Season 1a
2023-09-27 – 2024-04-25
Counter-Strike 2’s launch pool — the Active Duty rotation Valve fielded from day one, with no rotation before it, and the professional-play meta measured while it held.
Valve calls this whole span “Season 1”, but it held 2 different Active Duty pools — told apart here as 1a and 1b. Those letters are this site's own invention, not Valve's.
what changedThe rotation that opened it
the pool that seasonThe seven maps it fielded
the meta that seasonWhat the sides did on them
Scope, method, and per-row pick/ban counts
Measured across Tier 1 events — HLTV Majors and international LAN events with a prize pool between $600,000 and $2,000,000, from matches played between 2023-10-16 and 2026-08-02. Regulation rounds only — overtime alternates sides in short halves and can't be attributed to CT or T, so it's excluded here. Sample sizes are per row below.
- All maps combined528 maps played
50.8% CT · 49.2% T — 0.8pts CT-leaning
380 picks, 1,162 bans this season
- Ancient92 maps played
49.8% CT · 50.2% T — 0.2pts T-leaning
62 picks, 146 bans this season
- Anubis75 maps played
43.5% CT · 56.5% T — 6.5pts T-leaning
56 picks, 170 bans this season
- Inferno64 maps played
49.5% CT · 50.5% T — 0.5pts T-leaning
39 picks, 186 bans this season
- Mirage67 maps played
53.3% CT · 46.7% T — 3.3pts CT-leaning
52 picks, 171 bans this season
- Nuke91 maps played
53.5% CT · 46.5% T — 3.5pts CT-leaning
62 picks, 140 bans this season
- Overpass78 maps played
56.1% CT · 43.9% T — 6.1pts CT-leaning
61 picks, 162 bans this season
- Vertigo61 maps played
49.2% CT · 50.8% T — 0.8pts T-leaning
48 picks, 187 bans this season
tournaments this seasonThe Tier 1 events played on this pool
Every Tier 1 event in this snapshot whose matches fell inside Season 1a, newest first.
2024-03-17 – 2024-03-31 · 24 teams
- E
- P
- A
- K
Natus Vincere Win the Earliest Major in This Archive, 13-3 on the Last Map
Copenhagen is the first Major this snapshot reaches. Its final went three maps: Natus Vincere took Ancient 13-9, FaZe answered 13-2 on Mirage, and Inferno settled it 13-3. Natus Vincere came through 6-2, two losses — more than any other champion on this pool carried.
Champion: Natus Vincere
- Opening Stage2024-03-17 – 2024-03-20
Cloud9 and HEROIC Clear the Copenhagen Major's Opening Stage 3-0
- IEM Katowice 20242024-01-31 – 2024-02-11
- E
Spirit Win Katowice 2024 Unbeaten, Losing One Map in Twelve
Spirit did not lose a match at IEM Katowice 2024 and took the final 3-0 from FaZe — 13-9 on Nuke, 13-11 on Mirage, 13-3 on Overpass. One map lost in twelve across the whole event. Inferno was banned first in eleven of the twenty-nine matches played and reached a server twice.
Champion: Spirit
24 teams · 49 matches · 111 maps played across 2 phases
- Play-in2024-01-31 – 2024-02-02
Four Teams Clear the Katowice 2024 Play-in, Spirit Among Them
Matches, maps, and champion for the events below
- IEM Chengdu 20242024-04-08 – 2024-04-14
29 matches · 57 maps played · champion: FaZe
- BLAST Premier Spring Groups 20242024-01-22 – 2024-01-28
26 matches · 61 maps played · no champion (see why)
- BLAST Premier World Final 20232023-12-13 – 2023-12-17
13 matches · 29 maps played · champion: Vitality
- BLAST Premier Fall Final 20232023-11-22 – 2023-11-26
13 matches · 32 maps played · champion: Vitality
- CS Asia Championships 20232023-11-08 – 2023-11-12
13 matches · 28 maps played · champion: FaZe
- IEM Sydney 20232023-10-16 – 2023-10-22
29 matches · 59 maps played · champion: FaZe