The complete history of the Counter-Strike map pool
Every change to the competitive Active Duty pool, from the five-map era of 2013 through CS2 today. Scroll the timeline, trace each map's lifeline, and dive into any map.
Active Duty right now
In effect since July 2026 · Cache returns, Overpass out
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ActiveMap lifelines
Every map's time in the pool on one timeline. Click a row for its full story.
The full timeline
Newest first — scroll down to travel back to 2013.
- CS2
Cache returns, Overpass out
Announced June 22, 2026 (after the IEM Cologne Major) and live July 6 with the start of Premier Season Five. The Cache that returned is Valve's own Source 2 build, not FMPONE's Workshop remake: Valve bought the rights to the map in 2025, then rebuilt it in-house and shipped it to matchmaking in April 2026, holding it out of Active Duty until the season rolled over. Cache is back after seven years and three months on the bench, the longest exile of any map to ever return. Overpass lasted just one year in its second stint.
CacheOverpass - CS2
Anubis returns, Train out
The start of Premier Season Four. Anubis returned after six months on the bench (with layout changes), and Train was rotated out after exactly one year back in the pool.
AnubisTrain - CS2
Overpass returns, Anubis benched
With Premier Season Three ahead of IEM Cologne: "Added Overpass to the Active Duty Map Pool. Removed Anubis from the Active Duty Map Pool." Anubis left the pool for the first time since 2022.
OverpassAnubisResulting pool (7)▾
- CS2
Train rebuilt for Source 2, Vertigo out
"Seasons Change": with Premier Season Two, a Train rebuilt from the ground up for Source 2 entered Active Duty and the long-divisive Vertigo was retired. Announced January 6, live in-game January 29.
TrainVertigoResulting pool (7)▾
- CS2
First CS2-era change - Dust2 in, Overpass out
Release Notes for 4/25/2024 - the first Active Duty change of the Counter-Strike 2 era, landing after the PGL Major Copenhagen. Dust2 came back and Overpass rotated out.
Dust IIOverpassResulting pool (7)▾
- CS:GO
Anu Map Who Bis - Anubis joins
Following the IEM Rio Major, the community-made Anubis entered the pool and Dust2 was pulled (the same update cut the AWP magazine from 10 to 5). This exact seven-map pool carried over unchanged into the launch of Counter-Strike 2 on September 27, 2023.
AnubisDust IIResulting pool (7)▾
- CS:GO
Operation Broken Fang ends - Ancient debuts
"The End of Broken Fang": "Train is leaving the station, and Ancient is taking its place." The first map change in nearly two years - the longest pool freeze ever - and the first brand-new Valve-made Active Duty map since Overpass.
AncientTrainResulting pool (7)▾
- CS:GO
Vertigo arrives, Cache departs
"EZ4VERTIGO": Vertigo was added to Active Duty, and Cache moved to the Reserves for renovations. Despite a later remake, Cache would not return to Active Duty for years.
VertigoCacheResulting pool (7)▾
- CS:GO
Smoke Mid Every Day - Dust2 reworked back
Release Notes for 4/20/2018 (nicknamed "Smoke Mid Every Day"): "Added Dust II to the Active Duty map pool. Removed Cobblestone from the Active Duty map pool." Cobblestone has never returned since.
Dust IICobblestoneResulting pool (7)▾
- CS:GO
Inferno back, Dust2 out
"Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust": Inferno returned to Active Duty, replacing Dust II, and was featured at the next Major. Dust2 would stay out for over a year while it was rebuilt.
InfernoDust IIResulting pool (7)▾
- CS:GO
Operation Wildfire - the new Nuke
Release Notes for 4/21/2016: "Moved Nuke to the Active Duty map group. Moved Inferno to the Reserves map group." A completely remade Nuke replaced Inferno - one of the most dramatic visual overhauls a CS map has ever received.
NukeInfernoResulting pool (7)▾
- CS:GO
Train returns, Nuke benched
With the close of Operation Vanguard: "The Active Duty map pool has been updated to include Train, and Nuke has been moved to the Reserves." The reworked Train came back while the aging Nuke awaited its own rework.
TrainNukeResulting pool (7)▾
- CS:GO
Operation Breakout - the Active Duty group is born
Valve formally introduced the seven-map "Active Duty" group and the modern veto system. Cache became the first community-made map in the pool. Train was dropped to the Reserves.
CobblestoneCacheOverpassTrainResulting pool (7)▾
- CS:GO
Mirage enters the pool
Valve released the de_cpl_strike rework as de_mirage ("Today, the wait is over: Mirage is here!"). It was quickly adopted and featured at the first Major, DreamHack Winter 2013. This pre-dates the formal "Active Duty" label - five maps were used by tournament convention.
Mirage
Every map
All 11 maps that have ever been Active Duty.
