Counter Strike and bugs is a tale as old as time, and when a game that has been around as long as CS:GO has, it’s bound to have bugs and glitches every now and then. We all remember then infamous smoke that didn’t bloom instantly and couldn’t control the spread of a Molotov, ‘ropz’ dying to a chicken blocking a door, or even more recently, steps in the water being heard from EVERY position on the map on Ancient.
The smoke bug is no different, be it a regular matchmaking game or at the highest level of Professional CS, it is ever-present. The smoke bug is most prevalent when it is used to extinguish a Molotov or incendiary grenade and temporarily gives the player clear vision through the smoke. Reddit user u/Heinzelboss showed just how menacing this bug is and how it can ruin games by giving the other side a very undeserved advantage.
What is even weirder is that the bug doesn’t reveal what is on the other side of the smoke, and only highlights the outline of the player moving through the smoke. In the new meta, some players such as ‘electronic’ and ‘next sit inside the smoke to wait it out, to catch the opponent off guard, and give themselves a split-second advantage.
This was also highlighted very recently in a Group Stage game between Natus Vincere and FaZe Clan for the top spot in Group C. On the B site of Inferno, Finn “karrigan” Andersen tried to smoke a molly and run through to it. But as you can see, his model was very clearly outlined by the bug giving ‘Perfecto’ an easy chance to kill him and turn the round from a 5v5 to a 5v4 for his team.
Will this bug be patched by Valve anytime soon? All we can do is wait it out, as the company that made the best FPS game for over 2 decades stays silent on most issues and fixes them in the next update. This is of course before the bug is back in some form or the other.
So, as every caster very often tells you, the smoke is not a wall and it will not protect you from stray bullets, smoke walks, or even Smoke Criminals jumping through it.