AWPgust: The art of the noscope

It's somewhat ironic that a gun defined by its scope, is so often remembered for what players have done without it.

Of course, that is human nature. We choose not to remember the common occurence; NiKo has hit a whole lot of one deags on Nuke, but if I say the words 'NiKo Nuke Deagle', none of the shots he hit come to mind.

The noscope has a level of mythology and mysticism attached to it that no other shot in CSGO really has. As if there was some hidden technique that only could be understood by true masters of the game, we look at the great noscopes as something more than pure luck.

It wasn't lucky that coldzera collateralled Team Liquid in the Major semi-final. The bullet was guided by fate, Team Liquid were cursed, or some sort of menagerie of the two.

When you see s1mple hit a noscope, you assume that his mastery of the gun is such that his noscopes are more likely to hit than yours - and though everything points to that being untrue, we can't in good faith tell you it is.

His noscopes do just seem to hit more.

What makes a noscope so magical?

How many games has your B anchor thrown trying to recreate the coldzera noscope?

The answer is not zero, I can almost guarantee. Perhaps it's this feeling that a jumping noscope could happen to - or for - anyone that makes it so alluring. That could have been me, or you, jumping and noscoping Team Liquid in that situation. When you see NiKo rip off four heads, you're probably acutely aware you couldn't do that to the best team in the world.

When one sees a jumping noscope, one feels they could recreate it if they just had the luck.

Michal Konkol

Going for a noscope is nearly always a risky affair. You're risking your life, $5750 of your perennially fragile economy, the round and potentially the even more fragile mental state of your teammates. If you miss, it's nearly always lights out - a fact true of scoped shots too, but this one comes down to fate.

That's what makes it magical. The fate of the round comes down to a dice roll, to destiny. You take a leap of faith into the arms of destiny and see if it catches you - and when it does, it seems like some sort of higher being has divined that you will win this round.

It can't be coincidence that coldzera picks up a collateral with a jumping noscope in a Major semi-final to ensure Team Liquid's choke. It's too... perfect. If you'd written the script like this, it'd be too ridiculous to go live.

The (literal) art of noscopes

It's no coincidence too that two of the graffitis we've had over the years have been noscope plays. You can account for device scoping on an angle. We've seen a hundred ZywOo clutches that are played perfectly. What you can't be ready for is the rules being bent and fate firing an arrow straight through your heel.

s1mple was destined to be the best player of all time, and it was obvious to many who watched him that he was special - but his ascension to superstardom was gifted by the gods through a slice of luck.

Or two.

With fnatic racing onto what seemed to be an empty bombsite, the percentage play would be to stay in heaven and look to pick off the crossing player. What makes s1mple so special, though, is that he knows when to break the rules.

Michal Konkol

He took a literal leap of faith, hopping out of heaven to barrelstuff the first player in mid-air in a play that could only be described as 'ill-advised' for a mere mortal. It worked, beautifully, though, as fnatic weren't ready for it in the slightest.

KRiMZ wasn't even looking to see destiny drop the hammer on his teammate, but caught a chestful of lead as s1mple quickly sniped him too. Upon reflection, it became obvious that s1mple had realised that fate was guiding his bullets, and didn't even bother scoping for the second shot, too.

Are noscopes a dying art?

As the game becomes more and more studied, the rise of the calculated, clinical sniper was inevitable.

We rarely see ZywOo noscope because he never has to. He's never caught in a position where he would noscope, because he's already anticipated the peek. device is rarely caught out, Jame wouldn't even be on the site if he felt there was a chance he might die, and sh1ro always seems in control.

Michal Konkol

But there remains showmen, those who believe that to beat the consistent AWPers you need a little bit of unpredictability. Those who think art is the natural counter to science.

It's natural for noscopes to become less common as players become better - but like many metagames, it is cyclical. Battle-AWPing will always be useful, and there will come a time when the noscope is in vogue again rather than the domain of entertainers and virtuosos.

This is not to besmirch the name of the greats who always make the right decision, it's merely to celebrate those who break the rules just enough to create the great moments.

Break a rule. Carpe Diem. Go for the noscope some time. You'll never know if you're lucky until you try.