CS2 pros love Dust 2’s return but want one crucial change for the map

Several Counter-Strike 2 pros praised the return of the iconic Dust 2 to the active map pool in the April 25 update. The map hasn’t received any rework, however, and they now want to see one crucial change that can impact the outcome in many rounds.

Valve removed Dust 2 from the Active Duty map pool in November 2022, and after the sequel’s launch, it was available only as a casual map until the April 25 update. Many CS legends like s1mple, ZywOo, and NiKo praised the map’s return in place of Overpass, thanking devs on X (formerly Twitter). While dev1ce loved the change, he also expressed concerns over Dust 2’s playstyle and immediately shared what he thinks needs to be fixed.

“Too many games on Dust2 have been decided on T spawns being random (If you have the 5 best spawns towards long its over for the CTs),” Astralis’ star player said. While the Counter-Terrorists’ spawns are always similar and don’t offer an edge to the defenders, the Terrorists’ options are spread out across a larger area. Two spawns, one toward Long Doors and the other toward Tunnels, offer a distinct advantage to those looking to rush the A and B bomb sites, respectively.

The Counter-Terrorists can defend the B bomb site using successive smokes and Molotovs, but the spawns closer to the Long Doors let the Terrorists catch the defenders off-guard. Given that these spawns are generated randomly, the outcome of the rounds on Dust 2 is partly determined by factors other than skill and strategy, especially at higher levels of play.

In CS2, Dust 2 only received a visual upgrade because of the Source 2 engine, and we hope Valve is working on a solution to the pros’ concern. For now, Dust 2 is a part of all the game modes in CS2, except Wingman and Arms Race.