by Just a week after Outsiders hoisted the IEM trophy at the Rio Major, Valve dropped a bombshell CS:GO fans with some big changes to the game. Map changes in the active duty pool and even some weapon modifications are waiting for you CS:GO fans in the new update.
Another titan from counterstrike leaves the active service card pool. After looking at cards like Cache and Cobblestone for Vertigo and Ancient, it was only a matter of time for Dust II. Starting today, Anubis will step into the spotlight to replace one of the most iconic CS cards of all time. Many fans speculated about Dust II’s departure, especially after the map received less than stellar reviews for its update over a year ago. What’s interesting about the move is that Valve teased the idea of ​​Anubis entering competitive play earlier in the day. Valve also made it clear in its post that the upcoming Parisian major had 2023 in mind when making this change. Dust II will still be available in competitive modes, but will not be in the pro map pool CS:GO tournaments.
This won’t be the first time Dust II has been pulled from the active map pool. Back in late 2017, Valve ripped the classic map for Inferno, a map that’s highly regarded among maps today counterstrike community. Dust II’s departure was short-lived, however, as the map returned to competitive mode just six months later in April 2018, replacing Cobblestone. Dust II received a visual update during its time off active duty prior to its return. Players will have to wait and see if this pattern repeats itself.
The other big changes coming with the November 18 update are related to weapon updates. For starters, it seems that Valve is actually taking a page out of Riot Games’ book with its changes to the AWP. The big green now only holds five bullets per clip, similar to the operator in VALORANT. This change will obviously force sniper players to do it counterstrike to pay much more attention to every shot that is made in the future.
The other weapon set to see changes is the M4A1-S, which will be slightly nerfed. The A1-S has long been the weapon of choice over its louder brother, the A4, despite holding ten fewer bullets per magazine. Part of this was due to the A1’s accuracy, particularly at long ranges. It is precisely this long-range accuracy that Valve changes, making the silenced M4 less reliable from afar.
It’s a small update from Valve, but one that will have a monumental impact CS:GO on the way to 2023.
