Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek has explained why Valorant is a harder esport than “boomer” CSGO. The former pro claimed the faster gameplay of Riot’s title means older players can’t keep up with young gunners.
As a former CSGO pro who switched to Valorant (although as a content creator), shroud often compares the two titles, especially in terms of their competitive scenes.
In March 2021, he claimed Valorant’s success made him worry about CSGO’s future as an esports title. As a result, he urged pro players like Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev to switch games.
However, he changed his tune in November 2021 after concluding that CSGO’s competitive scene will continue to thrive because it’s easier to follow.
Despite that, he’s convinced that Valorant’s fast-paced nature makes it more difficult as an esports title — especially for older players — and he explained why during Valorant Champions.
“[Valorant] ain’t a boomer game. It’s just not,” he said. “CSGO is a boomer game. This is not a boomer game. It’s too fast.
“It’s not about being tactical, although of course, you can strategize and all that. It’s more about having every single player being able to adapt and think on the fly as much as possible. That’s what it’s about.”
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For that reason, shroud believes having one ‘boomer’ will hold pro teams back, let alone two or three. “You have to have zero f**king boomers if you want to be on top, and that’s just a fact.”
Some studies have shown that a person’s reaction time peaks at 24 years old. After that, it slowly declines.
Coincidentally, the median age of a professional Valorant player also happens to be 24 years old.
There are some like Comeplexity GX3 player Alice ‘alimonstr’ Lew and BIG’s Fatih ‘gob b’ Dayik who are kicking on well into their 30’s. However, young stars are dominating Valorant, and shroud thinks that’ll be the trend forever.
