Valve made a massive change to CS2 today, removing nullbind, jumpthrow/runthrow binds, and SnapTap/SOCD. This update has caused a huge reaction amongst players and community members, which makes it particularly interesting.

All forms of hardware and software input manipulation are now no longer available, which could significantly impact gameplay and tournament preparation.

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Background: bans from Valve and the aftermath

Many professional CS2 players used Snap Tap keyboards and other devices with similar features. Valve's ban on such manipulation immediately caught the attention of community leaders and sparked a lively discussion on social media. Previously, such devices gave an advantage on a competitive level, but now this advantage will disappear and players will have to adapt to the new conditions.

Community Reaction

Robin “ropz” Kool and Alex “Mauisnake” Ellenberg have come out in support of the changes. Ropz noted that he was one of those who actively pushed for Valve to ban hardware tampering.

Complexity's Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski, however, took a more balanced stance. While he supported removing SnapTap, he lamented the banning of JumpThrow bindings, which has been a part of CS2 since the beta release.  

Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken of Liquid in turn said that it would be nice to learn about jumpthrow built into the game, because it's an integral part of the game. However, after trying to throw grenades without jumpthrow and finding others, he said that everything is fine and goodbye to jumpthrow.

Mounira “GooseBreeder” Dobie, on the other hand, strongly opposed the update, becoming one of the few who did not support the decision as a whole.

HLTV's Milan “Striker” Švejda noted that the changes could seriously affect the upcoming Perfect World Shanghai Major RMR Closed Qualifier. He emphasized that teams will have little time to adapt to the new movement and grenade conditions.  

Conner “Scrawny” Girvan pointed out an interesting aspect, pointing out that if Valve is able to cut off certain input combinations, it may also be able to use this technology against cheaters who often use human-impossible inputs.

Oleksandr “petr1k” Petryk said in his Telegram channel that the removal of jumpthrow is not critical and everyone will get used to the new way of throwing grenades, namely the use of two keys instead of one. Also reported about a possible way to replace runthrow

Now instead of jumpthrow (1 button) we make "jump-throw" (2 buttons: jump and throw). Accuracy in CS2 of such grenades is high, it's hard to miss. But instead of bind to forward jumpthrow (1 button) now you have to make a jump and press W at the same time. Also realistic, but 100% accuracy is impossible. You need to train your skill to consistently hit such grenades

petr1k

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Final Thoughts

Valve's changes will not only affect current gameplay, but could also shape the future of CS2's competitive scene. This update was an important step towards creating a fairer playing environment, but players will have to adapt to the new rules quickly, especially in the run-up to major tournaments.

Source: Telegram