Expert take: What to do with the M4A1-S? (ft. ropz, ALEX, Plopski)

The silenced rifle has come to dominate the meta since Valve's big balance update six months ago. What are the ramifications and what should be done?

On September 22 of last year, CS:GO received an update that altered the fan-favorite Dust2, nerfed the iconic Deagle, and changed the way utility has worked since the game's inception. Somewhat surprisingly, it is none of those adjustments, but the one to the M4A1-S that remains a hot topic, even six months later.

What was noted simply as "Increased body damage" in the patch notes translated into a huge change in the competitive meta as the $200 cheaper, silenced version of the main CT rifle became capable of taking down enemies with just four body shots at almost any distance — where you would need five with the M4A4.

Looking at the statistics, the M4A1-S accounts for 22.9% of all kills made since the change, while the M4A4 represents less than 2.5%, falling behind the MP9 in usage. There is no doubt that the M4A1-S is now the dominant CT rifle, but what should be done about it?

We asked three pro players to give us insight on the current state of things, how it affected the meta, and what they think could be done to solve the issue.

ropz: "Firstly, we should figure out if it really is a problem"

When asked about what the problem with the M4A1-S is, the IEM Katowice champion Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool pulled back to explain that he isn't sure the weapon's current form should be labeled as an issue.

"The M4A1-S is very imbalanced compared to the M4A4. But then again, it used to be the M4A4 meta for a long, long time. So for me, it's kind of hard to decide whether it’s an actual issue or if it's a good thing to have a shift towards the other M4 every once in a while." ropz admitted he was a M4A1-S denier at first, having played with the M4 at IEM Fall, but swapped after realizing just how overpowered it is.

"I would say that the effect the M4A1-S has on the meta is positive. I think CT sides should be more dominant and teams who get more rounds as T will be rewarded for their good play and strats," the Estonian said. He added that another benefit is that the buffed rifle makes it easier to play against force buys since "it takes four bullets to defeat armored opponents and it's also possible to buy it more often after pistol rounds."

So, what should be changed? Well, perhaps nothing, ropz argues. "I think firstly we should figure out if it really is a problem. Right now it feels to me like it's a way to keep the game changing and have something refreshing every once in a while. It seems the game will never have a major update that will change the picture completely or turn the meta upside down, so it feels alright to have periods like this where there is a slight balance in guns or changes in the map pool. The M4s have never really been equal to my knowledge and it seems like Valve has always made one of them superior to the other at different times."

However, if the goal would be to balance out the two guns to have them used to a similar extent, the FaZe star thinks the time to kill should be looked at. "The current damage output of the M4A1-S is simply way better than the M4A4, to me that is the biggest difference between the two. That sold it for me when I switched, that I could down people with four body shots. I guess that would be the issue when comparing it to the M4A4. If Valve wanted to make them equal, then, in my opinion, they should make it so killing a player in the body takes an equal amount of time."

ALEX: "It lowers the skill required to get multi-kills but I don't see it as an issue"

Similarly to ropz, Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin doesn't think the current state of the M4A1-S is necessarily bad, despite it lowering the skill ceiling, as he notes different interesting ways the change impacted the CT and T playstyles.

"I think that it's easy to get a multi-kill without needing a headshot with the M4A1-S, it lowers the skill required to get multi-kills but I don’t see it as an issue, it's just different. Before it really felt like you needed an instant headshot to allow yourself time to transfer onto the second player as you needed five bullets to kill," ALEX says, stressing that the difference between needing four and five bullets to kill makes a world of difference.

"CTs are much more confident and willing to take fights now, the same feeling as during the AUG meta. Probably the most overpowered part of the M4A1-S is the fact that it's silenced, allowing you to shoot through smokes without tracers or noise and to surprise the second T if they haven’t seen you since they have no idea where you’re shooting from."

"I can't really say that it’s better or worse, it’s different and I like small changes or metas like this," ALEX says, explaining that it reverses the CT and T roles in a way. "Before, Ts were able to be more individually minded, look for fights that they probably shouldn't whereas CTs had to be more tactical about how to approach fights, mostly using flashes or one-way smokes to take a fight." In his opinion, the M4A1-S buff leveled the playing field. "CTs have the freedom to take more individual fights now whereas Ts still have that option with the one-shot kill from the AK, but most of the time I see more teamplay from Ts now since they know the percentages have changed."

ALEX thinks balancing the two M4s is a challenge, but his idea would be to make each good for different things.

"I'd probably make both M4s equal in fire rate, keep the extra damage on the M4A1-S but change the number of bullets from 25 to maybe 20 or 22, and change from 75 extra bullets to 50 or 60, meaning you have to choose between the power of the silencer to get you the first kill +1, or the multi-kill potential of the M4A4." He thinks that would make players have to really consider what gun they want to play with, with anchors leaning towards the A4 and the rotator and aggressive players going for the A1-S. "It would add another dimension for viewers also, seeing players swap M4s depending on what situation they are going to put themselves into."

Plopski: "The current M4A1-S has affected the meta in a negative way"

Unlike his colleagues, Nicolas "⁠Plopski⁠" Gonzalez Zamora clearly stated his disliking for the M4A1-S buff, noting how it is better than the A4 in too many ways. "The current issue with the M4A1-S is that it is both cheaper and does more damage to the body than the M4A4. And not only that but it's also silenced, making it better to shoot through smokes and wallbang because people won't see the bullet tracers." In conclusion, it leaves no reason for the M4A4 to be used, as both the economy and the deadliness are in favor of the A1-S.

As a result, the meta has been significantly affected, the Ninjas in Pyjamas player argues. "Just from looking at the statistics, we can see that the M4A1-S has affected the meta in a way of making almost all maps slightly more CT sided than before. Now the CTs can have more buy rounds since the gun is cheaper and it's also just a very good gun. So in my opinion the current M4A1-S has affected the meta in a negative way."

To balance things out, Plopski's first option is to lower the ammo count along with a slight price change. "In my opinion, they could keep the damage of the M4A1-S but reduce magazine to 20 bullets and up the price to $3000." Alternatively, the damage could be reverted to pre-patch levels, with buffs in other areas. "The other change could be to reduce the damage to how it was before but up the magazine to 30 bullets and keep the same price. Either way, I think the way it is now is too overpowered and needs a change whether that is reducing bullets, reducing damage, or upping the price."