Everybody buys grenades but I rarely see them being used effectively, especially by lower
skilled players.
Don't buy them just to use your spare money up, and don't chuck them for the sake of it.
Save them for when you need them- even if it's not in the current round.
You can throw them a long way by pressing the left fire button, or roll them gently
with the right one.
If you press both together then you do a middle throw which I strongly advise against- not
that there's anything wrong with the throw, but I believe it's better to master the longer-range
one instead.
It won't limit what you can do and it's easier for your brain to manage.
You can throw grenades EVEN further by running forwards as you throw them, and EVEN FURTHER
again by jumping JUST before throwing them!
With this you should have no trouble chucking them as far as you need to.
They can bounce off items so you can even get them around corners.
Learn this and all you'll have to master will be the timing.
Remember, the right grenade in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world.
If moving, be sure to be running in a straight line when throwing them as otherwise their
trajectory will be difficult to plan and things will probably go wrong.
Also be on the look out for teammates, who seem to love getting in the way of grenades,
particularly the dangerous ones.
I'll now go through each of them separately and will list the good and bad uses that I've
encountered.
Firstly, the high explosive grenade.
It costs $300 and rarely kills people on its own, but a well placed grenade can seriously
damage an entire team and a second one can finish the job.
They're best used in tight spaces where the other team can't avoid them even if they spot
them coming.
This sounds easy in practice but requires coordination and teamwork.
If you can hear the enemy team rushing, let your teammates know so that they can deploy
the appropriate grenades.
When you're on your own, your approach to grenades changes.
You don't want to have a grenade equipped when you spot the enemies rushing towards
your position.
Grenades take time to aim, throw and explode and you'll often miss your chance and will
alert the enemy of your intentions.
Because of this I try to keep a weapon equipped, allowing for me to return fire instantly.
Grenades act as a deterrence which I use to punish enemies who are going to give me a
hard time.
If I have to change position or do something that will likely get me shot, I throw a grenade
to occupy the enemy.
They can choose to run away and let me live, or try to shoot me but take grenade damage
in the process.
You'll find that most enemies panic and will try to retreat, letting you live to fight
another day!
They also leave a lot of black smoke for a few seconds after the explosion which acts
as a temporary smoke screen.
Buying armour reduces the damage a grenade does by 40%, which doesn't sound like much
but it means that instead of 90 damage it could cause 54.
Definitely worth it.
There are other benefits to armour as well which I cover in more depth in my advanced
grenade guide.
Give it a look if you want to see how much depth there is to this aspect of CSGO.
It goes without saying that you shouldn't throw them near teammates or yourself.
Be careful not to keep them equipped for extended periods of time.
They won't explode, but it's all too easy to accidentally throw them when you don't
want to, and if an enemy kills you, your grenade will drop and explode whether you want it
to or not.
Next up- flash grenades.
They're nowhere near as dangerous as they were in Counter Strike Source.
If you see them coming, look away and you'll only be partially blinded.
If you ARE hit by one of these, don't spray wildly as this will indicate to the enemy
that you were hit.
Alternatively, if you aren't blinded, feel free to fire some shots which will usually
result in the enemy showing himself to try and shoot you.
Mind games are awesome.
Unfortunately, they are easy to see coming and people will often look away in time.
To overcome this, you can hide them in smoke grenades.
These, and pop-flashes, are pretty much the only things that work in higher level games.
Pop-flashes are flashes that explode the moment they're visible to the enemy, meaning that
they have no time to look away.
These require practice and map knowledge.
There are plenty of videos online showing these.
It may be worth learning a few of these on your favourite maps.
You can also throw flash bangs behind you, which will blind enemies in front of you a
lot more than it blinds yourself.
It puts people in a difficult situation.
Flashes are best used to tip the balance in your favour if you're rushing into an enemy-infested
area.
They can also be used instead of an explosive grenade to cover your retreat or to momentarily
prevent enemies from shooting you as you turn a corner.
Smoke grenades obscure vision.
They're best used in confined spaces and getting caught in one can be totally disorientating.
Even after you've left the smoke you're still blind for a moment, making you an easy target.
They only produce smoke once they've come to a stop after being thrown and last for
around 25 seconds.
Using multiple smokes at the right times in the same location can block entrances almost
for entire rounds, which puts incredible pressure on the other team.
If you're on the attacking team they are useful for blocking up dangerous entrances, reducing
the number of places you need to secure when taking a bombsite or somewhere similar.
Please don't waste these grenades.
As with flashes, there are plenty of videos online showing useful places to smoke.
Memorise a few of these and your team will shower you with hugs and kisses.
Molotovs are like firey smoke grenades.
They don't obscure vision quite as much, but on the plus side they KILL people who run
through it.
They're a lot more expensive for CTs than they are for Terrorists but they behave in
a similar way.
I have several videos detailing common myths regarding these elusive grenades.
It's worth noting that smoke grenades extinguish the flames.
Do NOT chuck a molotov into a smoke grenade unless you want to waste money!
You're restricted in where you can throw them because unlike smoke grenades, molotovs detonate
when they hit the ground or if they're in the air for too long.
Practice with these on an empty server before wasting them in matches- I'll provide details
for doing this in the description of the video.
And finally, decoy grenades, the cheapest item in the game and by far the most wasted.
Nobody really knows what to do with them!
Once thrown, they make the sound of your primary weapon and show up on the enemy's map as a
player, but they're very easy to spot.
In theory this should lead to all sorts of strange tactics, like everybody chucking them
at one site and then going to the other, or double bluffing and going to the first one
regardless, but in reality they're just annoying to listen to.
They DO look a bit like flash bangs, so use them correctly and players may look away from
them to avoid getting blinded, letting you shoot them while their back is turned.
You have to be careful when throwing them as they can give away your team's tactics.
For example, if it makes the sound of an SMG then you might be rushing, or if it's of an
AWP then the enemy will know that there's a sniper on your team.
See if you can come up with a use for them.
And that concludes this video.
I have one final video in this series which focuses on practice, improving and winning.
It seems a shame to give up now, right?