The next Counter-Strike 2 map pool change is already obvious

Season 3 of CS2 Premier mode is set to launch on July 15, and it’s shaping up to be a big day for players. Not only will ranks and leaderboards reset for Counter-Strike 2’s most popular game mode, but most assume a map pool change is on the way, too. After all, the transition between Seasons 1 and 2 saw Vertigo make way for Train, and the stage seems set for Valve to use Premier Seasons as an opportunity to switch up the Active Duty map pool more frequently than it has done in the past.

Nothing is confirmed, of course. It could just be business as usual, with the current seven maps going again for another Season. But if Valve does decide to make a change to the Counter-Strike 2 map pool, its selection should already be obvious.

It’s time for Anubis to take a break from the CS2 map pool

Sorry, Anubis. It’s time to go. It’s not “Goodbye.” No. It’s more, “See you later.” You’ve got some things to figure out, and I can’t be there while it happens. It’s not me. It’s you. You haven’t changed, even a little. And maybe that’s the problem.

Anubis has been part of the Counter-Strike 2 map pool since November 2022. It’s a real staple at this point, but for any map not named Mirage, almost three years is a long time in Active Duty. From a casual point of view, I love Anubis. I think it’s a great map, but there are signs that fatigue is starting to set in for some.

For proof, let’s look at the numbers. At big events in 2025, Anubis has been played just 90 times. Compare this to the numbers for the other maps in the current CS2 map pool:

• Dust2: 144
• Inferno: 143
• Mirage: 128
• Nuke: 126
• Ancient: 111
• Anubis: 90
• Train: 56

Anubis comes in at the second-lowest, behind only the revamped version of Train. And realistically, Train has to stay for a while – teams avoided it at first until they got to grips with the meta of the map. It deserves a fair shot to establish itself beyond a seven-month trial.

So, why are pros at the top level avoiding Anubis like the plague in the Counter-Strike 2 map pool? Imbalance. Anubis is by far the most T-sided map in the CS2 map pool right now, with a staggering 57.2% win rate for Ts at big events in 2025. For comparison, the only map that comes close is Dust2 at 53.7%, but even that pales in comparison to what Ts are managing to achieve on Anubis in its current state. Incredibly, this makes Anubis the most T-sided map in Counter-Strike history (at big events across an entire year).

Why is Anubis so T-sided?

It’s all a bit of a perfect storm, really. Ts can get most of Mid taken every round with a single smoke and Molotov, opening up a huge portion of the map for mid-rounds. Taking map control as a CT is borderline impossible, because the timings outside both bomb sites mean Ts can already be there waiting for you. So, players are left to shelter up inside the sites, cycle their utility, and hope they win the gunfights. It’s rough, to say the least.

That’s why Anubis needs to go, at least for now. It has had no significant layout changes since its introduction to the Counter-Strike 2 map pool, and it’s time for Valve to switch things up before bringing it back in the future. There’s a great Steam Workshop map by CHERRY5 that makes a couple of interesting changes that could help resolve this – here’s a preview:

It’s time to bang the Cache drum again

So we can establish that Anubis needs to disappear, allowing us to all remember why we fell in love with it in the first place. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all that. What replaces its void in the CS2 map pool? I know it. You know it. It’s Cache. 

In case you missed it, Valve owns Cache now. FMPONE put the finishing touches on his latest version earlier this year, before finally handing his baby over to Valve for good. It’s a classic, having produced so many of the greatest CS:GO moments ever, but it has been absent from the Counter-Strike 2 map pool for six years now. NiKo’s Deagle ace(s), s1mple’s falling AWP, jdm64’s 1v5. A breeding ground for legendary highlights, now primed for new stories to be written.

It’s time for Valve to pull out the big guns. If Anubis is gone, it needs a heavy-hitter to replace it. Why not the tried-and-tested Cache? It needn’t have a pesky testing phase in Competitive – we already know it works! There will be growing pains, sure, but Valve desperately needs a win with the notoriously difficult-to-please CS2 community. If Cache doesn’t make the people happy, then I assure you, nothing will.

With Cache now in Valve’s hands and Season 3 of Premier waiting in the wings to launch, the next Counter-Strike 2 map pool change is obvious. Put Anubis to rest, and give Cache the glorious comeback it so dearly deserves.