PISTOL ROUND (First Round)

The first round of any scrim will begin with a pistol round, as each player will start off with $800, which as you know is only enough to buy a pistol. However, firsts things first, if you are a terrorist, one of the most important things to do is to plant the bomb, even if your team gets owned within 5 seconds of planting the bomb, every member of the team will receive $800, which can make all the difference.

In terms of pistols, it is generally best to stick with your glock and buy kevlar. Never choose a better pistol over armour, i can't stress that enough, as counter-strike is a game of skill and strategy, im sure you stand a fighting chance with any pistol, so stick with your glock and get some armour, because it really is the difference between life and death. Now, a tip: DO NOT buy extra ammo for your glock, there is no need at all. In your glock, you have 3 magazines of 20 bullets, one already loaded, and two in reserve, making a total of 60 bullets. Personally, id be pretty amazed if you fired off 60 bullets in the opening round, even if you did, chances are you can jus pick someone elses gun up, so don't be tempted to buy extra rounds for your glock, because the money you waste in the opening round makes alot of difference in the early gun rounds, it may give you enough for armour, or any number of things.

As for CT's, its a little more complicated. You may need to make a team decision before the scrim to decide how you want to go about it. It all depends on how well your team preforms with pistols, and it also helps to know how your opponent goes about playing their pistols rounds. So you need to decide who will buy defusal kits, and who will buy armour. Generally, i'd recommend having 2 players with defusal kits (one at each bomb site), and everyone else with armour, and possibly a couple of extra usp rounds. Again, don't be tempted to purchase a different pistol, the usp is probably the best all round pistol in the game, in my personal opinion anyway, so stick with it.

And most importantly, communication between your team is the key, whether it's deciding who buys what, or where the enemy is, stay in touch with your teammates at all times.

So lets re-cap:

Terrorist: Use glock (no extra rounds), kevlar, and plant the bomb.

Counter-Terrorist: Use usp (possibly couple of extra rounds), kevlar or diffusal kit, communication.

EARLY GUN ROUNDS (Second, Third Round)

For this part of the article, i'm going to assume that you won your pistol round.

I'd personally say the best option for terrorist's is to buy a galil, kevlar and helmet, providing you have the money. When playing in a scrim, the person with the least money probably shouldn't buy anything for a round, except kevlar and helmet. As the best option for terrorists generally is to stay together as a team, the person with just armour can generally be protected by his teammates. How does every on the team know who has the least money? It all once again comes down to communication, i can't stress the importance of it enough. Coming back to the person who is saving for this round, chances are (as i said i'm assuming you're team won the pistol round) your opponent (in this case CT's) will be using pistols in order to save, so it shouldn't be too hard for your team to overpower your opponents. Incase you're wondering why i recommend you buy the galil over the mp5, it's quite simply that the galil is the better weapon. When people played 1.5, the mp5 was the obvious choice, and when 1.6 was finally introduced, people tend to continue to buy the mp5, as habit. It is best to try and get out of this habit. The galil can shoot through walls, and it isn't a weapon you're going to drop half way through the round for another gun.

If, despite having the better fire arms, your terrorist team loses the second round, we'll have to change our tactics a little. Generally there are 2 options for you to choose from: you can either save one round (pistols,armour/helmet), which will allow you to buy galil and armor the following round (4th round), or you can save for 2 rounds, which will allow you to purchase AK47's and armor for the forth round. Teams generally tend to save for 2 rounds and get AK47's, but it is a decision for your team to make depending on your skills and the opponents you are facing.

Now, onto the counter-terrorist side of things. Generally, CT's look to buy M4A1's and AWP's, so generally a CT team that has lost the initial pistol round, will save for a further 2 rounds in order to buy the more highly priced weapons. However, be careful with tactics and decision making, as by saving for the first 3 rounds, you are potentially allowing your opponent to go 3-0 up.

GUN ROUNDS

So by this point you're on the the 4th round, and you can pretty much buy whatever weapon you want, bearing in mind the other team probably can too by now. Tip: At the start of each round, every player should type how much money they have, this will allow the leader to decide on the potential fire power he has so he can forumulate a plan of action for the round ahead.

If a player on your team has under around $3500 (for terrorist) or $4400 (for counter-terrorist), despite your team winning the previous round, then it is best for that person to buy a desert eagle and kevlar/helmet. As the rest of your team will most likely have rifles, chances are they will kill players from your opponents team, allowing the player with just the desert eagle to pick up a weapon, putting him on par with everyone else, at the same time as having saved a lot of money. Another alternative is for the player with the most amount of money to purchase a weapon for the player with the least amount of money, but as always, this is a decision for your team to make, and once again, communication is very important here.

You may find yourself in the situation where u have just lost a few rounds in a row, and you find yourself, along with the rest of your team, short of money. However, we're forgetting about the player whose been purchasing a deagle and picking up other people's guns, saving money each round, and possibly getting a few frags under his belt. How extremely handy eh? This player can now purchase guns for how ever many members of your team. As a team, you should decide who gets the guns (ie. the best members of your team), and the rest of the team should purchase deagles and armour, and look to pick up dead players guns, hence saving money.

I know this looks like a lot to take in, but it really can make all the difference. A team who doesn't manage their money effectively can find themselves struggle to buy decent weapons for any number of rounds, whilst a team who has planned before hand can have the superior fire power throughout the scrim.

Personally i am against save rounds, as you are almost forfeiting the round, however, they are sometimes necessary, and can lead to your team having the advantage for any number of rounds after that.

Another quick tip: Many people think winning the round by letting time run down is a smart thing to do, and maybe in some cases it is a wise option, but bare in mind, you will gain NO money from doing so.

The most important important factor to any scrim is planning. You can tell by reading this, that it's not possible to just go into a scrim and be this money efficient, it takes a fair bit of planning before hand, but once your team has perfected it, it can make a majour difference. So if you're a clan leader, i strongly suggest you take this into account and start to have a think about getting your team into the habit.

And that's about it folks, the rest is up to you. Any questions or comments, feel free to get in touch.