Pro players and analysts have reacted to the CS2 update: “Just an incredible number of great changes”
Professional players and analysts took to social media to share their thoughts on the recent Counter-Strike 2 update, in which the developers revamped the map pool for Premier, added Rush mode, and made a number of changes to the gameplay.
FaZe Clan captain Russell “Twistzz” van Dalken said he liked the update:
A very positive update! It’s nice to see that the developers are exploring the additional possibilities offered by the new engine.
Although I’ve been using the same crosshair for almost a year and a half, I never even imagined they’d remove it from the game. Now I’ll have to find a new one.
Host James “BanKs” Banks also reacted positively:
The peaking system in Premier is great. The ability to reload silently is interesting.
The improved visibility of blood and bullet marks is great.
Rush... I’ll have to test it out and give it a try.
Analyst Janko “YNk” Paunović echoed this sentiment:
Overall, it’s a great update!
More options for players is rarely a bad thing. The limit on the number of grenades might go unnoticed, but it’ll force teams to make tough decisions when choosing between fragmentation and flash grenades.
Professional player Owen “smooya” Butterfield, on the other hand, had negative things to say:
A stupid Valorant-style update.
Analyst Alex “Mauisnake” Ellenberg thinks the update turned out well:
It’s actually a great update for casual players. My chat with the “old-timers” is just bursting with messages.
Esports player Olek “hades” Mishkevich noted that he’d like to see more meaningful and useful changes:
You’re waiting for a good CS update, and then you wake up to see chicken skins.
Former pro player Martin “STYKO” Stik urged the community to take a more positive view of things:
I think the update is great.
There’s nothing more to add. Be more positive.
Commentator Jason “moses” O’Toole listed the changes he liked the most:
There’s just an incredible number of great changes.
I really like the change to the map selection system. It’ll be interesting to see how silent reload plays out, but so far this mechanic looks really cool.
Content creator Ilya “HaiX” Elin, on the other hand, was dissatisfied:
A lousy and pointless update.
It won’t change the current state of the game at all. All the added details are meaningless until the anti-cheat system starts working properly.
Valve could add a thousand new game modes and a thousand new weapons, but that won’t stop cheaters with spin bots from ruining the gameplay.
Fix the anti-cheat system—that’s the top priority.
Analyst Duncan “Thorin” Shields had this to say:
The next step in Valve’s endless quest to ruin the game with sniper rifles—weapons with which, after a single miss, you can no longer take out the entire opposing team, even accounting for reload times.
CS2 is simply a worse version of the game.
Professional player Andrei “Jerry” Mekhryakov described in detail exactly what will now change in the gameplay:
Quotes are reproduced with the source’s spelling and punctuation preserved
A chicken and a pet—sounds hyped! Or just crazy? More like hyped ))
But!
Silent reloading = overpowered.
Some people say this makes the game more casual. By the way, people said the opposite about the ammo in the magazine (claiming it would make the game much harder for the average player), but it didn’t affect the game at all in the long run.
So now, in 2v2 clutch matches and similar scenarios, there’s extra room for strategic play, but MAINLY AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL:
- Clutch matches:
In a 3v3 clutch, a defender fires 15 rounds from an M4A1-S into the smoke in the help area, and you’re standing with a T-shirt after the A-site drop on Mirage, crouched under the smoke in the help area, anxiously waiting for the guy to waste 20 rounds and press reload to engage… But he uses 15, and then there’s a lull. Should you rush in? Maybe he’s waiting for you to rush in? Or maybe he pressed the silent reload and is already changing positions?
- Creating more complex illusions in zones:
You can start under the smoke screen—take the window behind the white crate on Mirage—fire 25 rounds into the container/window, and then return to top mid, calmly reloading along the way. To the defenders, you’re most likely still behind the white crate—and out of ammo to boot. But in reality, you’ve quietly reloaded and are already in a different spot (the part about returning to top mid could have been done without reloading, but now it’s been added).
- ????? Let’s think about this together—nothing’s coming to mind just yet. But I’m sure there are more examples than it seems at first glance.
Bottom line: just like with the ammo update, NOTHING in particular will change for the average player.
BetBoom Team rifler Pavel “s1ren” Oglooblın joked about chickens in the game:
And will the chickens have quality levels too? Like: “straight from the incubator,” “slightly plucked,” “after field testing”
Valve, get to work.
Analyst Anatoly “liTTle” Yashin stated that the update could significantly impact the pro scene:
IS VALVE BREAKING THE CS2 METAGAME?!
Silent reload could turn the usual round scenarios on the pro scene upside down.
Teams will have to completely rethink their timings, positioning, and how they read their opponents.
Silent exit from the crosshairs—another key mechanic for snipers—is disappearing.
Whoever adapts first will gain an advantage in upcoming tournaments.
What do you think—will this actually change pro CS, or is it more hype than substance?
BetBoom Team captain Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov wrote this, adding a chicken sticker:
Tiny, tasty little things
Vladislav “Krad” Kravchenko from DEPO ESPORTS found the update useful:
Nice update!
They added useful quality-of-life changes, diversified the gameplay with new features like zoom and reload, and now there’s even a Tamagotchi in the game)
It’s worth logging into the game just for this, at the very least.
Analyst Anatoly “clife” Averkov explained why the addition of silent recharging was a poor decision on the developers’ part:
Good morning. Well, I thought I’d pop into the lobby to practice a bit. But instead, I came in and found myself reading the patch notes. Well, based on this first impression, they’re making the game as casual as they can. It’s not entirely clear why they made these reloads silent. Now, in close-quarters combat—that is, if a character has three rounds left—he’ll just quietly reload on the sly, whereas before he’d have to think about whether to reload or not, meaning he’d most likely not… Well, they’d be thinking: should I use three rounds to get a kill or reload? Now they won’t have to think—they’ll just reload right away. The rest is so-so. As for the update, I understand they’ll be removing the “Avik” soon and replacing it with the M-14. Well, anyway, we’ll see—they’ll remove the sniper rifles, leaving only assault rifles. Oh, and as for the pets—I’ll leave that up to you guys to figure out.
Commentator Pavel “Yarushkin” Yarushkin emphasized that the game is becoming more casual:
*** [Damn], who’s into Chinese games? Is this from there? What kind of *** [crap] is this? Did they come up with a Tamagotchi in CS? Will I have to log in once a day to feed it so it doesn’t die?
What kind of fun farm is this?
-Do you play CS?
-Yeah.-Cool
, what’s your rank?
-What rank? Are there even ranks? I’m just logging in to feed the Rooster…
Valve previously released a major update for Counter-Strike 2. The developers revamped the map pool in Premier, added Rush mode and clan tags, and changed the reload mechanics, sights, and a number of other game elements.
Photo: Valve.
