Watching the major, UMPs were used a lot, definitely more so than any other SMG. Is
the weapon overpowered? For a start: let’s look at what you’d
expect from the SMG class, which is where it can be bought from. You’d typically expect
these weapons to be cheap, low-damage, low-accuracy guns which spam a lot of bullets very quickly.
They are generally used against unarmoured opponents in close-quarters situations, since
damage with them drops off rather quickly. But the UMP45 is a bit different from your
average SMG. I’d argue that in close-quarters combat, it behaves a lot more like a rifle-
and a surprisingly powerful one at that! But its real selling point is that you can get
both it and full armour for less than the cost of a Famas. I saw it being used by both
sides in the major in buy rounds where a player couldn’t afford an AK or M4. Typically,
if your team can’t all full buy then you might instead choose to save for the next
round. But the current CS:GO meta suggests that it’s better in some cases to buy, even
if some players are too low for a full rifle/armour buy. The UMP provides a budget alternative
while retaining a lot of the perks, and having this option certainly keeps the other team
on their toes and unsure whether to prepare against pistols or automatic weapons.
As well as being cheap, another perk of using the UMP45 is for its $600 kill reward, which
is double that which you’d get from proper rifles. It covers the cost of the entire weapon
in just 2 kills! You’d have to kill 8 people with a famas for it to pay for itself. And
48 with an AWP. You also run faster with the UMP than with
any of the rifles and believe it or not, its base damage is greater than any rifle apart
from the AK47! Does this mean that we should all forget the rifles and opt for the UMP
instead? No. Don’t be silly. Even if the weapon had
served a player faithfully in the major, these players would still prefer an AK or M4, and
indeed picked up dropped rifles as soon as they had the chance.
Because what you don’t get with the UMP is the accuracy or distant damage values that
you would from proper rifles. Even its first shot is BAD. In fact, even for an SMG it is
inaccurate! And although it can kill un-helmeted enemies in one shot from 1000 units, the most
damage you can inflict against helmeted foes is 90, requiring you to land at least 2 good
shots against bought-up enemies. Oddly, it’s the third most accurate weapon for firing
if you’re stood on a ladder, ranked behind only the mac10 and revolver.
But yeah, most situations it’s bad. Add to this its limited ammo capacity and the
UMP seems like the worst of both worlds. It’s still a lot better for running and gunning
than any proper rifle, though. Its recoil pattern is also very easy to control. The
first 5-6 bullets don’t deviate from the crosshair too much and if spraying, the second
half of the magazine all lands in roughly the same place, making it one of the easiest
automatic weapons to spray with. ‘Those UMPs… definitely not bad against
armour. I think they have the best armour penetration of all the SMGs if I’m not mistaken.’
You’re mistaken! The P90 is technically better by 4%. But don’t worry, I get what
you’re saying since the UMP is still the best SMG against armour thanks to its higher
base damage. This allows it to compete even against proper rifles against armoured opponents
in close-quarters combat, making the UMP45 an excellent choice for rushing B tunnels
as CT’s. If that’s your sort of thing. The real down-side of the weapon is the damage
drop-off; something that unfortunately nerfs all SMGs. Combined with the poor accuracy,
it makes the UMP useless at mid-range or beyond. Though that didn’t stop players in the major
from scoring some impressive kills with the device.
Other things include its inferior wall-banging ability and limited bullet range. Beyond 3700
units the damage will drop to 0, whereas rifles can be fired over 8000. Though admittedly
there are very few situations where you’ll be further than 3700 units from an enemy and
it’ll be pretty obvious that using an SMG from this distance isn’t the best of ideas.
Despite all this, it’s apparent from its stats that it has a viable use in competitive
play and was used in the major to great effect. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Valve
nerfing this weapon soon as I feel it renders all of the other SMGs rather obsolete given
its low, low price. But why haven’t we seen it being used that
much until now? Well, the UMP didn’t used to be as good as it currently is. At the game’s
release, it cost $1,500, couldn’t penetrate armour as well and had a more difficult recoil
pattern. But in May 2013, its price was dropped to current levels and had a tighter recoil
pattern so you don’t have to compensate horizontally as much, which Slothsquadron
kindly generated for me here. In October of 2014 almost all SMGs got improvements
to their armour penetration, which made them all a lot more viable. It was then that the
UMP45 became the killing machine that we know it as today. And yet it still wasn’t used
much! Why? In short: The CZ75 stole the stage. Introduced
8 months earlier, it was like a budget version of the UMP45 for those who liked to eco but
still have the firepower of a full-blown rifle. It originally cost just $300 (although was
upped to $500 in September, a month before the SMG improvements), could one-shot kill
helmeted opponents and dealt more damage than most of the other pistols. How could you argue
with that, a deadly weapon that paid for itself in just 1 kill? Suddenly, $1200 for the UMP
seems overpriced. But then in December the CZ was nerfed in
almost every way. We were all pleased about this but once again, didn’t immediately
appreciate the UMP45 for what it had become because at that point the tec9 was still pretty
dominant. Plus the CZ saw some of its nerfs reverted the following month.
The reality is that the UMP is a fantastic deal and has been for years. But people are
only just realising its full potential now. When you can get it and full armour for the
cost of a budget rifle you don’t really want any way… or it, full armour and full
nades for the cost of a proper rifle, you can see its appeal. You’ll forget that eco
rounds are even a thing.