Sometimes, Valve changes the official map pool. But only once in a blue moon. Soon, a year will have passed since the previous change, when Ancient replaced Train last spring. But while the devs do add new maps from time to time, they’ve completely forgotten about some of the old ones. And for good, it seems. The CS.MONEY Blog is looking back on the legendary maps from the past.
Tuscan
This map was extremely popular in CS 1.6. It was on Tuscan that Ioann “Edward” Sukhariev performed one of the most spectacular highlights in the game’s history. But when CS:GO dropped, Tuscan was no longer part of tournaments — there was simply no new playable version of the map.
Last March, the map was updated, which even caused something of a buzz in the community. There were show matches on Tuscan, and many advocated the idea of adding it to the competitive pool. But Valve hasn’t expressed any interest. Besides, the location hasn’t yet been completely reworked. Most likely, we’ll never see Tuscan in tournaments, but there still remains a small chance that it will see release in CS someday.
Season
This map was very popular in a previous version of the game, too, but not in CS 1.6. This time, we’re talking about CS: Source. In CS:GO, Season appeared in February 2013 and was even used in some events. Soon enough, however, the map was removed from the map pool: already in the first Major, DreamHack Winter 2013, it was no longer played.
Later, Season only dropped in two operations: Vanguard and Bloudhoud. When these ended, the map was removed from CS. Presently, you can only play it on community servers.
Cobblestone
One of the oldest maps in the game, the first version of Cobblestone appeared in Counter-Strike Beta 6.5. ESL One Cologne 2014 was the first Major to feature this battlefield. Faceit Major 2018 was the last.
Cobblestone was a special map. First of all, this location is tremendous. It’s quite uncharacteristic of CS, and that’s exactly why a game on this map was always an exciting spectacle. On top of that, the map boasted an impressive architecture: a majestic medieval castle with decorated rooms inside.
Second, one of those very rooms was called Dragon Lore Room. On the wall in this room was a copy of the picture that you can see on the AWP | Dragon Story. This is one of the most expensive skins in the game, and every CS player used to yen for it.
While watching matches in the Majors, you could get souvenir packages, which, in turn, could contain the cherished Dragon Lore. Now, the only way to get the weapon finish is to buy it.
When Cobblestone was removed, everyone thought the map would get overhauled and return to the active map pool. That was the case with Dust 2 and Inferno. And even though the map was indeed overhauled, it never returned to the map pool. And odds are, it won’t. Right now, you can’t even play on Cobblestone in matchmaking — only in two-vs-two mode.
Cache
Another map from CS:Source. It was also one of the community’s favorites and was used in tournaments, including Majors. Yet in March 2019, Valve replaced Cache with Vertigo.
A year later, FMPONE, the creator of the map, presented an updated version, with the changes mostly cosmetic. The map is available in matchmaking, but it didn’t return to the updated pool. And that’s despite the fact that everyone thought Cache would definitely return, as in the case with Cobblestone.
These four maps were loved by the community and pros alike, but are forgotten now. Valve doesn’t want them back in the competitive map pool, and some aren’t even in matchmaking — or in the game at all.
