Ancient Replaces Train in CSGO Active Duty Map Pool

by Pavo Jurkic in CS:GO | May, 3rd 2021

Roughly half an hour ago, Valve announced the end of Operation Broken Fang following the latest CSGO update. The operation was released on 3^rd December last year and the community has been generally pleased with what it brought to the table. However, the latest CSGO update brings forth something far more important than the end of OBF… something many of you won’t like. Ancient is replacing Train in the CSGO active duty map pool!

That’s the main topic in the CSGO sphere right now! Fans, pro players, coaches, commentators, analysts – everyone is talking about Ancient replacing Train! It’s a shocker, one nobody could have predicted! And NO, before you ask, this is not just a rumor; this is official news!

What Does Ancient Replacing Train Mean for CSGO?

Thanks to everyone who took part in Operation Broken Fang. As of now the Operation has concluded. Players have until May 15th to spend Operation Stars.

We have a few updates today, beginning with the Active Duty Map Pool—Train has been removed and Ancient has been added.
— CS:GO (@CSGO) May 3, 2021

Even though the initial announcement shocked the whole CSGO esports scene, Valve followed up with a statement that the first RMR (Regional Major Ranking) events won’t be affected by these changes. The first RMR events in NA, EU, and CIS will use the old map pool featuring Dust 2, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, Vertigo, and Train.

This marks the first active duty map pool alteration since March 2019; that’s when Valve took Cache out and replaced it with Vertigo. Remember how many people were angry back then? Well, a quick look at the recent action on Twitter suggests we’re in for more of the same here.

Ancient replacing Train ought to shake the current CSGO scene, especially teams like Extra Salt and Gambit who’ve been basing their recent successes on top-quality Train gameplay. While the first RMR events won’t be affected by the map pool alterations, teams will have to dedicate a lot of time to set up proper game plans for the newly added map.

The full list of changes can be found here.

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Pavo Jurkic - Author

Pavo Jurkic is a 25-year-old esports enthusiast living in continental Croatia. Yep, you've guessed it – apart from esports, Pavo is a huge soccer fan and will never forget that dreamy July night of 2018. Esports-wise, he is in love with CS:GO, although Valorant switch seems rather inevitable at this point. As far as his writing style is concerned, Pavo is often plagued by the so-called Imposter Syndrome. His pieces are never good enough for his perfectionistic eyes and he spends more time proofreading than writing. He’s also the best MGE there is… and yeah, he did pay me to write that. Come to think of it, I should’ve demanded more money for such a blatant lie…