Is CS2 harder than Valorant?

Arguably the two most popular FPS games on the internet right now have to be Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant. However, with the recent backlash CS2 has been getting thanks to some questionable decisions Valve has made, many CS2 players are jumping ship to Riot's FPS hero-shooter.

Today, we’re here to help those specific players out by giving a definitive comparison between CS2 and Valorant. This includes whether CS2 is harder than Valorant and how the gameplay and game sense requirements differ for the two games. Hopefully, this will help CS2 players get the gist of how Valorant is and vice-versa.

So, without further ado, here’s whether CS2 is harder than Valorant. If you want a better way of learning whichever game you’re jumping ship to, we recommend you hire either a CS2 booster or Valorant coach from Eloking. You can even use the code “BoostToday” to get a 20% discount on all Eloking services.

Similarities between CS2 and Valorant

Starting with the similarities between CS2 and Valorant, they're both 5 versus 5 competitive FPS games where one team has to plant a device, while the other has to stop them or defuse it. Both games also have 24 rounds, split into two halves, and if the score is 12-12, then the match goes into overtime.

As for gameplay, CS2 and Valorant both have a buy phase at the start of rounds where players can purchase numerous weapons. These firearms range from rifles to submachine guns, to pistols, to snipers.

Movement is similar in both games, where the three main mobility options are walking, running, and crouching. The way guns work is the same too, where spraying for too long makes the guns inaccurate, or by shooting while moving.

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Differences between CS2 and Valorant

While it may seem that CS2 and Valorant are pretty similar, some undeniable differences set them apart. Let's split the differences into two different categories: gameplay and game sense.

Gameplay

CS2 rewards a player for its raw mechanical skill way more than Valorant. For example, all the throwable items in Counter-Strike are more sensitive to external factors when compared to Valorant, so if someone throws a grenade and makes a slight adjustment or movement error, the entire play can get ruined.

Although it looks like Counter-Strike 2’s gunplay is the same as Valorant on the surface, that’s not the case, at least when it comes to spraying. In Counter-Strike, each weapon’s spray pattern is different and unique, meaning that if a player memorizes a gun’s pattern, they can hit at the same spot without letting the trigger go.

On the other hand, in Valorant, the spray pattern is randomized after the first few bullets, so everything afterward is more dependent on luck than skill. Valorant doesn’t go the same route as CS and has buyable utilities but instead has abilities. While CS2 only has grenades, Valorant has abilities that can do all sorts of things like teleport, dashing, and more. 

Game sense

Counter-Strike 2 doesn’t have different agents or characters but all kinds of utilities, meaning every player can be flexible and have a different combination of items. These items consist of frag grenades, smokes, molotovs, decoys, and flashbangs.

The thing about CS is that you have to learn the line-ups of each utility in every map if you want to use them effectively to make the best plays like sudden flashing or smoking an area from across the map.

Valorant has way more abilities than Counter-Strike 2 due to being a team-based shooter, so there are more variables a player has to keep in mind. These abilities can let players jump high, place traps, place smokes from afar, or give more health.

Some abilities that serve the same function, such as smoking, are easier and more forgiving in Valorant. While in CS, players have to line the smokes up perfectly, Valorant players have to select an area.

Another important thing most people don’t mention is that abilities in Valorant stay even after a player dies if unused, whereas in CS, all utilities are gone once a player dies, so it's less forgiving.

So is it harder?

What does all of this mean? Is CS2 harder or Valorant? Well, it’s kind of like a tie. CS rewards players more for good aim and raw skill, whereas Valorant prefers more strategic players. 

Players with naturally good aim will have a tough time in Valorant, and players who may not have the best skill but have great game sense will find Counter-Strike hard.