At ESL Pro League Season 20, we witnessed not only intense matches, but also surprising changes in teams' map preferences. Vertigo, which was rarely chosen before, suddenly surpassed the popular Mirage and Inferno. What made the teams rethink this map?

This is an interesting point, as Vertigo has always been considered one of the least popular maps among players. Now its frequency of use at tournaments is increasing, which may indicate that teams have adapted to it better, or it may just be a short-term change in the weather.

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ESL Pro League Season 20 map stats

During the group stage of the tournament, 149 maps were played and Nuke and Ancient were the most sought after, each being picked 29 times. Following them is Anubis, which was played 25 times, and Dust 2 was played 19 times. Vertigo, on the other hand, surprised everyone by being played 18 times, surpassing even maps like Mirage (14) and Inferno (15).

In addition, at this stage of the tournament a new record was set in CS2 - Anubis map in the fnatic vs. M80 match lasted 47 rounds of overtime, becoming the longest in the history of the game

At the recent IEM Cologne 2024, the picture was quite different: at that time the most popular maps were Nuke, Mirage and Dust 2 with 15, 13 and 12 matches played respectively. Vertigo was at the bottom of the list with only 5 games played. The middle positions were occupied by Anubis, Inferno, and Ancient, each of which was picked between 8 and 9 times.

A change in meta or a temporary phenomenon?

Such a sharp increase in Vertigo's popularity at ESL Pro League Season 20 may indicate that teams have begun to better understand the strategic possibilities of this map. However, it is possible that this is just a coincidence and a temporary change in players' tastes. In any case, such changes in the meta cause interest and discussion in the professional community, which fuels the intrigue before future tournaments.

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Conclusion

Vertigo's rise in the rotation is an important signal that teams are continuing to experiment with map selection and adapting to the game's new content. It will be interesting to see how this affects future tournaments and whether it changes the distribution of map popularity at other major CS2 events.