The Counter-Strike 2 map pool is at all times a relentless level of dialogue. Everybody has their favorite map, everybody has their least favorite, and there’s nearly at all times somebody calling for both Mirage or Inferno to be eliminated.
No matter which facet of that debate you sit, there may be some solace to be taken in the truth that Valve have develop into far more lively with map pool modifications, with a map change following every of the 4 CS2 Majors up to now. So, on the StarLadder Budapest Main, we spoke with a variety of prime gamers and analysts to get their ideas on the lively obligation map pool.
Which map ought to depart the pool?
As we talked about earlier, Mirage is usually a map that’s shortly introduced up when individuals debate which map ought to exit the pool. It has been a part of the lively obligation pool ever for the reason that launch of CS:GO, and though it has seen some modifications it that point, the shortage of actual substantial modifications like what has occurred to Overpass, Nuke, or Inferno has led to many individuals in the neighborhood contemplating it to be “stale.”
Sadly, in case you are a type of individuals, you’re not prone to get your want any time quickly. As Martin “STYKO” Styk says: “Valve seems to be at a number of information. Mirage may be very well-liked, it’s the go-to map, you don’t have to be participant to be good at it.”
So what map can go? Properly, should you’re Danny “zonic” Sorensen, then you definately’d be asking for Overpass or Inferno. The explanation for one is clear: it’s the Falcons’ perma-ban, while the opposite is results-oriented. And given what occurred to Falcons on Inferno on the BLAST Austin Main, who can actually blame him for that?
Dislike of Inferno is a view shared by STYKO, who stated: “Get Inferno out. The map is simply stale; the volumetric smokes take an excessive amount of of the chokepoints. Watching it’s painful due to the saving, casters have stated it’s ‘meh.’
“Often when Inferno is GOATed it’s when a group overperforms, quite than the map itself being good.”
So, if Inferno is the map that individuals appear to suppose ought to depart, then what map ought to come into the pool? As Alex “Mauisnake” Ellenberg factors out, it simply isn’t that easy.
Which map ought to enter the pool?
The CS2 map pool is balanced round two completely different kinds of play. The brawl-heavy “pugging” maps, similar to Mirage, and the extra tactical maps, like Nuke. On condition that Counter-Strike is a tactical FPS, a map pool that barely favours these tactical maps is at all times most popular.
The issue then, is that Cache appears to be the map everybody thinks shall be returning, with even the just lately launched 2026 service medal seemingly hinting in direction of it. In Mauisnake’s eyes, that implies that solely one among three maps might be eliminated so as to not sacrifice the steadiness:
Mauisnake stated: “We have already got a couple of brawl-y maps in Mirage, Historical, and Dust2, so I really feel like should you preserve any of these three and take out any of the others, now you’re taking away a extra tactical map.”
The brawl-y nature of Cache is one thing that STYKO additionally picked up on. “We should always herald Cache, however it might want to change rather a lot. It’s extremely flat, there’s not a lot elevation, it is going to be headshot paradise for lots of gamers, and I’m undecided how that may play out.”
And naturally, provided that zonic’s group has two headshot machines in Nikola “NiKo” Kovac and Maxim “kyousuke” Lukin, he stated it could be a “good map for us.”
Adjustments as soon as a map comes into the pool symbolize one other downside. Overpass got here into the pool as sturdy because it has ever been, however Prepare nonetheless faces criticism in comparison with its CS:GO counterpart.
On condition that STYKO stated that Cache will want a number of modifications with a purpose to be extra suited to the CS2 meta, is it perfect that one other map is available in with out being in excellent situation for aggressive play?
