Breeze to replace Sunset in VALORANT map pool, Riot’s lack of transparency draws criticism

Ahead of the start of the 2026 VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) season, a change to the VALORANT map pool will see Breeze replace Sunset in the rotation. But with no confirmation yet as to whether or not there will be any changes to the incoming map, some pros are frustrated with a potentially limited time frame to practice.

VALORANT map pool – Sunset out, Breeze in

The start of the competitive VALORANT season will see the return of Breeze to the map rotation, with Sunset making way. The switch was revealed as developer Riot Games announced the schedule for the year’s first stage of Premier, a game mode allowing aspiring amateurs to play in a competitive cycle with a single map from the current pool used each week.

The maps appearing in the schedule indicate those that will also be present in pro competition, confirming the return of Breeze for the first time since June 2024. Sunset will be the map to make way, exiting the rotation after its introduction in April of last year. The change will take effect in the so far unnanounced patch 12.00; the first of 2026.

Complete upcoming map pool

• Split
• Abyss
• Breeze
• Corrode
• Pearl
• Haven
• Bind

Breeze prep time an issue?

When maps come back to the pool after a long time away, their return is more often than not accompanied by some sort of tweaks to the map itself. This is usually done in an effort to refresh the map and/or enact necessary balance changes.

Given that Breeze’s reintroduction has not been formally announced, no such changes have yet been confirmed or denied. For those expecting to play the map in the Premier mode, they’ll have until January 21st to adjust to any such changes, beginning if and when they are revealed.

For pro players, that timeframe is even shorter. With VCT Americas opening the competitive season when its Kickoff event start on January 15th, teams from the league have less than two weeks to prepare for Breeze’s return.

Happy New Year everybody 🥳

Sorry I haven’t been very active on socials, I wanted to get the most productivity out of this off-season that I could ✌️

Excited to start up again with the guys, especially @keikofps. He’s been amazing to work with so far and this new season…

— NRG Ethan (@ethanarnold) January 2, 2026

But with no confirmation as to how the map may change, NRG IGL Ethan “Ethan” Arnold has spoken of frustration in the lack of transparency and how it affects those at the professional level.

“We have no clue how Breeze looks. The map could either play very similarly to before, or completely different depending on the magnitude of changes,” he said, in a post on X. “Map update information being released so close to the start of a split has always been rough with Valorant, but I think it could be improved by just releasing the updates a week sooner.”