All Counter-Strike 2 utility, explained

In Counter-Strike 2, utility is everything. The game features five different pieces of utility to use, each having its own unique purpose on the server. You can hold four utility items at a time, meaning you’ve got to choose which ones you’ll be taking into a round.

Strong utility usage separates the good from the great Counter-Strike 2 players. Knowing the right way to use these items can be the difference between winning and losing a match, so it’s crucial to know what each piece of utility does.

HE Grenade

• Cost: $300

This is just your typical grenade, useful for chipping away at your opponent’s HP throughout a round. While most useful against unarmored opponents, you can still expect to deal almost 60 damage with a direct hit against full armor.

HE stands for “high explosive,” so it’s no surprise that HE Grenades are great for stopping rushes at the start of a round. Certain Counter-Strike 2 maps have choke points that T-side players will rush to gain some map control early, but a well-placed HE Grenade can put a stop to that. They’re also perfect to finish off an opponent that you know has low HP. Just lob a HE Grenade to their general location, which should net you the kill.

Flashbang

• Cost: $200

Flashbangs are the ultimate piece of support utility in Counter-Strike 2. As you might expect, they’re used to completely blind your opponents, giving you the advantage in a gunfight. Costing just $200 per Flashbang, they’re the only piece of CS2 utility that you can carry two of them at the same time.

While there are certain scenarios where you can throw a Flashbang for yourself to peek, they’re best used as part of team communication. A teammate throws the Flashbang, and as it pops, you take more space and kill any blind enemies. It’s especially powerful if you know exactly where an enemy is, as it’s near-impossible for them to hit you while fully blind.

Smoke Grenade

• Cost: $300

The Smoke Grenade might be Counter-Strike 2‘s most important piece of utility. When thrown, it creates a plume of smoke wherever it lands, obscuring visibility. You can still shoot through Smoke Grenades, and you can dissipate them with a HE Grenade. They can also be used to extinguish Molotovs and Incendiary Grenades.

Many CS2 players learn Smoke Grenade lineups. These allow you to throw them from safety, blocking off commonly held angles on the bombsites before you’ve even entered them. This makes it far easier to take a bombsite on the T-side. For CTs, Smoke Grenades can halt the T approach. Sometimes, they’ll just run straight through it, but that often carries more risk than it’s worth.

Incendiary Grenade / Molotov

• Cost: $500 (Incendiary Grenade), $400 (Molotov)

The Incendiary Grenade and Molotov are the same concept, with a couple of important differences. At their core, they’re both grenades that spread fire wherever they land that can be extinguished with a Smoke Grenade. The CT-side gets the Incendiary Grenade, which is more expensive but actually worse to use. T-side players get the Molotov, which spreads fire further and for longer. Five seconds on the Incendiary, seven on the Molotov.

So why the slight differences? On the CT-side, the Incendiary Grenade is primarily used to stop Terrorist rushes through the maps’ choke points. Only burning for five seconds helps give rounds a good pace, as CTs must think more strategically about when and where to throw their Incendiary Grenades.

The T-side Molotov is usually used to burn Counter-Terrorists out of hiding spots. As you’re entering a bomb site, throwing a Molotov can be the perfect way to force a gunfight if you have an inkling about where CTs might be waiting. It’s also great for making sure CTs can’t defuse during the final seconds of the bomb ticking down. Throw a Molotov on it and confirm that round win!

Decoy Grenade

• Cost: $50

At $50, the Decoy Grenade is by far the least popular piece of Counter-Strike 2 utility. It’s just not very effective. When thrown, Decoy Grenades make the noise of your currently held weapon where it lands. This helps fake presence on the map, but nowadays, very few players will fall for this.

It’s especially useless on the CT-side, where weapons like the USP-S and M4A1-S have silencers, making the Decoys silent, too. If you want to use the Decoy Grenade, throw it as a fake Flashbang. As it flies through the air, a Decoy looks just like a Flashbang. This often makes players instinctively turn away to avoid being blinded. Peek your opponent as they’re not looking for a free kill.