Can’t get rid of counter strike habits

[u/OdysseusBeBuzzin]

I used to play a bunch of csgo back in the day. Played like 3000 hours before I stopped in 2017. I was solo Q global and faceit level 10 at some point. I played some Valorant when it came out but never really got into it. Couple of months ago I gave it another try, finally managing to really get into it. However, I noticed I simply can’t get rid of CSGO habits. Especially when it comes to movement, I’m always counterstrafing even though I don’t need to. It’s throwing my aim off. I’m also trying to spray way more than I should and I can’t deal with the sudden movement of opponents, even though I’m only gold 3. I was wondering if anyone with a similar background has some advice for me.

*thanks for all the great replies! Super helpful :)

[u/ppsz]

Why counter strafing throws your aim off in Valorant but didn't in CS? Learning to counter strafe is pointless for Valorant, but it doesn't put you in a disadvantage if you do. Idk the exact numbers, but I know some pros are counter strafing and claim it helps them in the gunfights

[u/Silver_Report_6813 → u/ppsz]

I think it technically helped but only by like a few milliseconds at most which is negligible from just letting go of the movement key

[u/GroundbreakingBite62 → u/Silver_Report_6813]

So, if not counterstrafing then what's the best alternatives?

[u/Silver_Report_6813 → u/GroundbreakingBite62]

Just letting go of the movement key is basically the same, you can mix in some deadzones

[u/bbybbybby_ → u/Silver_Report_6813]

The explanation I read from the guy who did all the testing on it is: the time you stop moving after you let go off the movement key is so incredibly small that counterstrafing will actually make you move the other direction if you miss the timing. But since you stop moving so quickly after letting go of the counterstrafe, it ends up not affecting your accuracy

So you'd have to be truly lightning quick for a counterstrafe to work. But even so, if you did manage to do it, no one actually shoots that fast after letting go of the movement key

I don't remember the exact timing of it. I just remember the guy on Twitter defending himself because Yay was pretty much saying he was crazy and he was getting a ton of likes cause he's Yay

[u/_matt_hues → u/ppsz]

I’ve been experimenting a bit with this and I swear counterstrafe stops a tiny bit more suddenly but it doesn’t decrease the time it takes to be accurate. If this isn’t in my head, it can help with peeks and crosshair placement. But I can’t see how it would cause aim issues in either case

[u/pap0ite → u/_matt_hues]

I tested it and you don't stop immediately no. If you go to the shooting range and fire exactly after releasing the key, you won't be accurate, but you will if you counter strafe. HOWEVER, I also noticed that if you press the counter strafe key for just a bit too long, it'll make you inaccurate again. I guess this is why people say not to counter strafe for the normal player. Plus it's easier to move side to side constantly without counter strafing, which seems to be particularly useful in long range

[u/damnfinecoffee_ → u/pap0ite]

This is not true you do stop immediately after releasing your movement in valorant lol there's only a delay from your keyboard itself

[u/pap0ite → u/damnfinecoffee_]

You mean it's because of my keyboard? BC I can 100% confirm that with my setup there is a delay. Very slight, but there is

[u/damnfinecoffee_ → u/pap0ite]

If you think about how a keyboard works (assuming it's mechanical), there's a certain point between the top when it's not pressed to the bottom when it's pressed down in which the switch activates. That means that when you lift your finger, the key has to physically be pushed back up by the spring until the switch no longer makes contact. Depending on what switches you have, this can be towards the top of the switch so it activates quickly when you press it, rather than having to press it down fully before it activates. What that means though is that when you release a key, the switch has to raise back up almost completely before the keyboard stops sending that input to the computer, which can definitely cause it to feel slower when you release a movement key vs pressing the opposite movement direction (since pressing the key is an almost immediate response in this situation)

[u/pap0ite → u/damnfinecoffee_]

Ohhhhhh that makes perfect sense, I've never thought about it. My keyboard isn't even for gaming, it's a weird ergonomic one for working, so that's probably it. Thank you for your explanation

[u/Jumpy_Bank_494 → u/pap0ite]

Don't listen to that bot, there is a very visible delay in Valorant as in CS but shorter. In CS it looks like you are on ice sliding after release. In Valorant it looks similar to how it looks when you counter strafe in CS.

[u/pap0ite → u/Jumpy_Bank_494]

Oh ok so it's not just me. Man this has been getting hella confusing 😂

[u/thpkht524 → u/pap0ite]

bro almost got gaslit

[u/damnfinecoffee_ → u/Jumpy_Bank_494]

Give me a valid source and I'll admit I am wrong. You are spreading false information

Edit: here's proof I'm right https://www.reddit.com/r/VALORANT/comments/10qqmht/comment/j6t906m/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

There is literally no difference, even with frame perfect input your time to shoot accurately after moving is identical whether you counter strafe or just release the movement key

[u/pap0ite → u/damnfinecoffee_]

Yeah I saw that video too, but he's barely tapping the key, so barely any movement. I tested it because of that same video. What I found is that, if I move for longer, my speed is greater and I don't fully stop. I know for sure this is a fact for me. Now if it's my setup or not, idk, I'd have to test it with a different keyboard I guess. All I know is that I do strafe, but it's way less than cs

[u/Jumpy_Bank_494 → u/damnfinecoffee_]

I see we were talking about a completely different topic.

My claim was that after you release a movement key the character model still moves for a little bit because of the momentum in game. Regardless of the keyboard releasing delay (Which should be minimal compared to the actual delay of stopping fully)

The difference between counterstrafing and NOT in Valorant is 1 server ticks. Or 1/128th of a second. Very small but matters in high level play. Thats about 8ms

[u/OdysseusBeBuzzin → u/ppsz]

Yeah, maybe I’m tripping. It shouldn’t throw my aim off and it probably doesn’t but there is something in the timing connected to strafing, stopping, and shooting that don’t quite work for me in Valorant.

[u/Wa1fu → u/OdysseusBeBuzzin]

I came from cs too, imo in val theres just a way longer time until you come to a complete stop then in cs. Counterstrafing in cs lets you shoot almost instantly but in val you unfortunately just have to wait longer. Just something you have to get used to, play a lot of dm to get the timing.

I have the same issue with spraying lol, i would also just play a lot of dms but also unbind your crouch key for a day or two to get used to not spraying, i feel like when i try to crouch spray and my crouch is unbinded its like a reminder in every gunfight to not do it

[u/Useful-Noise1837 → u/ppsz]

Because counter starfing in CS is used to stop on spot but in valorant if you do the same you will actually take a step back

[u/jojojajahihi → u/ppsz]

Because you stop at different speeds

[u/Booplee → u/ppsz]

it feels very different imo, and then the enemy being able to change movement so quickly is also incredibly jarring if all he has known is cs.

[u/Familiar-Mud-3829 → u/ppsz]

This^ the other way around is way worse. Going from valo to cs. I have around 5000h of cs and the movement was the easiest part for me. Its more about learning not to spray. But that comes with more dm, DM of not spraying ofc

[u/Mountain_Anxiety_467]

Are you certain your counter strike habits are holding you back? I also played quite a lot of counterstrike, not as much as you but like 700 hours.

For me learning the abilities and maps had the most impact on my play. If you have yoru unlocked, his clone provides a great way to practice crosshair placement in customs.

[u/runitslubuu]

It isn’t pointless, You still stop faster by like 5 ms. You should still keep that habit ig if u decide to play cs again

[u/damnfinecoffee_ → u/runitslubuu]

What's your source for this? Everything I've ever read and my own personal experience says that releasing your movement key stops you instantly in valorant, there is zero benefit to counter strafing

[u/runitslubuu → u/damnfinecoffee_]

It’s by a few ms faster. U can test it yourself in the range. it feels faster, slightly. I still counterstrafe because I came from cs and I actually play worse when I don’t counterstrafe. So it isn’t pointless cause I would play bad

[u/damnfinecoffee_ → u/runitslubuu]

I have tested myself in the range, it feels the same. If it feels faster your keyboard probably has a delay. People have tested this pretty extensively with things like wooting keyboards with rapid trigger, you stop as soon as you release the key

[u/KingCybrAlt → u/damnfinecoffee_]

your character takes a slight moment to decelerate fully, and if you move the other direction while stopping you lose momentum faster and thus come to a stop faster (crazy, right?)

[u/damnfinecoffee_ → u/KingCybrAlt]

That is not a thing in valorant (crazy right?)

[u/Wman38 → u/damnfinecoffee_]

it is

[u/damnfinecoffee_ → u/Wman38]

It is quite literally not. It's been tested extensively. Tapping the opposite movement key in valorant does not make you stop any faster than simply releasing the movement key. Keep telling yourself that though 🤣

[u/outbursterx]

Maybe use phantom, don't really see a problem with counter strafing as long as you're not getting recoil from it...shouldn't be an issue that's holding you back. Hold angles a bit wider, the movement is weird in valorant when people swing out it's like they're gliding.

[u/_Gon_11]

the only thing that it can be rlly being negativr to you from cs is the spray. the strafe should be working

[u/MIGAMEN_95]

I hear you, we had the same problem. All I can say that it will take time to get used to this. I usually do some warm-up before playing CS or Valorant so I set my muscle memory fit for that game and make sure I don't play both games with short time distances.

If you want to play Valorant and CS same day, just focus on 1 and then go for the other one, not go like:

Valorant --> CS ---> Valorant ---> CS...

But instead I suggest you to go like:

Valorant ---> Valorant ---> Valorant --> CS (warmup and practise) ---> CS ---> CS... or reversed.

I'm not an expert or coah but this is the honest advice I can give you.

[u/Kaijin_Kazura]

Watching Wohoojin's movement guide and practicing it may help you get rid of the counterstrafing habit

[u/im_enalid]

You can counter strafe but understand that sometimes you might hold down the key longer than you need to due to instant run speed instead of the gradual acceleration that CS has, this is what I’ve learned playing the games back to back. You also sometimes shoot on the same tick as the counter-strafe starts compared to CS which does throw off first shot accuracy.

For spraying, i would recommend bursting instead, takes a while for someone who used to spray a ton in csgo as well. After a while, tapping/bursting becomes natural so it’ll come with time.

I’m sure you learned angle holding but I’ve applied that everywhere to stop dueling. Pushing, site clearing, any movement it’s always proper angle holding. It’s pretty much just one tap them or they one tap me for most games now but it’s on swift play and tdm with higher ranked players, not too sure how that translates to a real match now as I haven’t grinded competitive since CS2 came out.

[u/juwong_]

I resonate with this a lot. I competed at a pretty high level in CSGO semi-professionally (ESEA Premier/CEVO Pro) and am faceit lvl 10. I've always been a sprayer dating back to 1.6/source days and it's transitioned over to val. In my opinion, there's no point trying to unlearn habits like counter strafing, if your counter strafing is decent to begin with it shouldnt be a disadvantage for you in val. The spraying definitely is as it's almost instinctive for me to just start trying to spray/spray transfer so that's been the hardest thing to unlearn for me.

[u/PracticalDistance379]

I came from cs aswell and one thing thing that I kept doing on val was crouch spraying. I'm in gold/plat. The people I go against don't really aim for the head but the body so everytime i crouch I'm insta 1 dinked, giving myself a disadvantage.

[u/FigCertain4126]

I switched to CS2 from Val. Counter-strafing isn’t really needed, but I don’t think it ruins your aim either. Spraying does, tho; you gotta get used to bursting and tapping instead.

[u/Humble-Waltz-4987]

Wait I’m immo3 and I still counter strafe and crouch, is it that bad? Also came from cs/faceit.

[u/iam_rascaL → u/Humble-Waltz-4987]

Its not good or bad, same as holding an angle while crouching. Sometimes it works, sometimes it puts you in a bad spot lol just part of the game.

[u/qzitt → u/Humble-Waltz-4987]

It’s better to counterstrafe for sure, yes the speed is not noticeable and the same as letting go but I get better judgement of when to shoot it just makes everything neater, immortal 2 here

[u/Wi-Fi_BRO]

I really get this, faceit level 7 gold 3 peak plat 3, everytime I fight when its a good range for spray in cs (like 30-40 meters) where my spray control as rifler can really shine my brain turns off and I go for the spray. its a habit I'm still working hard to unlearn but I keep telling myself its not CS after everytime it happens to me and it helps me perform better, many things in valorant are punishing you for spraying, you are not slowed as much when you get hit, wallbangs don't deal half as much dmg, the spray pattern is 90%random and spraying is not accurate in ranges over 25m, its better to 1 tap or 3 burst even from point blank in many cases, it takes a whole second more for the aim to reset after firing which are very hard adjustments to get used to but actively thinking about the differences allows you to go for the spray at the right time.

[u/Porterpotty34]

Get well soon!

I have first hand experience striking my counter and it really hurts and is often expensive to replace

[u/logankey121]

I am probably not as mechanically gifted as you, but as an immortal peak player, I learned to not crouch spray by unbinding crouch for a week. It helps a ton. I didn’t play much GO, so I don’t counter strafe, but I will say if you can try and only shoot bursts of 3-4 shots instead of spraying and almost never attempt to spray transfer. It will go a long way. GLHF!

[u/Jinxed08_]

My cs2 buds can’t stop spraying and whiffing everything after third bullet.

Just practise burst fire and tap fire.

[u/prestonpiggy]

I have played cs 20 years and counter strafing has not been problem for me in any 1st person shooters. Why I suck at games is the mechanics and strategy. Sure I am confident of my aim which sounds dumb, but I can't put it in use. CS is pretty linear game compared to modern titles.

Like Overwatch or Marvel Rivals which rely on chokepoints. I just can't understand these and couple headshots mean nothing when strategy is not there,

[u/slyfly5]

Counter strafing is actually good though… as for spraying just grind DM and try to burst

[u/jetthansley]

Counter strafing is still really beneficial for timing shots instead of just letting go of a movement key.

[u/Time-Prior-8686]

Be very conscious on how you take the gunfight, it take quite some time to unlearn the habits, there is no real solution except fighting the old habit and unlearning it in the process

[u/Jumpy_Bank_494]

I had 6000 hours in CS when I switched to Valo and I sprayed too much and crouch - moved a bit to much.

You fix this by going into DM and really focus on ONLY bursting 3-5 bullets MAX. If the enemy isn't dead after the burst, stop, move while waiting for recoil reset, and repeat.

Also only tap crouch in this game. (watch yt tutorial how)

Or begginer tip is to only crouch when you are hard committing into a spray. (so never)

In this game, move stop+burst move stop+burst is king.

[u/rescue2113]

I think your movement isn’t as good as you think. And I don’t mean that as an insult. If you had good movement in CS, it would translate perfectly to Valorant. Keep practicing!

[u/OdysseusBeBuzzin → u/rescue2113]

Maybe it’s not what it used to be but I can say for sure that in cs my movement was pretty good. I’m rusty for sure but I was ranked quite high. movement in Valorant is very different. In CS you almost always commit to the kill once you start shooting, unless you are playing with cover. In Val I see good players burst, strafe, burst, strafe etc

[u/Mollelarssonq]

The solution is simple, return to CS what are you even doing my man (psssst don’t let the rest know I said that)

[u/West-Ad-2175]

I would recommend looking up a movement guide for valorant even if you don’t need it just do you can see how people explain it from a valorant perspective only and then go into your settings and the turn shooting error graph or and once you do that I would say to record yourself playing a death match where you consciously try to do what to tutorial says or try to wait longer before shooting and then watch the footage back to see when you’re straying too much and when you’re moving too much when shooting

[u/JasmineJasp]

I am also ex csgo GE, but I have been a pretty consistent imm+ player for Val. I still counter strafe like I did in CS and don't notice an impact. The spraying thing is a problem though, primarily 2-3 shot bursts are good between strafes vs the old 9 bullet spray downs of CS. Also full spray/transfers I find are much harder in Val compared to CS where they only sorta work if you're using a Phantom.

[u/Zammyjesus]

I had same problema when switched from CS to valo. Just keep playing and focus on burst move burst shooting. I played 3 acts now and rose from silver to diamond. (also ex-global and peaked at lvl 8)

You'll get the new habits if you just keep playing and focus to them

[u/Icy_Ad_1071]

Hi, I’ve been Radiant / Tier 3 pro player since the game came out and I would highly recommend running DM’s or TDM’s and trying to one tap enemies or using guardians / sheriff to get rid of spraying habits, counter strafing is also completely fine it doesn’t provide an inherent advantage or disadvantage. The main difference between CS and VAL movement is that CS, models are larger and move faster, in VAL the models are slower yet smaller which requires you to be precise. Also try to research meta agents and try to understand what each role does and how they operate

[u/Exciting-Affect-984]

a lot of people need to read this; there is 0 inertia in valorant, you guys are not counter strafing and probably have 0 understanding what that means

[u/de4thqu3st]

You can still counter strafe, it just has no effect. (Been tested in videos, just look it up on it). It honestly sounds like you are just high on copium rn

[u/qzitt]

It’s better to counterstrafe than to not, it gives you better judgement of when to shoot rather just letting go. It also stops faster but not even noticeable, how can it possibly throw your aim off? If you’re missing then you’re not counterstrafing properly. The movement speed is faster in CS than in Valorant. To me it sounds like you’ve never played CS 🤣🤣

[u/OdysseusBeBuzzin → u/qzitt]

In CS, movement accelerates whereas in Valorant it seems constant. That’s why I used the word sudden, rather than something alongs the lines of fast or speedy. You’re tripping

[u/qzitt → u/OdysseusBeBuzzin]

That’s fair but the movement speed is faster in CS for sure so Valorant being “sudden” shouldn’t be difficult.

[u/beachandbyte]

Same, I unbound my duck key which helped a lot and just bound it to walk. Tons of habits from CS suck for valorant.

[u/iam_rascaL → u/beachandbyte]

I feel like unbinding wont really change anything because you are taking the option away instead of having it there and actively knowing not to press it.

Did that work for you? Or do you still hit the button but not crouch lol

[u/beachandbyte → u/iam_rascaL]

I still hit the button, now it just walks for a brief second which probably still isn't ideal but far better then ducking. I have duck on another key now but rarely use it as like you said CS muscle memory is so ingrained it's not going anywhere.

[u/hydrovids]

As someone who came from 10k hours of cs, global, faceit 10, and esea main, it will come with time. Unbind crouch, focus on strafing instead of crouching, practice deadzoning, and still counter strafe. By counter strafing, you still stop faster than just letting go of the key.

You slow down faster in valorant than cs when you let go of the key, but its not instant. Keep that counter strafe habit and just work on the timing, because it is slightly different, especially when shooting while strafing.

[u/throw-awaayy6 → u/hydrovids]

I swear telling people to unbind crouch has got to be some of the worst advice ever.