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GamingCS2 Pros Split on Anubis Return as Train Removed From Active Duty Map Pool
Although many fans were expecting that iconic map, Cache, would make its return for Season 4 of Counter-Strike 2, those fans have been left disappointed by the actual map change that is occurring.
In fact, many players and teams are also disappointed with the change, as the largely unpopular map Anubis will be reintroduced to the pool in place of Train.
Pros Unhappy About Return of Anubis
Anubis was never particularly popular among fans or players, with many citing issues related to its design being too one-sided. However, given that the CT side has seen buffs to its economy since Anubis was last in the pool, some of those issues may have been alleviated.
There is also still the chance that changes to the actual layout of the map will be made. Anubis doesn’t officially arrive in the Active Duty pool until the 19, and Valve were their usual mysterious selves when caster Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill asked if any changes had been made.
Other figures, such as OG IGL Casper “cadiaN” Moller and analyst Dustin “dusT” Mouret questioned the timeline of the announcement. Given that the StarLadder Budapest Major ended on December 14, there was ample time for Valve to announce the change prior to the start of the 2026 season – time it ultimately did not use.
This creates a big issue for teams in terms of their practice schedules, especially if they had already been practicing the map leaving the pool, as well as creating a strange spell at the start of the cycle where teams don’t have the time to actually adapt the new map into their pool.
Multiple figures, such as G2’s Nikita “HeavyGod” Marynenko, expressed their dismay at the return of Anubis, whilst others like American desk host Mike “DarfMike” Winnick also questioned the time given to Train to truly embed itself within the previous map pool.
However, the majority of the disappointment regarding the change came from the crowd, which was expecting Cache to be the map to return. A fan-favourite map, Cache has been out of the map pool since 2019, and Valve buying the map had made many hopeful that it would finally return.
Which Teams Benefit from Anubis Return?
One team that is happy to see Anubis come back is Aurora. The Turkish squad was elite on the map before its removal, and that removal also coincides with the team starting to struggle more following the BLAST Austin Major.
The change also benefits Vitality, whose Train stratbook had grown stale over the course of 2025. They had started to drop maps on the outgoing map, whereas Anubis was always consistently a strong map for them and especially for their opener, Shar “flameZ” Shushan, whose 1.39 rating on the map was the highest in the world in 2025.
On the losing side are MOUZ. MOUZ had been elite on Train throughout 2025, and it had become a guaranteed win for them against Vitality, something much needed for them in that long-standing rivalry.
NAVI will also be disappointed to see Train go. The Ukrainian organization had become elite on Train in recent months, and their complete dismantling of FURIA during the Budapest Major playoffs was what allowed them to pull off the upset victory and push onto the semi-finals.
