Counter Strike

[ScurvyRat]

Valve will never add kernel level anti-cheat like Vanguard, because it doesn't work on Linux, aka the OS that runs the Steam Decks and soon the Steam Machine.

The market share for Linux is growing rapidly, especially as Microsoft continues to shit the bed and forcibly insert Copilot into people's computers. Valve can see the writing on the wall and implementing something like FaceIt would drive away the linux crowd and make the most popular game on Steam not run on Valve's own hardware. They'll never do it.

Not to mention that FaceIt won't even run on Windows 10 anymore, so you have to accept turning your computer into an AI slop machine to play a version of the game where you can't even call people niggers. Insane.

I'm sure they're working on something behind the scenes (Source: I made it up) but what they really need to do is bring back the Overwatch system in full force.
Cheaters are incredibly obvious to any player over a couple hundred hours. Sparkles on youtube is making a killing off of his Overwatch videos, which is great incentive for Valve to allow more creators into the program. They have a lot to lose, which makes them perfect for Overwatch. They could open it up to people with old accounts, high ratings, history of trusted play, expensive inventories etc.

They have systems in place to stop cheaters, it just seems like they refuse to use them.

 

[WULULULULU]

I'm sure they're working on something behind the scenes (Source: I made it up) but what they really need to do is bring back the Overwatch system in full force.

One of the reasons Valve cut back on Overwatch was that people were abusing the complete shit out of it in old GO and not even actually judging correctly the cases assigned to them. Sure there would be a few good apples here and there but I'm pretty sure 50% of the playerbase were either very oblivious to wallers/radars/ESPs or were bots that are intentionally false-marking the cheaters to let them away scot-free.

 

[Fucker Carlson]

Update today

[ MAJOR ]

The IEM Cologne 2026 Major Hub is now available. Visit the hub to purchase tournament items, play the Pick'Em Challenge and more.

Purchase a Cologne 2026 Viewer Pass to receive an upgradable Cologne 2026 Coin. With an active pass, you can upgrade your coin and earn rewards by playing the Pick'Em Challenge. Additionally, you will show up on the Active Pass Leaderboard where you can compare your Pick'Em Challenge performance to your friends.

[ UI ]

Fixed a case of incorrect scoreboard timeline presentation in overtime.

Fixed weapon entities disallowing pickup from showing pick up weapon hint text.

Increased spectator in-eye flash amount.

[ MISC ]

Souvenir quality items can now be selected in Trade Up Contract alongside normal quality items. All Souvenir attributes will be removed from any souvenir items selected, and the result of a Trade Up Contract will be a single normal item of a quality one higher, from a collection of all of the items selected for exchange.

Fixed a case where tire fire particles were flickering in the advanced video preview.

Adjusted finger animation on Bayonet model.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/730/view/685254577766793646?l=english

 

[Rust Troony]

Souvenir quality items can now be selected in Trade Up Contract alongside normal quality items. All Souvenir attributes will be removed from any souvenir items selected, and the result of a Trade Up Contract will be a single normal item of a quality one higher, from a collection of all of the items selected for exchange.

Suffah, "investors"!

 

[my penis is on fire]

NRG vs BIG, Stage 1 Round 5, Map 3
NRG was up 12-0 at the half, then BIG won 16 rounds in a row to take it to overtime and win. This has never happened before in a major.

Jesus Fucking Christ. At this point just take NA CS out back and shoot it. It's an international embarrassment that for some reason keeps getting millions of dollars pumped into it.

 

[Thiletonomics]

NRG vs BIG, Stage 1 Round 5, Map 3
NRG was up 12-0 at the half, then BIG won 16 rounds in a row to take it to overtime and win. This has never happened before in a major.
Ver archivo adjunto 9105195
Jesus Fucking Christ. At this point just take NA CS out back and shoot it. It's an international embarrassment that for some reason keeps getting millions of dollars pumped into it.

Doe this choke job by NRG literally scream match-fixing, or is NA CS that dogshit? This looks so bad that even Japanese and Korean CS teams, if those were a thing, could beat them.

 

[FootballBuff]

NRG vs BIG, Stage 1 Round 5, Map 3
NRG was up 12-0 at the half, then BIG won 16 rounds in a row to take it to overtime and win. This has never happened before in a major.
Ver archivo adjunto 9105195
Jesus Fucking Christ. At this point just take NA CS out back and shoot it. It's an international embarrassment that for some reason keeps getting millions of dollars pumped into it.

Holy shit, I haven't seen a collapse this big since 9/11.

 

[Lake Cresva Diver]

is america good at any comp games? what really surprises me is that there are 0 great age of empires 2 players from america and i dont follow any other games.

 

[Null]

NRG was up 12-0 at the half, then BIG won 16 rounds in a row to take it to overtime and win. This has never happened before in a major.

 

[I Pick Minions]

You would have thought that NA teams would do better in shooter games since they have been nothing but dodging bullets since primary school

 

[Milles d'Allemagne]

you can't tell me this guy doesn't touch kids and therefore deserves this embarrassment

 

[hawkisnight]

NRG vs BIG, Stage 1 Round 5, Map 3
NRG was up 12-0 at the half, then BIG won 16 rounds in a row to take it to overtime and win. This has never happened before in a major.
Ver archivo adjunto 9105195
Jesus Fucking Christ. At this point just take NA CS out back and shoot it. It's an international embarrassment that for some reason keeps getting millions of dollars pumped into it.

Spoiler: If you want to see it in full with chat reaction

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2789137169?t=6h4m45s

 

[Symbol of the Chud]

is america good at any comp games? what really surprises me is that there are 0 great age of empires 2 players from america and i dont follow any other games.

The Americans don't need good players they have T90 and he's the best in our hearts.

 

[Breadbassket]

You don't even need to watch or keep up with competitive Counter Strike to know that NRG was truly and utterly humiliated.

 

[NiggerDeathRay]

NRG vs BIG, Stage 1 Round 5, Map 3
NRG was up 12-0 at the half, then BIG won 16 rounds in a row to take it to overtime and win. This has never happened before in a major.
Ver archivo adjunto 9105195
Jesus Fucking Christ. At this point just take NA CS out back and shoot it. It's an international embarrassment that for some reason keeps getting millions of dollars pumped into it.

North American CS died after Cloud9 won the Columbus Major in 2018. I feel nothing but empathy for NA fans as the region is actively unwatchable.

 

[AirMail]

NRG vs BIG, Stage 1 Round 5, Map 3
NRG was up 12-0 at the half, then BIG won 16 rounds in a row to take it to overtime and win. This has never happened before in a major.
Ver archivo adjunto 9105195
Jesus Fucking Christ. At this point just take NA CS out back and shoot it. It's an international embarrassment that for some reason keeps getting millions of dollars pumped into it.

So counter terrorists won 27 rounds in a row? Sounds like the game is just absolutely terribly balanced crap.

 

[bossmanpeterson]

So counter terrorists won 27 rounds in a row? Sounds like the game is just absolutely terribly balanced crap.

These are the side winrates for the top 10 teams. This game was played on mirage.

To be fair, a Δ of 8% is statistically significant, but the balancing, to me, just seems to come down to team skill. (src hltv)

 

[my penis is on fire]

North American CS died after Cloud9 won the Columbus Major in 2018. I feel nothing but empathy for NA fans as the region is actively unwatchable.

is america good at any comp games? what really surprises me is that there are 0 great age of empires 2 players from america and i dont follow any other games.

NA will never be good at any esport because the ultimate goal of the average NA player is not to win, but to retire and become a streamer. If they manage to gather enough clout, streaming is significantly less intense and makes more money, so the incentive is to maximize streaming careers instead of actual competitiveness. Skadoodle retired immediately after winning the Columbus Major, it happened a couple of times in the Overwatch League (lmao remember when that was a thing), Faze in America was more of a lifestyle brand than an esports org (at least until their total stock market failure), and iirc some time ago one of the top NA players in Valorant randomly retired in the middle of his career. Whole region is basically just a streamer talent agency

 

[Would]

reduced modes are because the game is now oriented around competitive.

The game has been competitive-focused since the Arms Deal update in 2013.

Honestly, I feel the issue is just people get older and don’t like “new” things.

Yes the new games are not going to be like the older ones, which is why you have the god given choice of not playing them.

Use pedocord or any IRC chat and you can find communities around other aspects of CS.
I personally still love the old Zombie Mod and Gun Game from CS:S and found a bunch of spastic yet fun Serbs and Vodkas to play with on weekends.
Transbanana still has old and new skins alike to enjoy older entries as you want to.
You don’t have to either submit to CS2 or play nothing.

@MajorsInCologne I’m so fucking glad I didn’t play the PickEms this time. I’m too old to be following the scene anymore and was just gambling my chances at a digital gold coin.

NA will never be good at any esport because-

Because they’re just not that good.
They either lack raw talent or dedication to the craft.
And on the off-chance we see a prospect, they do stupid shit like matchfix or join shitty teams.
CS at a pro level, is virtually a pure European game.

 

[Heather Mason 2]

I don't see how a team that went 12-0 CT side on a CT sided map, then goes 0-12 T side, then loses 0-4 T side in OT is an indicator that they're shit. To me it's an indicator that the balance in CS is shit and just getting worse. I have no reason to believe they wouldn't be 4-0 in OT had they started the match T side instead

ZERO wins T side on Mirage. ZERO. WITH OVERTIME ROUNDS. Why isn't that the bigger talking point here?