The First CS2 Era?

[@HerbaceousM8]

we need cobble and train in to get eras

[@AlsoYou]

not cobble, its so fucking bad. not a single linear fight on that map

[@Ksz4k]

cobble train and cache would revive brazilian and polish scene

[@Ruserton]

so true tho cobble is an all time goated map

[@AlsoYou]

@@Ruserton its not, what has it ever done for proscene?

[@illusive7883]

Its an era bc they add a map? Think that one through again champ

[@eastw0o]

Swedish era, Brazilians era, Danes era international teams have no era, this confirms the upcoming Mongolz era

[@joseblua6566]

Copium

[@eastw0o]

@@joseblua6566 it will begin with Shanghai and they will dominate cs for 2+ years you non believers shall be in shambles

[@NarantsatsraltOrgil-y2o]

​@@joseblua6566 Your account is almost as same age as average Fortnite gamers, yet you still can't comprehend any jokes and uses Gen Z slang term to describe something, yikes.

[@launders]

This is huge news with strong logic thank you eastwood

[@denzo3882]

you forgot eternal fire.

[@TheYoutubeUser69]

not having eras is a sign of great health in a sport. I welcome the era of actual competition.

[@notverysmart42069]

amen brother. I basically stopped watching formula 1 races after max verstappen won almost every single race multiple years in a row, with all the other teams/drivers consistently finishing in similar spots. Boring!

[@D0rlisok]

@@yusteryumeister4601honestly I haven’t seen much more upsets in cs2 than in cs:go…

[@JanneTrabantti]

agreed

[@truebeliever401]

This lacks nuance, sometimes a reason why teams are so inconsistent in an eSport is due to design issues in the game itself. Take valorant for example, valorant teams are very inconsistent, is that due to most teams being good ? Not really, its because valorant has alot of variance and the nature of the game's mechanics dont punish poor fundamentals

[@CoolDrifty]

Seriously. The astralis era was SO BORING AND IT LASTED LIKE 5 YEARS, sorry. Now we have cinema in near every T1 event.

[@XtremLoad13]

I think that when talking about the Navis era being a little short, it is worth mentioning that right after their peak the war began, which is certainly impossible to have zero influence on an ukrainian russians roster

[@launders]

I have talked about s1mple getting #1 in 2022 as one of the most amazing accomplishments for that reason

[@stormdrainstormdrain]

Astralis era is over. The galaxy gas era has arrived.

[@illusive7883]

Shit has been around forever tf are you talking about😭

[@AgentWoods]

So glad launders lan is sponsored by galaxy gas now, two powerful brands combining their talents

[@OzznyCS2]

I love KZbin launders

[@llllNEOllllchannel]

I'm not launders but I love KZbin too

[@launders]

Ozzny spotted

[@Mu1as]

the only utility thing teams havent used much yet is smokes fading at different times, to open up different timings for peeks, executes are all smokes at the same time, but what if you wait 5-6 seconds before another smoke so you can clear one part of a site and then when youre done you can look at other parts.

[@BAMB00STE]

Rare conscious cs player

[@Mu1as]

@@BAMB00STE funny thing is, i dont even play the game, it was something me and my friends would use smokes in R6S for. just fully load the site with smokes at different intervals so the site comes clear in steps.

[@xandernazon6359]

With how the new grenade interacts with smokes as well, cts would have some interesting counter play

[@jackoxford]

the issue is smokes are not walls - cts can always just walk through. if you have someone watching the smoke, cts can flash and walk through. and of course just nade open the smokes.

[@pr0fy_gg]

We don't need eras anymore. And most likely there won't be one near future. Modern day CS is totally different. It's no longer depends just on metas, but on the brain-play. Coaches and players having pages after pages, hiring analysts and many more. My English is not good but hope my point is clear to all.

[@slayer5690]

I think the culture of roster changes every 2 months if you're not winning is dying down, allowing for teams to actually establish a history. Right now feels like a possibility for an era of multiple teams being at the top, like the 5 gods in melee, especially if teams will start to pick and choose which events they attend with how full the schedule is becoming.

[@Francisco-dl1nb]

I think the start of your take is a very good point. Culture can be achieved in international rosters but it's lacking in a lot of teams nowadays.

[@izimonics2]

who wouldve known that all this time we were in the "eras" era

[@launders]

Taylor era

[@calnithm]

I think it's definitely possible that we do see an era again, but the bar for what defines an era and what would end up making an era is much much higher than ever. in cs:go we had everything that you mentioned, astralis was the masters of all of the eras that came before it (nip, sk, fnatic) and was the best team of all time undisputed, and s1mple in 2021 gave us the star player era where these singular players could put up such amazing stats and almost single-handedly make their team worth watching. For there to be another era in cs, i think we'd have to see a team that outdoes astralis pretty much across the board. There's so many great teams now and the scene is so competitive that a team being as dominant as astralis was in 2018-19 seems near impossible, but could definitely be done. I think current navi if they were to have a fully fledged star (whether w0nderful gain full consistency or whatever it may be) could be the team that does it. but we are so early into cs2's lifespan where there's no way of telling and honestly i think that's the most exciting part. we'll have to see what happens, and it's very exciting to watch. fantastic video

[@TulloCs]

Ive seen some casters get eliminated from tournaments before

[@EvReal25]

lol sadokist😂

[@dracvich]

I know a recent analyst who was eliminated in the middle of a tournament...

[@fthatlogic5716]

This is actually food for a thought. Interesting perspective, thanks Lau.

[@shubhamagrawal4694]

its much harder to create eras because of the number of people working behind scenes to breakdown every single thing a team does, other teams cope way sooner..

[@h0lmie]

great video, amazing editor job on getting clips

[@km6610]

Even if it wasn't an era for some of these players the guardian vs kennys vs fallen vs jw days were peak entertainment for me

[@gadjman]

Faze really could’ve had an era at the start of CS2 akin to a lesser NiP. They won Sydney and Shanghai then got to the finals of Copenhagen, Abu Dabi, Kato, Copenhagen again, and then won Chengdu. If they converted those lost finals they would’ve won the first 7 significant CS2 LANs. So close yet so far

[@m.i.l9724]

well betting companies were tired of it. (thats my guess tho)

[@ChrisChanSajelan]

What could've been, but Vitality, Spirit, and NAVI ruined that

[@rneff2249]

wake up babe launders posted

[@WERTY]

Yo launders, what mic are you rocking? Sounds amazing.

[@ponyboygolden963]

Right? Feels like he's talking at an appropriate noise level just inches from my ear...yum.

[@dinkin_flicka14]

It's his voice

[@dharam95]

i think this style of microphones are called reporter mic and by the looks it's similar to the Sennheiser MD42.

[@thehoodie7740]

When we look back to this time period, I think we will call it "The international era". There are a lot more international teams in the top rankings now.

[@aldrinperez6977]

Your mr12 take kinda hit a point i felt the other day while watching g2 beat navi in this recent tournament. It was like "wow the bo3 is already over" , all props to g2 for steam rolling navi but i couldnt help but feel like i was missing something from the old round system. I get that less rounds = more time to play another match but i wonder if the pros prefer this style over the old. Watching cs growing up the 14-16 comeback was the biggest copium and I'll never forget the 0-15 Vp or Kinguin got. It's something so rare lol

[@misterkefir]

what we need to make a comeback are the flags next to nicknames during broadcast that was really great stuff

[@questionableidentity1]

For the record, double or even tripple nading one spot was standard meta in 1.6 pro matches

[@sprinklehomie5811]

i think there's a clip of either a korean or chinese team having a 5 he strat on dust 2, was nuts watching it

[@avy1]

@@sprinklehomie5811did you ever find this clip?

[@Lucaz99]

I’m not doubting your point at all but at the time in CSGO, HE would always be the last option of utility. Pretty much everyone thought they were the least useful part of your util kit and the only times people would go for them is in certain maps and in save rounds. I Astralis made them popular again and they were obnoxiously good at it.

[@sprinklehomie5811]

@@avy1 i've been looking for it for weeks, but i saw it in 2016-2017, it might not be on yt anymore :(

[@gli7chy]

I want to add on the small point you make about decoys. I don’t know how it doesn’t get abused more often on eco or force rounds. It had the EXACT same bounce sound as a flash. You can abuse it to have players take cover or turn around, to create a short gap & advantage. I’ve been doing this myself and it just creates a tiny bit of free space on chokepoints when you know you’re going to face one player. It definitely has it’s golden use right there, but I barely see anyone do it.

[@mrsickwick]

Really well done video, makes me feel not only old, but also a bit weird considering I remember all these moments. Here's the kicker, I've never even played CS (other than a handful of hours on the OG xbox console 🤣) I just think it's the best FPS ever made, well at least prior to CS2 anyways.

[@Panda-ps6fw]

great video,thank you brother.

[@burimsaliji23]

Great video man 😊

[@brewsive]

i don't believe we will see 4 majors in a row for a very long time. no one team seems consistent enough for that to happen currently and rosters seem less bought in to the idea of keeping the same team together for that long anymore.

[@aliharfoush8639]

Yoo its the caster omg you do your job very good ❤

[@launders]

Wow ty

[@Mornings]

Decoy meta will arrive soon Pog

[@km6610]

I think the cs economy changes were just as important as mr12 for eras as well

[@questionableidentity1]

The new era will start when donk leaves spirit and joins another tier1 team

[@llllNEOllllchannel]

virtus pro?

[@questionableidentity1]

@@llllNEOllllchannel hardly tier1 imo

[@S1mple-z5i]

Vita donk and the era of vita will start.

[@dakota8381]

​@Hanging_Pawn Donk for Mezi put Flamez in mezi spot and donk where flamez was

[@alcatraz_444]

​@@dakota8381nooo u don't know FlameZ😂 he says it many times he likes to play aggressive and that it's his nature and happy that CS2 is for him. Spinx playing anchor is better.

[@connnn1979]

great video man

[@Jerome-iwnl]

Navi is having an era right now for sure. Lets see if they can keep it up

[@launders]

If they win Shanghai maybe

[@ElementalDj]

'for sure' lol

[@sparkle5798]

I can’t call it an era, unless it’s something close to what astralis did. It just doesn’t feel right

[@Jerome-iwnl]

@@sparkle5798 What Astralis did was insane. If we put everything to that standard, then we only had 1 era in all of counter strike ever. And I suspect we will have ONLY that era permanently

[@gbrowning2749]

@@laundersOnly maybe? Would be 8 finals in a row with 5 tournament wins including 2 majors, I would say that's an era

[@Zelli0n_]

Thank you Launders.

[@ELGUAPOIV]

Harder to have eras when it's MR12 with coin flip pistol rounds deciding most matches.

[@a1m..]

I’d say that applies to most teams but G2 and NaVi do have really good pistol round win rates, NaVi just dissecting teams on them and G2 simply out dueling on them

[@itsethan1340]

not really an dominate era but Faze ran thru mostly 2022 with kato, esl pro league, antwerp and then cologne

[@paulrevere1183]

Just wait for dawn of Mongolz Era in Rio ... just wait ......

[@Aegon23]

Get_Right is my GOAT! Got me into comp. cs. Good old days

[@Lopyz]

Great video lau

[@newkindofviking6701]

I would argue, that Cadian's Heroic had an era too. It was close between them, and Gambit for a moment. No one playd as many maps as Heroic, and they won a lot. High percentage. Maybe not the most trophies, but still an era.

[@pingpong4016]

Launders era will never end

[@snorrekr]

Thorin made a video covering FaZe having an era around Antwerp major and his reasoning for why also applies as to why there are no eras anymore. There isn't enough events, especially after covid.

[@walle7284]

difference is that i'm 20 yeard old saw the cloud 9 major when I was like 13 lmao but yeah I feel you.

[@herospeedy3174]

the new era will be one where everything that was learned in csgo is kept and the biggest difference will be insane firepower

[@Orflocz]

I think with all the analysts and the backup teams have nowadays if something gets invented it gets breakdown in a week while back in the day teams could figure stuff out for months so its gonna be even harder to make an era now

[@UthoLP]

how were the top teams not consistent tho, this year was one of the coolest for the average cs fan, because it had 6 top teams that were consistent, but everyone can win, a lot more entertaining imo

[@coooolibri]

also, ive never seen such weird era of cs, where team A beat team B convincingly, but then loses to team C, that previously lost to 0 vs team B.

[@solalala8602]

youtube launders makes me happy.

[@thegrandplay1780]

trying your best the whole video to not comment on what definitely is a Scrawnders era in 2024

[@mr.inconsistent1631]

Just wait for 2025, I bet the new circuit is shaking up the scene

[@vech2014]

The video pops up just as G2 got totally obliterated out of Iem Rio literally a week after winning a bo5 final against the best team in the world, totally reflects what the video aims to lol

[@drudenae]

Today I found out the concept of flanking in Counter-Strike was created by Brazilians in 2016.

[@johnpooey]

2021 - Navi 2022 - Faze 2023 - Vitality 2024 - So far NaVi, but G2 and Spirit in competition

[@alcatraz_444]

Still u ppl put spirit up?😂... U guys hate donk so much discrediting him everywhere yet at the same time the same haters put the bets again and again on spirit believing in donk's firepower

[@Stephent-lb3uf]

Everything can still be refined massively. Im seeing a common occurrence of smoke misses, piss poor spacing, igls botting out because they arent willing to take aim train more seriously (due to this culture that its acceptable to have weak mechanics as an igl) As for the next level of meta, i think it simply has to be positionless CS. No way around it really. if you have the talent you can quickly learn new positions. Its a bit tiring seeing rounds fall apart because the cts have caught the lurker and they quickly identify the play. The same things we were clowning on happys lurks being too obvious is how in 5,10 years we will clown on how lurking is done today

[@paumartisa]

The game feels IGL and Coach oriented. Everyone has such a high level that little details regarding timing and util usage makes the difference in a BO3 or BO5. I think Aleksi is great but I feel like Blad3 has the stuff to hold and era by himself

[@sheriffykw8868]

goat has uploaded again

[@benjaminscott3368]

Francis Lau-kuyama and the End of CS eras

[@LouiseBelcher69]

Can't wait for 10 years later when cs3 or Cs forever

[@QuaxRSPS]

I wonder how long Astralis could've kept their dominance if there was no covid/online era.

[@alcatraz_444]

They already start to lose at the end of 2019 and at Feb of 2020 even before lockdown. They got absolutely destroyed by NaVi with flamie and zeus still on it. Just search s1mple destroying astralis iem katowice 2020

[@alcatraz_444]

It's not bcuz of covid it's bcuz of dev1ce getting a leave and came back again but not the same anymore since then from the end of 2019 they got worser and worser

[@a77725]

snax in thumbnail is diabolical

[@manuelbrito9962]

putting only TL clips over "watching other teams scramble to find out new ways to play the game in order to catch up" is messed up but also real

[@peaceandwealthseeker4504]

Mr 12 definitely lends itself to more random outcomes

[@thegrandplay1780]

the po-po cuh?

[@n0xsii]

I think the pro scene is still coping with the combo of coronavirus and the end of Astralis era. No one is above and we've been experiencing this since covid where completely unknown teams would crush tier 1 teams (and some tier 1 individuals complaining about that) because before that tier 1 was a very restricted club. Now it's potentially open to everybody, several times a year and not just during RMRs. And the fact that these tier 1 teams don't have one model to learn from, to beat, perhaps it explains why the level is going down a little bit. Teams win one or two tournaments and they think they're building an era, and they collapse in the third tournament. The best teams right now are the strong teams that stick to basics (I'm thinking Vitality and NaVi). They are amazing, but they're "just" insanely skilled players following a carefully written textbook. The next era won't look like that.

[@Th3roOsterR]

Mr12 makes it harder for teams to win 100%. Sometimes a team that is worse can get a few lucky rounds and get ahead of economy and get ahead enough before the better team can get up to full speed. Especially in b01

[@Th3roOsterR]

Navi era starting

[@owaisaa1188]

i don't know why are you worried about having an Era or one single team dominating like Astralis. CS2 right now couldn't be better when you have literally anyone from top 5 could win any major tournament.

[@TYLERLOVESBMX1]

Mr12 turns chess into checkers

[@milosperhour_]

It's interesting hearing you describe the early years of csgo being very individualistic with the likes of NIP and Fnatic, because I feel like there are a lot of parallels to current day CS2 with the likes of Faze and G2 and the idea that you need 4 or 5 star players to be the best team in the world. It makes me hopeful that in the coming years we will see further evolution, and I think we've already seen glimpses of it with NaVi being a team that no one expected to be as good as they have been. Also with getting rid of partner leagues there will be a lot more chances for new ideas and metas to come onto the scene as more teams are given more chances to compete at higher levels and top teams are forced to be even more consistent to maintain their place.

[@launders]

That’s true! It might be somewhat an illusion of complication, or more opening theory just to find out who’s in tier1

[@exsade]

Blad3 is cooking guys

[@Tuck2.1]

Let’s go baby

[@saberterminal871]

yo israel takin out their biggest opps one by one shi crazy but u gotta respect it ngl

[@Navyseallover]

Me Launders, me and my Adv/ECL team

[@thanakornkhumon7365]

Althought I wanted MR15 format back to the competion once again. It's still a good oppotunity to try out MR12 anyway in newer game that change a lot in both culture and gameplay. Currently due to most META in the game didn't change that much at all since the introduction of new game. I don't think we will see another era sooner if every team play the same play style over and over again that nobody seems special. But still interesting to see who is gonna be the actual no.1 team that we can say with full confidence (PS. We need new update, c'mon Valve do something)

[@Sh1roTPoison]

Last time I was this early I wasn't even racist. Thanks lau ❤

[@C0NTRAbann]

Launders wants the Dom on top 👽

[@tangstephen2015]

falcons era incomingggg

[@Leon-jx8wc]

Overpass needs to come back

[@stardust-k9x]

it’s just the era of no era’s

[@trippyricktv]

the era of no era

[@TotalxTroll25k]

I still hold on to Liquid having an “era” even though like Navi it wasn’t really.

[@launders]

Major is a must.. that player break screwed it up

[@TotalxTroll25k]

@@launders Thats definitely fair. Liquid era incoming though. Not coping at all🥲

[@w0nderwallCS]

Falcons era

[@gbrowning2749]

Navi winning the way they have since cs2 makes me think if they win Shanghai, we will have to call them the first cs2 era. Especially with them winning with the roster makeup they have

[@maxgeorge488]

King lau

[@oley2k]

This video would be better if it was about quantum bellator fire era

[@nuuskapeke2104]

We're now in the tone deaf cash grab update era

[@berserkki-4357]

Nah if Navi takes either iem or world final and ends up winning in Shanghai it’s definitely an era

[@Master-ng9uj]

When the average Chinese clan/player learns to think more tactically & strategically - instead of just frag-whoring and baiting - then look out. A good chunk of the most insane fraggers I've come across have been Chinese, but they're not great meta or team players - even on all-Chinese teams. It's been that way since I started playing in 1.3 (through to end of 1.6), and although I didn't really play CSGO it seems to still be the case in CS2 (which I am playing).

[@rjlamons2272]

having only one team on top forever is boring in my opinion

[@FelixKaff]

Do you mean eras or errors, now that's the question.

[@suomiartzi]

next part of movement series? xd

[@fabiou_]

sk 2017 was way more dominant than 2016

[@Bartek1234567]

I cant agree There was the first faze era in cs2 they was quite consistent

[@launders]

Multiple 2nd places and no major. Somewhat close

[@anesmeister1511]

olofmeister got TOP1 once only, not twice and it was in 2015.

[@JumbledBrain]

good vid

[@danielmedel8412]

Deja vu

[@muntmunt3155]

MR12 destroys consistency. It makes random outcomes the dominant factor amongst pro teams. Can't say I enjoy it for the pro scene

[@Eidolon5150]

I think eras are over

[@Foggycallabasashillshelicopter]

I like the state competitive is in rn. DONT GET ME WRONG I DO NOT LIKE THE STATE OF THE GAME. But comp feels like any team in the t10 can win every event. You truely have no idea who’s gonna win. I also enjoy it cause I love betting on CS2 and the odds are the best they’ve ever been for teams like Navi and Faze

[@EternalSupremacyOfMind]

This can't be new era when u lose important bo1 vs Astralis (who lost 0-2 to Heroic) and after that u lose 0-2 to EF with Niko being played 11-32 (wtf??)