Lorenzo talks us through what makes a map truly competitive for the top CS:GO teams
With the release of Operation Breakout, the introduction of new competitive maps, plus the advent of the valve’s Active Duty roster, I started thinking about what suits a map to be played at the top level in Counter Strike: Global Offensive. There are some maps which are more competitive and offer a higher level of gameplay but what is it that defines a map as “competitive”?
HeritageFirst of all, I think that the heritage of a map is a factor in the choice of competitive maps. Experienced players may be slightly guilty of stubbornness towards the main and old maps from 1.6 and Source (for example Dust2) but they have been tried and tested for years. Even though the maps are familiar, they still give exciting match-ups, and players continue to find new angles and new strategies to exploit. This is reinforced by the fact that some maps have fallen by the wayside and whilst having a level of heritage, are not played like Aztec and the original Dust. In my opinion the big three (Dust2, Nuke and Inferno) should form the backbone of competitive CS:GO moving forward but the community shouldn’t be limited by heritage map pools.
IndividualityLooking abstractly at the composition of some maps, the majority are a variation on the three lane model, similar to MOBAs like Dota2 or League of Legends. This means Counter-Terrorists have to split 2-2-1 to defend each of these lanes. In reality, maps are more complex and have quirks that differentiate themselves from each other – for example Nuke has bombsites on top of each other and the vent section which allows near instantaneous rotations or Mirage where the Underpass allows Terrorists to appear under the nose of Counter-Terrorists. Looking back to my examples of maps that are not as competitive, Aztec and Dust have very different layouts to this primitive three lane model, and as such become strongly CT sided and unsuited to competitive play. One new map that follows the three lane model is Black Gold from Operation Blackout however this is still very CT sided, and features a problem that is similar to the current version of Train. The problem is there are so many possible places the T-side must check and the multi-levelled nature of defence, especially in the A bombsites of both maps that make both these maps very CT-sided.
BiasThis brings me onto my third point – that of round-bias. Increasingly in Best of 1 games, teams are less willing to play strongly biased maps like Nuke and Train because the chance of upset is generally higher. If the underdogs manage to win the pistol round and the first gun round as Terrorists on Nuke, they would take a 5-0 (provided they don’t lose an eco-round) and this is a risk that some teams don’t want to take – this means we increasingly see Inferno, Mirage and (when it is in the map pool) Cache in Bo1s. At G3, Cache replaced Train in the map pool which I think was great for the tournament and showed a lot of innovation (this may have been slightly nullified by the Bo3 format though).
RotationsCompetitive maps don’t necessarily have to have a lot of heritage. Mirage and Cache are both relatively newer than Dust 2 and Nuke, but they tend to provide variation on the 3 lane model. Heavily CT-sided maps tend to be less popular which means most of the Blackout maps will never make pools at the top level. NBK said recently in his blog on HLTV.org that one solution could be a 7 map pool with seasons and map rotations similar to StarCraft 2, however with a veto system, teams may not opt to play them.
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Author: Lawrence "Lorenzo Flamingo" Cook (@cs_L0renz0)
About the author: "My name is Lawrence, but I go by Lorenzo when playing Counter Strike:Global Offensive. I'm 18 and an Economics Student at Lancaster University. I've been gaming for years, playing CS:GO for the last 2, and playing competitively for the last 6 months. Despite eSports not having as big a following in the UK as with other countries, competitive CS:GO has become a passion of mine, particularly the teamwork and strategy elements of the game. The money constraints and eco rounds add another dimension and the propensity for upsets, especially with the power of pistols is making CS a fascinating game at the top level"