Many people focus upon aim and grenades when looking at CSGO, however, this neglects one key aspect of the game which differentiates it from other FPS games: the economy system.

Have you ever watched games where a T side on Nuke wins 9, 10 or more rounds, or seen extreme comebacks from seemingly impossible positions?

Well, much of that was made possible by taking control of the oppositions money situation, and understanding their own.

There are a few things you'll need to be able to do:

• Basic Addition - This doesn't mean you need to be able to do advanced maths, just work out how much money you'll have after round loss bonus.
  
• Be Attentive - You need to pay attention to what the other team has been buying, when they eco and how much money they are getting per round.
  
• Be a good team mate - You might have $5k, but if the team needs to eco, you eco.

Your team have decided that you all should eco. What does this mean, and what do you buy?

The tl;dr for this is: Don't slip below $2k. This should work as a general rule in most situations, and is an easy tip to give to your team in the middle of a game (mp_freezetime 15 is not an optimal setup for detailed lectures on the csgo economy!)

The longer version:

Step 1: Check your round loss bonus. There are two ways to do this:

1) check the last loss and add $500 (or if you won the last round, it is $1400)

2) If you are dead, hit q while looking at the scoreboad and see how many rounds in a row you have lost. It will be $1400 + $500 for every consecutive round loss (so for 2nd round loss, add $500, for fourth add $1500)

This caps at $3400.

If you want algebra: 1400+500(n-1)= round loss bonus where n is the number of rounds lost in a row.

Step 2: figure out how much money you need for the next round, taking into account AWPs and drops. Do not assume you will get any kill reward money or bomb plant money - treat that as a bonus.

Step 3: Subtract the money you'll get at the end of the round from this number. That is how much you need to have after you've bought.

Other things to consider include whether you're the only person who'll be able to drop an AWP or if you're going for 2 buys in a row (in that case you'll need to make sure you have enough for both buys).

Full buys are more important than ecos, so if you have to roll with a glock, take it.

Ecoing is a key part of Counter Strike, and before you do so you must consider the cost of giving up a round next to the success rate if you buy.

Numbers to remember:

$4100 - The cost of an M4 and Helmet
$5500 - The cost of a full CT buy with M4
$4750-$5350 - Glass Cannon AWP
$5400+ - AWP with kevlar
$3350 - AK + Kevlar
$3700 - AK + Helmet
$4700 - Full T buy with AK

When to eco:

• Round loss bonus + current money > the minimum cost to buy
  
  The key time to eco is when at least 2 members of your team are below the point where they can get in a basic buy, and at least 4 members of your team will be able to do so after the round.
  
  Note that this applies to the 2nd round after a bomb plant
  
  
• You need an AWP.
  
  If the other team are using AWPs and you can't counter with rifles/nades, or you have a particularly strong AWPer, it may be worth ecoing rather than continuing to run rifle setups.
  
  
• You are in the $3400 round loss force buy cycle.
  
  Many teams end up getting beaten because they get the $3400 and force buy every round. Take the hit, eco once and run with all the nades and AWPs you want to.

When to buy:

• The obvious one: Everyone has money.
  
  Go for it (exception: see AWP rule above)
  
  
• The pistol round
  
  The pistol should be worth 2-3 rounds. Don't eco on it! Get nades, kevlar, kits, pistols. Don't sit on $800
  
  
• You won the last round. Buy up; it's time to force the other team to eco (or take advantage of an eco).
  
  
• You will have to double eco.
  
  2nd round after pistol loss this is always the case UNLESS YOU GOT A BOMB PLANT.
  
  This is the idea behind the second round pistol armour.
  
  If you have a really expensive round win, spend all your money on the next and then lose, you could be in a situation where your money + the $3300 round loss bonus for the initial loss on the buy and the loss on the eco is less than the money you need.
  
  In this situation you may want to consider force buying that round and then ecoing if you lose; the round loss after the force and eco will give you $4300 as a minimum, which is enough to buy. It is normal for AWPers to miss out this buy so they can afford the more expensive weapon.
  
  
• The other team have low money. This strategy is often seen from EnVyUs. If you know your opponents are low on money and feel confident that you have a good chance of winning the force buy, go for it. It is a big risk but it comes with high rewards

• Not paying attention to team mates money.
  
  Before you buy, check how much money your team has. As a general rule, 2 FAMAS/Galil>1 M4/AK and 2 AK/M4>1 AWP.
  
  Your money is not your money, it is your team's money. Drop if people need it or eco if you can't get your whole team a decent buy.
  
  
• Overspending on pistols on an eco:
  
  Your spending limit on an eco should be however much money you will have spare after the eco. This includes whether your team needs a drop or AWP.
  
  
• Not considering grenades
  
  A flashbang or a smoke on a full buy may be worth much more than a p250 on an eco. Remember this when spending on ecos.
  
  
• Buying that decoy
  
  So tempting, isn't it, to spend that final $50 on a decoy. You'll remember that decoy when you are $50 off that AWP or helmet you need. Treat every dollar carefully, and consider whether you really need to spend it.
  
  
• Not buying that nade
  
  If this is a buy round, you're invested. Don't spend unnecessarily (i.e. 5 scar-20s), but don't be overcautious either. Buy pertinant nades and a backup pistol for your awp, better safe than sorry.
  
  
• Sitting on $16k.
  
  Okay, this isn't that common because hitting $16k is rare, but if you hit the money cap you are wasting money. Try to spread money out over the team because you can't drop kevlar or grenades (DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME).
  
  
• Force buying too much.
  
  This is what playing the economy game hopes to accomplish. It is far easier to beat 15 weak buys than a few key good ones, and the few key good ones can get your economy settled.
  
  
• Double ecoing
  
  With the pistols as they are, unless you are an awper this is never necessary. If you force buy on the first round, you'll get $4300 + kill rewards + money you have spare, meaning that you can try and win that round, and also still have a decent buy.
  
  
• Losing follow up rounds
  
  This is not necessarily something that you can avoid, but it is very costly. Due to the reset of round loss bonus when you win a round, losing a round before you get an economy going will force an eco out of you and you want to avoid that as much as possible
  
  
• Saving on T side
  
  If your team are ecoing the next round and you have less money than you need to be able to buy after the eco, you shouldn't save on T side because this sets your economy out of sync with your team's and is the effective equivalent of buying on an eco round.
  
  
• Excessive saving on CT side
  
  This is linked to the aforementioned 'Force buying too much'. If you save on CT, your team are often forced to buy too much with too little equipment. Na'Vi vs NiP, DH Summer 2014 on Inferno is a good example of this.