New CS2 update carelessly alters maps’ meta through spawn changes

On the surface, last night’s new CS2 update brought a decent amount of small fixes to the game. As the pros have dug a little deeper into the update, it seems that Valve may have carelessly altered the meta of multiple maps by changing the spawn points.

So, why does this matter? Let’s get into it.

The changes

The changes themselves are simple enough. From what we can gather, the list of changes is as follows:

Now only 5 possible spawn points on T-side Inferno.
Removed 7 possible spawn points on T-side Mirage
New Vertigo spawn points further forward than before on T-side Vertigo.
Added 6 new spawn points to T-side Anubis.
Now only 5 possible spawn points on CT-side Overpass.
Now only 5 possible spawn points on CT-side Nuke.
Now only 5 possible spawn points on CT-side Mirage

For the average player, this actually won’t make too much of a difference in most matches. A lot of players won’t even realize anything has changed! But to high-level players and pros, these marginal gains are crucial. These spawn changes in the new CS2 update have the potential to change everything, and we honestly think it’s a little careless from Valve.

Effects of the new CS2 update

Let’s get straight into the nitty-gritty. Many maps, particularly Anubis and Mirage, had insta-smokes that one player could throw depending on which of the spawn points they came in at. On T-side Anubis, this was usually a mid smoke, and on T-side Mirage, this was a window smoke. This allowed the Ts to quickly take space in key areas on the map, and while these smokes are technically still possible, they now can take even longer to throw.

Now, those changes are obviously annoying for those who have practiced and perfected those pieces of CS2 utility. But they’re nothing compared to Inferno and Vertigo’s T-side changes. In the new CS2 update, the spawns here massively favor the Ts, who now get insane timings ahead of the CTs. On Inferno, they can rush mid or banana and get more time to secure space with utility, and on Vertigo, the Ts essentially get a free peek anywhere they want if they go fast enough.

If these changes were helping solve any major imbalance, they would make sense. But prior to the new CS2 update, there wasn’t exactly many people screaming about how impossible it is to win on T-side Inferno and Vertigo.

Valve doesn’t consider pro play

It’s always been the elephant in the room with Counter-Strike. Valve makes changes to the game for a wider audience, and the pros deal with the deeper repercussions. There’s logic to it – the number of professional (or even semi-professional) players is minuscule compared to the amount of casuals, but that doesn’t change the fact that every patch is naturally going to affect the pros a lot more.

This is why for us, Valve has been a little careless with the new CS2 update, and for no particular reason either. It has changed the way a bunch of maps are going to be played at the highest level with just a few small adjustments, and we hope that Valve will be more considerate of this kind of thing in future.