Video: Players offer thoughts on M4A1-S nerf

After being the second rate rifle for a number of years, the M4A1-S received a considerable buff in September 2021. Its already bolstered 25-bullet magazine and cheaper cost were combined with a buff to its fire rate, and it quickly became evident that the silenced CT rifle would usurp the M4A4 as the weapon of choice for the defenders.

Duels began to shift more and more into the favor of the CT side as the change took hold in sweeping fashion, M4A4 usage rapidly dwindling until it was almost completely negligible and the balance of almost every map shifting significantly toward the defending side, thanks in part to the ability to the A1-S’ ability to kill in four shots to the body at almost any range and spam smokes without tracers. In fact, the sheer power of the M4A1-S even saw some players begin to scavenge the rifle on the T side from downed defenders, and the topic of whether changes needed to be made to nerf it began to arise, with players like Alex “⁠ALEX⁠” McMeekin, Robin “⁠ropz⁠” Kool, and Nicolas “⁠Plopski⁠” Gonzalez Zamora sharing some of their thoughts with HLTV.org.

After nearly ten months, Valve released a small update in an effort to rebalance the CT weapon choices, reducing the magazine count for the M4A1-S back to its old value of 20. However, the reduced cost and even more importantly, the four-shot kill range to the body remained, offering much more of a benefit compared to the unsilenced variant. While there was some initial testing of the M4A4’s viability in the Roobet Cup and ESL Challenger Valencia, usage of the A1-S quickly returned to pre-nerf levels at IEM Cologne, with less than one percent of players using the M4A4 throughout the tournament.

To find out what players think of the nerf and whether the change was enough, we spoke to a number of pros at IEM Cologne, with Mareks “⁠YEKINDAR⁠” Gaļinskis, Andrei “⁠arT⁠” Piovezan, Håvard “⁠rain⁠” Nygaard, Kristian “⁠k0nfig⁠” Wienecke and more weighing in on how the change is affecting them in game. To find out what they said on the topic, check out the video above or head over to our YouTube channel, where you can also find highlights, interviews, Counter-Quiz, episodes of HLTV Confirmed and HLTV Peek, and much more.

k0nfig thinks the nerf to the A1-S wasn’t enough and wants the price raised to $3100