First CS2 LAN Review: IEM Sydney 2023

Counter-Strike 2 official competitive season has begun, and the first big tournament happened to be in Sydney. How did IEM Sydney went? What’s happening in the CS2 esports scene? Are NAVI, Liquid, G2, and Falcons planning a huge reshuffle chaos? Today, CS.MONEY Blog will tell you about how the new game feels on LAN, what are the current standings on the professional scene, and more.

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CS2 Esports Results: How IEM Sydney 2023 Went

FaZe Clan are the champions of IEM Sydney, and Rain made a crucial contribution to their victory. The Norwegian veteran performed well in critical situations, even though there were players with higher ratings in terms of statistics. Surprisingly, Complexity took second place. The American team prepared seriously for the first big CS2 LAN tournament and caught many opponents off guard.

Regarding other surprises, we should note BetBoom at 5-6th and Team Vitality at 13-16th. Nafany’s team (who came through European Qualifiers) took full advantage of the fact that most teams were simply not prepared and made a name for themselves. Regarding Team Vitality… let’s talk in a separate block.

CS2 Transfer News and Rumors

We’ve kept this IEM Sydney esports review short for one simple reason: the professional scene is about to enter a storm. While the game is still in an unpolished state, many teams will be making roster changes. And it’s already begun.

Zonic’s move to Falcons and CadiaN’s departure from Heroic have opened the doors for a massive reshuffle. The fact that five-time Major champion Dupreeh signed with Heroic until the end of the year shouldn’t surprise anyone. In the meantime, he can comfortably explore other options.

As for the Falcons, there are already rumors that the Saudis want to sign s1mple or NiKo, and they’re ready to present significant paychecks. Given such ambitions, top teams are bound to shake. With European organizations cutting expenses on player salaries, we’re all set for the dramatic transfer chaos. That’s why we found it interesting to see what was happening in Sydney, but we’re not paying too much attention to the final results.

CS2 Esports Meta: Which weapons pro players prefer?

Counter-Strike 2 is notably different from CS:GO at the moment. Key changes include alterations to smokes, adjustments to the economy, and changes in the game’s code.

Let’s start with ‘nades. Smokes now work differently: they fill space, and you can shoot and blow them up to disperse, clear the path through. This has led to many teams in Sydney treating smokes like an instant threat. Some teams used this smoke burst as a start to rush an attack or a retake. It’s hard to say how effective this move is at the moment, but with time, teams will increase its success rate. The idea of using grenades in smokes as fakes looks much more interesting. HE grenades instantly divert attention, and this can be exploited.

Now, onto MR12. At the moment, it’s hard to say that this format is optimized. The attacking side has more force buys. BetBoom even used this strategy: buy nothing in the first round, spend it all on Galils in the second round. By the way, this rifle is being used more often. The economy doesn’t always allow for a good purchase, but you’re now obliged to fight in every round.

Due to changes in match duration and the old-but-new peekers advantage, players use AWP much less. Expensive weapons that significantly impact your economy are now less effective in defense. For this reason, many teams in Sydney decided to try playing with AUG: it provides zoom, allows you to reduce the peekers advantage, and it’s simply cheaper. In attack, professional players continue to prefer AK-47 yet still won’t go for SG 553. However, this is due to the weapon’s price: it’s better to get an AK-47 and Galil in almost every round than to put your economy at risk.

Summing Up IEM Sydney as the First CS2 LAN

Surprisingly, there are no major takeaways, essentially. CS2 is not yet in its perfect state, players seem to be thinking about off-server stuff (as the massive roster shuffle awaits), and the tournament meta is not yet optimized. However, IEM Sydney proved to be an excellent event to entertain and assess the current state of Counter-Strike and the possible direction of the game. We still have five months to go until the first CS2 Major, so many things can change.