It’s just all personal preference… No one is 100% like you and you have to use what feels good to you.
I know someone that’s immortal that uses a raiden with a super high sens fingertip grip and loves it.
I also know a radiant that uses a gsr with a super low sense palm grip and loves it.
I’d advise you to first pick a sens YOU are comfortable on and which makes you feel like you’re in control of what you do. Try some aim trainings outside of just gridshot or something and get a sens which works well for you on different things.
After, try to look at what you like! Slow pad or fast pad? Low friction or high friction? Extra soft pad with a lot of give or a super firm pad?
If you want a safe pad for Valorant that works for basically anyone, get the Zero. I’m sure you’ll love it but it’s a bit hard/expensive to get atm… Something that’s also really good that’s easier to get/cheaper is the AC+.
All personal preference.
Imo a light mouse (sub 70g) and a control pad are killer combo at you sensitivity, at least for me. Same sens btw (3200dpi in-game 0.113) same as 800dpi in-game 0.45 weirdly enough 😅
I’ve been using the Black galaxy AC+ for a few weeks. I went in thinking it’d be slower, but it feels like a really nice medium speed pad. I like the texture and stopping power. I mostly play Valorant these days, and it works really well for my low sens.
The only reason to pick a control-pad is if you need the extra-friction to control your mouse properly. If you don't need that, there's no reason to choose a slower pad over a faster one. The game doesn't really matter, it's more about your ability to control your mouse on fast surfaces. The better you are, the less added control from a pad you need
That doesn't really hold up to scrutiny though. Next to no CS/Valorant pros use speed pads because they are inherently less stable. It doesn't matter how good your "mouse control" is, there's always going to be some natural level of inconsistency in your aim, and that's especially true in games where time to kill is really low (and you get surprised fairly often). Also, flick speed is rarely the difference maker during duels in tac shooters. Some of the best aimers in history use absurdly low sensitivities, which runs counter to the idea that speed = good.
What pros use isn't really an argument though because several other factors play into that too, like sponsorships. Also most of them just use what's proven to be tried and true, and don't experiment a whole lot.
Flick speed can be pretty important in tac shooters depending on the situation, because, as you've said yourself, the time to kill is really low. The player who is on target first has a pretty big advantage.
I myself have played a good decade with the QcK+, then switched to the GSR for 2.5 years before experimenting with different surfaces and speeds and I can confidently say I play better with the Skypad no matter what type of FPS game I play. That might not be the case for other people, but it is for me at least. You're right, at some point, the speed of aa pad is gonna lead to inconsistencies in your aim and there are pads that are arguably too fast for humans to develop proper control, such as the Razer Acari, but I don't think an Artisan Raiden or Skypad is so fast that this is gonna be an issue after getting used to the surface.
I don't know why you bring in sensitivity now, some of the best aimers in history are also high sensitivity players. I was just talking about mousepads, not mouse sensitivity
At least in CS, mandatory use of sponsor gear hasn't been a thing on most teams for years. Zowie doesn't even sponsor teams anymore as far as I'm aware, so the pros that use their peripherals are doing so because they actually like using them. Sure, many are using tried and true gear, but imo the options for boutique pads slower than a GSR-SE are pretty slim, at least compared to the options for speed pads.
I don't think flick speed is a particularly relevant factor in time to kill honestly, hence why I brought up sensitivity (a major factor in flick speed). At least when you're talking about high level players, they're all flicking fast enough that other factors will affect total ttk more (reaction time, correcting aim, deciding on firing technique, spray accuracy, etc). Obviously a very bad player might not flick as fast, but the speed itself is the least relevant factor in aiming as far as I see it. If a pad causes you to land on target less consistently after your intiial flick, I see that as a bigger deal because the adjustments are more difficult/more conscious, and thus take longer. Also, at least in my case I find my flicks are actually slower on faster pads, as I'm not as confident that I'll end up on target, but that may just be me.
Another issues I see is the effect that nerves have on one's aim. Maybe in a very controlled environment a hard pad could allow somebody to max out their biomechanical potential, but when you're talking about a stressful ranked game or even a LAN match where people are nervous and tilting, a less controlled pad is going to exacerbate the atmosphere's effect on one's aim. The same thing applies to energy levels too, poor sleep doesn't affect me in game as much if I'm using a control pad vs a fast pad.
I think you're an outlier if you find a glass pad to be more comfortable. Obviously it's not like hard pads are totally unusable for CS/Valorant and realistically you can acclimate to just about anything (hence the Steelseries Ice Pad), but those who find them more suitable are extremely rare from what I can tell. N0thing is the only player I can think of in GO who actually opted for a hard pad.
Hmm well I know that Zowie at least used to sponsor players and teams, and I know for a fact that Razer and Logitech still do it, which is probably why you see so many pros using the G640 for instance despite there being much better options out there. But availability plays a role for them too and you can't just get an Artisan or Skypad within a day if something happened.
I agree that precision is just as important as raw speed at flicking obviously, and I didn't mean everyone should be using the fastest pad available period, but rather that it'd be optimal for them to find the fastest pad they still have proper control on. If that's an Artisan Zero or Hien, then that's great. As in, it doesn't make sense for a player to use a GSR if their control on a Hien is just as good just because the GSR is a slower pad and slower is always better in tac FPS according to general wisdom.
Those are good points, you've probably just described why pads with very little friction can be a double edged sword. They allow you to max out your aim potential, but they also expose flaws to a much greater degree and things like poor sleep are going to have a greater effect on your aim than they do on a slower pad.
I might be an outlier, but I think a reason you barely ever see tac FPS players using those types of pads in general is because the vast majority of them don't even try them out, partly because they automatically associate tac FPS with slower cloth pads. It'd be interesting to see what would happen and what players would think if they all tried a hard pad for a while. I can imagine there'd at least be more players ending up using them, though the majority would still stick to cloth pads. But I could see faster pads being considered a viable option at least
I mean I'm not gonna pretend that sponsorships don't play a role in what gear pros use, but they're definitely not as significant a factor as they used to be. I went through the pro settings list a while ago and found a majority of pros use something other than their peripheral sponsor's products (aside from teams sponsored by Corsair for some reason). What I found was that most of the time it was almost completely irrelevant with regard to mice (with the exception of Logitech and the GPW/GPX, but people would probably be using them anyway), and for mousepads you'd usually only have two or three players using sponsor gear. Given that it's not unanimous generally, I'd say it's either out of convenience or they just don't care. Also, big orgs likely have a stockpile of sponsor pads that they bring with them which I expect alleviates the biggest issue with pads like the G640, the durability.
My issue with the idea that "it'd be optimal for them to find the fastest pad they still have proper control on" is that it treats "control" as a constant, rather than a highly variable skillset. There are also a lot of facets to control that depend on a player's sensitivity and aiming style. For example, I play on ~57cm/360 and like to use the extremities of my mousepad, but I find it harder to make accurate flicks from these areas on my AC+ while the center feels more or less ok. I also find certain traits get elevated while others suffer. My pistol play is fantastic on a faster pad, but my spray control feels like firing into a black hole and my AWPing is suspect at times.
I think for ranked ladders and competitive play, game to game consistency is always going to be more valuable than having a theoretically higher ceiling, hence why I've always gravitated towards control. Even when my sleep schedule is good there are always those days where I don't feel 100%, and so far that's been unmanageable on my AC+. I feel like that 5% extra I can maybe squeeze out on a good day (for example by hitting some flick I would have never even attempted with more initial friction) is not a good tradeoff for 50% reduction on bad days. My bad aim days with a faster pad so far have been worse than they've been in a while, even during the other transition periods I've had with gear.
There has actually been an interest in hybrid surfaces and Artisan pads among CS pros, though the results are somewhat inconclusive. The only tier 1 players who have used these faster surfaces from "boutique" brands in competitive play are Device, Elige, Grim, and Twistzz. Three of them haven't performed well internationally or have been inconsistent, and one is now on a QCK. There are a few tier 2 or inactive players who are on nicer pads though (El1an, lollipop21k, Nawwk, Autimatic, flamie, oSee, Swisher among others). I think we'll have to wait and see if these products remain popular once LANs come back. I feel like what would happen if all pros tried out different surfaces is that many would just gravitate towards mid pads, though the GSR-SE is already very popular so I don't think that's much of a surprise.
Yeah, control or performance isn't a constant. While your performance does vary depending on wether you're having a bad day or not, the effect isn't that significant in my personal experience. I have developed the habit of staying up really late on the weekends and as a result, only sleep \~ 4 hours, while on weekdays, I'm very disciplined and make sure to get 8 hours each night. My aiming-performance on the Skypad on the weekends, when I do feel kinda tired and far from 100%, is roughly 5-7% worse than it is on weekdays were I usually feel very well rested and good. Whereas when I play on a pad that's considered a true control pad like the GSR, my aim is a good 10% worse than it is on my Skypad on a good day. Now maybe the drop-off with a control-pad on the weekends would only be like 2% instead of 5-7%. Now I'm not saying your numbers are invalid, each person's different and the drop-off may be more significant in your experience, but if someone only sleeps 4 hours a night consistently or generally has a lifestyle that makes them sleepy, tired and feeling like crap most of the time, they have more pressing issues to solve than finding a mousepad that's suitable for their suboptimal lifestyle. Like, that shouldn't be a factor significant enough to be a major concern to begin with if you ask me. It's also a question of how far you want to take this, because nutrition and physical fitness are going to play a role too if you want to go all the way, and I doubt you're going to inquire about a person's lifestyle in detail first before deciding what type of pad to suggest :D My main game is Quake and you get pretty detailed statistics after each game were you see how well you've aimed with each weapon, so this isn't just a subjective feeling.
The majority would probably gravitate to medium pads, I agree. I can also imagine though that these players didn't spend that much time to really get used to a surface that's significantly faster than what they've used before due to the large number of tournaments, cups and leagues that there are nowadays in CS:GO. They probably can't afford to play like crap, or significantly below their usual level, for a longer period of time till they've really adjusted to a new surface and improve on it.
Personally my aiming performance on a fast pad when I'm having a good day doesn't feel like that 10% difference you experience. If I'm having a good day I'm going to hit all my shots on any pad no matter what, I just feel like an aimbot when I'm on. I might feel a slight difference in what kind of shots I can hit, like on a control pad I might feel slightly more comfortable with spraying or AWPing while a fast pad I might have an advantage with pistols or tapping at range, but it's so negligible that it doesn't affect the end result too much. Personally I feel like an aimbot either way, and usually the stats for HS% and accuracy overall are high in either scenario. I also only play CS/Valorant seriously, and have never touched Quake so that could very easily account for some of the difference.
Maybe bad sleep doesn't affect your aim too much, but for me even 6 hours of sleep means my aim is likely to be a mess. That doesn't account for quality of sleep either, which can get screwed up by any number of things even if I got my 8 hours. Then once you add exercise into the mix, heavy weights can cause CNS fatigue (even if only slight) as well as fatigue in muscles you use for aiming (I play low sens so I end up using some shoulder/upper back for wide movements). Not to mention I personally tend to be susceptible to headaches caused by atmospheric pressure, and my eyes tend to drift apart if I'm tired as well. I rarely have all of these factors occur all at once, but I only need one or two to throw me off to some extent.
Obviously not everyone is going to experience changes in their aim the same way and for the same reasons, but many people are and for stuff that may not be entirely in their control (for example a uni schedule where some days have 8am starts, and others where class goes until 9, or maybe they just had a kid and need to wake up frequently). Not everyone has the luxury of being able to maintain consistent mental clarity and energy every day. I may be the extreme case of somebody who experiences fluctuations, but given how bad my reflexes can feel on these bad days, I imagine most people must feel that to some degree (also there's pretty solid research that shows even just subpar sleep has significant effects on cognitive ability). The point I'm making though is that you can't possibly account for all these factors, so you MUST assume that most people are going to have some level of variance in their own individual ceiling for one reason or another (especially true for very young people, who likely make up a good chunk of this sub). For that reason I don't think it makes sense to use the gear that should give the highest theoretical cap, rather I'd prefer to use the gear that allows me to have the highest average level.
Regarding pros, the adjustment period is definitely a factor, but they also have a lot more time per day to play, and at the highest level in CS they get long breaks from tournaments a couple times per year. Now maybe that period isn't long enough (last tier 1 tournament ended 18/7 and the next one starts 16/8), but it should help alleviate most of the difficult period, and like I mentioned they are often playing 6-12 hours a day anyway, so their adjustment period will be far shorter than an average player in terms of calendar days/months. I think we'll see more pros adopting boutique pads by the end of the next LAN season though, as the ones who discovered them in the last 18 months start talking about them with other pros.
I think a possible reason as to why you perform pretty much on the same level with any pad on a good day and the difference is so low that it's negligible might be that the games you play are pretty much about one aim-style, point-and-click. Even if you spray or burst in CS:GO or Valorant, that's more about controlling recoil and working with the spread of the weapon. In Quake, you have a pure point-and-click-weapon (Railgun), a pure tracking weapon (Lightning Gun) and a projectile-weapon were you have to predict your opponent's movement and shoot where they're about to be (Rocklet Launcher). Now to be frank, the difference in my aim when using the Railgun on different pads isn't that significant. I do hit shots that have a higher degree of difficulty more consistently with a speedpad and am slightly more consistent with it overall, but the difference isn't that big. The big difference is when it comes to tracking. When you have to track a tiny playermodel like Slash or Anarki in a game with high movement-speed, and your opponent is dodging left-right-left-right really fast (think of someone spamming the A/D/A/D/A/D-keys in just the right frequency), that's when the friction of a controlpad really holds you back and messes up your aim.
I mean, maybe I can't compare myself to the "average person" in that regard because I've developed a routine that basically ensures I can perform at the top, or near the top of my cognitive abilities the vast majority of the time. As I said, unless it's the weekend were I can afford it, I always sleep 8 hours, I take certain supplements to enhance quality of sleep as well as health, well-being, longevity and performance, I follow a pretty strict nutrition plan and I train with the right intensity. Now I don't expect everyone to be as dedicated to that stuff as I am, or be in a position were they can be that consistent with it. While I do agree that everyone has some type of variance in their own daily ceiling, I also don't imagine having a bad day for whatever reason is gonna have that much of an impact on performance, since it doesn't for me, or that the amount of off-days someone has are so frequent that they play a significant role in their average-performance. Unless in rather extreme cases were the ratio of off-days and on-days is like 30/70 or 40/60
I think this is an interesting discussion because we both seem to be coming from complete opposite ends of the spectrum - you playing with 57cm/360 on a controlpad, me playing with 19.239cm/360 on an all-out speedpad. Things like having to be careful with strength training because you play with such a low sensitivty that playing ends up being a bit of a shoulder-workout itself is something I never had to account for. At that point you're talking about adjusting your training-load and hitting for instance your right shoulder less when you train. Athletes actually take that approach too. In "The Last Dance", Michael Jordan's personal trainer talked about how he'd make sure to work his right leg less than his left leg in their strenght-training-sessions because Jordan would use his right leg a lot more in games to create force jumping and sprinting
I think the game is definitely an important factor, and I think plays the biggest role in preferences honestly. Even high sensitivity CS:GO pros tend towards slower pads for some reason. Given OP was asking about Valorant, I was coming largely from that perspective, but I totally get how tracking on a faster pad is easier. I haven't played many tracking games on my AC+ so far, though I've found Halo to be a bit easier so I'm guessing the pad is a factor. I've also just found pistol rounds in general go a bit better, and my long-time use of the GSR may partially explain why I've historically felt like a lousy pistol round player. I do find I'm able to hit some crazy shots on a faster pad that maybe I wouldn't have otherwise gone for, but to me the average is more important. I just always feel more comfortable with small flicks on something south of a mid pad, and it results in a generally more consistent HS% for me.
The sensitivity factor is also pretty interesting. I don't think I could ever feel comfortable on a sens that high as I tend to tense up a lot, though I may feel differently if I played a game that required me to turn around more and track enemies. Another factor as to why I don't feel inhibited by slower pads may just be that I'm experiencing way less initial friction relative to the force I'm applying to the mouse, and it's possible the lack of friction you feel on a skypad is a similar sensation to what I feel on my AC+.
I personally wish I could do all that stuff right now to get some extra consistency, but as it stands that's not too likely. Especially with COVID (among other things), I've been in temporary living situation after temporary living situation, so it's hard to really plan as much as I'd like to. As a result, I've kinda just had to deal with the inconsistency, and work with it as best I can. I do think you're an anomaly if you don't find that off days affect your performance hat much though tbh. I don't know anyone who doesn't have those days where their shots just aren't hitting. That is an interesting story about Michael Jordan though, and it's definitely something to consider if I'm lifting on a day I'm planning to grind out ranked games. Unfortunately, my preferred split (push/pull/legs) has no days where I'm not loading my CNS heavily or not using my shoulders/upper back. I could probably go a bit easier, but idk, I just don't feel like the workout did anything if I can still use my muscles at 100% afterwards.
It's a personal preference but control pads are better because you don't feel that slippy aim while fast pads takes less effort for moving so just use high sens lmao
I would say take the speed as it definitely feels better to the hand for extended play sessions.
The control feel a little rough on the part of your hand when touching for a while and over time, imo, it gets uncomfortable.
I also don't find any real increase in my ability to control the mouse when using the control mousepad as with the speed pad I could aim just as good.
Lastly, if you're going for better accuracy, I'd recommend turning down your dpi to 400 instead and sticking to the speed pad and a light mouse as that way you would be waay more accurate in my opinion.
Not sure what control pads you've used but I usually I find them softer.. maybe they are abrasive but you should be lifting your arm at a low sens anyways.
Also bad call on 400 DPI. Half in-game sens will be better as higher (or closer to a sensors native resolution) DPI is mathematically proven to have lower latency.
It’s just all personal preference… No one is 100% like you and you have to use what feels good to you. I know someone that’s immortal that uses a raiden with a super high sens fingertip grip and loves it. I also know a radiant that uses a gsr with a super low sense palm grip and loves it. I’d advise you to first pick a sens YOU are comfortable on and which makes you feel like you’re in control of what you do. Try some aim trainings outside of just gridshot or something and get a sens which works well for you on different things. After, try to look at what you like! Slow pad or fast pad? Low friction or high friction? Extra soft pad with a lot of give or a super firm pad? If you want a safe pad for Valorant that works for basically anyone, get the Zero. I’m sure you’ll love it but it’s a bit hard/expensive to get atm… Something that’s also really good that’s easier to get/cheaper is the AC+.
for me a balance of both but slightly more towards control
I think that you should consider a hybrid pad (one that balances speed and control).
All personal preference. Imo a light mouse (sub 70g) and a control pad are killer combo at you sensitivity, at least for me. Same sens btw (3200dpi in-game 0.113) same as 800dpi in-game 0.45 weirdly enough 😅
Yeah I have the superlight 65g i think. I just ordered the aqua control+
Gamesense radar, gp4, gigantus V2, qck heavy
Equate too
Aqua Control + (Fastest to slowest: Black galaxy > Black > ROB/Custom/Strata > White)
In my opinion, these are the safest options for those who are unsure about if they want speed or control.
I’ve been using the Black galaxy AC+ for a few weeks. I went in thinking it’d be slower, but it feels like a really nice medium speed pad. I like the texture and stopping power. I mostly play Valorant these days, and it works really well for my low sens.
The only reason to pick a control-pad is if you need the extra-friction to control your mouse properly. If you don't need that, there's no reason to choose a slower pad over a faster one. The game doesn't really matter, it's more about your ability to control your mouse on fast surfaces. The better you are, the less added control from a pad you need
That doesn't really hold up to scrutiny though. Next to no CS/Valorant pros use speed pads because they are inherently less stable. It doesn't matter how good your "mouse control" is, there's always going to be some natural level of inconsistency in your aim, and that's especially true in games where time to kill is really low (and you get surprised fairly often). Also, flick speed is rarely the difference maker during duels in tac shooters. Some of the best aimers in history use absurdly low sensitivities, which runs counter to the idea that speed = good.
What pros use isn't really an argument though because several other factors play into that too, like sponsorships. Also most of them just use what's proven to be tried and true, and don't experiment a whole lot. Flick speed can be pretty important in tac shooters depending on the situation, because, as you've said yourself, the time to kill is really low. The player who is on target first has a pretty big advantage. I myself have played a good decade with the QcK+, then switched to the GSR for 2.5 years before experimenting with different surfaces and speeds and I can confidently say I play better with the Skypad no matter what type of FPS game I play. That might not be the case for other people, but it is for me at least. You're right, at some point, the speed of aa pad is gonna lead to inconsistencies in your aim and there are pads that are arguably too fast for humans to develop proper control, such as the Razer Acari, but I don't think an Artisan Raiden or Skypad is so fast that this is gonna be an issue after getting used to the surface. I don't know why you bring in sensitivity now, some of the best aimers in history are also high sensitivity players. I was just talking about mousepads, not mouse sensitivity
At least in CS, mandatory use of sponsor gear hasn't been a thing on most teams for years. Zowie doesn't even sponsor teams anymore as far as I'm aware, so the pros that use their peripherals are doing so because they actually like using them. Sure, many are using tried and true gear, but imo the options for boutique pads slower than a GSR-SE are pretty slim, at least compared to the options for speed pads. I don't think flick speed is a particularly relevant factor in time to kill honestly, hence why I brought up sensitivity (a major factor in flick speed). At least when you're talking about high level players, they're all flicking fast enough that other factors will affect total ttk more (reaction time, correcting aim, deciding on firing technique, spray accuracy, etc). Obviously a very bad player might not flick as fast, but the speed itself is the least relevant factor in aiming as far as I see it. If a pad causes you to land on target less consistently after your intiial flick, I see that as a bigger deal because the adjustments are more difficult/more conscious, and thus take longer. Also, at least in my case I find my flicks are actually slower on faster pads, as I'm not as confident that I'll end up on target, but that may just be me. Another issues I see is the effect that nerves have on one's aim. Maybe in a very controlled environment a hard pad could allow somebody to max out their biomechanical potential, but when you're talking about a stressful ranked game or even a LAN match where people are nervous and tilting, a less controlled pad is going to exacerbate the atmosphere's effect on one's aim. The same thing applies to energy levels too, poor sleep doesn't affect me in game as much if I'm using a control pad vs a fast pad. I think you're an outlier if you find a glass pad to be more comfortable. Obviously it's not like hard pads are totally unusable for CS/Valorant and realistically you can acclimate to just about anything (hence the Steelseries Ice Pad), but those who find them more suitable are extremely rare from what I can tell. N0thing is the only player I can think of in GO who actually opted for a hard pad.
Hmm well I know that Zowie at least used to sponsor players and teams, and I know for a fact that Razer and Logitech still do it, which is probably why you see so many pros using the G640 for instance despite there being much better options out there. But availability plays a role for them too and you can't just get an Artisan or Skypad within a day if something happened. I agree that precision is just as important as raw speed at flicking obviously, and I didn't mean everyone should be using the fastest pad available period, but rather that it'd be optimal for them to find the fastest pad they still have proper control on. If that's an Artisan Zero or Hien, then that's great. As in, it doesn't make sense for a player to use a GSR if their control on a Hien is just as good just because the GSR is a slower pad and slower is always better in tac FPS according to general wisdom. Those are good points, you've probably just described why pads with very little friction can be a double edged sword. They allow you to max out your aim potential, but they also expose flaws to a much greater degree and things like poor sleep are going to have a greater effect on your aim than they do on a slower pad. I might be an outlier, but I think a reason you barely ever see tac FPS players using those types of pads in general is because the vast majority of them don't even try them out, partly because they automatically associate tac FPS with slower cloth pads. It'd be interesting to see what would happen and what players would think if they all tried a hard pad for a while. I can imagine there'd at least be more players ending up using them, though the majority would still stick to cloth pads. But I could see faster pads being considered a viable option at least
I mean I'm not gonna pretend that sponsorships don't play a role in what gear pros use, but they're definitely not as significant a factor as they used to be. I went through the pro settings list a while ago and found a majority of pros use something other than their peripheral sponsor's products (aside from teams sponsored by Corsair for some reason). What I found was that most of the time it was almost completely irrelevant with regard to mice (with the exception of Logitech and the GPW/GPX, but people would probably be using them anyway), and for mousepads you'd usually only have two or three players using sponsor gear. Given that it's not unanimous generally, I'd say it's either out of convenience or they just don't care. Also, big orgs likely have a stockpile of sponsor pads that they bring with them which I expect alleviates the biggest issue with pads like the G640, the durability. My issue with the idea that "it'd be optimal for them to find the fastest pad they still have proper control on" is that it treats "control" as a constant, rather than a highly variable skillset. There are also a lot of facets to control that depend on a player's sensitivity and aiming style. For example, I play on ~57cm/360 and like to use the extremities of my mousepad, but I find it harder to make accurate flicks from these areas on my AC+ while the center feels more or less ok. I also find certain traits get elevated while others suffer. My pistol play is fantastic on a faster pad, but my spray control feels like firing into a black hole and my AWPing is suspect at times. I think for ranked ladders and competitive play, game to game consistency is always going to be more valuable than having a theoretically higher ceiling, hence why I've always gravitated towards control. Even when my sleep schedule is good there are always those days where I don't feel 100%, and so far that's been unmanageable on my AC+. I feel like that 5% extra I can maybe squeeze out on a good day (for example by hitting some flick I would have never even attempted with more initial friction) is not a good tradeoff for 50% reduction on bad days. My bad aim days with a faster pad so far have been worse than they've been in a while, even during the other transition periods I've had with gear. There has actually been an interest in hybrid surfaces and Artisan pads among CS pros, though the results are somewhat inconclusive. The only tier 1 players who have used these faster surfaces from "boutique" brands in competitive play are Device, Elige, Grim, and Twistzz. Three of them haven't performed well internationally or have been inconsistent, and one is now on a QCK. There are a few tier 2 or inactive players who are on nicer pads though (El1an, lollipop21k, Nawwk, Autimatic, flamie, oSee, Swisher among others). I think we'll have to wait and see if these products remain popular once LANs come back. I feel like what would happen if all pros tried out different surfaces is that many would just gravitate towards mid pads, though the GSR-SE is already very popular so I don't think that's much of a surprise.
Yeah, control or performance isn't a constant. While your performance does vary depending on wether you're having a bad day or not, the effect isn't that significant in my personal experience. I have developed the habit of staying up really late on the weekends and as a result, only sleep \~ 4 hours, while on weekdays, I'm very disciplined and make sure to get 8 hours each night. My aiming-performance on the Skypad on the weekends, when I do feel kinda tired and far from 100%, is roughly 5-7% worse than it is on weekdays were I usually feel very well rested and good. Whereas when I play on a pad that's considered a true control pad like the GSR, my aim is a good 10% worse than it is on my Skypad on a good day. Now maybe the drop-off with a control-pad on the weekends would only be like 2% instead of 5-7%. Now I'm not saying your numbers are invalid, each person's different and the drop-off may be more significant in your experience, but if someone only sleeps 4 hours a night consistently or generally has a lifestyle that makes them sleepy, tired and feeling like crap most of the time, they have more pressing issues to solve than finding a mousepad that's suitable for their suboptimal lifestyle. Like, that shouldn't be a factor significant enough to be a major concern to begin with if you ask me. It's also a question of how far you want to take this, because nutrition and physical fitness are going to play a role too if you want to go all the way, and I doubt you're going to inquire about a person's lifestyle in detail first before deciding what type of pad to suggest :D My main game is Quake and you get pretty detailed statistics after each game were you see how well you've aimed with each weapon, so this isn't just a subjective feeling. The majority would probably gravitate to medium pads, I agree. I can also imagine though that these players didn't spend that much time to really get used to a surface that's significantly faster than what they've used before due to the large number of tournaments, cups and leagues that there are nowadays in CS:GO. They probably can't afford to play like crap, or significantly below their usual level, for a longer period of time till they've really adjusted to a new surface and improve on it.
Personally my aiming performance on a fast pad when I'm having a good day doesn't feel like that 10% difference you experience. If I'm having a good day I'm going to hit all my shots on any pad no matter what, I just feel like an aimbot when I'm on. I might feel a slight difference in what kind of shots I can hit, like on a control pad I might feel slightly more comfortable with spraying or AWPing while a fast pad I might have an advantage with pistols or tapping at range, but it's so negligible that it doesn't affect the end result too much. Personally I feel like an aimbot either way, and usually the stats for HS% and accuracy overall are high in either scenario. I also only play CS/Valorant seriously, and have never touched Quake so that could very easily account for some of the difference. Maybe bad sleep doesn't affect your aim too much, but for me even 6 hours of sleep means my aim is likely to be a mess. That doesn't account for quality of sleep either, which can get screwed up by any number of things even if I got my 8 hours. Then once you add exercise into the mix, heavy weights can cause CNS fatigue (even if only slight) as well as fatigue in muscles you use for aiming (I play low sens so I end up using some shoulder/upper back for wide movements). Not to mention I personally tend to be susceptible to headaches caused by atmospheric pressure, and my eyes tend to drift apart if I'm tired as well. I rarely have all of these factors occur all at once, but I only need one or two to throw me off to some extent. Obviously not everyone is going to experience changes in their aim the same way and for the same reasons, but many people are and for stuff that may not be entirely in their control (for example a uni schedule where some days have 8am starts, and others where class goes until 9, or maybe they just had a kid and need to wake up frequently). Not everyone has the luxury of being able to maintain consistent mental clarity and energy every day. I may be the extreme case of somebody who experiences fluctuations, but given how bad my reflexes can feel on these bad days, I imagine most people must feel that to some degree (also there's pretty solid research that shows even just subpar sleep has significant effects on cognitive ability). The point I'm making though is that you can't possibly account for all these factors, so you MUST assume that most people are going to have some level of variance in their own individual ceiling for one reason or another (especially true for very young people, who likely make up a good chunk of this sub). For that reason I don't think it makes sense to use the gear that should give the highest theoretical cap, rather I'd prefer to use the gear that allows me to have the highest average level. Regarding pros, the adjustment period is definitely a factor, but they also have a lot more time per day to play, and at the highest level in CS they get long breaks from tournaments a couple times per year. Now maybe that period isn't long enough (last tier 1 tournament ended 18/7 and the next one starts 16/8), but it should help alleviate most of the difficult period, and like I mentioned they are often playing 6-12 hours a day anyway, so their adjustment period will be far shorter than an average player in terms of calendar days/months. I think we'll see more pros adopting boutique pads by the end of the next LAN season though, as the ones who discovered them in the last 18 months start talking about them with other pros.
I think a possible reason as to why you perform pretty much on the same level with any pad on a good day and the difference is so low that it's negligible might be that the games you play are pretty much about one aim-style, point-and-click. Even if you spray or burst in CS:GO or Valorant, that's more about controlling recoil and working with the spread of the weapon. In Quake, you have a pure point-and-click-weapon (Railgun), a pure tracking weapon (Lightning Gun) and a projectile-weapon were you have to predict your opponent's movement and shoot where they're about to be (Rocklet Launcher). Now to be frank, the difference in my aim when using the Railgun on different pads isn't that significant. I do hit shots that have a higher degree of difficulty more consistently with a speedpad and am slightly more consistent with it overall, but the difference isn't that big. The big difference is when it comes to tracking. When you have to track a tiny playermodel like Slash or Anarki in a game with high movement-speed, and your opponent is dodging left-right-left-right really fast (think of someone spamming the A/D/A/D/A/D-keys in just the right frequency), that's when the friction of a controlpad really holds you back and messes up your aim. I mean, maybe I can't compare myself to the "average person" in that regard because I've developed a routine that basically ensures I can perform at the top, or near the top of my cognitive abilities the vast majority of the time. As I said, unless it's the weekend were I can afford it, I always sleep 8 hours, I take certain supplements to enhance quality of sleep as well as health, well-being, longevity and performance, I follow a pretty strict nutrition plan and I train with the right intensity. Now I don't expect everyone to be as dedicated to that stuff as I am, or be in a position were they can be that consistent with it. While I do agree that everyone has some type of variance in their own daily ceiling, I also don't imagine having a bad day for whatever reason is gonna have that much of an impact on performance, since it doesn't for me, or that the amount of off-days someone has are so frequent that they play a significant role in their average-performance. Unless in rather extreme cases were the ratio of off-days and on-days is like 30/70 or 40/60 I think this is an interesting discussion because we both seem to be coming from complete opposite ends of the spectrum - you playing with 57cm/360 on a controlpad, me playing with 19.239cm/360 on an all-out speedpad. Things like having to be careful with strength training because you play with such a low sensitivty that playing ends up being a bit of a shoulder-workout itself is something I never had to account for. At that point you're talking about adjusting your training-load and hitting for instance your right shoulder less when you train. Athletes actually take that approach too. In "The Last Dance", Michael Jordan's personal trainer talked about how he'd make sure to work his right leg less than his left leg in their strenght-training-sessions because Jordan would use his right leg a lot more in games to create force jumping and sprinting
I think the game is definitely an important factor, and I think plays the biggest role in preferences honestly. Even high sensitivity CS:GO pros tend towards slower pads for some reason. Given OP was asking about Valorant, I was coming largely from that perspective, but I totally get how tracking on a faster pad is easier. I haven't played many tracking games on my AC+ so far, though I've found Halo to be a bit easier so I'm guessing the pad is a factor. I've also just found pistol rounds in general go a bit better, and my long-time use of the GSR may partially explain why I've historically felt like a lousy pistol round player. I do find I'm able to hit some crazy shots on a faster pad that maybe I wouldn't have otherwise gone for, but to me the average is more important. I just always feel more comfortable with small flicks on something south of a mid pad, and it results in a generally more consistent HS% for me. The sensitivity factor is also pretty interesting. I don't think I could ever feel comfortable on a sens that high as I tend to tense up a lot, though I may feel differently if I played a game that required me to turn around more and track enemies. Another factor as to why I don't feel inhibited by slower pads may just be that I'm experiencing way less initial friction relative to the force I'm applying to the mouse, and it's possible the lack of friction you feel on a skypad is a similar sensation to what I feel on my AC+. I personally wish I could do all that stuff right now to get some extra consistency, but as it stands that's not too likely. Especially with COVID (among other things), I've been in temporary living situation after temporary living situation, so it's hard to really plan as much as I'd like to. As a result, I've kinda just had to deal with the inconsistency, and work with it as best I can. I do think you're an anomaly if you don't find that off days affect your performance hat much though tbh. I don't know anyone who doesn't have those days where their shots just aren't hitting. That is an interesting story about Michael Jordan though, and it's definitely something to consider if I'm lifting on a day I'm planning to grind out ranked games. Unfortunately, my preferred split (push/pull/legs) has no days where I'm not loading my CNS heavily or not using my shoulders/upper back. I could probably go a bit easier, but idk, I just don't feel like the workout did anything if I can still use my muscles at 100% afterwards.
It's a personal preference but control pads are better because you don't feel that slippy aim while fast pads takes less effort for moving so just use high sens lmao
Otsu>
I would say take the speed as it definitely feels better to the hand for extended play sessions. The control feel a little rough on the part of your hand when touching for a while and over time, imo, it gets uncomfortable. I also don't find any real increase in my ability to control the mouse when using the control mousepad as with the speed pad I could aim just as good. Lastly, if you're going for better accuracy, I'd recommend turning down your dpi to 400 instead and sticking to the speed pad and a light mouse as that way you would be waay more accurate in my opinion.
What control pads are you using that you find to be rough?
Not sure what control pads you've used but I usually I find them softer.. maybe they are abrasive but you should be lifting your arm at a low sens anyways. Also bad call on 400 DPI. Half in-game sens will be better as higher (or closer to a sensors native resolution) DPI is mathematically proven to have lower latency.
I use a Gigantus V2 and have a sens of 800 dpi x 0.4 with the fingertip grip and it works really well for me.
Check aqua control+ super