CS2 Premier Season 3 leaves one big opportunity on the table

CS2 Premier Season 3 has been here for a couple of days now, and the change of Anubis for Overpass has split the player base. Was the removed map too T-sided? Is Overpass’s more tactical approach exactly what the Active Duty map pool needs right now? Everyone has their own take, and some will inevitably never be pleased. That’s Counter-Strike.

However, for the changes Valve did make in the latest update, there’s one big opportunity that it has left on the table with CS2 Premier Season 3. An opportunity that, had Valve been braver, could have changed the landscape of Premier and the pro scene for the foreseeable future.

Mirage and Inferno are CS2 map pool staples, and it’s time to go

Valve’s missed opportunity for CS2 Premier Season 3 is obvious. It has made a brave choice in removing Anubis, a puggy map that many players like. However, it’s Mirage and Inferno that are overdue a break.

With Mirage, the map has never once in 12 years been out of the Active Duty map pool. It’s the only map that holds that status as a true ever-present, with minimal changes made along the way. Some would argue there’s a reason for this. Some would suggest that Mirage doesn’t need changes – it’s a near-perfect Counter-Strike map. That would explain Valve’s reluctance to change or remove it. After all, many of the millions of daily CS2 players only play Mirage. If they’re feeling really adventurous, they might throw in a Dust2 along the way.

But after so long in the map pool, calls are undoubtedly growing for something to give with Mirage. A host of small changes, a short period out of Active Duty. Anything to help Mirage feel fresh again. With CS2 Premier Season 3, I can’t help but think Valve had an opportunity to really surprise the community with a Mirage removal. After all, given its popularity, it would be back within six months, maximum. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, which I think is what we need with Mirage.

It’s a different story with Inferno (sort of). It was remade in CS2, albeit with a very similar layout to its CS:GO predecessors. However, since the launch of CS2, complaints about the map have only continued to grow. Both bombsites are near-impenetrable fortresses when it comes to retakes, which results in a ton of saves. This makes Inferno extremely boring, both to play and to watch, turning every team into a Jame roster.

Inferno hasn’t always been present in the map pool, so Valve clearly doesn’t deem it too popular to come out if needed. Despite its CS2 rework, something needs to change with the current state of the bombsites. I was hoping we might see that with CS2 Premier Season 3, even if it was a removal of the map to make the changes happen in the future. Alas, it wasn’t to be, and we’re now stuck with two dull maps (albeit for different reasons).

CS2 Premier Season 3 should have been a two-map change

Let’s get one thing straight: Anubis out, Inferno in was a good move for various reasons (mainly Anubis’ T-sidedness, though). But Valve could’ve really swung for the fences with this one and gone with a two-map swap. It would arguably be the most radical map pool change in Counter-Strike history, but why not make a statement as we move into the second half of 2025? The pool has some issues, why stagger the fixes over the course of a year, or potentially longer?

I’m unsure. Especially given that Valve bought Cache a few months back. It would be the perfect replacement for a puggy map like Mirage, offering action on a small scale that players, both casual and professional, can enjoy. It’s possible that Cache just isn’t ready yet, which would be fair enough. But still, we’re here to dream big, and I can’t help but feel like Valve has somewhat missed the mark by not forcing one of Mirage or Inferno out of the Active Duty map pool this time around.