Decoding the Decoy
- Fake flash. Decoy grenades look almost exactly like flashbangs–the only difference between the two, is the color of the stripe in the middle of the grenade model. If you’re playing against enemies who are likely to have the reaction time/game knowledge to try and turn away from flashbangs, you can throw a decoy, and peek immediately after while their eyes are averted. Free kill. Even better, your enemy feels foolish.
- Complete and total humiliation of your opponents. Like all utility, decoy grenades deal a small amount of damage upon impact. If a player is extremely low, they can have the misfortune of being killed by a piece of utility. It’s a pretty degrading experience.
3. Convenient smoke grenade practice. This one came as a surprise to me when my brother pointed it out, but decoy grenades actually follow the exact same trajectory as smoke grenades. If you’re learning or practicing smokes on an empty server, this means that instead of waiting for the smoke to clear to practice your throw again–or speeding up the timescale using console commands–you can just toss a decoy grenade, check out where it lands, and then adjust your throw accordingly.
4. Cover footsteps. Decoy grenades are loud. Sound is important in Counter-Strike. It’s how enemies hear you. Throw a decoy grenade. Boom. Now you can be a little bit more sneaky.
5. Stand on your own decoy grenade to trick experienced players. Most decoy grenades are thrown carelessly by players as they’re exiting spawn–think of how many teammates have chucked a decoy over the wall onto Mirage’s A site, thrown one into Long on Dust2, or thoughtlessly lobbed their $50 investment into Mid on Inferno. It’s like Q-Qing: instinctual, thoughtless, but still stupid. Players, including the ones on the other team, are conditioned to ignore decoy grenades–the last place they’d look for someone is wherever the decoy grenade is. If you’re a Terrorist and the Counter-Terrorist side is playing unusually aggressive, stand on top of your own decoy grenade and watch as CTs thoughtlessly pass by you. Remember–your decoy grenades explode after about 16 seconds, and you DO take explosion damage from your own decoys. The maximum damage that a decoy can do to an unarmored player is 7, so you shouldn’t have to worry about it too much.
6. Fake an AWP shot to bait your opponent into peeking.
To be honest, I have a hard time recommending this if you’re on the lower end of the rank spectrum (S1 – GNM)–unless you’re playing at MG1+ level, ESEA, CEVO, or another third-party matchmaking service, players aren’t likely to have developed the necessary game sense to make this trick work. In higher level play, however, it’s a viable mindgame that can cause your opponents to make an unforced error.
7. Drop your primary and make the enemy think you’re on eco. Decoy grenades will replicate the gunfire sound of your most powerful weapon–if you toss your AK or M4 on the ground then throw a decoy, it’ll make the sound of whatever pistol you’re currently holding. While some opponents might not be thrown off by the sound of your Glock decoy, more clever enemies can be lulled into a false sense of security and assume that your team will only be wielding pistols.
8. Last round of half humiliation Negev buy “strat.” This is a classic–it’s guaranteed to tilt your opponents. If your team is rolling in cash and the scoreline isn’t particularly competitive, have everyone on your team buy a Negev and a decoy, run out of spawn, throw the decoy somewhere, and then rebuy the decoy. Then throw the second decoy somewhere. The Negev is loud. Ten decoys pretending to be Negevs is louder. Your ears might bleed, but it’s worth it.