Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was released back in 2012 by Valve Corporation as the fourth major title in the Counter-Strike series. Whilst the Counter-Strike series was always one of the most popular titles for the competitive Esports community, CS:GO managed to take this popularity to a whole new level. The game was moved by Valve to a free to play model in December 2018, which gave the franchise a whole new level of mainstream accessibility never before seen in the Esports world. With the game continuing to gain momentum in the competitive world, what are the best CS:GO maps to jump into and begin playing?
Dust II
One of the most famous maps in the world of first person shooters, Dust II was one of the founding maps of CS:GO’s competitive circuit. Influencing and being replicated in everything from Minecraft to Fortnite, there are parts of Dust II that have become instantly recognizable to anyone in the gaming community, whether they’re a Counter-Strike fan or not.
One of the few maps in the competitive pool that is equally balanced between the Terrorist and Counter-Terrorist sides, maps on Dust II are so rarely ever a straightforward washout and can often go into double or even triple overtimes. It also makes for an intriguing pick when it comes to the CS:GO betting odds and markets for competitions and tournaments.
Dust II has one of the hardest spots in the game to contest and recapture in its bombsite B. The tight angles to approach from either side are unlike the rest of the map which is filled with long straights and open spaces, and adds a different dimension to the map for players to contest with and coaches to strategise over.
Inferno
Set in a picturesque Italian village, Inferno might just be the most gorgeous map in the game. The map is filled with plenty of narrow straights with very little length to them which tends to mean AWPing is slightly less influential on here than most other maps and puts the emphasis much more on opening duels and position holds.
Because of this emphasis on opening duels, holding the right angle and making no mistake when the rotations come in is so vital to winning on Inferno.
The likes of Mid, Banana and Apts are some of the most contested spots in all of Counter-Strike, and require player to hone in and really specialise in the right things to perfect. For the perfect Inferno plays, look no further than JW and Flusha for Fnatic on the Banana stretch over the years.
Vertigo
Vertigo is the latest map to be added to the competitive pool in CS:GO, and for the longest time was considered unplayable by pretty much everyone in the game’s community. Players and pros thought the map was far too one-dimensional and prone to game glitching bugs, whilst fans and spectators bemoaned how boring the map was to watch.
Buever since the first few months of Vertigo’s troubled introduction to competitive Counter-Strike, people and pros have slowly come to realise that it is actually one of the most original and exciting maps currently available in the game. The map has the unique feature of having two levels and with every movement each player makes being audible to anyone else on the map.
This has led to a whirlwind of new tactics and strategies being developed for the map, and Vertigo’s competitive meta has gone through an extraordinary amount of changes in the past few months in comparison to others in the game.