Azuwu - CS2 player for Luminosity
"I'd say there's a difference from 1 to 2K and then, after that, 8K you don't even reach anyway. So it's only 2K or 4K, but they're both fine. I play at 4K."
yxngstxr - CS2 player for Luminosity
"1K is the minimum. If you play 4K, it's going to be way smoother—not 'way' [smoother], but you will notice it. It's a smoother motion than if you put it at 1K... I'm on 800 [DPI], 1 kHz... because usually I like to flick."
A couple of days ago I got the chance to speak with two pro Counter-Strike 2 players, Azuwu and yxngstxr, both from team Luminosity Gaming. Amongst other things, I asked them about polling rates.
As a long-time (and recently-returned) Counter-Strike player, I've stuck to 1 kHz despite all the hype over 4K and 8K. I've tried 8K for comparison before and couldn't make out much of a difference.
I've always stuck to 800 DPI and 1 kHz, just like yxngstxr, in my case mainly because it saves battery life and doesn't risk any lower performance or stuttering which is a risk with 8K on some systems. Our James recently tried out different polling rates and didn't find a consistent benefit, either.
But I never tried out higher polling rates for too long, and after now having heard directly from pro players that the difference is noticeable above 1K, I'm thinking I might give it another go.
I was a little surprised that yxngstxr sticks to 1K, but he explains that that's because he likes to do more flick-shots than perhaps most low-sens pros:
"The low-sensitivity player, because they're not moving a lot, they like the smooth feeling. If you have low-sens, you're usually not a flicky guy. That's why the low-sens players usually play like 2K, 4K, like peak Niko."
Perhaps I'll end up being the same and sticking to 1K. But given pro players are telling me they definitely can feel a difference, I think it's high time I give it some more extensive testing and hope that FaceIt rank starts to climb.
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