A casual Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player can spam the same map over and over until they reach Global Elite. In matchmaking the tactics are usually simple so that team-mates can easily follow and understand what's happening.
The pros do it differently; strategy and tactics aren’t made up at the beginning of a round, but carefully crafted weeks in advance with hours and hours of practice. Every player has a distinct role that they have to fulfil on every single map. A professional game of Counter-Strike starts in the pick and ban phase.
Some pros love their old-school 1.6 battlegrounds like Dust 2, Mirage or Nuke. Others perform better on the newer maps like Cobblestone or Overpass. Teams and players get notorious for playing maps so well that their opponents have no idea how to counter them, other than banning the map.
For example, Virtus.pro have a winrate of 64.5 percent on Mirage. This means that they only get to play it if it slips through the cracks – it’s their favourite and best map and they’ll take any chance to play on it.
Because maps are so important, we got the chance to ask the pros what their favourites are and why. Hit play on the video below to see what some of the world’s best players had to say.

Nuke
The nuclear power plant was introduced in Counter Strike 1.6 and is iconic in CS:GO. The map is slightly CT favoured because the bombsites are placed close together. Two small vents offer a quick way for CT to rotate, which makes it almost impossible for T to sneak a bomb plant. friberg is an entry fragger which means he wants to rotate quickly and be the spearpoint of his team, which makes Nuke a perfect map choice for him.
Overpass
This new map was released together with Cobblestone in 2014. The map offers multiple pathways for T to both the A and B bombsites but rotations from the CT come in extremely quickly. Magisk holds a win rate of 73 percent on the map with his team North, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that he likes the map.
Cobblestone
The old castle holds many small pathways, corners and plateaus to hide in for T. This keeps the CT side players guessing constantly until T decide to make a move. The superstar player GeT_RiGhT is well known for his lurking playstyle. Popping out of corners to surprise the enemy when they least expect it and being as annoying to the enemy team as possible. Cobblestone gives GeT_RiGhT the power and the chance to top the scoreboard.
Inferno
Not too long ago the famous 1.6 map received a few gameplay tweaks and a visual update. This map has it all: wide open areas, narrow pathways and even a small tunnel to hide in. Over the years teams have used a lot of different tactics on this map, and the creative freedom offered to the players is huge. mixwell likes the map because of its balance. The A and B side are far apart but difficult to approach, which is why players can make creative use of fake pushes and other interesting strategies.
Cache
This battleground was originally a Source map and made its debut in CS:GO in 2014. The map offers long hallways, and with creative uses of player boosting it gives AWPers like coldzera and HEN1 the perfect playground to pick people off. Once T set up their camp in the middle of the map, it becomes hard for the CT side to take it back. This creates hectic and fast rounds which are situations that AWPers excel in.
Train
GuardiaN thinks Train is one of the most difficult maps to play. Since the map offers so many different corners and attack routes it can be frustrating for the CT side to hold every angle. Train is a map that has a big discrepancy in team win rates; some teams have a hard time scoring a map point while others love the design like SK Gaming’s TACO.
Dust 2
A map not only loved by the professionals but also by the casual player base, it’s the most played map in CS:GO. Even though the battleground is currently being remade and not in the map rotation, it still holds a special place in many pros' hearts. dev1ce notes that the map gives a lot of openness as an AWPer. Hiko even calls the map his playground - understandable because he holds a 65 percent win-rate on the map.
Mirage
The absolute winner of today’s interviews with five votes. The map is so likeable because it offers something for every team. Like Inferno, the map is a well of creative strategies and teams have an easy time making them work. The map offers almost an even rushing distance to the bomb sites which creates stalemates that can be resolved with creative strategies or clutch picks. NiKo notes that the map is open and comfortable. CS:GO veteran seized still loves the map, it was his favourite back then and still is.
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