Are CS:GO pauses really effective and when should they be taken?

CS:GO fans must have carefully analyzed all the IEM Katowice 2022 stats that ended on February 27. After all, you can find both the number of hashdots each participant, and the results with AWPs, and the indicators of the damage inflicted on the opponent on the net. However, there is a metric that many fans are unlikely to have paid attention to. It’s about tactical pauses during matches, or, more precisely, about the effectiveness of using such pauses. If we analyse the performances of the best teams in the tournament, FaZe Clan, G2, Heroic, NAVI, Gambit and Virtus.pro, from this point of view, a very interesting picture emerges. 

None of the teams did not use the available number of pauses at 100%. If the average for this indicator is derived, then all six of the above teams took advantage of 53.47% of the pauses they could take. There are quite a few matches in which the winning teams did not take a single pause at all. This was not necessary, as the situation was always in their favour.

Teams took pauses after both losing and winning rounds. As for the latter, such pauses are 20% of the total or 31 pauses. Pauses after a winning round are usually taken when it is necessary to revise the strategy or simply to relieve the psychological tension of the players. Pauses were also taken after rounds, which were won with great difficulty and mainly due to the opponent’s miscalculations. And such pauses proved to be very effective. In the majority of cases (58.06%) the team that took a pause won the next round. 

Contrary to the common stereotype teams very rarely took pauses before the eco-rounds or semi-eco-rounds. The teams used only 26 such pauses out of the 154 available.

Pauses were predominantly taken after the sixth round. Earlier pauses account for only 9.74%. They were mainly taken by Gambit and Virtus.pro. These were the traditional breaks after the fourth round. At the same time, the teams did not hold their pauses until the second half of the game. Half of all pauses (50.7%) were used in the first half.

As for pauses taken to correct mistakes or defects made during preparation for the tournament, they were not always effective. In only 44.81% of these cases did the paused teams win. None of the teams took a pause, which resulted in a positive win rate.   

Among the analysed teams, G2 Esports has the lowest ratio of pauses to available pauses – 31 out of 64. Team Virtus.pro has the most pauses after victory rounds, as well as pauses that were taken by a duplicate: a round break after two consecutive rounds. Gambit Esports was chronically unlucky after pauses: it had the least number of won rounds after resuming fights. Heroic was the team that paused more often than others to consult their mentor. Natus Vincere had the least number of pauses after winning rounds. On the other hand, the winner of the tournament, FaZe Clan, had the least number of pauses to consult with their coach.