Pimp: “Most modern teams are simply too stupid for a proactive playstyle in CS.”

Pimp: My bold claim is that most modern teams are simply too stupid to play a proactive style in CS, and that really annoys me. What I don’t like about today’s Tier 2 scene is that absolutely everyone thinks they’re the smartest person on the server and considers constant freedom of action to be the only correct way to play. <...>

It’s as if players have been taught since childhood that you can’t just stand still on the map. Sometimes, in a 3v3 defensive situation, they already have a winning and secure position—they have all the information they need—and all they have to do is freeze in place and hold their spots. But they start moving unnecessarily and lose rounds. At the same time, teams simply lack players capable of executing the freedom to make such decisions. <...>

Nowadays, everyone is clamoring for creative freedom on the server, and everyone thinks they’re a genius. Why have we lost sight of the fact that if a young player’s logic is lacking but his aim is on point, he simply needs to simplify the game? Let him focus solely on shooting, while the captain takes care of the rest for him. Right now, this kind of dialogue has completely disappeared from the scene. It’s time for teams to admit that they aren’t the smartest on the planet and start keeping things simpler. <...>

Mauisnake: This is a great topic, because many teams have switched to an ultra-aggressive style that doesn’t suit their players at all. Initially, this kind of aggression on defense was justified when outnumbered—when you had to take risks and seize the initiative, rather than just wait to be crushed on the farm. But the crazy part is that later, teams started mindlessly pushing, even when they had a numerical advantage, which led to them foolishly giving up rounds. <...>

At the start of CS2, everyone thought you had to constantly run and attack, since holding positions was physically demanding. But now players have adapted to the mechanics of the new game and realized that you can simply stand passively at a point, pick off opponents, and get frags. Teams with a numerical advantage—for example, in 4v3 situations—need to stop constantly seeking out unnecessary firefights. There’s currently too much unnecessary aggression on the server. Players need to learn to relax at the right moments and simply hold their angles, since classic passive map control has become much more effective now than it was at the start of the game.

Thorin: Back in the day, Astralis revolutionized Counter-Strike, forcing other competitors to copy their style. Everyone watched this team’s demos and thought that was exactly how they should play. But that approach only worked for Astralis, since their players read the map perfectly and made excellent micro-decisions. This concept is extremely effective when you have the right players, but most teams simply aren’t capable of executing it. <...>

In modern CS, even top clubs like Team Spirit start to slow down their attack rounds too much and spread out across the points if they’ve lost a donk too early. In such a situation, it’s impossible to make ideal decisions, since the five-man squad starts making mistakes, acting either too aggressively or too passively. In the past, coaches and captains used clear pre-planned plays from spawn to ensure that inexperienced young players functioned effectively within the structure and hit their timings. Now, however, all rosters are trying to switch to a free-form model, and it looks terrible. ...>

At the moment, only a couple of teams in the world—like NAVI or Vitality at their peak—can afford to play proactively, because they have true geniuses on their rosters. The rest of the organizations are simply not using their resources effectively. I really like FUT Esports’ approach: the club’s management realized early on that the roster consisted of inexperienced players. If you give them free rein and let them go on their own, they’ll make a million mistakes. But with a simplified strategy—where the guys move together and rely on their shooting—they’re capable of outgunning anyone. <...>

I completely agree with the idea that many teams are too clueless for complex gameplay. They lack a strong coaching staff, and the language barrier also plays a role—after all, even Tier 2 rosters now include players from five different nationalities who communicate in broken English. There’s a great rule in esports: a correct call made a second too late becomes a mistake. If management doesn’t have genius-level minds, there’s no point in trying to bite off more than you can chew. It’s better to simplify the framework, since autonomy works for only a select few. ...>