Having used Echo in ESL Community Cups for quite some time I can say that he is far better in high level ranked, scrims or ESL than casual or lower level ranked. As far as I can tell, in that level of play he is useless; this is because he requires a very high level of team coordination and strategy. Oh, and only use him on Bomb, the proper game mode, he's pointless otherwise. With that cleared up, moving on to how to play him:

MP5SD vs Supernova - This can be down to personal preference as if you feel like you are as effective with the Bearing and 1x sight as an ACOG, you might as well act as a second Smoke for opening rotations; I've used ACOG's for about 1000 hours now so I prefer the MP5SD. NOTE: you may want to experiment with the vertical and angled as the angled is surprisingly better at controlling horizontal recoil in my opinion.


Bearing 9 - with MP5SD use this close range with a Compensator, by far the best muzzle attachment and kill enemies who try to rush you on drone: this requires a decent level of team-play to get the call that you are being rushed. When using the Supernova, you can try it at long range, although the recoil is pretty bouncy.

Playstyle - In my opinion the best way to play Echo is as a hard anchor in a difficult to reach position on site, ideally behind a reinforced wall or Mira window. He never needs to leave the site as he can support roamers directly or play site with his drone, and can hold long ACOG angles if he loses it. Echo has limitless clutch potential as long as he's alive, so he should stay that way.

Positional vs Situational - As far as I can tell, there is a main underlying question with Echo players: whether to keep the drone on site to deny a plant late in the round or send it away to help roaming. I prefer the first option as it is far more reliable: while the drone can offer invaluable information and turn the tide in a roamer's fight, it can easily be spotted and destroyed by attackers and it takes forever to get back to site. Often I find when I play the drone in this way the attackers realise the drone is off-site and go for a quick and cheeky plant.

A better way to play him is to keep his drone on-site, next to a reinforced main opening like a garage wall. The attackers will open this wall and plant in an area the defenders cannot directly peek without getting their heads taken off. A good example of this is the basement of Consulate, where almost always the garage will be opened and a plant will go down in front of White Van. If this happens then you can't peek it without being gunned down, therefore I stick his drone next to the Yellow Stairs railing, somewhere the attackers have to peek in to destroy it. This is a good general practice: have your drone right next to an opening, the attackers will rarely look behind them if they enter to plant (however be sure to keep in far enough away from an explosions or Thatcher grenades as this allow them to get the plant off). Anyway, the drone can be used here to deny the plant very successfully. Also, if you have a teammate you can combine the info you see on your drone with him being nearby. As an IGL I usually play one of my teammates behind Consulate White Van and tell him when to rush the guy planting, killing him before he can react and delaying the plant further, a worthwhile trade as the player will likely be killed.