Valve, please fix Ancient

Ancient’s introduction in the active map pool has been… relatively successful.

Compared to Vertigo, the previous map added, Ancient has been well received by both players and teams, as the map doesn’t have the structural problem the former has.

Vertigo underwent numerous changes, with every area getting at least one complete overhaul. Ancient, on the other hand, has remained largely unchanged.

But with the Major around the corner, it’s time Valve address a problem.

Ancient is incredibly CT-sided

Image: Valve

Let’s take a look at IEM Katowice.

Ancient has been quite a popular map during the Play-In stage. It got picked eight times, tied with Nuke as the most popular map.

While the map saw a lot of close matches, with several going to overtime, the specific sides were not as close.

CY’s had a 60% win rate on Ancient. Getting double digits on defense was the norm. Scores even higher were no exceptions.

But a team winning 12-3 doesn’t lead to a decisive victory, as we usually see a comeback in the second half.

At the BLAST Group stage, these numbers were even worse.

A 67% round win, 80% pistol win, and 44% success rate after conceding the first kill meant losing a round on defense was close to impossible.

So what’s the problem with Ancient

It’s apparent terrorists struggle on the map. But why exactly?

Well, they face limited options.

As both sites have narrow chokepoints, rushing a site is not really an option. This means that they have to play almost exclusively in a default spread.

But gaining map control on the map is not that easy. They face too many angles to take mid control consistently, have an unfavorable fight for window control, and the rewards to gaining this control are too small to warrant the risk.

It’s time for Valve to give terrorists something new. A new approach to Lane, a revamp of A-site, or fewer corners to hide in mid.