Never had been the pistol round made such an impact in a crucial game like what happened between Fnatic and Na’Vi in the finals of SL Starseries XIV in Jan 2016, with map  1 firmly secured, in map 2 second half pistol round, Fnatic came roaring with all guns blazing and sealing the fate of Na’Vi. That was brutal and clinical.

CounterStrike generates a kind of adrenaline which is failed to be seen in the DNA makeup even. The intense battle sequence, the drama that unfolds and extreme tactical strategies are highly invigorating. No offense, but kill is thrill here. The expertise that it requires and talent that it begets need due recognition.

During the season 2012-2013, with an 87-0 winning streak NiP was ruling the roost. The impact was so much that just being the second best in a tournament was good enough for the teams. Not anymore though, NiP lost its run and CSGO gained. With the increase of players, viewers and prize money the game grew day by day. In the present times and seeing the teams and players at the disposal of the organizers or sponsors, CSGO won’t let another winning streak like Ninjas did back then.Most of the qualifying games in a major tournament are close encounters with Fnaticleading in ranks and the others following it closely. Prize money has increased and so as the competitiveness.

However the scene is not all comfy here. The emergence of Overwatch which is a cross bred of FPS and MOBA, questions the viability of CSGO in the longer run. CSGO like MOBA doesn’t need big patch intermittently to balance out butsome fine tunings such as alternative throw for the grenades, occasional map pool change, higher ranks will go a long way to restore its legacy. Metas came and went, great teams built dynasties around different styles, CSGO in its 11 year lifespan was played out with a different plan every single year.

Another persistent issue lingering the individual player is the cooldown time, and the silliest ways you can get a ban. If it could differentiate between a genuine disconnect and a straight walk out, then the players would probably have lesser offense levels and cooldown time.

Also, with VR on the horizon and is slated to be the next big thing in eSports, CSGO has to improvise and remodel itself to stay in contention notwithstanding the eSports Game of the Year award in 2015.