headline image and image above courtesy of counterstike.net
After the relatively recent rework of de_nuke, we take a look into the history of the map to see what it once was and decifer how much the map has changed.
Short history of nuke
As one of the oldest maps in the Counter-Strike franchise, de_nuke has seen competitive play ever since its first appearance in the beta of Counter-Strike 4.0. With the same sky and desert textures as the Half-Life level "Surface Tension" the map quickly grew in the interests of the small competitive scene due to it having a high number of penetrable surfaces and strong Counter-Terrorist defense. Those who complained about being shot through walls in the original version of the map on CS:GO would be amazed to see just how easy it was to wallbang opponents in the 1.6 version of the game, as demonstrated by professional player "n0thing" in this throwback clip.
Youtube link courteous of agustin sosa
The de_nuke changes and controversy
New de_nuke:
Image courtesy of http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/cswikia/images/e/e5/Csgo-nuke-2016feb17.png/revision/latest?cb=20160219144345
With the release of Global Offensive, Nuke quickly became a standard pick in the competitive map pool as it had in both source and 1.6, although minor changes had been made to the map including the removal of a pathway to the B bombsite from the outside yard. However, the map still held its strong CT appeal, with teams aiming for just four rounds on the terrorists side for a good half. This led to a serious focus on pistol rounds, as any T sided team able to take that important round they would be able to take subsequent rounds due to the lack of economy from the CT side. As a result, many grew agitated with the map stating that games were decided in the first few miniutes. With its greyish look not as appealing as most of the other maps in the game, the develelopers made the decision to work on changes to make the map more favoured for terroists as well as give the map the visual charm it holds today.
Old de_nuke:
Image coutesy of http://team-dignitas.net/uploads/article_images/2014-08-04_00003.jpg
Yet, what the professional scene did not see coming was the fact that the re-release of nuke would result in it replacing de_inferno, a map that had been part of the pool just as long and for many a core aspect competive play.
The different responses from major figures within the community such as Nip's own Adam "friberg" Friberg and expert analyst Duncan "Thorin" Shields shed some light on their alternate opinions on the situation.
There was certainly a lot of speculation on how de_nuke would play on the main stage and if or not it would continue to be the strong CT sided map it always was or was now an entirely new map.
The changes to the outside would allow the T side to run around on the catwalk from the now laddered silo all the way to the CT heaven. This change made outside much more viable for the T side and also would add emphasis to the importance of holding the yard area from the CT side.
Typically, down the years de_nuke had seen a 1:2:2 set up, meaning you had one player hold outside alone whilst two people held the A bombsite and the latter locked down the ramp part of the map.
Diagram displaying a typical CT setup as mentioned above with green dots representing the choke point they held:
Image courtesy of https://thelibrarycsgo.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/
However, the changes stated above would throw into question the setup used by Counter-Terroists, as they would most likely now need two players to hold the outside, removing a player from another standard position. With uncertainty in the air it would not be until the MLG Columbus All-Star Event that we would be allowed to take a peek at what the map could be.
The first look at the new nuke on the stage
The first trial of the map took place after the Major itself in which Luminosity was able to take down Na'Vi and claim the major title.
Elected by audiences, the chosen candidates took place in an EU vs NA competitive match, and although this game was for fun and the players were not a practiced team, the match still gave us an indication on how the map may be played in future games.
Players at the All-Star event:
 | North American line up |
|---|---|
 | Oleksandr "S1mple" Kostyliev |
| Spencer "Hiko" Martin |
| Tarik "tarik" Celik |
| Mike "shroud" Grzesiek |
| Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham |
 | European line up |
 | Mikail "Maikelele" Bill |
| Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund |
 | Kenny "KennyS" Schrub |
 | Håvard "rain" Nygaard |
 | Niko "Niko" Tomic |
The first half of the game finished 11:4 in favour of the North American CT side, which is significant as this was the average scoreline for a half on the old de_nuke, and therefore suggested that on a basic level the map had not changed much during the rework. The fact that after this the half the European side were able to completly turn the tables, winning 11 rounds and only giving up 4 rounds, supported the argument that the map was just as CT sided as ever. The game eventually went out to be played in double overtime with the North American game finishing the game 22:19.
Perhaps therefore, the changes to the outside yard as well as reopening of the second entrace to B had not really changed the map at all and at heart it was still just as CT sided?
As April approached it appeared more and more players began to taking an interst in the map with frequent match-makings taking places and players such as Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo beginning to move into high level scrims.
It would not be until high level tournements such as the ELEAGUE that we would be able to see a real representation of how the map now played.
Nuke play on ELEAGUE
With the introduction of the first ever cable streamed CS:GO tournement, the Season 1 of ELEAGUE has had the opportunity to show a variety of high level de_nuke games.
On the 3rd of June the world renowned G2 Esports took on American talent OpTic Gaming. Their game on Nuke was by no means a close match with the well practiced G2 winning the game 16:4 having started on the Counter-Terroist side. As a result it is hard to draw any conclusions from the match with regards to the map design, as it seemed that G2 overall simply played a better game on the day and were able to out-aim their opponents. What did stand out though, was the lockdown G2 demonstrated on their CT side playing with just a single player at ramp and two members A and outside, thus showing that the changes hinted at before have started to come into play.
Perhaps the best match to observe was the Group A Semi-Finals which took place on the 26th May. This match pitted American giants Liquid against the currently ranked number one in the world Luminosity Gaming. Map two would take place on de_nuke and what made this game so exciting was not just the level of performance from both rosters, but more significantly the well prepared executes that both Terroist sides demonstrated. A perfect example of this is Round four of the game, linked below.
Credit to CS:GO SandBOX (VODs, FUNNY MOMENTS & MORE) for the video
Here we see a really interesting A execution from Luminosity. They begin by throwing a series of smokes that block the A Main entrance, choke off the heaven area with the ladder and smoke outside in order to distract the outside player. Once this is done A molotov is thrown by FalleN that, although failed, seems like it was to block off the new bridge area in order to prevent the CT side from hiding up there. Finally a barage of flashes rain down from the skylight as the Terroists bombard the site. We can see in the round how EliGE and AdreN are completly pushed away from their teammates and unable to support them, meaning the Terroist side are able to remove the threat on the A site and get the bomb down.
Yet, despite some amazingly well prepared executes, the half ended 10:5 in favour of Liquid on the CT side. This supports the interpretation that actually the Map is in fact still just as CT sided as it used to be and therefore the changes have not done much to make difference in the competitive scene. To prove this we then see Luminosity go on to win the game 16:12 meaning they won 11 rounds on their CT side.
Conclusion and the future
de_nuke has certainly undergone a series of different changes in terms of the general layout of the map and colours used in the design. It can clearly be seen that its once penetrable surfaces have been refurbished, although some areas are still 'bangable' and its boosts and strafes changed by either being removed or made easier. However, from taking an look at the competitive scene it appears that Valve have been careful to keep its core elements structurally fixed and despite numerous changes set out to make the map a more even playing field the CT side is still strongly favoured to win at least 10 rounds.
But, it must be remembered that the Global Offensive rework is relatively new, especially in the competitive scene. Over the years it has been witnessed how a change in meta or a small tweak in design can completly change how a map is played and which side is favoured, the removal of the wooden doors on de_dust2 for example. Therefore, it is quite possible that given time and play on de_nuke will completly turn around and it will certainly be interesting to watch how the dynamics of such a map play out.
For now though we are left with the same core CT side that we always have done. The question is, for how long, and is that a bad thing?
