Astralis won 10 tier one trophies in a calendar year, and they also accomplished winning 3 majors in a row. But what’s even more impressive that they didn’t surrender a single map in knockout phases in those three majors. They simply delivered when it counted the most. I remember people said they were boring, which I guess is referring to their structured playing style. They just strangulated their opponents and gave them no chances with their tactical approach and of course top class individual players.
They just took plays only when they favored them, and they basically implemented the saving game we have today. I feel like in the earlier years we had a lot more bloodbath and people going for low percentage clutches, in turn, they'd have a lot less gun rounds and the quality of the matches were a lot lower. Many teams now go for percentage plays due to how well astralis learned to manage their economy as well.
@@CapeSkill they probably didnt think about it un first years if CS but when you see that you have 70%winrate 4v5 and 25% 3v5 then why not save and play full buy instead of eco/Bad force. PS. But they were almoust 100%commited to save and didnt leave 1dude behind AS sometimes teams do to catch unaware ts who rush to kill saving team. Or gamble 3v5 on One side effective AS nowadays teams do.
I think most people said it was boring because everyone knew Astralis was going to win. It's like Simple being hltv #1 this year. I personally loved seeing how Astralis utterly dominated everyone
@@akhsdenlew1861 i think boring for them was because no triller. First astralis vs ence good And some other games, but wasnt too much because they win all maps in final:)
it depends on how long cs will exist . if 5years =probably no. if more then 10, then yes but it depends how much devs gonna change cs. If they keep add rules/things then its easier to evolve. Look 2013 vs 2015 it was almoust like faceit lvl 6 vs 10 :) and later it goes in slower scale adding 0.1 and 0.01 when you wount notice that its completle different game
I think we're living through one right now in Navi maximizing the ability to fit as much fragging power as possible into a team without losing teamchemistry or tactical complexity.
@@MortChrist būt navi isnt agressive. They have b encor perf, captain who farm with mac 10/mp9 and 3fraggers who play more deffencive (more towards astralis then liquid 2018).
@@MortChrist they're dominating the way 2019 liquid did just for much longer. But they're not levels above tactically like astralis was. Astralis changed how the game was played even on the MM level (look at utility used in a low gold inferno game) navi haven't done that
that's why electronic or twistzz said they hate playing with Astralis since they can only play half or even lower hp in a round before they can even take a fight with Astra
What stuck to me the most in the team's brand of CSGO is how they slowly weaken the other team's game plan/morale through clinical kills or damage. Like almost any enemy team were pretty much "out of shape" or in disadvantage when it comes to the crucial part of every round. And having an AWPer like dev1ce was a critical success for them.
Great video as always. I was wondering about that idea of a cyclic meta recently. Makes sense that as some t strategies get less popular so do their corresponding ct antistrats, which allows a window for them to be used again. I honestly find the evolution of CS’ meta more fascinating than individual matches themselves. Excited to see where it goes over the next few years.
I feel like that 2018 Astralis has shown how to play the game for the best control and that 2018 astralis is pretty much the standard for today's counter strike. Im not trying to say that they're bad or anything, its the complete opposite, they are the best team to ever play this game not because of the trophies but because of how they evolved the game
I would really like a modern analysis of Astralis - SK at the PGL major in 2017 round 19 on Cache. I remember I was blown away about the way the round was won with utility usage on middle.
I hate that skyboxes are so close to the ground and thus such cool smokes don't work. I used to throw a smoke on cache from garage all the way above a main towards nbk so no one could peek a main from quad/default/nbk which was really nice against awps but in the new cache version the skybox isn't high enough. It takes away so much individual knowledge of maps and it's really sad.
Really insightful video! It makes me want to study CS strat more. Now I can understand some of common meta that applied during a match. Please make another content like this
true. I had a line in one of the initial edits of this video that said "teams used to just throw away their nades like they wanted to get rid of them" when i talked about astralis, and this nade felt like exactly that. I remember in these times you would have teammates that just threw that literally every single round for a full half... right at the beginning of the round every time.
Remember for a Good time 2013-2017 it was illegal to use jump bind. This made a lot of smokes possible consitently. I played on an okay High level in Denmark in both CSS and early CSGO and there was even back then, a lot of focus on utility, but the skill gap for players that could aim was sooo High and just spamming a tec9 or an m4a1 into a smokes would stop puhes. Also smokes in 2012-2016 worked so that the CT could see you waaay before them dont forget that molos did 100+ damage eaisly in the first major and later nerfed to do close to nothing
Do you recall at the start of csgo, where you could throw moly on Nuke t side spawn/gate from Ct spawn, just because the moly was not blowing mid air xD. Those were fun times.
They probably would've gotten 4 more majors, guaranteed 3 more. Their only real competition at the end of 2019 was Team Liquid and even then Team Liquid was routinely stomped into the dirt by Astralis. NAVI would've been fully prepared by late 2021, so that's the only major Astralis realistically could lose if they're out of form.
@@zettour.terrible Analysis. You cant change that much and excpect everything to happen the same way in terms of domimation They might have domimated for just as much, bc other teams would have the same time to adapt.
@@imonshrooms6866 I'm not. Objectively, prime Astralis was simply too strong. They had no weak players and no weak strats. It took 2 years of them basically not playing the game to ruin their form. 4 months without Xyp9x and gla1ve at the same time. 2 months without dupreeh and Magisk at the same time. dev1ce, completely burnt out with no tournaments to play in and being mentally wrecked by his girlfriend and commuting. Also, it's not like the game has actually changed that much. Tier 1 strats today aren't that much different since no one has really innovated apart from BIG and they played a more gimmicky style of CS which most teams can't replicate. A few new lineups and that's it. Today, teams rely on either firepower or star/clutch factor, as seen in NAVI 2021, FaZe 2022, and G2 briefly during their World Final run respectively. NAVI at their peak were all relying primarily on out-dueling opponents and Boombl4 taking space. FaZe relied mostly on their star players popping off and then sometimes defaulting to karrigan's strats during important rounds (karrigan also liked to play aggro like Boombl4 for space). G2 is the most obvious case since they easily have the weakest strat book of every team mentioned here (HooXi objectively awful CT-side), relying entirely on individual talent, especially in regards to m0NESY, and barely setting up their players for success apart from occasional support utility. Fact is, Astralis had no weaknesses. They're the most complete team in CS history and nothing they were capable of back in 2018-2019 is irrelevant or outdated today. Their set strats still work. Their CT-side setups still work. All it would take is some actual anti-stratting effort from their side. We know gla1ve is barely in it from interviews. Coach and blameF are trying to do the heavy lifting, despite blameF never being a good IGL (more like FalleN, mediocre IGL with great fragging). Zonic is gone and he can take the majority of the credit for Astralis's stratbook. The narrative of teams catching up is just wrong. The narrative of competition being stronger is just wrong. Apart from online Gambit, 2021 NAVI, 2022 FaZe, and Heroic, teams have gotten weaker. More incomplete, more gaps, more gamble plays, more terrible calling. Take Furia for example. Despite arguably more success in recent years, arT is a complete shadow of his former self. Apart from occasional performances for yuurih, KSCERATO is the only player doing much of anything at that roster. Then on MOUZ, same situation with frozen with only brief glimpses of team-wide success. Liquid, literally not even close to their 2019 form during any time since then, even when they peaked with YEKINDAR at EPL S16 and the World Final. Every member of that team is a shadow of their former self and YEKINDAR isn't even remotely close to his peak despite his team making it farther than VP ever did. Teams that shouldn't be in Top 10 considering their overall performance simply are. These increasing upsets which are being attributed to Tier 2 teams getting better is actually just because Tier 1 teams are becoming worse and worse. For example, IHC (now TheMongolz), played basically what was standard CS for years with some gambles and managed to upset teams well above their weight simply because Furia and Cloud9 called bad games. Thrown rounds, mis-calls, open sites, etc. are becoming increasingly common rather than the rare unicorn rounds where someone misses a timing. You've got HooXi barreling through smokes thinking he's Stewie2k and throwing the whole round for it, losing to eco. Like, this is not good CS and the idea that Astralis can't beat this caliber of competition is just wrong.
@@vedmanlokesh3944 there era ended in 2019 maybe but they were still a scary team to play in 2020 other than the snappi jugi period even when they had essatag they stil won pro league should have kept essatag over xyp in hindsight now
Holy cow that arch smoke to B totally brought me back to the golden days, I completely forgot about that one but now that I remembered it, it actually was what made me want to learn and become an arch player. It was so useful and so rarely used at my rank back then in MM that I decided if I wanted to win Inferno more I should just play the spot and learn the lineup myself. I fondly recall yelling at my B players to play passively because I had an extra smoke, good times.
I was lucky enough to see astralis throughout their entire prime, all the way from the first major win, and man what a treat to watch. Ppl called their brand of cs “boring” but I always knew it was revolutionary. It was so much fun to see them completely destroy their opponents with their BRAINS, and not just their mechanics. The teamwork on that team was next level, and every single member on that team could’ve been argued as the best at their positions in their prime. Most dominant cs team ever, and I think it’s gonna be a while before someone takes that crown from them.
i dont think any team will ever be as dominant as astralis were, simply because of how they were able to be that dominant i.e. revolutionizing the game the way i see it for someone to be as dominant someone would have to reinvent cs again, which i dont find likely the way astralis were so ahead of everyone else simply cant be replicated imo
The biggest reason why nobody runs through that upper mid smoke on inferno anymore is, the fact that valve buffed smokes and made them OP in an attempt to fix one way smokes. Now you are legally blind when you are anywhere near the smoke. That didnt use to be the case. Running and entrying through a smoke used to be much easier.
I liked it when the krieg was just a OP secret only a few people knew about. I've been using it since 2015, it was just there, in the game the whole time.
This is a question that Ive thought about myself for a while, and before watching the video, I just wanna put my thoughts on why players are so much better now( Own opinion before watching video ) - More sample size ( In the early days less people played CS as a whole, so there would be less players who were insanely good, I feel like same is the case for female CS actually ) - Technology ( 240hz monitors, better mice, better keyboards, more FPS etc. ) - Time, ( Imagine a strat being used in 2013 or 2014, it would have had 7+ years to evolve and be improved on over time, and also better strats would have been created, not to mention the extra time pros would have had to improve their individual skill level )
Thanks to the Sponsor, go.dmarket.com/voo_newyear if astralis was transported from 2018 to 2022 and played exactly the same - they might be a top 5 team. if they adjusted to the meta CS is played now, they had the skillset to be the best team for sure. This is also probably true for a lot of the #1 players (though not every team) of earlier years IMO. edit: the reason the LG/SK/MIBR bit is so short is because I had a bit in there on the jump scout meta (the old hitboxes, if you jumped straight up while standing still, would have your head hitbox at croch level, so in many positions you literally couldn't get shot back), but afterwards i realized the hitbox update was in 2015 not 2016. :(
3:25 i know nobody will react to this because its a old video but i wonder if across the map B smokes come back in cs2 on infe since they removed them on d2
Astralis completely changed CS GO to what it is today. Their professionalism and utility use was far ahead of any other team. CS GO is so close today because all other teams learned from Astralis💪 They literally single handedly changed how the game is played 🤯
i loved this video, never seen content from you before but easily my favorite csgo content in the last few years, been playing since end of 2014 on and off
Voo, one comment I thought would've been good to make in regards to the differences in meta between NiP's era and fnatic's was how by the time of the final between fnatic and EnVy CT's had established the idea of buying only kevlar vests instead of both vest and helmet, to help save money and bolster the CT economy overall in full buy rounds.
The most underrated part of prime Astralis is how insanely good every single member was individually. Gla1ve, Dupreeh and Magisk were all easily top 10 riflers in the world at that time, Xyp9x was the best clutch player in terms of consistency we have ever seen and Device was only rivaled by S1mple in terms of being the best AWPER and player in the world. They completely changed the meta of the game forever and yes they were insanely coordinated and had near perfect utility play, but no team destroys the pro scene for so long, without being absolutely outstandingly good individual players. You don't get to win every possible trophy including back-to-back-to-back majors just by throwing some fancy nades. You need to kill your enemies no matter what.
I cant remember for pro scene exactly but atleast in public play molotovs were almost non existant for the first few years of csgo's lifespan. Its fascinating how long they were ignored
Its because no molo in 16 and css. In 1.6 in last days top players are even opened plant without any flashs, because of double duck and pixel graphics and full knowledge of all possible spots. (Its either you headshot or get headshoted, who is faster in aim and reaction win). "Modern" 16 differs only because players now are bunny-hoping HNS style instead of double duck all time. (you jumping on same strafe(usually on right strafe d because of stronger finger clicking), but mouse control allows you jumping forward, instead of a-d cycle).
i play csgo since 2012. i could hardly play it (1.6 player), it was a mess back then. sounds were awful, movements bulky af. CSGO today is a masterpiece of esport. that's why it is so fun to learn. not really hard to get in and there is still room for improvement on any level.
@One Guy Named Ivan apart from spawn positions and random bullets while running and shooting, which other rng based mechanic does it have? Even shooting+moving mechanics can be mastered to reduce the rng impact to almost none... I can't truly see this "too much RNG" you are talking about...
Great video! Great analysis! I love that you included some fun famous plays on the games that had them. Hate to be annoying but I have to point out that the correct term is "counter-strat", not "anti-strat". In my humble opinion, "anti" calls to mind "opposite" and "counter" is more in line with our intended meaning of a response to or negation of activity or intelligence.
Astralis was really a monster of its era and other teams copyed that. Not only nuke with 3 nades/structured game of baiting smokes/molly but as well players beeng together aka bootkemps(idk if before astralis other teams was into to be as much together as possible to make them be on same page as it helps with homeworks aka tactics/practics as well become closer and familiar with each other weakness and strength). and that they had more stuff in team probably, anyway zonic was like coatch/psychologist what in today teams is must have(anyway you cant counterstrat as much with 5players+coatch). ps.fact that they just get bored of wins/cs and left the team/took timeout of cs show how they good was. pps. but I think as everithing go there will be better team then astralis. Maybe not in structure but in pure aim where coatch/anti strat team will do most of dark work. pppps. + of course nade drop. not gonna be surprised if after 1-2years meta will go to save smokes and throw one chokepoint completly for whole round with 4-5 smokes depends on preferance,
@@ryanleninfan1337 not started, but AS much as astralis did play and be together nobody Did before. If you follow CS sometimes then you should know how many players noticed that astralis players with zonic was almoust 24/7
@@Handconnonierr They have their own compound in Copenhagen and most of the players lived their anyways, I think them all being from one country and it being a geographically small one also helped them achieve this alot, and if it was possible others would've bootcamped more.
@@Handconnonierr the correct answer is that they had better harder grinding players not that they did something different with their structure, your entire comment is nonsense
It's ridiculous to compare how the modern CSGO works to how this CSGO worked, this is a completely different game in terms of feel and flow that we are analyzing, idk how that makes any sense, but it's apparent
The macro is not really useful "bind n -attack" does the same and is not bannable, pros knew about this at the time. But maybe you're right who knows !
that smoke from behind boxes isn't a jump throw just a run throw. but as the other guy said, pros would use space+n to get around the ban which worked pretty consistently
Idk voo. You can see in these clips their aim isn't up to modern standards. Maybe they'd chill in face it lvl 9. But I can't imagine them having much of an impact in higher elo faceit lvl 10 or fpl.
I don't think comparing 2 eras makes sense. Its like comparing Spiderman NWH to previous films. The only reason NWH was that good was because of the previous films. The same way all the teams todays are so good because Astralis set it up first.
I would disagree with the claim that 2014 pros would be carrying faceit 10 matches today. Whenever I watch these old games it looks like I'm watching a level 9 pug, not a major championship.
I really enjoy to learn about CS:GO´s macrogame. Even in faceit lvl 7 nobody know about how to use the correct utility and how to fight hotzones. I need more videos like this.
correct is the way to make you win the round, not what someone else did or what is the general rule. you should push through smoke, but sometimes it can pay off, so correct way is to predict whether it will pay off or not. depends really what opponent is doing and then you adjust.
Astralis won 10 tier one trophies in a calendar year, and they also accomplished winning 3 majors in a row. But what’s even more impressive that they didn’t surrender a single map in knockout phases in those three majors. They simply delivered when it counted the most.
I remember people said they were boring, which I guess is referring to their structured playing style. They just strangulated their opponents and gave them no chances with their tactical approach and of course top class individual players.
They just took plays only when they favored them, and they basically implemented the saving game we have today. I feel like in the earlier years we had a lot more bloodbath and people going for low percentage clutches, in turn, they'd have a lot less gun rounds and the quality of the matches were a lot lower. Many teams now go for percentage plays due to how well astralis learned to manage their economy as well.
@@CapeSkill they probably didnt think about it un first years if CS but when you see that you have 70%winrate 4v5 and 25% 3v5 then why not save and play full buy instead of eco/Bad force.
PS. But they were almoust 100%commited to save and didnt leave 1dude behind AS sometimes teams do to catch unaware ts who rush to kill saving team.
Or gamble 3v5 on One side effective AS nowadays teams do.
I think most people said it was boring because everyone knew Astralis was going to win. It's like Simple being hltv #1 this year.
I personally loved seeing how Astralis utterly dominated everyone
people who say that Astralis were boring are similar to those who says that tiki-taka peak barcelona was boring.
It's what we call "clueless" people.
@@akhsdenlew1861 i think boring for them was because no triller.
First astralis vs ence good
And some other games, but wasnt too much because they win all maps in final:)
I wonder if there will ever be a team in the future that will ever have as much of an effect on pro cs than Astralis did
Astralis are the steph curry of CS LOL. Single handedly changing the game at both a casual and pro level. Amazing
it depends on how long cs will exist
. if 5years =probably no.
if more then 10, then yes but it depends how much devs gonna change cs. If they keep add rules/things then its easier to evolve. Look 2013 vs 2015 it was almoust like faceit lvl 6 vs 10 :) and later it goes in slower scale adding 0.1 and 0.01 when you wount notice that its completle different game
I think we're living through one right now in Navi maximizing the ability to fit as much fragging power as possible into a team without losing teamchemistry or tactical complexity.
@@MortChrist būt navi isnt agressive. They have b encor perf, captain who farm with mac 10/mp9 and 3fraggers who play more deffencive (more towards astralis then liquid 2018).
@@MortChrist they're dominating the way 2019 liquid did just for much longer. But they're not levels above tactically like astralis was. Astralis changed how the game was played even on the MM level (look at utility used in a low gold inferno game) navi haven't done that
Imagine you are the star player, posts up, gets flashed, repeeks, gets triple naded. It must have been so hard to play against prime Astralis
that's why electronic or twistzz said they hate playing with Astralis since they can only play half or even lower hp in a round before they can even take a fight with Astra
What stuck to me the most in the team's brand of CSGO is how they slowly weaken the other team's game plan/morale through clinical kills or damage. Like almost any enemy team were pretty much "out of shape" or in disadvantage when it comes to the crucial part of every round. And having an AWPer like dev1ce was a critical success for them.
They use to double nade enemy star
Obviously new players are better because they're standing on the shoulders of giants. The new players wouldn't exist if not for learning from the old.
Just like in science... Because it sort of is very similar.
that's the beauty of every competitive game/sport, it keeps evolving
DUDE I’ve thought about this so much and have wondered about it for so long. Brilliant video!!
same :D
Great video as always. I was wondering about that idea of a cyclic meta recently. Makes sense that as some t strategies get less popular so do their corresponding ct antistrats, which allows a window for them to be used again.
I honestly find the evolution of CS’ meta more fascinating than individual matches themselves.
Excited to see where it goes over the next few years.
I feel like that 2018 Astralis has shown how to play the game for the best control and that 2018 astralis is pretty much the standard for today's counter strike. Im not trying to say that they're bad or anything, its the complete opposite, they are the best team to ever play this game not because of the trophies but because of how they evolved the game
I would really like a modern analysis of Astralis - SK at the PGL major in 2017 round 19 on Cache. I remember I was blown away about the way the round was won with utility usage on middle.
something sk gaming did really well in 2016 was reagressing in lost areas late in rounds
I hate that skyboxes are so close to the ground and thus such cool smokes don't work. I used to throw a smoke on cache from garage all the way above a main towards nbk so no one could peek a main from quad/default/nbk which was really nice against awps but in the new cache version the skybox isn't high enough. It takes away so much individual knowledge of maps and it's really sad.
You do realize that most maps the skybox has been opened up, rather than made smaller? (Mirage, Nuke, Vertigo etc.)
@@unpairedelectron2886 I know. Saying one thing doesn't exclude the other.
cache isn't even played anymore
@@klyrj2011 Not on faceit etc. but in mm and it is a great map.
Old Inferno was really awesome.
Really insightful video! It makes me want to study CS strat more. Now I can understand some of common meta that applied during a match. Please make another content like this
2:40 We do have a jump throw nade from dark or close to dark that will hit the same spot.
true. I had a line in one of the initial edits of this video that said "teams used to just throw away their nades like they wanted to get rid of them" when i talked about astralis, and this nade felt like exactly that. I remember in these times you would have teammates that just threw that literally every single round for a full half... right at the beginning of the round every time.
great video voo, its nice to see the comparison of old cs to now, its crazy how much util is used today compared to back then.
great video i was wondering how different the meta is too but thank god you did it first
Remember for a Good time 2013-2017 it was illegal to use jump bind. This made a lot of smokes possible consitently. I played on an okay High level in Denmark in both CSS and early CSGO and there was even back then, a lot of focus on utility, but the skill gap for players that could aim was sooo High and just spamming a tec9 or an m4a1 into a smokes would stop puhes. Also smokes in 2012-2016 worked so that the CT could see you waaay before them dont forget that molos did 100+ damage eaisly in the first major and later nerfed to do close to nothing
Do you recall at the start of csgo, where you could throw moly on Nuke t side spawn/gate from Ct spawn, just because the moly was not blowing mid air xD. Those were fun times.
To sum up
1) scoped rifle meta
2) grenade meta
3) economy changes
4) grenade nerf
5) map reworks
Astralis dominated it all
Imagine the amount of majors Astralis could've won if they weren't delayed
They probably would've gotten 4 more majors, guaranteed 3 more. Their only real competition at the end of 2019 was Team Liquid and even then Team Liquid was routinely stomped into the dirt by Astralis. NAVI would've been fully prepared by late 2021, so that's the only major Astralis realistically could lose if they're out of form.
@@zettour.terrible Analysis.
You cant change that much and excpect everything to happen the same way in terms of domimation
They might have domimated for just as much, bc other teams would have the same time to adapt.
@@imonshrooms6866 I'm not. Objectively, prime Astralis was simply too strong. They had no weak players and no weak strats. It took 2 years of them basically not playing the game to ruin their form. 4 months without Xyp9x and gla1ve at the same time. 2 months without dupreeh and Magisk at the same time. dev1ce, completely burnt out with no tournaments to play in and being mentally wrecked by his girlfriend and commuting.
Also, it's not like the game has actually changed that much. Tier 1 strats today aren't that much different since no one has really innovated apart from BIG and they played a more gimmicky style of CS which most teams can't replicate. A few new lineups and that's it. Today, teams rely on either firepower or star/clutch factor, as seen in NAVI 2021, FaZe 2022, and G2 briefly during their World Final run respectively. NAVI at their peak were all relying primarily on out-dueling opponents and Boombl4 taking space. FaZe relied mostly on their star players popping off and then sometimes defaulting to karrigan's strats during important rounds (karrigan also liked to play aggro like Boombl4 for space). G2 is the most obvious case since they easily have the weakest strat book of every team mentioned here (HooXi objectively awful CT-side), relying entirely on individual talent, especially in regards to m0NESY, and barely setting up their players for success apart from occasional support utility.
Fact is, Astralis had no weaknesses. They're the most complete team in CS history and nothing they were capable of back in 2018-2019 is irrelevant or outdated today. Their set strats still work. Their CT-side setups still work. All it would take is some actual anti-stratting effort from their side. We know gla1ve is barely in it from interviews. Coach and blameF are trying to do the heavy lifting, despite blameF never being a good IGL (more like FalleN, mediocre IGL with great fragging). Zonic is gone and he can take the majority of the credit for Astralis's stratbook. The narrative of teams catching up is just wrong. The narrative of competition being stronger is just wrong. Apart from online Gambit, 2021 NAVI, 2022 FaZe, and Heroic, teams have gotten weaker. More incomplete, more gaps, more gamble plays, more terrible calling. Take Furia for example. Despite arguably more success in recent years, arT is a complete shadow of his former self. Apart from occasional performances for yuurih, KSCERATO is the only player doing much of anything at that roster. Then on MOUZ, same situation with frozen with only brief glimpses of team-wide success. Liquid, literally not even close to their 2019 form during any time since then, even when they peaked with YEKINDAR at EPL S16 and the World Final. Every member of that team is a shadow of their former self and YEKINDAR isn't even remotely close to his peak despite his team making it farther than VP ever did. Teams that shouldn't be in Top 10 considering their overall performance simply are. These increasing upsets which are being attributed to Tier 2 teams getting better is actually just because Tier 1 teams are becoming worse and worse. For example, IHC (now TheMongolz), played basically what was standard CS for years with some gambles and managed to upset teams well above their weight simply because Furia and Cloud9 called bad games. Thrown rounds, mis-calls, open sites, etc. are becoming increasingly common rather than the rare unicorn rounds where someone misses a timing. You've got HooXi barreling through smokes thinking he's Stewie2k and throwing the whole round for it, losing to eco. Like, this is not good CS and the idea that Astralis can't beat this caliber of competition is just wrong.
Hey VOO. We can really see you put a lot of effort into this video and we all appreciate it. Thank you
I'm really sad we didn't get to see prime 5 Astralis at this past major against Navi, unfortunately, the covid/online era killed Astralis.
Astralis died before covid.
@@BimalDaslol Navi fanboy?
@@ryanharris7891 I mean, they were struggling before Covid as well if memory serves
@@ryanharris7891 navi wrecked them at Katowice before COVID properly began. Their era ended in 2019.
@@vedmanlokesh3944 there era ended in 2019 maybe but they were still a scary team to play in 2020 other than the snappi jugi period even when they had essatag they stil won pro league should have kept essatag over xyp in hindsight now
Holy cow that arch smoke to B totally brought me back to the golden days, I completely forgot about that one but now that I remembered it, it actually was what made me want to learn and become an arch player. It was so useful and so rarely used at my rank back then in MM that I decided if I wanted to win Inferno more I should just play the spot and learn the lineup myself. I fondly recall yelling at my B players to play passively because I had an extra smoke, good times.
I was lucky enough to see astralis throughout their entire prime, all the way from the first major win, and man what a treat to watch. Ppl called their brand of cs “boring” but I always knew it was revolutionary. It was so much fun to see them completely destroy their opponents with their BRAINS, and not just their mechanics. The teamwork on that team was next level, and every single member on that team could’ve been argued as the best at their positions in their prime. Most dominant cs team ever, and I think it’s gonna be a while before someone takes that crown from them.
i dont think any team will ever be as dominant as astralis were, simply because of how they were able to be that dominant i.e. revolutionizing the game
the way i see it for someone to be as dominant someone would have to reinvent cs again, which i dont find likely
the way astralis were so ahead of everyone else simply cant be replicated imo
thanks, i used to play this game a bit in 2014 and watched some videos recently and didnt really understand the difference, this helped thanks.
The biggest reason why nobody runs through that upper mid smoke on inferno anymore is, the fact that valve buffed smokes and made them OP in an attempt to fix one way smokes. Now you are legally blind when you are anywhere near the smoke. That didnt use to be the case. Running and entrying through a smoke used to be much easier.
FOR ME AUG and krieg meta was probably the best update csgo had
I liked it when the krieg was just a OP secret only a few people knew about. I've been using it since 2015, it was just there, in the game the whole time.
@@Copeman9999 it only became op when the cost was reduced to being I think as cheap or cheaper then the AK. Then it became worth it to buy
This is a question that Ive thought about myself for a while, and before watching the video, I just wanna put my thoughts on why players are so much better now( Own opinion before watching video )
- More sample size ( In the early days less people played CS as a whole, so there would be less players who were insanely good, I feel like same is the case for female CS actually )
- Technology ( 240hz monitors, better mice, better keyboards, more FPS etc. )
- Time, ( Imagine a strat being used in 2013 or 2014, it would have had 7+ years to evolve and be improved on over time, and also better strats would have been created, not to mention the extra time pros would have had to improve their individual skill level )
bro I can't even with these flusha clips 7:30
what?
Thanks to the Sponsor, go.dmarket.com/voo_newyear
if astralis was transported from 2018 to 2022 and played exactly the same - they might be a top 5 team. if they adjusted to the meta CS is played now, they had the skillset to be the best team for sure. This is also probably true for a lot of the #1 players (though not every team) of earlier years IMO.
edit: the reason the LG/SK/MIBR bit is so short is because I had a bit in there on the jump scout meta (the old hitboxes, if you jumped straight up while standing still, would have your head hitbox at croch level, so in many positions you literally couldn't get shot back), but afterwards i realized the hitbox update was in 2015 not 2016. :(
3:25 i know nobody will react to this because its a old video but i wonder if across the map B smokes come back in cs2 on infe since they removed them on d2
3:30 and that smoke will be possible again in cs2, really cool
I just started playing CSGO.
Can you do more of these history lessons, please?
Very interesting concept and you presented it effectively and efficiently! Another great video Voo
Astralis completely changed CS GO to what it is today. Their professionalism and utility use was far ahead of any other team. CS GO is so close today because all other teams learned from Astralis💪 They literally single handedly changed how the game is played 🤯
i loved this video, never seen content from you before but easily my favorite csgo content in the last few years, been playing since end of 2014 on and off
f0rest is a real one for that pfp
The earliest I've been to your vids man
the best youtube channel about pro csgo and grind
thanks for that and thank you for the work you've done (and still do)
I miss Prime Time Astralis. Now the roster is just left with Xyp and Gla1ve. Kinda sad to see how the might have fallen ):
Voo, one comment I thought would've been good to make in regards to the differences in meta between NiP's era and fnatic's was how by the time of the final between fnatic and EnVy CT's had established the idea of buying only kevlar vests instead of both vest and helmet, to help save money and bolster the CT economy overall in full buy rounds.
Very good video it helped me a lot thanks man :)
The most underrated part of prime Astralis is how insanely good every single member was individually. Gla1ve, Dupreeh and Magisk were all easily top 10 riflers in the world at that time, Xyp9x was the best clutch player in terms of consistency we have ever seen and Device was only rivaled by S1mple in terms of being the best AWPER and player in the world.
They completely changed the meta of the game forever and yes they were insanely coordinated and had near perfect utility play, but no team destroys the pro scene for so long, without being absolutely outstandingly good individual players. You don't get to win every possible trophy including back-to-back-to-back majors just by throwing some fancy nades. You need to kill your enemies no matter what.
Used to play on and off growing up. Used to be LE. Now I'm in silver and I'm playing against literal gods
Very interesting and well put together video voo. I must say vwery very good
Just got done with a 31 question science test and I’m enjoying this vid. You upload at the greatest moments
How did it go?
Haha same, just had an exam from anorganic chemistry
@@roznaczygestosc no idea I’m sure not very well
@@zm1te38 Im sorry to hear that
@@roznaczygestosc all good thanks for askin
I cant remember for pro scene exactly but atleast in public play molotovs were almost non existant for the first few years of csgo's lifespan. Its fascinating how long they were ignored
Its because no molo in 16 and css.
In 1.6 in last days top players are even opened plant without any flashs, because of double duck and pixel graphics and full knowledge of all possible spots. (Its either you headshot or get headshoted, who is faster in aim and reaction win).
"Modern" 16 differs only because players now are bunny-hoping HNS style instead of double duck all time. (you jumping on same strafe(usually on right strafe d because of stronger finger clicking), but mouse control allows you jumping forward, instead of a-d cycle).
That 2013 inferno long to banana smoke would be a game changer today
really great video this is so well done, i am far from a great player in cs but this was really understandable
Im getting some huge nostalgia feelings from this video. Anyway its brilliant !
god tier video. something i always wondered about
i play csgo since 2012. i could hardly play it (1.6 player), it was a mess back then. sounds were awful, movements bulky af. CSGO today is a masterpiece of esport. that's why it is so fun to learn. not really hard to get in and there is still room for improvement on any level.
@One Guy Named Ivan Millions of people disagree with you.
@One Guy Named Ivan apart from spawn positions and random bullets while running and shooting, which other rng based mechanic does it have? Even shooting+moving mechanics can be mastered to reduce the rng impact to almost none... I can't truly see this "too much RNG" you are talking about...
Dignitas lost me a lot of many on that inferno match against KaBum.
do more of such videos. we can really compare different eras.example is navi 2021 era better than Astralis 2018 era etc
I really appreciate and enjoy the videos voo, keep up the good work!
f0rest still is a beast in tier 2/ tier 3 tourneys. If his prime was sent to the future, he'd still be the Legend he was back then.
There are so many young players that destroy even harder then the old best
Man I've been thinking over this exact question the last week what timing
Might be my favorite video you have ever done! Truly!
"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants" .- Isaac Newton
in a decade csgo didnt improve so much but the players did
Great video watched from start to finish in one go
gz lol
God I miss old cs so much, I think my life peaked in 2014/2015 lol
I still wouldn't agree to that thing you said about pro's in 2013 would be able to carry faceit lvl 10 these days
What is ADR..? Actions Dat Round?
Honestly might start throwing that fnatic smoke at top mid inferno again, it’s free space in pugs
Great video! Great analysis! I love that you included some fun famous plays on the games that had them.
Hate to be annoying but I have to point out that the correct term is "counter-strat", not "anti-strat". In my humble opinion, "anti" calls to mind "opposite" and "counter" is more in line with our intended meaning of a response to or negation of activity or intelligence.
awesome vid man
That's a great idea to make a video of.
I constantly think about what if peak Astralis vs peak Fnatic
vooks go you're the best!
Took 15 years to figure out you can use multiple grenades as a team.
Astralis was really a monster of its era and other teams copyed that. Not only nuke with 3 nades/structured game of baiting smokes/molly
but as well players beeng together aka bootkemps(idk if before astralis other teams was into to be as much together as possible to make them be on same page as it helps with homeworks aka tactics/practics as well become closer and familiar with each other weakness and strength).
and that they had more stuff in team probably, anyway zonic was like coatch/psychologist what in today teams is must have(anyway you cant counterstrat as much with 5players+coatch).
ps.fact that they just get bored of wins/cs and left the team/took timeout of cs show how they good was.
pps. but I think as everithing go there will be better team then astralis. Maybe not in structure but in pure aim where coatch/anti strat team will do most of dark work.
pppps. + of course nade drop. not gonna be surprised if after 1-2years meta will go to save smokes and throw one chokepoint completly for whole round with 4-5 smokes depends on preferance,
....you think astralis started cs bootcamps? Lol
@@ryanleninfan1337 not started, but AS much as astralis did play and be together nobody Did before.
If you follow CS sometimes then you should know how many players noticed that astralis players with zonic was almoust 24/7
@@Handconnonierr They have their own compound in Copenhagen and most of the players lived their anyways, I think them all being from one country and it being a geographically small one also helped them achieve this alot, and if it was possible others would've bootcamped more.
@@Handconnonierr the correct answer is that they had better harder grinding players not that they did something different with their structure, your entire comment is nonsense
@@ryanleninfan1337 That makes no sense. Also can you name a team that had a professional psychologist in 2017 or prior
wtf 6:38 is boltz having Hasbulla as profile pic??? lmao and in 2017 even. I thought he was a 2021 thing.
And sick video, voo
The profile pictures are all recent, but not the names. Just look at Fallen's Liquid and Taco's Godsent pictures
@@matday4601 ofc.. ;D ty
It's ridiculous to compare how the modern CSGO works to how this CSGO worked, this is a completely different game in terms of feel and flow that we are analyzing, idk how that makes any sense, but it's apparent
13:25 wasn't jumpthrow banned back in 2016? I think that's why they missed the window smoke.
The macro is not really useful "bind n -attack" does the same and is not bannable, pros knew about this at the time. But maybe you're right who knows !
that smoke from behind boxes isn't a jump throw just a run throw. but as the other guy said, pros would use space+n to get around the ban which worked pretty consistently
is the eco meta part of the video incorrectly edited? different sounds and different clips??? or maybe thats how its supposed to be?
Idk voo. You can see in these clips their aim isn't up to modern standards. Maybe they'd chill in face it lvl 9. But I can't imagine them having much of an impact in higher elo faceit lvl 10 or fpl.
So can someone tell me what happened to the graphics between 2013 and 2015
I don't think comparing 2 eras makes sense. Its like comparing Spiderman NWH to previous films. The only reason NWH was that good was because of the previous films. The same way all the teams todays are so good because Astralis set it up first.
More utility, broken economy, skin economy bubble, no retakes. What is there to like about the current state of the game.
the demos look so laggy in the current game compared to 2015
3:22 source 2 may make this possible?
I miss the old maps. :
Only old Dust 2 was good
This is a great video
thank you :)
Fantastic video
Plz make cs on source 2 I don't have money to play on esea servers and matchmaking lags man please please I love cs
Thanks for the marvelous video, this gonna shut up a lot of braindead HLTV users on forums.
As a newer fan of csgo I’ve not only never seen some of these iterations of maps but I’ve never seen Competitive CS this bad (fnatic v.s. Nip)
faceit 8 or 9 is like still MM ranks lmao they think f0rest and get_right would struggle in global elite mm level at best? that is unreal
I would disagree with the claim that 2014 pros would be carrying faceit 10 matches today. Whenever I watch these old games it looks like I'm watching a level 9 pug, not a major championship.
yeah ive seen novas better than 2014 pros, obvoiusly not these teams but some others. They've really gotten better without us even noticing
13:41 I don't think this clip was from 2020 lol.
Its right there at the very end, how they did it, and it wasn't utility
i refuse to believe any team would best astralis on nuke on their prime
21:16 / 21:16
keep the great content coming 🙏
Why aren't you a caster for the tournaments Voo....Would be so much better than the crap we have right now
The only bad casters are like... Scrawny, and sometimes Anders. You're just high or smth
Just change the damn map pool ( the whole thing) and CSGO will be born again.
mr voo I salute you and your amazing videos 🙌
Is CSGO free? Ive seen clips of soup and other TH-camrs playing CSGO for about a year and now im interested in playing it 🤙
It is but you need to buy prime to get a rank and drops from games
So basically 2018 Astralis is equivalent to NA silvers in 2022
I really enjoy to learn about CS:GO´s macrogame. Even in faceit lvl 7 nobody know about how to use the correct utility and how to fight hotzones. I need more videos like this.
correct is the way to make you win the round, not what someone else did or what is the general rule. you should push through smoke, but sometimes it can pay off, so correct way is to predict whether it will pay off or not. depends really what opponent is doing and then you adjust.