The hype surrounding Counter-Strike 2 and, in particular, the changes it’s making to smoke grenades to make them more responsive and adaptive, has caught the eye of VALORANT players. So much so, in fact, that it’s even gotten them talking about a new agent who has the ability to clear smoke grenades, much like grenades and bullets do in CS2.
Days after CS2’s announcement trailer dropped, a VALORANT player made a post asking others what they thought about the next agent being one that could clear smokes. They said the idea had been on their mind for a year, but the CS2 trailer made them realize it was possible.
Some thought it was an interesting concept, but needed plenty of testing to work out how long it would take to clear, how it would react to Viper’s Toxic Screen and Poison Cloud, whether it would work on Jett’s Cloudburst, its range, and more.
Others were less inclined, saying it would effectively be a VALORANT agent that specifically countered several others, which doesn’t seem like a good idea for meta balance, or that it could be anywhere between overpowered or totally useless if not done correctly, which may also impact the meta in a negative way.
The reason CS2 is different from VALORANT is that everyone has access to the same utilities and there are no classes or abilities. Plus, VALORANT already has ways to play around smokes, like scans and drones, whereas CS2 does not.
Still, the biggest takeaway was the new technology and features in CS2 could be healthy competition, as evidenced by the fact it’s already inciting new VALORANT ideas.
