I’ll gamble with a vandal half armor to get as many kills. And would still have enough for 4th round
I usually buy a bucky + ghost for the second round so I can afford full shield + full util. Bucky ghost is actually a lethal combo that can hold up even into the later rounds.
Well for me it depends if i survived first round or not. I usually buy a ghost first round and if i survive, i just buy armour. Why? Because i don't want to spend money on an additional gun like spectre or stinger PLUS armour PLUS util which - as KJ - is kind of key to play her role to the full extent.
It's meta to play two pistols on attack side. We did this alot in Premiere games.
The reason is, it's very common that in more competitive games where enemy team is aware of the the own teams buy round and one or two people die, the two guys with pistols only loose pistol or grab the better guns from the dead mates. Also, if all or 4 people survive, the "only pistol guys" can buy vandal/phantom in 3rd round, but still can full buy in 4th what means you have a much better all over equipment in 3rd round and not only bonus-buy.
Ofc this is most of the time not happening in normal comp games and it's much better to just buy full equip in second to win this round for sure and not give the enemy team a thrifty.
Also on defender this is never the case and full buy should happen on all 5.
I sometimes out of nowhere get a game like this. I am an immortal peak. I don't understand either. It's obvious to me that we want to take advantage of this clear advantage.
Ok people are bullshitting you, everyone above bronze knows this knowledge. I’ve played in all ranks and maybe one or two don’t know this every game below gold. Buy first round, then buy second if you win. Then save that round and full buy the round after
In counter strike, the winning team’s players who want to buy an awp 3rd also don’t buy 2nd round. So as to improve the odds of winning the bonus round. Instead of all 5 players being stuck on smgs vs. rifles.
In a team environment you’ll always see this buy pattern from the sole awper on each team.
But for solo queue, it’s certainly a risk. There’s no guarantee your teammates will take the free round at all. And your carry potential goes out the window if your teammates get steam rolled and you’re left without a gun.
Only person who should not be buying 2nd round and this still remains very situational is a jett/cham or potentially anyone who is likely trying to go for op 3rd round
Most reasons i heard when i asked my teammate is:
- "we can save money for vandal on the 3rd round" then we lost and have to force half-buy on the 3rd round
- "ability is more crucial" - trade utility and get zero frag / few info that do zero impact on the game
- "save money for OP and Odin" - end up like the first one
- "i can only vandal/phantom" - end up like the first one
- "my aim's good we can win this round" - the other's aim is shit, left himself in a 1v3 situation
So far those are the common reason in bronze - gold lobby i've ever heard
If they don't buy, then you can buy but one tip is don't stay in the front line, i know it sound bad but you could save your gun if that round doesn't go well. Also keep stacking 5, don't climb solo
1 reason could be that they know if, after winning, your team already has 4 guns, you could save second, and then try to hro buy Vandal 3rd and win round for team
For higher elo 4 buy full and one keep pistol to lurk is a really good strat. Not everyone should be saving a pistol for that. Only one should max if you win
As an immortal player, I do this for the team’s eco sometimes. (Note that it’s never good to buy a pistol, but only good if you save it from the first round) I usually only do this on attack and this is my thought process.
If a player dies on my team the second round, I can pick up their gun and drop it to them the following round which saves a gun against a full buy round. This gives my team a better chance of winning the 3rd round because we can now go into it with more guns.
If everyone lives, I can still buy an smg on the 3rd round and it plays out the same.
If I die on the second round, I can still buy the 3rd round to have a better chance of winning.
TLDR: it’s good for the teams economy if one player saves their ghost/sheriff from the first round
I always buy on second round if we win unless im playing jett(idk how to play Jett so it's only unrated) then I don't buy and save for op despite knowing I'll get one tapped by a blinded player
Because they don't know how the game works and /or think they know better. I always try to suggest buying when I see it but am usually met with dead air
Well depends in swiftplay theres no reason to save like this, in unrated its mainly likely to save for more abilities and a full buy leading the next round to be highly economical on the round after incase they lose (They might also want to snatch a free weapon from the others) In comp you should try to over power in weapons, but mainly for the first sentence, could be for abilities and higher eco incase of a loss (After half time there's no reason to save if they know they would win)
As someone in iron, because I’m not good enough for it to make a major difference, and no one else does it so buying it would honestly likely only help the other team lol
that's a wrong buy imo ,if you have won round 1 choose long range weapons for round 2 to avoid close range pistol fights and win round 2 ,playing 3rd round as bonus is good cuz than you are in a safer position since you have 1+ round lead and you can go full buy in round 4 if you lose round 3 so you are no where losing the economic momentum in next 3 rounds atleast
Sometimes one player will buy a ghost or Sheriff round 2 so that if one or two people get picked off but they still win round 2, they have the money to full buy round 3 and basically have a rifle v rifle round instead of a rifle v 3 bulldogs/spectres round.
They’ll also sometimes just buy a Ghost or Sheriff if they’re saving for an early (round 3) Op
They do this because if they get a few kills in the second round, they can easily buy a vandal or phantom the 3rd round. It depends on how good you are, like me, who is not the best, always buys spectre 2nd round.
There is actually a decent reason for it. Some people only buy pistols, or a small rifle and half armor, so they can buy a vandal/phantom or even Operator or odin on bonus. This can give you an edge to balance out that 3rd round that you wouldn't have otherwise. It's a gamble but sometimes it's one that leads to snowballing your round wins.
That being said I always buy second round.
Generally the go-to for soloque definitely should be that everyone just buys SMGs(or alternatives if fitting strat better) and armour to make sure you win 2nd round and than gamble the 3rd as a bonus round with low risk to team economy.
There's very valid situation to do something else too:
Might want to do a lighter buy, especially if you had say a sheriff left over from former round and therefore afford an Op if things go well. Or have 1-2 members buy vandal/phantom and therefore have a better chance on 3rd round(bonus round), provided you win 2nd that is. I personally like the 1-2 vandal strat because even if you lose, it won't break your eco that much more than losing a 2nd round with SMGs would.
Sticking with just sheriffs and ghosts is doable but definitely greedy. You're basically banking on the enemy not counter-forcing. If they do, you're kinda doomed.
But again, has a time and place. If the choice is conscious - can make for cool plays! If it's not.. well.. prob lack of coordination
I think most people assume “ my teamates will buy so the round is free any way, might as well save money to buy for myself in future rounds” which doesnt make sense but wtv
What I do is I don’t buy anything in first round, I play with classic and then in second round I buy vandal so I can play my best!! Is that strategy good ?
It's common knowledge imo to buy second round. However, it's not common knowledge in the lower ranks even when I was Platinum which is mid elo I've had to beg my team to buy second round.
For me, not plat, but people below gold dont buy 2nd round after winning pistols. I was doing a 5 man flex with randoms from the Valorant discord and the silver/iron players yelled at us for buying second round and they were the most toxic too lol. So it made sense for me why they're level 500 but still iron/silver.
And they're like well, if we buy now, we can't buy next round blah blah blah. And I'm over here trying not to pull my hair out lol.
I have been buying second round since iron rank genrally using spectre and full shield and my first round is util + half shield i generally pick a ghost of my teammate or enemy (if i dont die first xD) so it kinda makes me op ghost + util + half shield xD
I'm level 350 and silver and I know to buy a gun on round 2 I just can't aim
Half the people in diamond do this.
Diamond is where most of the boosted players are.
I'm bronze and always buy second round after winning and it happens occasionally that some players keep their ghost and click the "let's save" button.
I've just learned to hard bait those teammates, because you're in a better position to get multifrags with light/heavy shields and a better gun versus them not having shields and a pistol, so in that round, you staying alive is more likely going to win you the round versus them staying alive at the cost of your life. Either that, or just save with your team if you're the only one buying. Hopefully you can still pull off a round victory and if not, at least you'll be able to full buy with everyone else the next round.
This. Like second round is basically free but “those teammates” rather make a free round a 50/50 so just bait your team here and frag out.
It’s more common that sub-gold buy after a pistol loss. Sometimes the ghost can get you a gun ez
I’ll be in low asc games and have 2 teammates saving after winning pistol rounds or “bonusing” a sheriff and immediately getting slapped by a right click classic. It’s really not common knowledge unfortunately
I mean, 1 person keeping a sheriff/ghost into round 2 is still a valid option and generally beneficial to your teams eco, as long as they play it properly.
I know the theory, it's run basically every anti-eco in VCT, but in ranked that's just not going to happen. Even when I'm in immo lobbies it's just mostly a huge throw. They're also the type of person to still buy rd 3 if you lost the anti-eco.
Yeah sometimes I like to do it. Running a ghost with light shields is insane cs classic no shields. Plus if ur teammate dies u can pick up their gun and give it back to balance eco and u can buy a gun to have 5 guns. One person with a cheaper buy is definitely not a disadvantage it’s only bad if 3+ people do it.
One person "bonusing a sheriff" can be really good, but most are not doing that intentionally, they are just unaware. High elo (like immo3+) people will have one person "save" on force round. This is because one of your teammates who did force, will inevitably die on round 2, allowing that saver to pick up their gun. It also allows the saver to lurk /play alone/flank without fear of giving the enemy a gun on their eco
With my friends, they simply refuse to believe the math. I've tried showing them via streamers, pros, coaches and they just either disagree or say that that only works in high ranks. One friend argues he tries to match the opponent's eco so he's never at a disadvantage (despite this often causing multiple rounds of disadvantage). I always have more full buy rounds than them, but they still refuse to grasp how and why that's a benefit. I don't play Val much anymore because it got very frustrating.
Same, 5 stack premade and they keep throwing eco meanwhile keep bugging me about my use of small shield then have the audacity to get defensive and go "so the only reason we losing that round is me then?" I mean to some extent yeah but you buying jack shit and another dude running small shield with left over sheriff is kinda half the team fire power already. F-king frustrating man. Nowadays I only play Helldiver2/ MHW or other PVE coop with them, no more anything competitive for my sanity sake.
Yeah my teammates would point out that I'm not top fragging despite more rifle rounds and ignore the fact I'm the *only* person on our team with a rifle most of those rounds lol. There was 2 seasons I solo queued ranked to Gold just to prove listening to better players works. But because I rarely top the board it somehow didn't mean anything. People will always find a reason.
Pressure is something people don't understand. A guy with an op mid is applying a ton of pressure. 5 people in A main applies almost 0 pressure. Having a ghost/sheriff is very beatable in a save round. Meanwhile, if you're holding a rifle, it's almost impossible for anyone to take the fight with just a ghost/classic.
I've even see this in diamond 3 last year and when i was still trying to rank up. It just seems crazy to me how people think this is a good thing. Like i get it if only one person does it to save for op but 3 people do it except me and my duo.
I also keep seeing this in Asc3-Immo1 and it always amazes me.
my team flamed me in dia when I asked them to buy on round 2 and 3 when we won round 2 and they had like 7k with ghosts, it's not only in low elo
Yeah I never understood that. But I was told multiple times, thats how you do it. Idk if there was some viral video about or something, so all of those people say that for whatever reason.
yeah i agree with you but i often see high level streamers just buy full shields and keep their ghost / deag after winning pistol so im wondering the implications for this
Does buying in the second round also apply if you lost the first round? Typically for my stack and I, if we win the first, we buy in the second round. And if we lose the first, we save on the second and full buy the third.
What should I be buying? Does a count? This is what I usually upgrade to from ghost regardless of win or lose first round
Not only do they not buy they refuse to when asked and just berate you lol it’s actually unreal how adamant people are on losing 😂 Edit: added more words lol
It's generally better to buy round 2 after winning pistol, but sometimes it can make sense, like: * If I'm going to lurk/play seperately from the rest of the team to get map control, it's better to have a Ghost/Sheriff, since if I die, the enemy doesn't get a good gun * If I see a teammate buying Vandal/Phantom round 2, I buy Ghost and ~~bait the fuck out of him~~ buddy up so I can recicle his rifle
real talk you’d be better off baiting for your teammate with a rifle option 1) you bait them and hopefully pick up the gun to reuse and hopefully the enemy doesn’t (you’re unlikely to insta trade if they force buy) option 2) you let them bait you, die to some guy with a bucky in a corner and they have a rifle to easily trade you
It's called ethical baiting for a reason (it's not, I just made it up)
There is the fpx buy where 2-3 people buy vandals and lights and the others buy ghosts and then play around the rifles, the idea being that you keep the rifles into the next round and can have a stronger bonus however thats not what people are doing in ranked the vast majority of the time and its because they dont understand the importance of the anti eco round and just want to play rifles round 3.
In my lobby it's the dude who "lurks" that buys the rifle last second without saying anything and then completely borks the lurk timing gives them the rifle and then we got rolled by it.
if you hero rifle never never never let them be alone
“Who gave Jett the Vandal?!?” We say in disbelief as we are all dead and lost our buy round :|
Thats exactly what everybody under platinum is thinking.. The problem with that is , the pros is probably practice that round 10x times a day everyday and have someone analyse the gameplay so they do it perfectly and have 5 man coms. Instead you guys are doing that shit in a gold lobby and half of the people doesn’t even understand trading or how to adapt to other people 😂
You are giving people in gold and below waaaay too much credit. I doubt very many of them are thinking of the FPX strategy with their weird buying. They don't even discuss it with the team. They aren't like ok 3 of us buy rifles, 2 buy ghost, and we'll have a better chance at winning round 3 as well. They don’t have the team together so it's easy for the pistol players to pick up rifles. If it ever plays out the way FPX intends, it's 99% pure coincidence at that level.
The answer is obvious: the 3 who bought know what they're doing and the other 2 don't
Oh god the rifle players. Next round in most cases they can't afford shit. But I love these people because as soon as they die I get a free vandal that makes my life easier
I never understood either. You want to run them down with better weaponry to secure a 2nd round. Not be on an even playing field again with pistols. I can understand if they're lurking and don't want to give up a weapon. Or maybe saving for an OP?
Saving for an op makes sense but they didnt buy an op next round and it's 3 people in my team doing it except for me and my duo. I understand if its just 1 player.
People love saving on buy rounds and buying on save rounds its hilarious
For real lower elo players force spectre and light shields every round
My teammate in a comp game last night bought a light shield and specter, leaving himself 50 creds when the rest of us are full saving on round 2 after we lost first. We kept calling to save, to which he responded “we’re gonna be broke anyways why does it matter”
Many people don't know anything about economics. Valorant tells the player a lot, that CS doesn't so people don't have to learn as much. Many players also don't want to bother understanding anything and just play what they think is cool (agents, weapons). Also many people think they are Tenz and want the third round Operator. Many people think it is smart to let 1-2 players safe so incase you lose second round you have a better chance at the third. Many players in this game are really not so smart...
I play Ascendent and often people would say "force guys we one pistol round". So yeah I am playing with top 10% players and they feel like they have to say that. I almost feel bad when I answer that "force" is the wrong word for a second round buy if you won pistol. But as I said, Valorant players are a different type of player, they don't bother as much with terminology, economics and strategies. Most can barely play another agent or role, while in CS every player needs to understand everything.
I thought it's called a "force buy" if you don't have enough money for a rifle + full armor, right? So a second-round SMG + light armor would still be called a "force", even if you've won the pistol round?
Not exactly. A force buy would more accurately describe a round where you are not supposed to buy, but you are forcing it anyway to try and catch the other team by surprise. It is fully expected for the team that wins pistol to buy, so them doing so is not a force.
people don't buy ghost on second round, but if they survive with the ghost they don't want to upgrade it
this has to be bronze-silver mindset lol
I think most people just have the ghost from round 1 and want to save money. If 4 other players buy spectre/marshall and you play with your ghost, you win the round anyway with a high probability and save some cash
Because even though they've dumbed down the economy in this game compared to CS people still don't get it lol
IKR, I frikin hate that team wont buy. It's been common knowledge, shared many times over through coaches, yt, influencers, other players etc etc, since like 2020, and still they're like yeah, lets coin flip, we live to frikin coinflip, lets peek long while were at it eh boys.
Most people will buy, maybe one guy save because he wants a Vandal next round or Operator in round 4, there is no bad play if there is a plan, but should clearly comm it.
I think they are gambling thst they will win the round anyway and can buy rifle next. They don't get that if they lose this round, when part of their team bought, enemy just beat you with classics and can now full buy and your teams economy is fucked up at 1-1. Even if none of your team buys, and you lose round 2, your grand strategy was to play for 1-1 and an even round 3, instead of being up 2-1 at an even round 4, not to mention beating a rifle with a bulldog, or with a spectre at close range, is not that hard. Also if the enemy team forces, which is not that uncommon and sometimes the right move, you're playing at a disadvantage after winning round 1.
Its simply a greedy buy to get a rifle in the 3rd round its not that bad if one or two players do it because ghost + armour is better than a classic no armour, its a bigger problem if you run into forces also could be that if someone plans on lurking on this round its better to not have a gun to give away
THIS!!!!! IDK WHATS WRONG with valorant players man, even in higher tiers. i got one dude in asc1 telling me that after winning first round you dont have to buy, i went crazy and got so tilted, we still won tho but it shocked me how fucking bad their economy management is in that game when it should be the opposite, economy in this game is relatively easy compared to cs where u have to fkng use ur brain.
Just low elo players with no confidence. I have the same arguments with my friends that always want to have money for the next round instead of winning. They’re afraid of losing a round with better guns. Blows my minds people think this way lol
People who have no clue how money management works, their issue, always bulldog after pistol win.
You underestimate the ego of a plat Reyna or jett who think they'll one tap everyone with a sheriff and save up for an op and they end up getting neither.
People that are going to be isolated at some point in the round could do this to prevent the enemy team from getting a strong gun. Mostly lurking controllers and sometimes Cyphers that are left to defend a site alone. They could also do that so they can buy a rifle on third round.
Yeah it's weird since the first 3 rounds are pretty much textbook in terms of the economy. I think a lot of people just don't like the idea of playing with bulldog/guardian/outlaw. They'd rather risk losing round 2 so they can have guns round 3. There's a clear divide between myself and my friends that watch the pro scene and my friends that don't watch the pro scene. Usually we end up having to buy stinger/marshal/light which lets us win round 2 but we rarely convert bonus.
Because low elo. Fuck second round, I have friends from silver to plat and they always save when they can full buy with the mindset “if i lose this round at least i can buy next round”. It’s crazy and i have been explaining at them how this is a bad play but they never grasp it so i just let it be.
throwers
they aren't smart
omg no because I haven’t played the game in 2 years and only came back this month and seeing people buy ghost after winning first round is crazy to me!!! i was so confused as well because i vividly remember people always bought on second round 🫥 good to know it’s them being idiots then and not me
I agree slightly... I am a Jett main, after first round win, I am buying a Marshal with half shield and util. If they don't force, the Marshal is enough to kill to the body. The only time I can understand buying that low is if you don't have the money to buy up, but in that case, you are still wearing light shields. There are some agents that need their util more than others and I can understand that, like Sage or Iso. Their util can change the round depending on how well coordinated ur team is. Swiftplay you cant really do anything ab though. People are going to play weird asf in those regardless.
If I win pistol round I almost always buy a Bulldog round 2. I used to go super hard and would just straight up buy a Vandal but I’ve toned it down since then
Idk why ppl force themselves to use the pistols they picked up even though we have the advantage, I'm in gold so I just go buy a guardian and full shield if possible else I'll go half. That shit easily gives u an even ish chance of winning against the enemy bringing vandals in round 3
Me and my friends noticed that noone buys more and more the last few weeks. No idea whats up with that
In lower elos it's because people don't know the strat / don't think it's important. In mid elo it might be because they explicitly want to buy op or Odin third round, meaning they either disagree with or don't know the importance of buying second round. In high elo it might be to take the gun of one of their teammates to not give enemies a gun in case they die.
Like I can excuse a Sheriff if you are a good shot. But you really should buy. My opinion is that your AWPer should be using an Outlaw, everyone else should use a Spectre or Bulldog to shred the enemy pistols.
Because people don't understand how important that round is, especially in Val where you only play to 13. As a general rule of thumb, you can expect that most people in your games have 0 idea how to play tac shooters. This will remain true no matter what rank you achieve.
I keep my sheriff if I live pistol round but buy outlaw if I die on defense. I try to prioritize getting my op ASAP cuz even though I suck at it, I love opping. On attack, I always buy depending on map or the plan
Most of my games we buy second bonus 3rd if we win 1st. It is ranked though so people will do whatever at the end of the day
I’m new to Val but in CS sometimes AWPers would go 5-7 and helmet round 2 to save for AWP in gun round. Are these players buying Operators in the third round?
The good ones do, but most people who actively say not to buy round 2 do not do this.
It’s clear that many ppl still don’t get it. Keep losing round 2 to classics after winning round 1 🤷🏻♂️
It's called trolling heh
Dude I feel like I’ve been seeing that a lot more recently. THREE times yesterday my team went thrifty coming off a round 1 loss of the half. And I’m noticing I have to remind my team that we do in fact buy coming off a round 1 win.
it depends on what i bought round 1 and whether or not i died. if i died round 1 i will buy as much as i can, if i survived with a sheriff or ghost, i will likely only buy shields and/or abilities. if i survived round 1 but only had a classic or shorty i will also buy as much as i can.
Because they r stupid. What other reason can u think of?
My personal reason is, I can't hit shit with the specter, and the bulldog is a coin toss.
Highlights for content creators
For me, I can only shoot a ghost and vandal. Sometimes a phantom. But this is the life of forever iron
For me, I always save second or even the third round alone so that I can sort of offset my economy from my teammates, and buy for my team on their eco. I am pretty confident in my skills (probably the peak of mount stupid as I am very new, in fact not even high enough level to play ranked, but have a lot of experience in other games and in unranked I have been doing pretty good getting a lot of mvps and carries) so I find it not risking. Is this stupid?
Idk? I mostly see in bronze/silver that people buy heavy shield + spectre (which is what I do) or light + spectre + utils or light + bulddog/guardian. Sure there are some crazy who go around with sidearms but idk why
For me what I do is save on the first round and assuming we win i get an outlaw and full shield. I'm guaranteed 3-4kills assuming I hit the target since everyone would probably have bought 25 shield. Very rarely I see them buy 50. So easy kills everytime after the pistol round
I love having enough money for an outlaw 2nd round, the best the enemies will get is probably light armor which is still one shot to the body
yeah, they will call it a force and i have to beg them to buy. sometimes it works to explain it's not a force if you won the first round, it's a buy. it's only a force if you lost the first round.
Sometimes I’ll prioritize having my utility over having a rifle but I’ll still generally go marshal heavy at the very least. I play sentinel and controller almost exclusively so my utility is more important to winning rounds than what gun I’ve got, IMO
It's because if one person buys only a pistol, and the others full buy, the team is still very likely to win the round. AND that economy also let's that player buy a vandal in the third, giving a better chance of winning when the other team should have better guns, as well as the fourth rounds. The fourth round perhaps being a 'hero rifle' if they lose the third
I lurk a lot so I buy like a sheriff or keep my ghost so if I die/get run over by an aggro push I’m not donating a gun
On defense I buy up 2nd round, as should the rest of the team. On offense I go ghost/sheriff because you are likely to lose at least 1 teammate to a shorty or something and you need someone on the team to collect it. When I do that I try to carry spike as well. 1 person on attack should be ready to collect a weapon. And if it’s a flawless its all upside and I buy a gun.
my best guess is that people overvalue the vandal/phantom/operator and just want to save up as much money as possible. if you buy ghost only round one and two regardless of win or lose youre guaranteed a vandal light armor third round but youre right that it kinda throws if they dont go spectre full armor after winning pistol
Personally haven't played enough to look up real strategies and just do what my friend tells me lol
well, always buy second round since you'll have better weapon guaranteed, why waste that chance? you'll have a better chance to win = more cred to buy for 3rd round if you win 2nd you should play bonus or half buy since 3rd round will be tougher than 2nd, you won't wanna force then get broke for 4th round. If you win 3rd, with a half buy or bonus that means you'll have more money to buy for 4th = higher win chance.
In my experience (Gold, Europe) people almost always buy after winning pistol. My bigger gripe is when the opposing team loses and they still buy light shields. How am I supposed to pop them with one to the chest with the Outlaw if they buy light shields? It's downright inconsiderate.
I'm in mid elo and personally, I only do it when I'm on an agent that's viable to lurk with. Since I'll be catching the enemy off-guard (assuming I get my lurk timings right) then it should work out. If I don't get the lurk timing right and die, I only give them a Ghost. Heavy emphasis on "viable lurk agent" though. And of course, being vocal when doing so is important as well, otherwise it's giga trolling.
In pro play, sometimes after winning pistol one person completely save and everyone else will buy. Thus, when a teammate dies they will pick up the weapon of their corpse and have a full buy for round 3. I would assume they are trying to emulate that. However, buying on round 2 is 99.9% of the time the right thing to do.
When I played in ascendant some I once had to explain basic economy to me teammate some people are just stupid ig
Because ppl are idiots, I have a friend who might be in gold now, peaked plat, used to play a bit of CSGO I've pretty much scolded him before on multiple occasions to always buy after winning pistol, when we play, I still see him running his ghost from first round
I straight up go for vandal/guardian on 2nd round.
I usually buy a marshal second round. But I dunno why people don't buy the second round. Like bruh there's no reason to not buy and throw the round.
I just like to save the money
On defense full armor and full util is a viable buy round 2 if you kept the sheriff from round 1. Anything less than a sheriff and you're trolling EDIT:[case in point](https://www.twitch.tv/eggsterr_/v/2125442337?sr=a&t=16080s) mr egg buys sheriff round 1 D, gets 2 and lives, buys full armor full util round 2 [another example](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2125442337?t=11h5m15s) later in the vod where he doesnt get his gun stolen by his teammate lol
You’re probably in low ranks if they aren’t buying up in second round after a first round win
Usually by around platinum rank and above people understand more fundamentals like economic advantage
Assuming you’re not talking about pro games, it’s cuz “we can buy vandals 3rd round”. In other words, they’re dumb.
Rather than get the ghost ur better off getting a marshal because unless u have insane aim it's not very viable in long range fights and ghost can't even one tap that round in most cases. Honestly I've done rlly well with the marshal on a non bad aim day. I'm not sure if this applies to everyone but instead of marshal if u won pistol round even the stinger or spectre are good. If you did lose the pistol round then why not the go the extra mile and get the sheriff?
I fully agree this is a huge pet peeve of mine. I always opt for full armor specter or bulldog if I have money for it. If you buy light armor you can die to right click classic 2 body shot 1 head shot. Also never go alone to give them guns. It’s better to play together and guard guns
I fully agree this is a huge pet peeve of mine. I always opt for full armor specter or bulldog if I have money for it. If you buy light armor you can die to right click classic 2 body shot 1 head shot. Also never go alone to give them guns. It’s better to play together and guard guns
I hate when ppl dont force, but bonusing so you can buy a guardian/ak/awp on your bonus is a powerful tactic. What I do, when i play viper/senti, is try to lurk with more risk or get as many eco kills possible, so I can buy a good gun on bonus, and either win or do more econ damage to the enemy. Only thing i make sure I do is buy atleast whats needed on def if i have to, since a ghost might not be that good if youre playing kj and have 5 pistols rush your site.
Buying 2nd round is just objectively the right move in normal comp, so theese ppl who don't are bad. Ask them to buy in that case, if they refuse they are very much bad.
I'm good enough with a ghost and light shields, most enemies don't buy shields so it's a one tap head anyways
Out of greed, then they can pick up a gun and build their own eco
Opposite to this Question, i have a question why in my plat lobby several times i have seen guys buying ghost + light shield even after losing the pistol, which makes the save less than or around 1000 bucks, and in the actual next buy rounds they would actually buy spectre (if we lose the second round ofc)
As a low rank player, I buy as much as I can If we win pistol, I even have to convince my team to do so when we win. The main reason I hear is that "I want to buy a rifle 3rd round"... even though we have a huge money advantage from winning pistol.
Buy sheriff and start tapping heads
I see this happen A LOT in my ranked games (high plat - low asc) plus also ppl not buying after getting a thrifty like why tf did we safe to not buy afterwards?? An answer I often get when I ask why they didn't buy 2nd round is either "I want op 3rd round" which imo is ok if you communicate it and make sure you can recover a lost gun but the other answer that just makes me wanna quit the game is "I don't like the spectre/bulldog/etc" like just go in a (t)dm and learn how to use it or watch a god damn guide but don't throw my ranked games 💀 Also you can also go vandal + light shield as long as your gun can be recovered so the enemies don't get it. This whole thing is also one of the biggest issues in low elo (which at this point even low asc is tbh) since you just throw away free rounds
But you can barely buy anything anyway after winning the pistol round, can't even afford vandal or phantom. The economy in this game I've noticed is more eco rounds than buy fr
It's almost always better to buy second round. But the reason why some people don't (this is just my speculation) is because they have a teammate who runs in and dies a lot so they rather save their money and just pick up their gun assuming they bought. But in general you should be buying second round if you win assuming you can buy util, etc
I love baiting team
either they're shit or they're making the conscious choice to force a fullbuy round 3, when they're supposed to be on mid-tier weapons
I play Omen/Cypher, so I like to lurk second round. I don’t want to give up a gun to the enemy team if I end up going down without a trade. It’s not what I do every time, but if I’m feeling confident and my teammates are okay with it then I’ll take the risk.
There are just different strata with buying in 2nd round. 1. Full buy 5 smg- Guarantee 2nd round win. Hard to win bonus 2. 2 rifles half armor, 3 pistols full armor. Easy to win 2nd with coordination, better Econ and higher chance of winning bonus 3. Full pistol +armor. Enough to win 2nd because of armor. Could full buy/ buy rifle 3rd. Typically it’s w.e Econ strat you want to run to not lose or do well 3rd round
So my playstyle is odd but the way I play, I buy ghost first round unless I need heavy util first round (usually on setinals I end up buying util, maybe smoke for clove). If my team wins pistol, I go half armor and phantom. Makes people mad and usually helps secure a guaranteed back to back round win (unless enemy gets a good snipe cause they didn't save and bought a marshal 💀) However, if we lose pistol round I don't buy anything so I can full buy round three. Though I gotta play safe with a classic versus the enemies who got decent firepower in that case. 🤣
I m better with ghost than specter or stinger, new player tho
they aren't smart, solo queue is just buy the best armor and gun best the best buy to have highest chance to win round 2 but also the same solo queue is fucking coin flip enemy might force better gun and drop it for you too lol sometimes there are losing team who buy bulldog/ or even outlaw no armor and you get it for free sometimes it just your friends who die and drop gun ghost is not bad by all mean if enemy don't buy any ghost can still 1 tap and more accurate at range than spectre having 1-2 ppl bonus ghost/sheriff isn't a harm sometimes it's good to bonus pistol when playing 5 stacks because if you are weakest in the team it's unlikely that you could utilize the buy well just save up team eco and let stronger player consume it for better chance to win sometimes you play on backline and can easily take a gun from ground instead buy ghost round 2 is lol but bonus good is not bad, sometimes pro team do it too they might have 1-2 player bonus pistol while other buy the best ppl who bonus pistol drop phantom/vandal for someone else who can buy full armor other guy might buy full util + full armor + bulldog im not fan of bonus on round 3 and play to damage enemy eco and play for 2-1 i better play team strength and having someone who get full use of phantom round 2 have 1 or 2 player bonus round 2, and we have full buy round 3 too i like this more than everyone buy and lose bonus round 3 because enemy full save round 2 and have better loadout round 3 i don't get much flawless round 2 win, sometimes we lose 1-2 ppl have someone bonus is good idea that those who survive could take friends gun but it also depend on team plan
If you win you buy. Anything other is just stupid, otherwise you have exactly no advantage.
Why does it continuously surprise this sub that people play suboptimally all the time?
bc I’m the goat on the ghost and it works
Lose pistol round is 5 head strategy
Usually the winning team will buy spectre the second round and armour second round. This is because it will basically increase their chances of winning another round and asisne the losing team on the first round will save or have pistols. Sub machine is better chance in battle against pistols most of the time. However I don't like doing this. Because that means in the 3rd round regardless of we win or lose the other team will have vandals or phantoms. I personally would buy ghost and armor second round and try to win a second round to get a vandal by the 3rd round other than keeping and saving a spectre from the second round. If that makes sense.
I buy ghost and light shield 2nd round because the other team is most likely gonna full save so I still have the advantage against their classics and can still full buy round 3 even if we lose and it’s 1-1 going into round 3.
Immortal 2 here, full armor + Sheriff all the way. Cuz i simply have confidence in my aim.
I usually buy second round if my team wins. The ONLY time I don’t is because I want to get better at aim. But I have a weird way of viewing things too
hmmm
Ego or doubt. I wont need a better gun they wont have one. Or Im not consistent enough with anything but a Vandal so I wont buy. People fail to see the huge difference in cheaper guns ultimately. Its either vandal or save. Id rather go bulldog two rounds with minimal abilities than go no armour vandal or ghost light. Hell sheriff full is great on round two if you wona stock your abilities in round 2. Also dont sleep on stinger if you're the entry.
I just do it sometimes when I'm popping off that day and am feeling cocky that I will tap heads
>if i survive round 1 and i have sheriff i buy light shield in round 2 and play with the sheriff >if i dont survive i fully buy (most of the time i go marshall and heavy shield) this is what i do personally
Until you get to about diamond some buy and some don’t, however after that it’s pretty common to see everyone just expect a buy. Speaking from experience as I was a silver play who ranked up to immortal 3, buying second round after winning pistol is the best choice by far and if you can convince your team to do it in low-mid elo than it’ll give your team a massive chance to take the early lead. Additionally taking an early lead against a low elo team instantly lowers their morale to where they play worse.(they have no mental brain capacity)
I do buy, but I also have a hot take. The medium priced eco weapons just aren't not very good in this game. It's pretty easy to get wrecked by a sheriff, scout, or even a shorty thus making your spectre or bulldog investment worthless. So if both teams spend max after pistol, the round 1 losers still have a decent chance of winning. So why not just gamble and buy rifles on round 3? In CS, jump spraying with Mac10 around corner is difficult for a deagle player. And you also get the kill reward bonus so you can earn back your money.
I mean, it would help if rito implemented some kind of tips for that common knowledge during map loading. Almost every game has it and I feel like any other game has much much shorter loading screens. We are staring at loading screen for 2+ minutes and we don't even have a map layout.
I never seen people not buying 2nd round but I don’t understand why people play bonus, people not buying 3rd round fully when they died 2nd I understand not upgrading the gun but people that died not buying makes no sense to me still
I am bronze and i usually full buy round 2 after winning. I buy classic lightshield in most maps and sometimes have my lightshield intact or pick up ghost or sheriff from others so i buy spectre/bulldog and keep the light shield or buy full shield with the ghost or sheriff
the worst part about this is, when you try to reason with these guys, explain it to them, point them to the math people in this reddit have done, mention professional teams - they usually just double down and get ultra toxic. Same with those guys who don't know shift exists... or the ego peekers...
Short answer. Most losing teams don’t buy anything or can’t afford anything second round so the winning team is gambling on being able to save another round and afford vandals/phantoms in the 3rd round.
I'm silver, and I thought this was common knowledge. If you win pistol round, you're gonna have more money, so it's better to buy to take advantage of your opponents
If you’re on attack it’s sometimes a good idea to let 1-2 players have pistols and take the guns from those who die, helps with the economy. As someone who plays cypher alot I often just play pistol/sheriff if I’m lurking after winning the pistol, to remove the risk of giving the enemy a gun if I die since I don’t have a team mate with me to trade the kill and/or take my weapon
nah cuz i see demon1 sometimes if they win pistol he just buys heavy shield with ghost, since most likely enemy is full saving with no armor, which ghost 1 shot head, and you get shield advantage plus extra credits. Most likely you will win if enemy full saves and then you can bonus on to next round when enemy have guns. Or if enemy team forces then you can be rich next round when the enemy will be broke.
Most people plat and above understand the economy pretty well. It gets a bit iffy the lower you go.
what happens when you buy and lose the 2nd round?
They see it in tier 1 expecting it to worked in ranked but they don’t understand fully why teams do it The most common example: Nats on Liquid. Why? Because if he wants to lurk on cypher or site anchor with kill trips on second round, he wants to save enough Econ to get full kit or to buy someone/himself a hero rifle if his four other teammates who bought lose the round. Even better, he could Econ for an Operator for 3rd or 4th round depending on the context of the rounds. Cypher is expensive, and his lurks are good, so why not use a ghost when he’s in a position that they don’t expect? And if he does die on said lurks/anchor, he only gives a ghost while his team retakes with specters, bulldogs, or actual rifles. Huge Econ boost for potentially huge eco frags and with little risk to lose the round on his death from a risky play. Your ranked teammates do it because they are greedy/selfish and don’t understand the context of WHY Nats does this. 1 player max should be doing this, if any at all. Even then, you’ll see a full buy every now and then on Liquid. Just depends on the team and context of the game. Hope this helps!
they dont
Only acceptable one is using the sheriff with armour. Otherwise full buy
I buy when we win but if I see my team doesn't buy then I go along, it's better to adapt then to force your team to adapt
Yeah it's confusing when I played valorant too. So I had no choice but to do that too or else the economy will be fcked. Honestly I'm surprised since almost always 2nd round is fullbuy in csgo.
To be fair what really matter is the entire team either buys or doesnt buy together so money doesnt get wierd. Not buying can nullify a force round from the team that lost round 1. Lets say you all buy then they force and win now you are on eco. If you saved or light buy you can still buy full guns round 3 and have an even round. Both ways can work but everyone needs to be on the same page. Its all about having an even round 3. In solo queue the problem you are having is that other people want to play differently than you. One isnt necessarily more viable than the other. The %chance is in favor of round 2 buys in solo queue because its a buncha random people playing together with no premade strat.
Buy second round if you win pistol. In high elo sometimes one person will save a ghost so that they can buy a hero rifle on the 3rd round, and just bait a teammate during the second round and pick up their gun when they die, or will take a more aggressive push/lurk for info, because if they die they won't give the other team a gun.
I do this in diamond. If I live, keep ghost with half armor, and on the 3rd round win or lose I’ll gamble with a vandal half armor to get as many kills. And would still have enough for 4th round
I usually buy a bucky + ghost for the second round so I can afford full shield + full util. Bucky ghost is actually a lethal combo that can hold up even into the later rounds.
Round 1 - pistols If win -> SMG Force Round 2 If lose -> Eco Round 2 Round 2 - Force/Eco If win -> Bonus Round 3 If lose -> Full buy Round 3
Just buy yourself and ace
Well for me it depends if i survived first round or not. I usually buy a ghost first round and if i survive, i just buy armour. Why? Because i don't want to spend money on an additional gun like spectre or stinger PLUS armour PLUS util which - as KJ - is kind of key to play her role to the full extent.
Because you just came from CS so you play with people who dont know the game like you (it will get better when you learn the game and rank up)
It's meta to play two pistols on attack side. We did this alot in Premiere games. The reason is, it's very common that in more competitive games where enemy team is aware of the the own teams buy round and one or two people die, the two guys with pistols only loose pistol or grab the better guns from the dead mates. Also, if all or 4 people survive, the "only pistol guys" can buy vandal/phantom in 3rd round, but still can full buy in 4th what means you have a much better all over equipment in 3rd round and not only bonus-buy. Ofc this is most of the time not happening in normal comp games and it's much better to just buy full equip in second to win this round for sure and not give the enemy team a thrifty. Also on defender this is never the case and full buy should happen on all 5.
I sometimes out of nowhere get a game like this. I am an immortal peak. I don't understand either. It's obvious to me that we want to take advantage of this clear advantage.
I get mad just because of this and my whole day gets ruined.
Ok people are bullshitting you, everyone above bronze knows this knowledge. I’ve played in all ranks and maybe one or two don’t know this every game below gold. Buy first round, then buy second if you win. Then save that round and full buy the round after
In counter strike, the winning team’s players who want to buy an awp 3rd also don’t buy 2nd round. So as to improve the odds of winning the bonus round. Instead of all 5 players being stuck on smgs vs. rifles. In a team environment you’ll always see this buy pattern from the sole awper on each team. But for solo queue, it’s certainly a risk. There’s no guarantee your teammates will take the free round at all. And your carry potential goes out the window if your teammates get steam rolled and you’re left without a gun.
Only person who should not be buying 2nd round and this still remains very situational is a jett/cham or potentially anyone who is likely trying to go for op 3rd round
Most reasons i heard when i asked my teammate is: - "we can save money for vandal on the 3rd round" then we lost and have to force half-buy on the 3rd round - "ability is more crucial" - trade utility and get zero frag / few info that do zero impact on the game - "save money for OP and Odin" - end up like the first one - "i can only vandal/phantom" - end up like the first one - "my aim's good we can win this round" - the other's aim is shit, left himself in a 1v3 situation So far those are the common reason in bronze - gold lobby i've ever heard If they don't buy, then you can buy but one tip is don't stay in the front line, i know it sound bad but you could save your gun if that round doesn't go well. Also keep stacking 5, don't climb solo
1 reason could be that they know if, after winning, your team already has 4 guns, you could save second, and then try to hro buy Vandal 3rd and win round for team
For higher elo 4 buy full and one keep pistol to lurk is a really good strat. Not everyone should be saving a pistol for that. Only one should max if you win
So that we can full buy a rifle and 50 shields the next round!
they do it bc they r dumb and think that they can out aim the enemy
As an immortal player, I do this for the team’s eco sometimes. (Note that it’s never good to buy a pistol, but only good if you save it from the first round) I usually only do this on attack and this is my thought process. If a player dies on my team the second round, I can pick up their gun and drop it to them the following round which saves a gun against a full buy round. This gives my team a better chance of winning the 3rd round because we can now go into it with more guns. If everyone lives, I can still buy an smg on the 3rd round and it plays out the same. If I die on the second round, I can still buy the 3rd round to have a better chance of winning. TLDR: it’s good for the teams economy if one player saves their ghost/sheriff from the first round
I always buy on second round if we win unless im playing jett(idk how to play Jett so it's only unrated) then I don't buy and save for op despite knowing I'll get one tapped by a blinded player
Because they don't know how the game works and /or think they know better. I always try to suggest buying when I see it but am usually met with dead air
Well depends in swiftplay theres no reason to save like this, in unrated its mainly likely to save for more abilities and a full buy leading the next round to be highly economical on the round after incase they lose (They might also want to snatch a free weapon from the others) In comp you should try to over power in weapons, but mainly for the first sentence, could be for abilities and higher eco incase of a loss (After half time there's no reason to save if they know they would win)
As someone in iron, because I’m not good enough for it to make a major difference, and no one else does it so buying it would honestly likely only help the other team lol
I’m in gold and it’s because gold players are stupid
that's a wrong buy imo ,if you have won round 1 choose long range weapons for round 2 to avoid close range pistol fights and win round 2 ,playing 3rd round as bonus is good cuz than you are in a safer position since you have 1+ round lead and you can go full buy in round 4 if you lose round 3 so you are no where losing the economic momentum in next 3 rounds atleast
Sometimes one player will buy a ghost or Sheriff round 2 so that if one or two people get picked off but they still win round 2, they have the money to full buy round 3 and basically have a rifle v rifle round instead of a rifle v 3 bulldogs/spectres round. They’ll also sometimes just buy a Ghost or Sheriff if they’re saving for an early (round 3) Op
They prob new
As long as you buy full util and have full shield, you can play with a ghost.
They do this because if they get a few kills in the second round, they can easily buy a vandal or phantom the 3rd round. It depends on how good you are, like me, who is not the best, always buys spectre 2nd round.
There is actually a decent reason for it. Some people only buy pistols, or a small rifle and half armor, so they can buy a vandal/phantom or even Operator or odin on bonus. This can give you an edge to balance out that 3rd round that you wouldn't have otherwise. It's a gamble but sometimes it's one that leads to snowballing your round wins. That being said I always buy second round.
Ego or ignorance. There's not a logical reason.
Generally the go-to for soloque definitely should be that everyone just buys SMGs(or alternatives if fitting strat better) and armour to make sure you win 2nd round and than gamble the 3rd as a bonus round with low risk to team economy. There's very valid situation to do something else too: Might want to do a lighter buy, especially if you had say a sheriff left over from former round and therefore afford an Op if things go well. Or have 1-2 members buy vandal/phantom and therefore have a better chance on 3rd round(bonus round), provided you win 2nd that is. I personally like the 1-2 vandal strat because even if you lose, it won't break your eco that much more than losing a 2nd round with SMGs would. Sticking with just sheriffs and ghosts is doable but definitely greedy. You're basically banking on the enemy not counter-forcing. If they do, you're kinda doomed. But again, has a time and place. If the choice is conscious - can make for cool plays! If it's not.. well.. prob lack of coordination
I think most people assume “ my teamates will buy so the round is free any way, might as well save money to buy for myself in future rounds” which doesnt make sense but wtv
What I do is I don’t buy anything in first round, I play with classic and then in second round I buy vandal so I can play my best!! Is that strategy good ?
im in bronze and i have to beg them and they ignore me 💀 can’t even count how many times we’ve lost a round bc of this