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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Valve explains coach restrictions in CS:GO events

Many are unhappy with the new rule.

Yesterday Valve introduced a new rule for their own sponsored CS:GO events that forbids coaches from communicating with players during matches. This means they can only talk to them in pre-game warm-ups, timeouts, and at halftime.

The reason for making this change, they claim, is because having them interact during the game is essentially like having a sixth player. They claim that the goal of the event is to find the best five players and the introduction of this sixth player does not fit with that aim.

This has left a lot of people unhappy with the changes, however. Users on social media expressed their frustration, with many claiming that it was unnecessary while some went as far to say it was damaging to the game. One user by the name of Richard Lewis tweeted: "It's quite telling that there's not one pro player, journalist, commentator or [of course] coach that agree with this new coaching rule".

The rule won't be forced upon all tournaments, however, but it will apply to the Majors, the largest in CS:GO. Allegedly the rule change was prompted by an email from a team coach asking for more access to the players during matches. Valve said, after speaking with coaches at previous Majors, that "the forwarded email made it clear that despite the conversations we had with them, teams were further investing in coaching in a way that was contrary to the goals of the Majors and the concerns we had expressed. It was important to make a decision before teams further invested in coach IGLs and we decided to rein in the role of coaching in the next Major to exclude player responsibilities".

Although Valve has apologised for the "short term disruption" of the new rule, this will be no consolation for those teams like FaZe who make use of coaches. ESL has adopted the rule as well, so it remains to be seen how these will affect performances. The first tournament to use this rule will be ESL New York on October 1 and 2.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Photo: Eleague