A year and a half ago, CS:GO went online, and the rifle SG 553 got nerfed. IEM Cologne 2021 marked a revival of the pro scene and made us wonder if it was time to bring back the SG 553.
The CS.MONEY blog is trying to get to the bottom of this whole SG 553 situation. Was the decision to nerf it wrong? And if so, how can it be fixed?
Rise & fall
In October 2018, the development team lowered the cost of the SG 553 to $2,750. The decision seemed ridiculous at first. How can a “COD gun” possibly compete with the AK? Soon enough, the community received the answer to this question: it can indeed — and very successfully so.
A year later, the meta changed. At StarSeries i-League Season 8 in October 2019, the “COD gun” was the most popular weapon. This even caused tweaks in strategies used on tournament maps. Valve decided it was time to reverse the change. In November 2019, the devs brought back the old price for the SG 553.
Predictably, this didn’t help. The gun had become part and parcel of the meta and had come to complement the customary trio of AK-47s, M4s, and AWPs. In this situation, Valve took a further step and nerfed the rifle even more, reducing its rate of fire and accuracy. After this nerf in April 2020, the popularity of the SG 553 plummeted into the abyss.
Valve introduced the changes to make the weapon a “match to other rifles.” We looked at the stats of the top ten players at IEM Cologne 2021. All together, they made only three frags with the SG 553. Yeah, a complete match.
Was the nerf necessary?
It’s a tricky question, and we’re going to try and find an answer to it right now. The history of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has already seen situations where weakening a gun was a matter of playability. Suffice it to recall the revolver, which, at release, was capable of killing with one shot in the body like an AWP.
Yet the situation with the SG 553 is nothing like that. In its original form, the rifle didn’t ruin the balance. It was an improved version of the AK-47 at an increased price. It needed to be weakened — indeed, a nerf was necessary. But what the dev team did simply destroyed the weapon. The task could’ve been solved in a much more elegant fashion.
Option one: price
The economy system distinguishes Counter-Strike: Global Offensive favorably from other online shooters. Through adjusting the prices of items, the balance of individual guns can be adjusted. The price of the SG 553 could well have been raised by another $400-600. In this case, buying the rifle would’ve been a serious investment that needed to be justified.
A price change like that could’ve had far-reaching consequences. For instance, it could’ve “disabled” the rifle before the fifth round of the match. All in all, an extremely easy and simple way to counterbalance the advantages of the weapon.
Option two: magazine & accuracy
Let’s start with accuracy. The old SG 553 was too accurate for a rifle. So, one element of Valve’s nerf damage did make sense after all. But instead of a decrease in the gun’s rate of fire, reducing its magazine capacity from 30 to 20 rounds would’ve been a much better solution.
This change would’ve really set the weapon beside other guns in its category. It’s accurate and powerful, and it operates well at distances, but it lacks ammo for point-blank range. Besides, you won’t be able to handle smoke with it, and shooting through walls is better done in economy mode.
Option three: do nothing
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players are no fools. They can make their own decisions and choices. But Valve took that away with their nerf. Now, we’ll never be able to find out where the SG 553 rifle would’ve landed in the meta.
At the peak of the gun’s popularity and a week before that very notorious nerf, Astralis pulled off a 200 IQ trick. In a match against Natus Vincere, they didn’t buy the SG 553. Lo and behold: nothing bad happened. On the contrary, the Danes tore their opponents apart on Inferno. Before the nerf, the meta was still changing and many teams would’ve probably rejected the SG 553 in favor of the AK-47.
Is the nerf irreversible?
Yes rather than no. Valve have had plenty of time and data to correct the characteristics of the SG 553 again. They haven’t. Even considering Valve’s unconventional concept of time, it’s been far too long since the rifle’s balance was last revised. So we can safely assume that the nerf is irreversible.
If you enjoy using the SG 553 even today, you can somewhat sweeten the “nerf pill” with skins. Not so long ago, SG 553 Heavy Metal was dropped. It looks awesome and costs pennies — be sure to check it out.
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