Pro CS2 is played on seven maps, known as the Active Duty pool. Valve changes the pool from time to time, and 2026 has been an eventful year. Anubis returned in January, and in the summer Cache came back for the first time since 2019, replacing Overpass.
Here's the current pool, what makes each map different, and how teams decide which ones they play.
The seven maps
Ancient. A jungle temple with a tight middle area that both teams fight over. Controlling mid lets the attackers split between the two bombsites, so a lot of Ancient rounds are decided in the first 30 seconds.
Anubis. Set in Egypt, with a canal running through the middle. It's one of the newer maps in the pool, and teams are still finding new ways to attack it. Its middle area gives attackers lots of options, which makes defending it hard.
Cache. Back after seven years. Cache is built around three clear lanes and a central mid area, with quick rotations between the sites. It rewards fast decisions and good mid control, and its return has brought a lot of nostalgia from players who grew up on the CS:GO version.
Dust 2. The most famous map in Counter-Strike. Long, open sightlines make it a favourite for AWPers, and its layout is simple enough that the game often comes down to individual skill.
Inferno. Narrow streets and tight corners. Inferno is the most utility-heavy map in the pool: smokes, flashes and molotovs decide who controls key areas, especially the "banana" corridor leading to B site. Teams with disciplined utility usage love it.
Mirage. Probably the most played map in Counter-Strike history. Balanced, readable and familiar to everyone, so it often ends up as the map both teams are comfortable with. Mid control is everything.
Nuke. The most unusual map in the pool. The two bombsites are stacked on top of each other, one above the other, so rotations happen through floors and vents rather than across the map. Nuke is very hard to learn, and teams that master it can be nearly unbeatable there.
In reserve, waiting for a possible return, are former Active Duty maps like Overpass, Train and Vertigo.
How map veto works
Before a series, the two teams go through a veto: they take turns removing and picking maps. The exact order depends on the tournament, but a typical best-of-three at a Major goes like this:
- Team A removes a map.
- Team B removes a map.
- Team A picks the first map.
- Team B picks the second map.
- Team A removes a map.
- Team B removes a map.
- The last map left is the decider, played if the series reaches 1–1.
For each picked map, the team that didn't pick it chooses which side to start on. For the decider, the side is usually settled with a knife round.
In a best-of-one, teams simply take turns removing maps until one is left.
What the veto tells you
The veto is the first piece of strategy in any series, and it's worth paying attention to:
- First bans show fear. The map a team removes first is usually the opponent's strongest, or its own weakest.
- Picks show confidence. A team that picks a map it rarely plays may have prepared something special.
- Permanent bans. Many teams have one map they always remove. When a team suddenly stops banning it, they've been practising.
- New maps shake things up. When a map joins the pool, like Cache this year, there's a window where some teams have figured it out and others haven't. Early results on a new map can be wild.
Why the pool changes
Valve rotates maps to keep the game fresh, to bring in updated versions of classic maps, and sometimes to remove a map that has become unbalanced. Each change forces teams to rebuild part of their map pool, and it's one of the reasons the competitive scene rarely stays the same for long.
If you want to see how series length interacts with map pools, read Best-of-one vs best-of-three. For the latest CS2 news, visit the CS2 hub.