What is MR12 in Counter-Strike?

Aug 25, 2023

Reading time: 2 min

If you’re in the Counter-Strike community, you’ve likely heard the phrase MR12 recently.

The short-form MRX is a way of communicating how many games are the maximum possible length in a full half of play for one side in Counter-Strike. Currently, there are 15 rounds in a given Counter-Strike half, which makes the current format MR15.

However, many fans have been speculating that a reduction in game length might help some of the game’s pacing issues. And recent leaks seem to suggest it’s possible MR12 is coming to counterstrike.

Is MR12 coming to CS2?

Recent screenshots of the CS2 competitive scoreboard show that players can win at Round 13, with halftime coming after Round 12. This shortens each half by one game at maximum, slightly compressing the length of a CS2 game.

MR12 was once the standard for Counter-Strike games, with CS 1.6 having MR12 as the default ahead of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s release. According to these screenshots, Valve seems to be ready to speed up CS2 by a significant margin by readopting MR12 as the default.

Competitive Scoreboard shows win at Round 13, Half at Round 12. MR12 is happening however no economy change is spotted yet. pic.twitter.com/QKJPJRBp98
— ThourCS (@ThourCS) August 18, 2023

Some see this as an inevitable piece of evolution for Counter-Strike, catching up to faster-paced esports around it. Not every fan is over the moon, however, with many sad to hear that MR15 might be going away.

The move to MR12 would mean that winning a game would take 13 games, a half and one game, rather than the 15 or MR15. In a game as complex and economy-based as Counter-Strike, this is a massive change.

It hasn’t yet been fully confirmed that the switch is being made, but many signs point to the end of MR15. The full scope of just how much this could change the face of Counter-Strike has yet to be seen, but fans are looking to the future of CS2 with bated breath.