A series in 8 parts, in reading order.
Every gun has a speed, every speed has a cost, and the fix is a key you press in the wrong direction on purpose.
The recoil is the same every time. That's what makes it learnable, and why the best players stop spraying at range.
36 × 4 × 0.775. The multiplication behind the most important difference between the two sides.
Round rewards, the loss bonus that never fully resets, the SMG trick, and the $50 Valve added for the CT side in 2025.
Smokes, fire, flashes, HEs, the one that lies, and the jump-throw bind Valve took away.
Why you die before the enemy appears, what sub-tick does and doesn't fix, and why "I was behind the wall" is sometimes true.
The theory layer: why pros convert 5v4s that matchmaking throws away, what "creating space" means, and the post-plant math.
The detour: bunnyhopping got an official timing window in 2026, and the jump-throw bind got banned in 2024. Where's the line?