Every competitive game has its more memorable maps. Blood Gulch, Facing Worlds, 2Fort, and also, de_dust2. More well-known as simply Dust II, the map has been around for most of Counter-Strike’s life and is considered one of the best, most balanced maps in the game. Now, it’s back in active duty.
Yesterday’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive patch added the revamped version of Dust II back to the game’s Active Duty map pool, making it available for competitive play. The map was removed for some time due to its rework, which went live last October. But now the classic has returned to competitive, and high-level teams will soon be playing 30 rounds on a Counter-Strike once again.
Though some are excited to see Dust return, it also means saying goodbye to another map. To make room for Dust, Valve has rotated Cobblestone out of the competitive pool. Reactions among the pro scene are... mixed.
It’ll be interesting to see what pros bring to Dust after so much time away. If games with lifespans like Counter-Strike have taught us anything, it’s that you can have teams playing the same maps competitively for years and still find ways to innovate, even on old stomping grounds.