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Premier Season Three Nears Its Finish Line

Counter-Strike 2 Premier Season Three is almost over, with Valve confirming the season officially ends on January 19. Players chasing the Season Three Premier medal still have time, but there are strict requirements. To earn the medal, you must secure 25 Premier wins during the season and have a visible CSR when the season concludes. Miss either condition and the medal will not unlock, no matter how close you are.

As the countdown continues, attention is already shifting toward what comes next, and Valve has not disappointed with changes lined up for Season Four.

Anubis Replaces Train In Season Four

Valve has announced that Anubis will replace Train in the Active Duty map pool following the end of Premier Season Three. The change goes live alongside Premier Season Four on January 19, bringing Anubis back after a relatively short six month absence.

Anubis was removed from the map pool in mid July last year, at the start of the second 2025 season, when Overpass made its return. Its comeback comes sooner than many expected, especially with strong community speculation pointing toward Cache after Valve acquired the map’s remade version from creator FMPONE.

Train, meanwhile, exits the pool after just one year. The map was added at the beginning of 2025 as a replacement for Vertigo, but its run in CS2’s competitive rotation has proven to be brief.

Current Active Duty Map Pool

With the update confirmed, the new Active Duty map pool for Premier Season Four will be:

  • Dust2
  • Mirage
  • Inferno
  • Nuke
  • Ancient
  • Overpass
  • Anubis

This lineup is expected to define both ranked play and professional competition heading into early 2026.

What This Means For Pro Play

It is widely expected that competitive events will follow Valve’s updated map pool.

The new season begins with BLAST Bounty on January 13, followed shortly by IEM Kraków starting January 28. Anubis is set to make its S tier return at BLAST Bounty Winter 2026, which kicks off on January 22, marking the first major event to feature the updated pool.

Community Reaction Is Sharply Divided

As always, the community response has been mixed. Many players welcomed Anubis back with open arms, hoping for balance tweaks that make the map less punishing on the CT side. Others celebrated the removal of Train, arguing that its CS2 version never quite lived up to expectations.

At the same time, frustration remains among fans of Cache, Dust2 critics, and players calling for deeper map rotations each season. Some feel Valve is playing it safe, while others believe consistency is better for both casual and professional players.

One thing is clear, map pool changes continue to be one of the most hotly debated parts of CS2, and Season Four is already shaping up to be no different.

Season Four Is Almost Here

With Premier Season Three wrapping up on January 19 and Season Four launching immediately after, now is the final chance to lock in your wins, secure your CSR, and claim that medal. Once the switch flips, Anubis will be back in rotation, Train will be gone, and a new chapter of CS2 competitive play will begin.

Whether this change improves the game or simply fuels more debate, Valve is once again keeping the Counter-Strike scene moving forward.