G2 kennyS explains why he “doesn’t like” CSGO’s latest AWP update
ESLG2 Esports star Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub has revealed his thoughts on the latest CSGO AWP updates which arrived in the FPS title’s February 24 patch, and the French marksman is less than pleased with Valve’s tweaks.
Counter-Strike’s hefty February 24 patch may have been mainly focused on a UI refresh for the title, well as a series of agent skins patches for players wanting to spice up their characters, but hiding in the miscellaneous changes was a big tweak.
Far from the headlines of the 600mb update lay a seemingly small swap to AWP crouching acceleration. While the change — which sees acceleration no longer spike after firing a shot — doesn’t seem big, it may have far-reaching effects.
ValveAccording to the long-standing G2 Esports star, who is renowned for being one of the FPS title’s most eagle-eyed AWPers, the tweak is going to have a big impact on anyone wielding the must-have Magnum Sniper Rifle in-game.
In particular, many pro stars won’t be rushing in while armed with the $4,750 weapon option, but will spend most rounds creeping around — often crouched. Slowing down that option may change the way AWPers play, kennyS said.
“After trying that new update [on Feb 24] I don’t like it. Here is my feedback: Valve just want to make it slower all the time, the crouching movement was a pretty usual thing to do for an AWPer, definitely a big change,” he said on Twitter.
After trying that new update, I don’t like it. Here was my feedback 😂
Tbh they just want to make it slower all the time, crouching movement was a pretty usual thing to do for an AWPer, definitely a big change
— kennyS (@kennyS_) February 25, 2020
kennyS also agreed with the suggestion it feels “extremely weird” balancing the stop-start movement of the AWPer after the patch, and joked that wielding the game’s heavy machine gun option the Negev is “much faster.”
The Frenchman also joked the next step was for Valve to “remove the scope,” after another of his fans said they believe the Counter-Strike devs are constantly trying to nerf the sniper rifle after watching kennyS’ highlight reels from his time on Titan.
Whether or not it’s a targeted ban — it’s unlikely CSGO’s balance team is still trying to mitigate Schrub’s impact from when he was popping off five years ago — it is still a strange change for AWPers across the game, and may take some getting used to.
I heard next step is to remove the scope
— kennyS (@kennyS_) February 25, 2020
kennyS did get one last chance to see out the old AWP crouch movement in style as G2 Esports ran over 100 Thieves 16-3, 16-2 to book a second-round battle with mousesports and bump the Australian roster into a lower-bracket scrap.
The Frenchman clocked up a game-high 17 AWP kills across the two-map series, and added 29 eliminations to the pile overall. It was Nemanja ‘huNter-’ Kovač who shone brightest in the opener though, piling the hurt on 100T with 41 kills.
The European squad’s marksman wasn’t without his own personal highlights either, however, and he reminded the world why he’s considering so deadly with the AWP as he nailed three struggling 100T members on Mirage.
G2 Esports next take on European rivals mousesports on Wednesday evening, before potentially stepping into a heavyweight battle with the winner of Team Liquid vs Evil Geniuses, to be played just hours later.
Read the full CSGO Feb 24 Patch here, and keep track of all the ongoing action at the IEM World Championship in Katowice with Dexerto’s dedicated coverage hub, which includes everything from streams, to highlights, and more.