The new CS:GO maps is changing the game
Valve certainly aren't ones for giving us a bit of warning when they are about to drop a major update. With little more than blog post as the patch went live, Lord Gaben and his droogs decided to drop an entire new map into Counter-Strike: Global Offensive a few weeks back.
Canals is the first new Valve created map since Overpass, which launched way back in December 2013, and it has caused quite the stir in the CS:GO world. The map itself is set in what Valve refers to as an “Italian City”, however it is pretty clear to everyone that the Italian city it is based on is Venice, thanks to the canals and Renaissance architecture that bears more than a few similarities to the big landmarks of the city. As you might expect there is a central waterway that runs through the middle of the map, with the B bomb site situated on a walkway over it. Elsewhere, the A site is one of the most exposed in the game, with a ton of wide open space and one of the most overpowered windows we have ever seen in CS.
With a few weeks to play around in Canals, almost everyone has figured out their favourite ways of playing. Pro players have slowly drifted back to playing the active duty maps, while those of us who can only dream of playing on the main stage at a Major are still toiling away trying to perfect those AWP angles and smoke throws. While there is still a lot to learn about the map, there is already a lot that we can decipher after a few weeks. Let’s take a deep dive, if you’ll excuse the water pun.
Canals is the first new Valve created map since Overpass, which launched way back in December 2013, and it has caused quite the stir in the CS:GO world. The map itself is set in what Valve refers to as an “Italian City”, however it is pretty clear to everyone that the Italian city it is based on is Venice, thanks to the canals and Renaissance architecture that bears more than a few similarities to the big landmarks of the city. As you might expect there is a central waterway that runs through the middle of the map, with the B bomb site situated on a walkway over it. Elsewhere, the A site is one of the most exposed in the game, with a ton of wide open space and one of the most overpowered windows we have ever seen in CS.
With a few weeks to play around in Canals, almost everyone has figured out their favourite ways of playing. Pro players have slowly drifted back to playing the active duty maps, while those of us who can only dream of playing on the main stage at a Major are still toiling away trying to perfect those AWP angles and smoke throws. While there is still a lot to learn about the map, there is already a lot that we can decipher after a few weeks. Let’s take a deep dive, if you’ll excuse the water pun.
The B bomb site is on a first floor walkway over the canal itself. The walkway has four windows and has very thin walls, meaning that wallbangs are certainly a possibility. Even in our own play, we’ve had success planting in the middle of B, and then running to the back of the canal, watching the walkway where the site is and taking a few pot shots through the walls whenever we see some movement. Providing they don't have a kit you should have ample time to take them out before they get the diffuse, and add another clip to the highlight reel.
The site itself is also quite enclosed, and providing you have a couple of players for support there’s no reason why you couldn’t hold off a group of five uncoordinated opponents. Issues start to arise when you aren't sure which side the opponents are coming from, but then that is the case for almost every site.
The A side need some work perhaps the area of the map that has caused the most arguments among CS players has been the A bomb site. Whereas almost every other site in CS:GO has a lot of cover, and multiple angles of attack, the A site of Canals is really quite open, with little to hide behind. The site is situated in a small doorway area that is raised from street level – there are small areas of cover inside the site, but you can still easily be hit with wall bangs.
The site itself is also quite enclosed, and providing you have a couple of players for support there’s no reason why you couldn’t hold off a group of five uncoordinated opponents. Issues start to arise when you aren't sure which side the opponents are coming from, but then that is the case for almost every site.
The A side need some work perhaps the area of the map that has caused the most arguments among CS players has been the A bomb site. Whereas almost every other site in CS:GO has a lot of cover, and multiple angles of attack, the A site of Canals is really quite open, with little to hide behind. The site is situated in a small doorway area that is raised from street level – there are small areas of cover inside the site, but you can still easily be hit with wall bangs.
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