Counter-Strike 2 / Practical guide
CS2 Map Pool 2026: Current Active Duty Maps and Every Change Since Launch
Cache replaced Overpass on 8 July 2026. Here is the current Active Duty pool, every change Valve has made since CS2 launched, and which maps you can still play outside Premier.
ALVIRAN Editorial · Reviewed 2026-10-18
In this guide
CS2 accounts with Premier season medals
Every account lists its medals, Premier rating and Steam level before checkout, so you see the history you are buying.
- Access
- Full Access
- Delivery
- Instant
- Guarantee
- 30 days
CS2 Active Duty map pool 2026 (Premier)
Active Duty is the pool Premier uses, and Valve's Major Supplemental Rulebook tells tournament organisers to use the up-to-date in-game versions of the maps in the Active Duty Map Group, so Majors play the same seven maps.
| Map | In Active Duty since | Last change |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient | Before CS2 launched | Never removed in CS2 |
| Anubis | 21 January 2026 (returned) | Out from 16 July 2025, back for Season Four |
| Cache | 8 July 2026 | Added for Season Five, replacing Overpass |
| Dust II | 25 April 2024 | Replaced Overpass mid Season One |
| Inferno | Before CS2 launched | Never removed in CS2 |
| Mirage | Before CS2 launched | Never removed in CS2 |
| Nuke | Before CS2 launched | Never removed in CS2 |
Every CS2 map pool change with the official date
Each row links to Valve's release notes or announcement on Steam. Dates are the day Valve published them (UTC). The first row is from CS:GO and explains the pool CS2 started with.
| Date | Added | Removed | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Nov 2022 | Anubis | Dust II | CS:GO. Valve said this pool would decide the maps of the 2023 Paris Major. |
| 27 Sep 2023 | – | – | CS2 launches and Premier Season One begins with the pool carried over. |
| 25 Apr 2024 | Dust II | Overpass | Changed for Active Duty, the competition pool and Premier at once. |
| 28 Jan 2025 | Train | Vertigo | Start of Premier Season Two. |
| 16 Jul 2025 | Overpass | Anubis | Start of Premier Season Three. |
| 21 Jan 2026 | Anubis | Train | Start of Premier Season Four. Anubis came back with layout changes. |
| 8 Jul 2026 | Cache | Overpass | Start of Premier Season Five. |
| 22 Sep 2026 | – | – | No map change. Premier switched from bans to picks. |
The pattern since 2025. Every change from January 2025 on came with a new Premier season, one map in and one map out, in January and July. Valve has not announced a schedule, so treat that as history, not a promise.
The Active Duty pool in each Premier season
Read this table to see which seven maps a Premier medal or rating from a given season was earned on.
| Period | Active Duty maps |
|---|---|
| 27 Sep 2023 to 25 Apr 2024 (Season One) | Ancient, Anubis, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, Vertigo |
| 25 Apr 2024 to 28 Jan 2025 (Season One) | Ancient, Anubis, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Vertigo |
| 28 Jan 2025 to 16 Jul 2025 (Season Two) | Ancient, Anubis, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Train |
| 16 Jul 2025 to 21 Jan 2026 (Season Three) | Ancient, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, Train |
| 21 Jan 2026 to 8 Jul 2026 (Season Four) | Ancient, Anubis, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass |
| Since 8 Jul 2026 (Season Five) | Ancient, Anubis, Cache, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke |
Four maps have been in every CS2 pool: Ancient, Inferno, Mirage and Nuke. Dust II has stayed since April 2024. Anubis is the only map that left and came back within CS2.
CS2 accounts with service medals
Service medals show years of play on the profile, and each listing names the medals it holds.
- Access
- Full Access
- Delivery
- Instant
- Guarantee
- 30 days
Maps in Premier, Competitive and Wingman
Premier is pick-based and uses only Active Duty. Competitive lets you queue for single maps and has a longer list. Wingman is 2v2 on smaller layouts. The Competitive and Wingman lists below come from Valve's release notes and the game's own mode file (gamemodes.txt, updated with the 22 September 2026 build).
| Mode | Maps | Recent changes |
|---|---|---|
| Premier | Ancient, Anubis, Cache, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke | Cache in, Overpass out on 8 Jul 2026 |
| Competitive | The seven Active Duty maps plus Overpass, Train and Vertigo; community maps Boulder, Fachwerk and Shelter; hostage maps Office and Italy | Cache added on 28 Apr 2026; Boulder, Fachwerk and Shelter added and Warden, Stronghold, Alpine and Sanctum removed on 8 Jul 2026 |
| Wingman | Inferno, Nuke, Overpass, Vertigo, plus community maps Poseidon, Debris and El Dorado | Poseidon added on 21 Jan 2026; Debris and El Dorado added on 8 Jul 2026 |
| Retakes | Defusal Group Alpha and Delta maps, Cache included | Official mode since 22 Oct 2025; Cache added 28 Apr 2026 |
Train first came back to Competitive, Casual and Deathmatch on 13 November 2024, two months before it joined Active Duty. Italy was added to competitive matchmaking on 2 October 2024. Wingman on Vertigo has used the reworked A site since 23 May 2024.
Reserve maps: Overpass, Train and Vertigo
Valve does not publish a separate reserve list for Premier. In practice the reserve is the defusal maps that left Active Duty but stayed in the game: Overpass (out since 8 July 2026), Train (out since 21 January 2026) and Vertigo (out since 28 January 2025). All three remain in Competitive, and Overpass and Vertigo are also Wingman maps.
The last five swaps show where new Active Duty maps came from. Dust II and Overpass returned from this reserve, Train joined from Competitive after about ten weeks there, Anubis returned after one season, and Cache went from Competitive to Active Duty in ten weeks. A map that sits in Competitive is the likeliest candidate, but Valve gives no advance notice.
CS2 accounts with a Premier Season One Medal
Valve gave this medal to every player who earned a CS Rating in Season One, which ran from September 2023 to January 2025.
- Access
- Full Access
- Delivery
- Instant
- Guarantee
- 30 days
How Premier picks a map since 22 September 2026
Until September 2026 Premier teams banned maps down to one. Valve's 22 September 2026 update replaced that with picks, so teams are more likely to play maps they have practised.
Team 1 picks one map
The first team chooses one map from the seven.
Team 2 picks two maps
The second team adds two maps.
Team 1 picks a final map
That makes four maps on the list.
Random draw
One of the four is drawn at random and the match starts on it.
Each of the four listed maps has a one-in-four chance of being drawn, so a stack still needs a plan for every map in the pool. Our Premier rating guide explains how CS Rating and seasons work.
What the map pool means for a CS2 account
Premier rating is earned across the Active Duty pool, so a rating from Season Two was earned on a different pool than one from Season Five. Valve awards season medals on its own terms: every player who earned a CS Rating in Season One got the Premier Season One Medal, while the Season Two medal needed 25 Premier wins and an active CS Rating at the end of the season.
Competitive keeps separate ranks per map, and Valve adjusted the underlying per-map rank values when Season Four began. Our guides on service medals and profile rank and Prime and Premier cover the rest of the profile.
Frequently asked questions
What is the CS2 map pool right now?
Ancient, Anubis, Cache, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage and Nuke, as of 18 October 2026. Valve set this pool on 8 July 2026.
When was Cache added to the CS2 map pool?
Cache joined Competitive, Casual, Deathmatch and Retakes on 28 April 2026 and replaced Overpass in Active Duty on 8 July 2026, when Premier Season Five began.
Is Overpass still in CS2?
Yes. It left Premier on 8 July 2026 but is still in Competitive, Casual and Wingman.
Is Train in Premier?
No. Train was removed from Active Duty on 21 January 2026, when Anubis came back. It is still in Competitive.
How often does Valve change the map pool?
Since 2025, once at the start of each Premier season, in January and July, one map in and one out. Valve has not announced a fixed schedule.
Does the Major use the Premier map pool?
Yes. Valve's Major rulebook tells organisers to use the in-game Active Duty Map Group, which is the Premier pool.
How are maps chosen in Premier now?
Since 22 September 2026: team 1 picks one map, team 2 picks two, team 1 picks a final map, and one of the four is drawn at random.
Start Season Five on an account with history
Pay with crypto at 0 % fees and check the medals and rating on the profile before checkout.
- Access
- Full Access
- Delivery
- Instant
- Guarantee
- 30 days
Sources and editorial scope
Pool changes, dates and mode lists: Valve's Counter-Strike 2 announcements and release notes on Steam, linked per row above, read up to the update of 14 October 2026, which contains no map pool change. The pool CS2 inherited follows from Valve's 18 November 2022 change and the removals listed since. Mode lists cross-checked against the game's gamemodes.txt as mirrored by SteamDB. Majors: Valve's Major Supplemental Rulebook. The note on future swaps is ALVIRAN analysis, not a Valve statement. Reviewed 18 October 2026.
The Steam Subscriber Agreement does not allow you to sell your Steam account or otherwise transfer it. A profile check does not establish permission to sell or transfer a Steam account.