Valve has announced a change to the competitive map pool of Counter-Strike 2. The post was published by the developers on the official game page on the social network X.
The fourth season of Premier will end on July 6. To receive a seasonal medal, players must have at least 25 wins in Premier and a displayed CSR rating by the end of the season. The change in the active pool for the fifth season affected one position:
- Overpass is removed from the pool;
- Cache is added to the pool.
The map will appear in both Premier matchmaking and on the professional scene. Cache returns to the active pool after seven years – it was removed in 2019 in favor of Vertigo. The revamped version was created by mapper Sean "FMPONE" Snelling, after which Valve acquired the map and officially added it to CS2 at the end of April, but it has not yet been included in the tournament pool.
The first tier-1 tournament with the updated map set will be BLAST Bounty, which starts on July 21. In the recently concluded IEM Cologne Major 2026, the outgoing Overpass was played 13 times during the third stage and playoffs.
The reaction from the professional scene has been mixed. Vitality captain Dan "apEX" Madelon commented on Valve's decision on his page in the social network X.
Dan "apEX" Madelonon social network XIt seems that Valve is seriously trying to mess up our lives.
Virtus.pro player Viktor "n0rb3r7" Bakhariev expressed surprise at the choice of map for removal on social network X.
Viktor "n0rb3r7" Bakharievon social network XThey are removing Overpass, not Ancient or Anubis.
