Esports
The Dust 2 rework is here, so the best CS:GO players in the world have told us if it’s up to scratch and when they want to see it return to the pro map pool.
Dust 2 is undoubtedly the most iconic map from the entire Counter-Strike franchise, if not the entire FPS world. But by the start of 2017, the fabled de_dust2 had started to feel a little stale when it came to CS:GO’s pro meta. The same strategies were being used in every match and there was little variation: increasingly, games of Dust 2 became dull to watch and many were calling for it to be reworked.
Valve eventually took it out of the pro map pool and have since reworked it, changing a few key things about the map, but generally keeping its core layout the same. It isn’t perfect yet, but many expect that the map will return to pro play sooner rather than later, as it’s such an iconic map and a staple of competitive CS:GO. Of course, the real test is whether it’s made the grade among the pro population – so we went to the ECS Season 4 finals in Mexico to find out what they thought of it.
Jake ‘Stewie2K’ Yip – Cloud9
To be honest I hope it doesn't come back in map pool because I think the reworked map is actually worse than the original one. I don't think there's anything really special about the new map. One of the spots that we call car, there's an actual car there now, and you can hide behind it well, and I just think it's kind of overpowered. I think it still needs some work.
We like to get familiar with the map to see how other teams play first and just see what the meta is. We try to go along with the meta and scout it out a little bit.
Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander – Astralis
I’ve only been playing it in deathmatch, so I haven't been throwing that many grenades on it. But right now I think it looks OK. Maybe it's a bit dark and there's a lot of small things going around on the map – like small cans or boxes, and such – but I'm not a big fan of just putting in stuff to have new stuff. I just want it to be really clean, and I think that's what looks the best and gives the most FPS and performance.
Robin ‘ropz’ Kool – Mousesports
The new Dust 2 – I mean, honestly, Valve could have done more. I guess there’s no like technical implements, just visual. When it will be back? I don't know, maybe after the major I guess? That's usually when they change the maps, but I guess it's important also to get some technical improvements in there because that's why the map was removed in the first place.
Adam ‘friberg’ Friberg – OpTic Gaming
I like the new rework of Dust 2. I didn't really feel it needed that much of a rework, but I think it's still fine. They didn't change anything of the layout, which is good because Dust 2 is a map which has always been a good competitive map so I think it's fine. Hopefully they’ll add it right after the major so we can start playing it.
Chris ‘chrisJ’ de Jong – Mousesports
I really like the new Dust 2. I think Valve have done a good job. They haven't done too much. I was thinking they would add some extra hallways or something to the map to give more entrances to some bump sites, but they didn't – and I think it's a good thing. In a way, it's a simple map but it still feels like original Counter-Strike in a way to play on Dust 2, so I'm glad they didn't change too much.
I think graphic-wise, at the beginning, there were some spots where you could maybe not see the enemies well, but Valve have been listening to the community quite well. I think they're still making changes to the map right now, based on feedback, so I'm happy they're doing that and I hope it's going to be back really soon. We were actually hoping that it was going to be back in the competitive circuit before the major, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. But for me and my team, it can’t come back soon enough.
Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth – Astralis
I didn't really get to play new Dust 2 yet. I think I played one FPL game on it and that's it. So far I think there’s still things you could fix on the map and stuff like that, but it's always like that when they introduce a new map. There’s a lot of things they have to fix and correct, and they have to force the map into the map pool before they actually can get that feedback. It would be ideal that players gave feedback before it actually got into the map pool, but I don't know when they will put it in – maybe sometime next year.
Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen – FaZe Clan
Looking at Dust 2, I think it's a map that's needed. I think we have different maps, different ways of approaching them, and Dust 2 has always been the simple map. Simple executes, it's hard to fake, and maps like Overpass you have to do a lot of map control. Dust 2 is different so I'm glad that it’s coming back into map pool. I haven't played much myself but I expect it to be in the map pool right after the major.
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