Changes to the M4A1-S:
While a price increase of $100 may seem like a trivial change, the amount of change this will likely have on the meta is fairly high. It was changed “to balance the weapon with its utility”. So essentially, valve looked at numbers from both pro tournaments and matchmaking and noticed that the M4A1-S was being used far more often than the M4A4. They want to see a wider range of usage, so they are making the weapon closer in cost to the M4A4. This will just cause the meta to change to the majority of people using the M4A4 instead of the M4A1-s, since there were no changes to the silenced version to make it WORTH the price increase.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the M4A1-S. I have loved it since 1.6 and was jumping with joy when they added it to Global Offensive. However, the weapon has limitations. The most obvious one being bullet capacity. It makes me sad that I can’t wallbang with the weapon as effectively as its noisy counterpart. I personally think that a great change would have been to add a third clip. Make it a 20/60 instead of a 20/40, this makes the weapon still viable for the cost.
Changes to the AWP and Autosnipers:
Cry foul and let loose the dogs of war! They broke the AWP! At least, that’s what the internet would have you believe. Changing the scoped walking speed of the weapon was definitely a drastic change. The weapon just feels different. Trying to push for picks with the AWP previously was pretty damned easy, I will admit. Being able to jiggle peek a camper with a weapon of that calibre is also fairly insane.
So, how does this affect players? Since it changes the way you move with the weapon, you are going to have to spend more time developing your quick-scope skills, and peeking with the weapon changes pretty heavily. As much as I would love to give you tips and tricks for this one, my sniping has always been a step to the weird side andI feel I would just confuse you. I’ve always favored the quick-scope method of peaking with the weapon, so I don’t know how much this will impact me.
With Copenhagen Games being this weekend, I am sure we will see some of the pro AWP tactics and how they have adapted.
Once again, this is only my take on the changes. We would love to hear your thoughts on the changes, drop us a comment and let us know!
