shroud blasts “garbage” CSGO experience, praises Valorant

Michael “shroud” Grzesiek built his legendary reputation through exceptional performance in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, yet he maintains no false perceptions about the current condition of Valve’s flagship shooter. The former Cloud9 professional brings over 10,000 hours of competitive FPS experience to his analysis.

During a recent broadcast session, the ex-Cloud9 rifler delivered a comprehensive breakdown contrasting Valorant with CSGO. He employed direct, unfiltered language—vigorously criticizing CSGO’s shortcomings while acknowledging Riot Games’ successful development of their tactical shooter alternative.

“I’d genuinely enjoy playing CSGO if the experience wasn’t fundamentally broken. Valorant’s primary advantage lies in its streamlined accessibility—you can immediately join matches, experience your gameplay session, whether positive or negative, with confidence that cheating won’t undermine your efforts,” shroud explained during his stream.

He detailed how every attempt to casually participate in CSGO matchmaking exposes him to overwhelming numbers of hackers utilizing aim assistance software, spin manipulation tools, and visibility exploits.

“The situation is completely unacceptable,” shroud emphasized.

This passionate critique emerges as shroud has progressively shifted toward Valorant throughout recent months. While he’s expressed that Valorant features a more constrained skill ceiling compared to Counter-Strike—attributing this to ability mechanics sometimes overriding pure aiming proficiency and reaction times—he’s consistently praised Riot Games for nearly all other aspects surrounding their competitive title. In October 2020, he famously forecasted that Valorant’s competitive scene would likely exceed Counter-Strike’s scale once traditional live tournaments resume normal operations.

Shroud’s specific endorsement of Valorant’s anti-cheat measures represents a particularly noteworthy position. Valorant’s Vanguard protection system initially launched amid significant controversy, plagued by user security apprehensions and rapid circumvention by determined hackers. The system has demonstrated remarkable improvement during subsequent months, clearly progressing to the point where Vanguard now earns shroud’s explicit approval.

For players considering which tactical shooter to invest time in, understanding anti-cheat effectiveness proves crucial. Unlike CSGO’s more permeable systems, Vanguard operates at kernel level, providing deeper system access that enables more comprehensive cheat detection—though this approach initially raised legitimate privacy considerations that Riot has since addressed through transparency improvements.

Does shroud still play Valorant?

shroud operates as a diversified content creator who regularly experiments with numerous gaming titles, predominantly within the first-person shooter genre. Throughout recent months, Valorant has maintained consistent presence within shroud’s streaming schedule, though it hasn’t dominated his gameplay hours.

Between October 2020 and present analysis, shroud’s most frequently streamed game on Twitch remains Rust. Rust has experienced a substantial revival in popularity recently, fueled by renewed interest from multiple prominent streamers. shroud’s secondary most-played title during this period is DayZ, Rust’s survival game predecessor.

Valorant currently occupies the fifth position in his gameplay rotation during this timeframe, with World of Warcraft and Escape from Tarkov both receiving more broadcast attention than Riot’s tactical shooter. shroud’s all-time most-played game remains PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, though he’s transitioned away from that battle royale title preferring Apex Legends instead.

For aspiring streamers or competitive players, understanding shroud’s game selection patterns provides valuable insights into content strategy and audience engagement techniques that transcend specific game preferences.

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