Many players have made a name for themselves thanks to this ultimate weapon, from early days like kennyS, Pashabiceps, JW, Guardian,… to more recent stars like s1mple, zywOo, dev1ce, and woxic,…
In the list of the world’s top AWP-ers, we cannot overlook the pride of France: kennyS. Competing professionally in CS:GO since the early days, it is not an exaggeration to say that kennyS is a legend known for his aggressive playstyle, unbelievable flicks, and high-speed snaps.
In fact, in 2015, Valve had to nerf this AWP by reducing the movement speed when scoping in – a nerf believed to be aimed directly at kennyS. After about two years of declining performance along with the downturn of the French CS scene, recently kennyS and his teammates at G2 Esports have shown signs of a “revival” as he has been playing exceptionally well and often leads the team to victory.
However, the joy was short-lived as kennyS received “bad news” when yesterday CS:GO released a new update that included an important change reducing the movement speed after AWP-ers sit and shoot. Specifically, previously after shooting an AWP while sitting and then standing up immediately, the player’s movement speed would quickly return to normal. However, after yesterday’s update, players will take additional time to regain their normal speed.
In simple terms, with this new update, AWP-ers will now find it very difficult to “escape” quickly after taking a shot, and this will definitely affect players in general and the professional CS:GO scene in particular.
Immediately after, kennyS took to Twitter to express that he “does not like this change” and that this will definitely be “a major change.”
“In my opinion, they are trying to reduce the overall movement speed of AWP-ers since sitting and shooting is a basic skill that many people use. This is definitely a major change.”
An interesting point is that this nerf directly affects AWP-ers with an aggressive shooting style, causing disruption with quick engagements and then swiftly “fading away”, and the player exemplifying this playstyle is none other than… kennyS.
Therefore, another user joked: “They just need to watch one of his AWP games from 2014/2015 and immediately nerf it. So this time, it’s definitely your fault.” kennyS humorously replied, “I heard that the next nerf will be… removing the scope altogether.”
kennyS and his teammates at G2 Esports are competing at IEM Katowice 2020. These matches will be live-commentated on the 500Bros YouTube channel, so be sure to tune in and support!