Season 5
2026-07-08 – present
The Active Duty pool Valve fielded from 2026-07-08, and the professional-play meta measured while it held.
what changedThe rotation that opened it
2026-07-08Season 5
Added Cache. Removed Overpass.
“Cache has officially arrived, and replaces Overpass in the active duty map pool.”
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 2026-08-23. 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 combined196 maps played — thin sample
52.4% CT · 47.6% T — 2.4pts CT-leaning
146 picks, 376 bans this season
- Ancient32 maps played — thin sample
49.6% CT · 50.4% T — 0.4pts T-leaning
28 picks, 46 bans this season
- Anubis15 maps played — thin sample
44.9% CT · 55.1% T — 5.1pts T-leaning
13 picks, 69 bans this season
- Cache20 maps played
52.2% CT · 47.8% T — 2.2pts CT-leaning
12 picks, 64 bans this season
- Dust II42 maps played — thin sample
50.6% CT · 49.4% T — 0.6pts CT-leaning
31 picks, 45 bans this season
- Inferno24 maps played — thin sample
49.5% CT · 50.5% T — 0.5pts T-leaning
17 picks, 58 bans this season
- Mirage31 maps played — thin sample
56.1% CT · 43.9% T — 6.1pts CT-leaning
18 picks, 46 bans this season
- Nuke32 maps played — thin sample
60.0% CT · 40.0% T — 10.0pts CT-leaning
27 picks, 48 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 5, newest first.
- BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 22026-07-21 – 2026-08-02
- P
- M
- N
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MOUZ Take BLAST Bounty Season 2 in Malta Without Losing a Match
MOUZ came out of the Malta bracket unbeaten, closing the season 3-1 against Spirit in the grand final: 13-8 on Dust II, 13-4 on Mirage, then 13-10 on Nuke after Spirit took Ancient 13-9 to stay in it. The whole run cost them three maps in ten. Five of the seven matches here reached a deciding map, in a single-elimination bracket with no second chances anywhere in it.
Champion: MOUZ
32 teams · 31 matches · 81 maps played across 2 phases
- BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 22026-07-21 – 2026-07-26
Eight Teams Leave BLAST Bounty Season 2's Online Stage Unbeaten
Matches, maps, and champion for the events below
- Esports World Cup 20262026-08-12 – 2026-08-23
56 matches · 115 maps played · champion: Spirit