In its 11-year-old history, CS:GO‘s active map pool featured a bunch of iconic maps, though only two of them reigned supreme over others in terms of popularity among pro players.
Inferno and Mirage were the only ones to surpass the 200-times-played mark during Majors, according to HLTV (via csmoney’s post on Reddit on June 27). In fact, Inferno was played 263 times in CS:GO’s 19 Majors, while Mirage was played just 20 times fewer at 243.
The fact that Inferno topped the scoreboard is even more impressive once you take into consideration it wasn’t available during ESL One: Cologne 2016 and ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017. During that time, the developers took it back to the workshop and revamped it before adding it back to the active map pool in February 2017, replacing Dust2.
Mirage, on the other hand, is the only map in CS:GO’s active pool that has been there since the start of the game. Additionally, it’s the only one from the active map pool that hasn’t been reworked, yet has been available since the game went out in 2012.
It seems like pro players really love Inferno, and it’s hardly surprising. The map is truly balanced and has been featured in numerous historical matchups, like the grand final between Cloud9 and FaZe Clan in Boston’s Major in 2018. It’s actually often recognized by the CS community as the best map to pick as a decider.
Related: CS2: All leaks, and details on Counter-Strike 2
Four maps have been played more than 100 times—Overpass, Dust2, Nuke, and Train. Out of the other leftover five maps, Anubis has been played the least at just 14 times, although it was only available at the BLAST.tv Paris CS:GO Major, so it’s hardly surprising.
CS community is eagerly waiting for the release of Counter-Strike 2, which is scheduled to go out this summer. And while players have already discussed which map they want to see replaced in CS2’s map pool, they’re afraid the game could be delayed.
