CSGO is a "joke" next to Valorant's difficulty, says shroud

Fariha Bhatti Published 26/07/2022

The ceaseless comparisons between Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Valorant aren’t stopping soon. Micheal “shroud” Grzesiek has fanned the old discussion again, calling CSGO a joke compared to Riot’s shooter.

Before Valorant entered the fray, CSGO ruled tactical shooters. Riot’s take on the genre was transformative and provided Counter-Strike with its first real competitor. While players have many hot takes on which is better, shroud’s word has weightage due to his pro experience and willingness to play a wide variety of games.

The veteran previously stated that CSGO may be a bit more complex but since moving to pro play in Valorant, he’s doing an about-face on that take.

Shroud says CSGO is a joke compared to Valorant

While playing Valorant on stream, shroud touched on the controversial Valorant vs CSGO debate. Comparing both games, he claimed that Valorant is just harder and makes CSGO look like a joke.

In 2021, shroud declared that CSGO’s learning curve feels higher because winning without practicing lineups is tricky. You need to know the best flashes, smokes, and molotovs to come out on top in high-level games. But it seems like his recent career bounce back has changed his opinion about Valorant. 19 agents and a professional Valorant career later, the streamer thinks CSGO feels like a joke.

“CS looks like a joke compared to this game, I am telling you. There’s no sugar coating. The game is just hard,” shroud said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho08sydd-V8

However, shroud has an explanation for his controversial statement. The former CSGO pro elaborated that Valorant may be hard to compete in because of the low skill ceiling. He’s previously mentioned on his stream that everyone is highly skilled in Valorant, which makes it more stressful. He doubled down on his claim, saying that maybe everyone’s good because the game is arguably easier.

Whatever the case, Valorant and CSGO might have been similar in the first few months of the release, but both games differ in many ways now. The heavy focus on character skills in Valorant makes it less aim-focused than CSGO. Aim is still important in Valorant, but abilities have a more significant impact at a higher level of play.

These discrepancies make both games challenging in their own way. Someone with crisp aim may not be able to have as much of an impact due to powerful abilities. Meanwhile, a Valorant pro may find CSGO’s complex shooting and movement nerve-wracking.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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