Cache is rejoining the competitive rotation in Counter-Strike 2. Valve confirmed on June 22 that the remade map will enter the Active Duty pool for Premier Season Five, taking the spot held by Overpass. The swap happens once Premier Season Four wraps up on Monday, July 6, marking Cache’s first competitive appearance in seven years.
Quick answer: Overpass leaves and Cache joins the Active Duty pool when Premier Season Four ends on July 6. The Season Five pool will be Dust 2, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Ancient, Anubis, and Cache.
Season Five Active Duty map pool
The map change keeps the pool at seven maps. Overpass, which only returned to Active Duty around July 2025, exits after roughly a year of competitive use. Cache takes its place. Here is how the pool looks for Season Five.
| Map | Status for Season Five |
|---|---|
| Dust 2 | Stays |
| Inferno | Stays |
| Mirage | Stays |
| Nuke | Stays |
| Ancient | Stays |
| Anubis | Stays |
| Cache | Added (replaces Overpass) |
| Overpass | Removed |
These seven maps are the same ones used in Premier mode and on the professional stage, so they share identical rulesets. Valve announced the change directly through its official Counter-Strike account.
Why Cache is back after seven years
Cache was pulled from Active Duty in 2019, during the CS:GO era. In the years since, Valve moved Counter-Strike from the original Source engine to Source 2 with the launch of CS2, which left older maps looking dated. The studio rebuilt several classics for the new engine, starting with Inferno, Train, and Overpass, and Cache joined that remade lineup this year.
The map returned to CS2’s non-competitive modes on Tuesday, April 28, before the competitive announcement followed. That early reappearance gave players a chance to relearn the layout ahead of its move into Premier.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| April 28, 2026 | Cache returns to non-competitive modes |
| June 22, 2026 | Valve confirms Cache for Season Five Active Duty |
| July 6, 2026 | Premier Season Four ends; Cache replaces Overpass |
| July 21, 2026 | Cache enters pro play at BLAST Bounty |
How to earn your Premier Season Four medal before July 6
Season Four closes on Monday, July 6, so the medal requirements lock in on that date. You need both a win count and a visible CS Rating when the season ends.
If you hit 25 Season Four wins and have a visible CSR when the season ends, the medal is yours. Miss either requirement and you will not receive it.
When Cache appears in pro play
Professional teams will begin competing on the updated pool at BLAST Bounty, which starts on July 21. From that point, the Season Five maps, including Cache, are in play for both ranked Premier and tournament matches.
Community reaction to the swap has been mixed. Some players are frustrated that Overpass is leaving after just a year in Active Duty, while others point to Mirage staying despite being one of the most-played maps in CS2. Either way, Cache is officially returning, and anyone who once knew its smoke lineups will likely need a private lobby to relearn them before Season Five begins.
