STYKO is not impressed: The competitive scene is weak right now
Does the former Apeks rifler have a point?
The current state of top-level Counter-Strike is, in the eyes of some veterans, far from its peak. One such voice comes from former Apeks player and newly appointed analyst, Martin 'STYKO' Styk, who even calls the competitive scene weak.
In an interview with BLAST, the Slovakian shared his concerns about the overall quality of play in CS2, citing factors such as travel overload and insufficient practice time for the top teams as reasons for the decline.
- First of all, I think the competitive scene is weak right now. Not in a sense that people are playing badly, but it's definitely sloppy with the amount of practice top teams are able to get in. Travelling from tournament to tournament is enticing, but it brings the overall quality of CS down, STYKO explained.
And if you ask STYKO, the situation isn't likely to improve any time soon.
- That’s the unfortunate part, and I don’t think it will get better in 2025.
A game favouring the underdogs
In the same interview, the 28-year-old also touched on the state of Counter-Strike 2 itself and how the current mechanics of the game seem to benefit underdog teams.
- Anyone can beat anyone on CS2 within twenty ranks of each other. It's the state of CS2 in general with MR12s, the economy, saving, and how important pistol rounds are that makes the game really prone to upsets.
- (...) CS2 is going to favour the teams that are underdogs who can take gambles to begin the game and suddenly they have a 4-0 lead. If you think about it, that's already a third of the rounds that you need, and that's crazy. The opponents haven't had a chance to see how you're adapting, so it's very hard for the IGLs to make an adaptation to grab data from.
STYKO is currently a free agent, having previously represented prominent teams like HellRaisers, MOUZ, and Apeks. With the latter, he made a deep run to the semifinals of the BLAST Paris Major in 2023.
While searching for a new team, he debuted as an analyst during last month's BLAST Premier Fall Final.
You can read the entire interview with STYKO here.