Following the release of the recent CS: GO update, Valve has announced that IEM Fall 2021 will be held using the main version of the game. This decision was criticized by many players and members of the professional scene.
The update, which was released on September 22, contained several changes that significantly affect the gameplay. Specifically, the game has added the ability to drop grenades, added a wall to one section of the Dust2 map, and changed the balance of weapons.
Patrick «es3tag» Complexity's Hansen believes these changes could make the game more difficult for the attacking side, as it will be harder for them to predict their opponent's actions in an environment where players can share grenades. In addition, on maps where players can only take one main path to the bomb site, it will be easier for opponents to counter them.
Complexity coach Luiz «peacemaker» Tadeu believes this puts teams at a disadvantage: while some of them played in the IEM Fall group tournament on the old version, the rest could use the time to adapt to the changes. Thus, those teams that played in the last matches of the group stage will have three to four days less to get used to the new patch.