floppy, Axed, & Swisher respond to latest meta-changing update

Valve issued a new update earlier this week, which has resulted in several new gameplay changes and introduced bugs that were quickly patched.

Some of the more major updates are an improvement to peeker's advantage, adjustments to smokes, which can now block light and shadows, and adjustments to subtick shooting. Overall, the reviews of the update have been mostly positive. Valve has rapidly responded to bug issues ahead of IEM Katowice's playoffs, which became an interesting time to introduce the meta-shifting update, especially as the organizer announced they would be using it.

Some questioned the timing of the update, like G2's IGL Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen, who said that such an update couldn't come during the middle of a premier event.

The update has received some positive reviews from North American players. Dust2.us spoke with Complexity's Ricky "floppy" Kemery, BOSS coach Tom "Axed" Ryan, and M80 rifler Michael "Swisher" Schmid to understand their reactions to the update, thoughts on the change to peeker's advantage, and the timing of the update.

Axed and floppy both generally agreed with the idea that the game feels better on holding angles. "I can hold angles again," said the Complexity star. "Feels very good online with 20 ping, excited to play LAN with this update, and it's been the #1 thing I've been looking forward to."

While the game has felt smoother, it has caused some unintentional issues that Valve has yet to fix. "The FPS has tanked for me personally, but some of my teammates are unaffected," Axed commented. "I don't know if changing smoke shadows before the RMR was necessary, but it's the world we live in".

Not everyone has seen the same kind of gameplay update Axed and floppy have. Swisher told Dust2.us that the game still feels the same to him. While floppy and Axed focused on gameplay, Swisher focused on one of the other issues that the community has been dealing with in recent days: stickers. Swisher called the change "questionable" and that while other game developers figured out how to control community output, Valve doing so after so long was interesting.

floppy seemed to be the only one excited that the update came before the PGL Copenhagen Major Americas RMR, while Swisher and Axed were hesitant. It's a tough battle for Valve to try to introduce new updates that can improve the quality of the game but doing so in a way that cannot disrupt the delicate in-game meta. As Swisher aptly put the timing, "Man, they ran the change mid-event for IEM Katowice... fuck it."

The American teams have time to adjust to the new meta before the Monterrey LAN begins on March 1st where Complexity, M80, and Boss will compete against the likes of Liquid, FURIA, and other competitors from South America for just five spots at the upcoming Major in Denmark.