CSGO Grenades – Molotovs

Molotovs are one of the more skill-based grenades that CSGO has to offer. Use them well, and you can easily take out pesky attackers and lurkers. Use it poorly, and you can not only cost your team valuable time but kill them, as well. 

Ignoring decoys, CSGOs grenade pool is split up into two offensive and two utility, well, for the sake of this article. You have the smoke grenade and flashbangs, then you have frag grenades, which are fairly mundane, and molotovs. 

There are actually two types of Molotov grenades in CSGO. You have the molotovs that the terrorist side gets, and you have the incendiary grenade that the counter-terrorist side gets. The two are identical in every way, with the exception of price, where the CT grenade costs a little bit more. 

That is because incendiary grenades on defense are just as powerful as molotovs on offense. For those unaware, when the grenade explodes, it spreads fire all across the ground, dealing massive damage for a good few seconds. On top of that, you can bank them off walls and surfaces. 

For attackers, this affords them the perfect opportunity to flush enemies out of hiding spots and force them to either fall back or to engage. Combine them with smokes when attacking a site, and you can not only cut off a line of sight for a lot of enemy defenders but flush out any lurkers on the site, as well. 

Be warned, though, molotovs and incendiaries do team damage, so if you mess up your throw, you’re going to be doing some chunky friendly fire and gaining the anger of your teammates. 

The grenade is great on offense, but where it really shines is when in the hands of a defender. There are a few ways to use it here, but some are more effective than others. Take the scenario where the enemy decides to flash and rush the bombsite, let’s say on mirage, and they're pushing A through ramp. You can be sitting Fireboxes, and bank an incendiary off the side of ramp and down into it, coving the whole thing in flames. 

Not only is this going to deal crazy damage to the enemies caught up in it, but it is also going to make them panic. Either falling back and wasting time and utility or pushing up in a tizzy, on half health, essentially turning the round into a shooting range for the defenders. 

You can also use them to just burn time. If you notice the defenders are playing slow, wait for them to burn the clock, and when they’re ready to attack, burn it some more with molotovs and smokes. 

The damage is nice, but what you really want from the grenade as a defender is to make the enemies panic. When they panic, they get sloppy and make mistakes, strategies, and pushes fall apart, and rounds are much easier to win. 

Like other grenades, maps have learnable Molotov and incendiary grenade spots, so take some time to learn them.