Anu map has entered the game

Rejoice, everyone that isn’t 45 years old or too dim to play maps with any tactical depth!

Dust 2 is out once more, with it being the least played map in the pool at the Rio Major, and the objectively (subjectively) worst map in the game, we’re not surprised. Indeed, we’re quite happy.

It offers very similar play patterns, with little room for innovation round-to-round, and it’s avoided largely by top teams due its upset potential. It’s not totally random, but it’s hardly the pinnacle of skill either.

Though it has it’s dissenters, they are all either too old, too French or too ginger to hold any weight in this ideological debate. In some cases, more than one of those.

Change keeps the game alive, and there’s no bigger change than replacing Dust 2 with Anubis. Yes, Anubis. Get YouTube open and hunt down some smokes, stat. Learn some angles, jump in a prac server and remember what it was like to start playing the game all those years ago.

Is Anubis any good? We’ll find out in due time, is the truth. It’s going to have some teething problems, but every map was at some point flawed. Most of them still are.

Anyway. Glad that update is covered. Did we miss anything?

Oh, yeah. The AWP has been nerfed and the A1-S is back to being worse than the A4. Nothing much.

The AWP has had it’s magazine clipped to a measly five bullets (which for those of you with hands, doesn’t mean much. Just don’t miss) while the A1-S has had its range cut pretty severely.

It’s back to being a five hit kill outside of pretty close range (think any further than long apts on Inferno as being outside of the range), making the A4 a faster kill at range and the A1-S cheaper, with a faster kill up close.

Which… sounds fair? The proof of the pudding will, as always, come in the eating, but we’re ready to eat a whole lot of pudding. Wait, what were we talking about?

Oh, yeah. Pudding. We mean the A1-S.

You now have a choice to make, but the A4 is probably back to being the default choice. The larger magazine and versatility make it better for the most part, but you will have to relearn the spray pattern. The skill gap is back!

RIP to all the IGLs whose CT side rating was carried by the easy mode rifle, though.