
There’s one map in Counter-Strike 2 that most professional players want removed, and they’ve never been more vocal about their opinions than they are now. If Valve is paying attention, Vertigo’s days in CS2 could be numbered.
The Counter-Strike franchise has had several staple maps since its inception, including Dust, Inferno, and Nuke, with Overpass and Mirage eventually joining the list. For some reason, Vertigo has never been favored by competitive players or professionals. This complex, two-tier map has consistently stood out as the odd one, and recent design changes haven’t helped its standing either. Instead, stats show that pro players have started picking it even less since May 2024.
Still, Vertigo stood its ground. But its awful pick rate at recent events is making players wonder why Valve won’t remove it from the game. It was the least picked at IEM Rio 2024 and EPL 2eason 20 and not even played once at BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024.
Robin “ropz” Kool wants Vertigo’s removal based on its low play rate in competitive tournaments.
At IEM Rio 2024, Vertigo was the least played map at 5.74%, in stark contrast with the most played Nuke at 19.71%. In response to the stats, FaZe Clan rifler ropz referred to Vertigo as a “waste of a map slot” and urged Valve to remove it from the pool. Later, Natus Vincere in-game leader Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen echoed this sentiment, stating that better maps could be added to the pool, yet Valve chooses to focus on updates for Vertigo instead.
“At some point it’s like bashing your head against the wall, why fix it when there are community maps already that could be introduced. There’s maps in the pool that haven’t had updates in years and Vertigo is still getting updates,” said Aleksib.
It’s worth noting that Ropz seems to have some sort of sway over Valve. There’s no way to tell if it’s true, but his reports and feedback always land. The pro published a cryptic “job is finished” post after Valve banned the Snap Tap keyboard when the majority of the community was in its favor, save for ropz.
If Valve takes pro players’ opinions into account and decides to remove Vertigo, it would align perfectly with Cache’s preparation for CS2. The iconic map is currently undergoing an overhaul, but there’s no guarantee it will be added to the competitive map pool. However, given the current backlash, Valve may reconsider and include Cache back in the ranked lineup.
Another strong contender is Train, which was removed to make space for Ancient. Players have expressed nostalgia for the dark, gritty map, but its return seems unlikely since CS2 already features plenty of dark maps.
While players debate map changes, explore how to remove and reuse charms in CS2 to keep your gear fresh, regardless of where you play.
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