The first professional game in Counter-Strike 2 tested the game on heart and smoke grenades.
Valve is currently letting only a few players try Counter-Strike 2, the massive upgrade that will eventually completely replace CS:GO in the summer. Pro gamers are also among the elite, after all, Counter-Strike isn’t just one of the biggest esports titles – it established professional, competitive gaming as we know it today.
The e-sports organizers from the Electronic Sports League (ESL) have been among the heavyweights of the industry since 1997. And at the ESL found now the first CS2 show match between professionals instead of. It became clear how well the new tactical shooter already works in the beta.
Great fun for players and spectators
A show match in Counter-Strike 2 took place between two specially assembled international professional teams. The participating teams were called The Beta Boys
and 27015
. Professionals from various teams were involved, including players from Heroic and Virtus Pro, but also the well-known commentator Harry JustHarry
Russell played in a team himself.
The match on the beta version of de_dust2
is not only damn entertaining and scarce, but also shows impressively what (professional) Counter-Strike will look like in the future:
link to YouTube content
Good signs, but still unanswered questions
In particular, the new, physical plumes of smoke from the Source 2 engine have raised numerous concerns since the reveal of CS2. The smoke grenades are one of the most important tactical elements in the game, so fundamental changes are viewed with particular suspicion.
Here you can see the new technology in action:
12:11
New Graphics, New Gameplay – The leap to Counter-Strike 2 is much bigger than expected
Both possible gameplay changes and effects on performance are currently being hotly debated. In the first professional match, the hard practice of smoke grenades finally showed. And they were able to convince, as well as the rest of the beta version. There were no major technical or gameplay problems. There was a disconnect, but that’s not unusual for a beta.
Players were already effectively using the ability to briefly clear the smoke with a thrown frag to gain information about player positions behind it. However, this massively weakens the smoke screens when used as a cover-up tactic for advances and protection from snipers.
We will see by summer at the latest whether the smoke grenades will remain in their current form or whether they still need to be balanced. But that would be comparatively small construction sites. The biggest unanswered questions hover over the changes to the rest of the maps and the sub-tick system for input recognition.
What do you think of the esports match in Counter-Strike 2? Do you take a critical view of the smoke grenades or are you looking forward to the changes brought about by Source 2? Feel free to write it in the comments.
