Kenny's Quick Tips: Stop Running with Your Knife Out

Stop running with your knife out. 

Yes, even though your Doppler Phase 3 Fac New Bayo may be the coolest thing that's ever happened to you, it will not get you kills. In fact, one of the most common mistakes I see at the intermediate level is an obsession with pulling out a knife to go relatively short distances, especially when the route is not guaranteed safe.

I think people sometimes forget how small CSGO maps are. Most full rotates can be completed in under twenty-five seconds. In rounds that last almost two minutes, there's often room to slow down your gameplay.

Your character runs 250 units/second with a knife out. This is the max possible ground speed (i.e. not bhopping or air strafing). This is 11% faster than running with an M4A4/M4A1-s at 225 units/second and 16% faster than the movement speed of an AK-47 at 215 units/second.


(By the way, this is a good time to mention that if you fashion yourself to be a bunny-hopper, keep you rifle out because you can reach max speed with any weapon.)

Long: Dust2 Pit to Barrels - 2083 units

Medium: Inferno T Ramp to Yellow Car - 1120 units

Short: Overpass Construction to plant - 610 units

Location	Units Traveled	Knife Time  (V=250)	AK-47 Time  (V=215)	Pistol Time  (V=240)
Dust2: Pit to Barrels	2083	8.3	9.69	8.68
Inferno: T Ramp to Yellow Car	1120	4.48	5.2	4.67
Overpass: Construction to plant	610	2.44	2.8	2.54

Let's focus on the short and medium distance timings: We are only saving 3/4th of a second running up Banana by switching to the knife. If you're on CT side and rotating through Banana to retake a plant at B, this would be a situation where the risks do not outweigh the rewards, and keeping your rifle out would be the correct weapon choice.

The short distance on Overpass is an even more obvious example. There's no reason to cross that gap onto the plant site unless you have 100% confident info that ALL the enemies are elsewhere. The one-tenth of a second saved requires a completely no risk situation. If you are unsure of the location of even just one enemy, please keep your gun out.

Of course, you should continue running with your knife at the beginning of rounds because there is no chance you'll encounter an enemy. And obviously, if the timer is ticking down and you need to get a plant down, pull out your knife (or bomb, as the bomb has the same movement speed as the knife).

Also, if you have an AWP and upgraded pistol and are in a close quarters situation where you won't be confident with the AWP, pull out your pistol instead of your knife while you relocate to a better AWPing position. Pistols are only 4% slower - a value that accounts for less than a quarter of a second even at medium distance.

Even if there is the tiniest threat of encountering an enemy, keep your gun out. This is a first person shooter, not a first person stabber. Almost every death with a knife out is a careless one.