Are pro CSGO games too long? Astralis captain gla1ve thinks so

Kenneth Williams • 16/Jul/21 • 14:47

Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander has expressed his belief that pro Counter-Strike: Global Offensive matches take too much time. 

Team Liquid and mousesports’ 106-round marathon match at IEM Cologne has reignited the discussion on CSGO’s pro game length. In an interview published by Polish esports news site Cybersport.pl, Astralis’ in-game leader was asked his opinion on CSGO game length. gla1ve strongly echoed the sentiment that CSGO matches take too long, but he refuses to compromise on player pause time.

“You certainly can’t touch the pause time for players. This is the moment to reset, rethink the current state of the game, and come to a conclusion on what you are doing next. Other gameplay elements can be improved,” gla1ve said, according to translation.

If moments of downtime were taken off the table, other in-game sources of downtime could still be reduced. But reducing buy and post-round time would have a significant impact on gameplay. The amount of time between active play could also be reduced by the tournament organizer but CSGO’s lack of a concrete time limit can lead to additional downtime on stream. 

CSGO vs. Valorant match time sheds light

CSGO is played with a goal of winning 16 rounds per game. Rival tactical shooter Valorant plays to a lower round total. It may seem like a relatively small change, but it has a drastic impact when multiplied over the course of a full tournament. Valorant’s overtime periods also tend to resolve much more quickly than those in CSGO. In Valorant, winning in overtime simply requires getting two rounds ahead of the opponent. In CSGO, full overtime periods are played.

Cutting rounds off would be a nearly unprecedented decision for CSGO’s ruleset. The best-of-three format for tournament play is also close to sacred. Any measures for shortening CSGO matches would have to come from developer Valve. Public pressure and ideas from the community could help nudge CSGO’s creator into action, though it’s never easy to predict when Valve will actually take action.

gla1ve ended the discussion with a final remark on professional CSGO match length.

“I don’t know where we need to start with this, there are several options and the fact is singular: matches are too long. We have to do something about it,” gla1ve said.

Astralis vs Virtus.pro gla1ve interview

Cybersport connected with Astralis to learn about the team’s mindset going into the IEM Cologne playoffs. Gla1ve believes that Astralis’ IEM Cologne playoff match against Virtus.pro “will be an equal clash.” He remarked that Virtus.pro is playing in top form in Cologne. 

“VP hasn’t been doing very well lately, but it looks like his players have an idea of ​​how to play this tournament, and so far it works. This is a team that is always difficult to play against. I have the impression that its players show that they want to prove that they are among the world’s best, and the last few months have been just an accident at work,” gla1ve said.

Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen was also asked about his LAN debut at IEM Cologne. As Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz’ replacement, Bubzkji has put up a respectable .72 damage per round at his first offline event. 

“I didn’t have too many expectations. We had a lot of time to prepare, which we mainly focused on. Our goal was to qualify for the playoffs, which we have already achieved,” Bubzkji said. “Individually, I don’t feel any pressure anymore, and the rest of the guys are extremely experienced, which helps me quite a lot.”