A surprise in the CS2 map pool: After a seven-year absence, Cache is back in the Active Duty pool of Counter-Strike 2. The iconic map was removed from the pool in 2019, but in May 2025, Valve bought back the rights from community creator FMPONE and completely redeveloped it for CS2. Since the Season 5 update in early July, Cache is officially competitive again – it replaces Overpass, which had the worst pick rate of all maps at IEM Cologne Major 2026.
The first major test run for the new map didn't take long: At BLAST Bounty Season 2 – a 32-team tournament with a $1.15 million prize pool – Cache was featured multiple times in the Stage 1 round. And lo and behold: several matches went into overtime, indicating a rather balanced round distribution on the reworked map.
Here's a look at the results from July 24th and 25th:
- 3DMAX beats magic 2:1 (including Ancient 16:14 after overtime)
- The MongolZ pulls off a 2:1 reverse sweep against HEROIC (Dust2 19:16 after overtime)
- Team Liquid surprises Team Vitality with a clean 2:0 – EliGE shines with 42 frags and a 1.52 rating
- DENDELE CS (the former Sharks roster, rebranded on July 20th thanks to a partnership with Brazilian club Dendele FC) knocks out FURIA with a 2:1 win – Cache itself went 16:14 to DENDELE after overtime
Thus, 3DMAX, The MongolZ, Liquid, and DENDELE advance to the next round, while HEROIC, FURIA, magic, and Vitality are eliminated. The online stage runs until July 26th, after which the remaining top teams will travel to Malta for the LAN finals, which will take place from July 30th to August 2nd.
What do you think about the Cache comeback – does the map fit the pace of CS2 better than before? Let us know in the comments and follow along with us as the tournament progresses to the Malta finals!
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