Ever since the launch of VALORANT, we have seen several professional Counter-Strike 2 players jump ship, giving rise to a debate over which game is more cerebrally and mechanically demanding. When asked by professional CS2 players how long it would take them to turn professional in VALORANT, ESL was greeted with some interesting answers that are bound to turn a few heads.
During the ongoing ESL Pro League, a professional CS2 player revealed how long they thought they would need to go pro in VALORANT, and the answer expressed remarkable confidence in their ability. While most believe they could reach Tier-1 VALORANT within a span of 2 years, there were many who gave oddly short timelines, which speaks volumes about how Counter-Strike mechanics are universally useful.
As EPL is one of the biggest CS2 tournaments, the questions were about the very best this esport has to offer. From all of the answers, FURIA star Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato stunned everyone by saying he could do it within a week. The likes of Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and Vinicius “n1ssim” Pereira were a little more modest with their two-week timeframe.
Vitality captain Dan “apEX” Madesclaire gave a humble timeline but did not hold back when asserting that he could be the best IGL in VALORANT within a year of his transition.
CS2 Pros’ Estimated VALORANT Transition Time
| Player | Estimated Time |
|---|---|
| KSCERATO | 1 week |
| FalleN | 2 weeks |
| n1ssim | 2 weeks |
| dumau | 2 months |
| zont1x | 4 months |
| apEX | 6 months |
| XANTARES, xertioN, Spinx, Aleksib, iM, JamYoung, woxic | Up to 2 years |
Is it possible?
VALORANT and CS2 may look far removed aesthetically, but they share the core fundamentals of a 5v5 FPS. Given how Counter-Strike as a game has defined this genre unlike anything, pros would hardly take any time to get a grasp of the other elements that VALORANT offers in the form of agents and abilities.
Several professional VALORANT players boast Counter-Strike backgrounds, which speaks to how transitioning has worked wonders for many of the tier-1 players, but the real question here is the timeline. The responses remain hypothetical and sarcastic in some cases, but the confidence in their mechanical skills and ability to adapt is truly remarkable.
