The Counter-Strike 2 map pool is all the time a continuing level of debate. Everybody has their favorite map, everybody has their least favorite, and there’s nearly all the time somebody calling for both Mirage or Inferno to be eliminated.
No matter which facet of that debate you sit, there’s some solace to be taken in the truth that Valve have turn out to be far more lively with map pool adjustments, with a map change following every of the 4 CS2 Majors to date. So, on the StarLadder Budapest Main, we spoke with a variety of prime gamers and analysts to get their ideas on the lively responsibility map pool.
Which map ought to go away the pool?
As we talked about earlier, Mirage is commonly 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 responsibility pool ever because the launch of CS:GO, and though it has seen some adjustments it that point, the shortage of actual substantial adjustments 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 kind of individuals, you’re not prone to get your want any time quickly. As Martin “STYKO” Styk says: “Valve seems at plenty of information. Mirage may be very fashionable, it’s the go-to map, you don’t must be a very good participant to be good at it.”
So what map can go? Effectively, in the event you’re Danny “zonic” Sorensen, then you definately’d be asking for Overpass or Inferno. The rationale 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 mentioned: “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 mentioned it’s ‘meh.’
“Often when Inferno is GOATed it’s when a crew overperforms, slightly than the map itself being good.”
So, if Inferno is the map that folks appear to assume ought to go away, then what map ought to come into the pool? As Alex “Mauisnake” Ellenberg factors out, it simply isn’t that straightforward.
Which map ought to enter the pool?
The CS2 map pool is balanced round two totally different types of play. The brawl-heavy “pugging” maps, corresponding 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 all the time most popular.
The issue then, is that Cache appears to be the map everybody thinks will probably be returning, with even the just lately launched 2026 service medal seemingly hinting in direction of it. In Mauisnake’s eyes, that signifies that solely certainly one of three maps could be eliminated so as to not sacrifice the steadiness:
Mauisnake mentioned: “We have already got a couple of brawl-y maps in Mirage, Historical, and Dust2, so I really feel like in the event you maintain 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 usher in Cache, however it might want to change quite a bit. It’s extremely flat, there’s not a lot elevation, it will likely be headshot paradise for lots of gamers, and I’m unsure how that can play out.”
And naturally, on condition that zonic’s crew has two headshot machines in Nikola “NiKo” Kovac and Maxim “kyousuke” Lukin, he mentioned it could be a “good map for us.”
Adjustments as soon as a map comes into the pool characterize one other drawback. Overpass got here into the pool as sturdy because it has ever been, however Practice nonetheless faces criticism in comparison with its CS:GO counterpart.
On condition that STYKO mentioned that Cache will want plenty of adjustments in an effort to be extra suited to the CS2 meta, is it preferrred that one other map is available in with out being in good situation for aggressive play?
