Vertigo replaced by Train for BLAST Bounty and Austin Major

All your prayers and cries have been answered, folks. Vertigo’s days in the CS2 map pool are numbered. CS2 has officially confirmed that the much-maligned map will not be part of the map pool for the upcoming BLAST tournaments.

It was confirmed on January 6th that Vertigo will be out of the pool for BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 and will be replaced by none other than Train. HOWEVER, BLAST went on to confirm that Train will also be in the active duty pool for the BLAST Bounty Spring tournament beginning January 23rd. 

Vertigo joined CS:GO’s competitive map pool in March 2019, replacing Cache. Since then, it has consistently found itself on the sidelines as one of the least-played maps, barring the introduction of new maps in specific years. Many pros have not exactly minced their words about their hatred for Vertigo,  Team Falcon’s NiKo being the most popular of examples.

Good morning. @BLASTtv Austin Major:

+Train
-Vertigo

— CS2 (@CounterStrike) January 6, 2025

We never saw much of Vertigo to begin with

Even in 2024 Majors, including the PGL Copenhagen Major and the Perfect World Shanghai Major, if you count out Overpass which was replaced by Dust2 in April and still played 18 times, Vertigo still stands at only 27 appearances. This pales in comparison to many of the other maps in the pool. It has been a perma-ban for top-tier teams like FaZe and NAVI, who are likely happy to see it go. It also goes on to show that when the stakes are high, teams don’t prefer playing on Vertigo.

The only teams that were comfortable playing Vertigo included the likes of Complexity, Vitality, MOUZ, Eternal Fire, and the MOUZ. It is too early to say if this change will have a negative impact on them, considering its still a fresh map in a new game, but they will at least be stripped of the competitive advantage they got by wasting the opponents’ ban pick.

Which teams will play better on Train?

On the flip side, Train has been the home for some of the sickest highlight moments like chrisJ’s 1v5 clutch against NAVI, coldzera’s iconic 1v4 against NAVI again, and rain’s heroic 1v4 against Virtus.Pro. After being removed from the active pool in 2021, Train found its first release in CS2 in mid-November, sparking rumors of Vertigo’s replacement, rumors that have now come true.

I think it is really good on Valve to announce this change early, giving teams plenty of time to adjust. It’s a step in the right direction for ensuring the map is ready for competitive play. While other tournament organizers are likely to follow suit, time will tell. For now, this early announcement gives CS2 developers and players a chance to work hand in hand to polish Train and ensure it shines in the competitive spotlight.