Negev

“The Negev is a beast that can keep the enemy at bay with its pin-point supressive fire, provided you have the luxury of time to gain control over it.”

―Official description

The Negev is a machine gun featured in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Overview

The IMI Negev is an Israeli machine gun made by Israel Military Industries. The Negev in CS:GO is the commando variant, which has a shortened barrel, and the standard issue bipod was replaced by foregrip to improve mobility.

The Negev is available for both Counter-Terrorists and Terrorists to purchase. Temporarily made unavailable in Competitive Matchmaking after the March 24, 2017 update, it was added back following the April 12, 2017 update.

The Negev carries a 150-round magazine, 50 more than the M249, has a higher fire rate than the M249, and is significantly cheaper at $1700 (originally, it had the price tag of $5700), compared to the M249’s $5200 price tag. Like the M249, the weapon is heavy, has a long reload time, and has good penetration power.

For the first 10 shots when firing continuously, the Negev is extremely inaccurate, easily the most inaccurate weapon in the game when bursted. However, the recoil pattern is unique in that after sustained fire, it concentrates on a point above the crosshair, with very little movement afterwards, allowing for very accurate continuous shots without much need for compensation. The weapon’s movement spread is quite strong however, and the player is slowed down when firing (the only weapon in the game with this property), discouraging firing on the move.

The intended strategy is using the weapon in a suppressive role, firing the weapon in long periods to suppress enemies, discouraging the enemies from rushing through chokepoints. In practice, many preferred to pre-fire the weapon to catch enemies by surprise and continue firing until they kill their target, though this is ineffective due to the movement penalty and high movement spread.

The weapon deals somewhat high damage, but is unable to kill in one headshot against armored opponents, which the M249 can do (at close range). However, the Negev will deal exactly 99 damage on a headshot against a helmeted enemy at close range, allowing them to be easily finished.

Properties

Tactics

• Negev is best used as a defensive tool to deter enemy rushes. Offensively, while prefiring to “heat up” the weapon to low recoil before pushing may be effective to eliminate a few enemies, doing so isn’t advantageous in the long run as the player reveals themselves due to the weapon’s loud noise and the high moving inaccuracy makes it ineffective for multiple targets when moving.
• After around 15 rounds are fired, the Negev’s recoil is eliminated and concentrates on a point above the crosshair. Adjust the aim and use the decreased recoil to eliminate enemies.
• Because of the large magazine capacity, spraying through Smoke Grenades in tight corners can be an effective form of suppression.
• Learn map chokepoints to set up firing positions early and lay down suppressive fire to deter enemy rushes.
• Spraying on concentrated groups of enemies may be tempting but be sure that you have the element of surprise and you have the upper hand. The heavy weight of the weapon may allow enemies to rush to your position before you have the chance to fire and eliminate enemy players.
• Moving or jumping while firing this weapon is not recommended due to the severe moving inaccuracy. It is better to retreat and set up a new firing position.
  • If the player has to move and shoot at the same time, hold down the walk key when shooting to keep the inaccuracy at a less extreme level.
• Switch to a sidearm or the knife if you do need to run, as the Negev has the highest movement speed penalty of any primary weapons.
• Maintain situational awareness and beware of snipers who can quickly kill the user from outside of effective firing range. The heavy weight of the Negev makes it difficult to run.
• Negev has long reload time and a large magazine size that doesn’t require many reloads, so be aware and select the optimal place and time for reloading.

Update History

Achievement

Bugs

• Oddly, if carrying a hostage, the player moves faster while wielding the Negev. This also applies for the M249.

Trivia

• In early versions of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the player character’s left hand held the Negev by the body. Following an update, the player character’s left hand held the Negev by its carrying handle.
• When the player runs out of reserve ammo, the draw animation will change, with the cocking motion removed. Oddly, when there is still loaded ammunition left, the ammo belt will be absent during the draw animation, but will reappear when the animation ends.
• Prior to the April 12th, 2017 update, the Negev had the highest rate of fire of any weapon in the Counter-Strike series, being at over 1000 RPM. Before Global Offensive however, the P90 held this title at 900 RPM. The P90 once again holds the record since the Negev’s RPM has been lowered down to 800 RPM.
  • The real-life Negev can actually adjust its rate of fire on the field, ranging from 850 to 1150 rounds per minute.
• Prior to an update, the Negev was the most expensive weapon in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive at $5700. Then, it was reduced to $2000, then to $1700, leaving the M249 the most expensive weapon in the Counter-Strike series.
• The recoil mechanics added to the Negev on the March 24, 2017 update are similar to what was planned be used for the M60 during the development of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (Gearbox build).

External links

• IMI Negev at Wikipedia.
• CS:GO Negev Weapon Guide on YouTube.