On November 19, the CS:GO developers released another update in which they changed the competitive map pool: removed Dust2 and added Anubis. Unfortunately, the community met such changes ambiguously, so I propose to figure out what is wrong with the formation of the map pool.

What Is the Competitive Map Pool In CS:GO, And How Is It Created?

The competitive map pool is a set of seven maps established by Valve, which are used in RMR tournaments and Majors. Tournament operators also adhere to the official map pool at their championships.

The developers set seven maps for competitions at their discretion and periodically change with the release of an updated version. Usually, they vary from one to two locations. How the selection of maps to add and the decision to remove happens is a mystery. Such changes may cause a contradictory reaction in the community.

"The worst map pool in the history of CS:GO"

Robin flusha Ronquest

Why Dust 2? Why do they add Anubis instead of Tuscan or Cache? I'm also good with Cbble.

Nikola NiKo Kovach

I can't understand why Valve decided to keep Mirage and remove Dust2.

Richard shox Papillon

As practice shows, every CS:GO player has his favourite and disliked cards. In this way, it will not be possible to please everyone. Is it necessary? I don't think so, but it is stupid to deny the need for communication with the community when choosing a map pool.

There is no perfect map pool simply because all people are different, and everyone likes different maps. In general, it is possible to polish any map to the balance of winning parties ~50%, but this will not add fans.

The decision about which maps to play is very simple. A Valve employee comes out and announces the maps for the following year.

Everything is simple and straightforward. And now, this process is super opaque. People do not understand when, why and based on what principle the maps are changed. You wake up on a random morning and see the news "Let's play Anubis instead of Dust." The map is generally normal, so it will be accepted like all the others.

Fedor KvaN Zakharov

How Can You Create an Ideal Map Pool?

In an ideal world, a banal survey built into the game client could be a good tool for forming a set of competitive maps. Then, players vote on which location to keep and which to remove. As a result, the majority will be satisfied with everything. In this way, forming an "ideal pool of maps" would be possible every six months after the Major. This would help many esports athletes find the motivation to continue playing CS:GO.

But since we don't have to wait for Valve's vote, we decided to make our "ideal map pool" for modern professional CS:GO. So, as an introduction, we offer to get acquainted with the most popular maps of IEM Rio Major 2022.

The legendary Mirage must remain, someone will say that all possible tactics have been tried on it and the map has exhausted itself, but in such cases, the shooting becomes more critical. So it is an ideal option for decision-making games, especially in the grand finals.

Let's get rid of Anubis. Excellent map, but no one was waiting for it as much as Tuscan, so why greenlight it first? And the bugs with invisible walls in the passages, windows and near the columns still spoil the overall impression of the map.

Let's get rid of Vertigo. Nobody likes Vertigo. At all.

I would remove Vertigo. Still, I didn't like it in all these years. So I would add Tuscan, and I really miss him since 1.6! But I would also be glad to see the former Train, Cache, Cbble.
My ideal map pool is Mirage, Inferno, Cache, Cbble, Nuke. I would return to competitive CS if these five maps were in the pool.

Dmitry def Lemeshchuk

Let's keep Overpass. An ordinary CS:GO player may not like this map very much, but at the competitive level, it is good and requires careful tactical preparation. On it, spreads and correct timings are significant, and there is also room for creativity of snipers because Overpass can please you with an abundance of boosts in different areas of the map.

Inferno should remain because of the almost perfect balance of both sides. A reliable balance of sides is irreplaceable, and none of the three lastly added maps, including Vertigo and Ancient, can't show it. As for Anubis, the audience has yet to see how the best cybersport minds perform on it.

Let's add Tuscan. Everyone's favourite, old-fashioned, redone. The same one on which Edward made an ace with Deagle in CS 1.6. Why wait another two years if you can do it now? Fortunately, the developers changed the setting from another desert misunderstanding to a rather cute and colourful coastal town. Three months after adding it to matchmaking, Valve has a sufficient sample of data to correct every problem with the balance.

Let's keep Nuke. On the one hand, the map strongly leans towards protection. But, on the other hand, watching how the team fights against the opponent and the circumstances is interesting. After all, such conditions require the teams to understand the map's timings and space. Also, this is the only map with a vertical structure.

Let's add Cobblestone. The castle theme is attractive, but it would be good to refresh the map in terms of textures and platforms. Also, it would make knocking out a little easier. This already suggests that fans of the game will be happy to return the Cobbstone souvenir case, which includes Dragon Lore.

Ancient? Descendant of the Aztec map, which is not so unbalanced but far from perfect. The map is relatively new, so making life a little easier for the T-side will not be a problem because most complaints are precisely that, in the conditions of an equal level of teams, CT will gain more. It is not worth throwing the map out of the map pool for at least 1 hour, it has not yet been so closely studied in terms of tactics.

So, we got Mirage, Ancient, Tuscan, Cobblestone, Nuke, Inferno, Overpass.

Conclusion

Our map pool should have been ideal, but, of course, it is not. However, it is possible to form a competitive map pool acceptable to most players. All that is needed is to communicate more with the community and make the processes related to updates more transparent and understandable. This needs to be more solid in Valve. We hope for the best!