The Story of Mirage: The Perfect Map That Nobody Wants to Play Anymore

Dust II, without question, is the most iconic Counter-Strike map of all time. Possibly the most iconic map in the history of gaming, period.
But in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive specifically, there is not a single map more important to the fabric of its competitive legacy than Mirage.
It’s the place where pros and plebs hone their skills. A deathmatch dojo for all those looking to make a name for themselves.
It's the hallowed grounds where the game's greatest moments have taken place. It’s the most played map in CSGO… and it's becoming a nightmare because of it.
This, is the story of Mirage.
Written by: Devin Coull (@fake_devincoull)
Hosted by: Danny Burke (@lurkeyburke)
Edited by: Connor Dunn (@ConnorDunn_)
Produced by: Matt Massey, Keith Capstick (@KeithCapstick) & Miles Hackett (@miles_hackett)
Thumbnail by: William O'Keefe (@magoo_o)
Footage Courtesy of: pastebin.com/u...
Music used under license from Associated Production Music LLC (”APM”).
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[@G2esports]

Nothing like playing 58 rounds of Mirage

[@pablo292]

just to loose lol

[@indiegala281]

@@pablo292 lose*

[@cl4ud1us43]

Pls tell all the Players: The IEM Final was one of the best MATCH that was ever played.

[@leugim8435]

Ouch.

[@yes6472]

kick choko ez win

[@nazaazim4355]

csgo players: "we've played mirage too many times its boring now" also csgo players: "i dont wanna play ancient its way out of my comfort zone"

[@eemeli1196]

Lowkey ancient is best map atm

[@nilen]

@@eemeli1196 lag

[@Genocidalll]

@@eemeli1196 troll

[@itallomagalhaes6621]

@@eemeli1196 LAGGY AS HEll

[@notrobert8284]

@@nilen just get rtx 3080 and i9 12900k man is cheap no lie no lag

[@_walruss4033]

that zywoo clip that made the caster forget how to count is still amazing

[@silenc3x]

By the time he reached 6 he was like 'wait, thats not right'

[@_walruss4033]

@@silenc3x exactly lol. it was so good he just kept counting. gets a chuckle outta me every time i hear it. what a legendary clip

[@lukyrak]

Over 1500 hours on CS and I believe over half of it is on mirage and I still love it. I don't feel like I can get annoyed anytime soon. Who knows tho

[@Frostwolfs18]

Yeap me too , only 1k hours tho

[@lukyrak]

@@Frostwolfs18 Checked it afterwards and I'm on 1960 hours. But to be fair I'm always looking forward the new map they release cause its a nice change. But mirage is still the number 1 for me.

[@ryNNwth]

@@lukyrak I have about 4k in CS and mirage is still my fav map to this day

[@Tt-qf1qs]

You are the reason it sucks. You are not CS player you are Mirage player

[@SCRSIA]

same here 1100hours and feels like most of it’s been on mirage and dust2, still enjoy both

[@Zxfkiel]

The Most Perfect map for both T and CT of CSGO history I see many plays in this map and it was Amazingly Awesome

[@ahmadghifarialbana9997]

Mirage as a map is a balanced map for CT and T and thats the main reason why many team dont want to play this map because everyone know how to play it and like every team literally doing the same

[@danielstocker6351]

and yet, my teammates seem to constantly ignore that mid, jungle and connector control is not something you should lose within 20 seconds.

[@martinberg3970]

@@danielstocker6351 literally one of the reasons i quit playing cs😂

[@blushingralseiuwu2222]

But, isn't professional csgo players has mastered all competitive map?

[@ahmadghifarialbana9997]

@@blushingralseiuwu2222 its yes and no. Yes because they have played the game for very long and they know almost literally know everything about the map. No because the meta is always changing for every map, you can see it how different team play it differently to take that piece of map control especially on T side

[@Amigow0w]

@@ahmadghifarialbana9997 Mirage, Dust2 and Inferno all those maps are really balanced ! Inferno it's even more balanced when it comes to win rate and that it's not me saying, those are the stats which you can find on HLTV. I think CSGO needs new maps 😉

[@blakdragongaming5804]

the thing is that a lot of players dont have 200+ fps computers and mirage is probable one of 2/3 maps that you can have the most fps in a potatoe PC. CSGO fps are getting worse and worse everytime you turn the game on. Unless Valve can make all maps or more maps as fps friendly as Mirage, people would keep playing Mirage

[@ayushpathania5500]

True

[@f1st0ka]

so fking tru bro

[@achmadthariqulc81]

this.

[@ryNNwth]

Tru, started w a intergrated card and played mirage on 80 fps and now it’s my fav map after 4k hours and even having 200+ fps on every map now

[@lufetm]

This. I really like Ancient layout, I played around 20 matches on it, learned some tricks and smoke lineups but in some places its literally unplayable for me bcs FPS can drop even below 60 and then its not enjoyable anymore

[@NatteNek]

In a year of plating this i played it 3 times as much as rest. God i overplayed it (partially to my friends who only want this map) and now i just hate it.

[@carnivalism1042]

i played it 4 times as much as the rest combined, but im basing it on what i saw using the Steam Achievement Manager 2 years ago.

[@saulosilva1236]

Get good

[@NatteNek]

@@saulosilva1236 Nah

[@HieronymousLex]

I do really wish people would vote for other maps sometimes. Like yeah it’s easy to get comfy on your favorite map but part of the fun of an fps is switching between a map pool. Not just playing on one fucking map and occasionally nuke

[@SnowMexicann]

@@HieronymousLex Just play comp lol

[@THEtrueidiots]

I still love mirage. I do want to play other maps, but can't bring myself to learn smokes for another map lol

[@shaansingh6048]

they just gotta make a CS Battle Royale

[@leeonardodienfield402]

it takes 20 minutes on a yprac map to learn smokes, and from there you can practice peeks, angles, etc

[@PedroCruz-uu4be]

its not even the smokes or peeks for me its more all the call outs and etc

[@leeonardodienfield402]

@@PedroCruz-uu4be install Simple Radar, it puts all the callouts right on the radar for all maps in game

[@PedroCruz-uu4be]

yeah i know about it, and just to be clear, i know most of the major call outs like pool, coffins, emo/dark on inferno. I meant more like the micro calls like Coldzera on Inferno A site or empty on Mirage's B site

[@ahmadjabareen98]

CSGO fan base: Add more maps Valve!!! CSGO fan base too: but not zoo, ancient, biome, season, workout, anubis, not a big map, not a small map, not with an open plant site, diffidently not with a closed plat side, less smoke positions and more smoke positions, not a green map, not a blue map, not.... As a CSGO player, I'm so sick with this community that cries about everything valve does, I mean, if valve did not shove Ancient up our asses, no one would have picked it, not even ask for improvements, straight up reject it

[@lufetm]

A lot of people that cry over new maps are crying bcs of FPS difference between Mirage and new maps

[@lordeddy05]

This is the best map ever! This is why I play cs, this is why I play comp, this is why I'm silver 1

[@ae_aspects8296]

Im silver 2. Duo? 👀? Friend code?

[@love404.]

you should try Nuke

[@notdave5081]

@@love404. nuke in low elo is hell, for some reason it has the most throwing and trolling teammates

[@tacticalg754]

@@notdave5081 It's fun tho

[@love404.]

@@notdave5081 bro probably plays to have fun and not be competitive since he's silver 1

[@onamayo]

You missed the part where it became the most popular map after valve disabled dust 2 for rework

[@Vobis23]

Clicked on the video fully expecting to just talk about 2014 onward mirage.... was pleasantly surprised to see the actual history of the map brought up with it's roots in 1.6 via CPL. Finally, you guys did it right.

[@EvoGibt3sT]

Short reminder, everyone woth 2k+ elo who cant throw instant window smokes dont play mirage thank you.

[@jozemano972]

Mirage is a beautiful map no one can Deny that

[@hughlevantjames905]

but everyone can Danny it

[@jozemano972]

@@hughlevantjames905 bruh i Miss spelled it thx for the reminder

[@XxInfinityxXTimer]

leagues better than dust 2

[@Spyrex420]

Funny how arab maps are awesome, mirage , dust , actualy dust 2 is made as my home city casablanca,morocco , the white Mercedes taxi at t spawn, and the dumpster are sooo fking accurate, first time i saw it i wuz mindblown

[@なにいってんの-s5e]

if u love sand yeah

[@m4a1snerfed]

m4a1s is overpowered and csgo devs don't care about balance therefore it's a waste of time to play csgo

[@gangmemberjakub]

Lol cry about it

[@CopeDnD]

mirage is the best 5v5 fps map ever created

[@friddlefries1140]

It’s just been perfected by pros, just bring in cobble or other maps and let them have a break off Mirage, swap pools in a few tournaments then bring Mirage back Either there will be a renewed love for it or people won’t feel the need for it

[@Nick-ij5nt]

The timing of this video is very interesting since a few days ago I just started learning how to make CS maps for the sole purpose of fixing my issues with Mirage. My new version is actually compiling as I type this, it'll probably be on the workshop soon.

[@isaiahboyd2595]

whats it called. Or what do I need to search up to find it

[@Nick-ij5nt]

@@isaiahboyd2595 not ready yet, I fucked up the optimization, maybe a couple days

[@wiramaaaaaaan]

@@Nick-ij5nt tell us when it's ready I want to taste it

[@mexonCS]

looking forward to see it, i hope you put your steam workshop link here :D

[@kobban63]

Noted

[@manbeast_cs]

Dust 2, Inferno, and Nuke all had a break at times. I think the pool for maps should be big enough where season can happen right now right now Train, Cobble and Cache are off season at the moment, While Cobble needs work but it hasn't been played for the last four majors I feel like that could come back. Mirage is the only map that has been played at every major. I really enjoyed maps like Anubis, Grind, Mocha, Chlorine, Breach, Biome, and Abbey while none of them are perfect but they can be worked on and could get better. but not Basalt fuck Basalt lol jk. Drop Mirage for the next two Majors and Let Anubis get some play and than after a year or so off people will be excited when it comes back. If you keep the rotation fresh no one get sick of one map and no one misses it for too long just my two cent I could be way off the mark on this.

[@lufetm]

hell, even Dust 2, the most famous CS map, was out of major pool for some time before they remade it so I see no problem in doing the same to Mirage in near future

[@DrT741]

Honestly if CSGO was only Mirage, I'd still play it. Incredible map.

[@Toaster___Bath]

LOL yeah same

[@virus4721]

u must be new to the game in few years u will see how wrong u are in cs go only maps who is worth it is inferno/overpass and thats all

[@DrT741]

@@virus4721 I have over 2k hours lmao

[@hellothere-ig6jg]

@@virus4721 bruh ive played for 2 years nothing wrong lmao

[@DaFifaKid]

@@hellothere-ig6jg ive been playing mirage since like 2002 lmao

[@reviewer_random]

love mirage and inferno, i know every inch of it, timing to rotate, handful of nades lineup, prefire and its timing, etc idk, i just enter a pro mode in those maps

[@djolkica5539]

I guess you are mg max

[@reviewer_random]

@@djolkica5539 i dont like matchmaking but face it lv 7 tho

[@djolkica5539]

@@reviewer_random sure you are with that comment

[@devaalous]

cs players just get toxic for no reason at all lmao.

[@reviewer_random]

@@djolkica5539 why are ppl so mad lmao, i just saying my experience, if u have different story then off you go

[@Rockeysmile]

They need to bring cache and cobble back into the map pool

[@yashasvik2958]

I really hope they do, i absolutely love cache even though ive only played it with ai and in casual

[@chrisb99]

They should bring back the old Cobble

[@Rockeysmile]

@@chrisb99 the old cobble was so fun to play

[@HerbaceousM8]

@@voorachter2733 yeah cache update... then thrown in the bin after the mid changes, so strange

[@delate1167]

Cache is already in Competetive?

[@sla7889]

I still love playing mirage Just too good of a map

[@YunTaeGoO]

"perfect map" - same utilities at the start of every round just to get to mid or A-site ...noone ever goes B ...this is probably one of the worst maps in the whole game and you wonder nobody wants to play this piece of crap?

[@sla7889]

@@YunTaeGoO Have you been playing too much low or mid ranked matchmaking? Because thats not how mirage usually is at all

[@YunTaeGoO]

@@sla7889 thats even in pro matches the same

[@sla7889]

@@YunTaeGoO Nah I dont think we are watching the same map There are at least 10 different ways to get mid and b fakes and entries indeed happen a lot (i say this as a b player)

[@ethanbowman3103]

A MAP ON MIRAGE AND YOU DONT SHOW COLDZERA’S JUMPING AWP??

[@alonsop9861]

you didnt watch the video. it is at 12:28 if you want to complain about something not being in the video you must watch the video in the first place LOL

[@ExtraDip613]

12:27

[@jingle9657]

Mirage is basically an example of a perfect map , enough entry points to sites , no over the top advantages for either CT or T .

[@YunTaeGoO]

"perfect map" - same utilities at the start of every round just to get to mid or A-site ...noone ever goes B ...this is probably one of the worst maps in the whole game and you wonder nobody wants to play this piece of crap?

[@AlanStryman]

yeah, can confirm i had mirage mid smoke somewhere in my search history

[@honk7969]

I think the problem is that Mirage is just "perfect" and we just need more "perfect" maps in the map pool.

[@davidtheking341]

D2 Inferno Mirage all godtier

[@ububububububububub1667]

we already have office

[@ihatethatyoutubedisplaysyo8106]

@@ububububububububub1667 based

[@fakuhu178]

truu

[@manohar3626]

The only map where I can literally throw any smoke or flashes and I love to hold B apps. Mirage brings my inner CSGO PROness

[@uresfffff222]

Idk why I play so good on mirage and inferno but suck at d2

[@s0m3_1]

TheScoreEsports: We have to find a way to add cold's jumping awp. So let's make a video about Mirage.

[@Toaster___Bath]

was the olof boost in here ?

[@rarinth]

@@Toaster___Bath the olofboost happened in overpass

[@Toaster___Bath]

@@rarinth they include it in every video regardless tho . its the meme bro

[@rarinth]

@@Toaster___Bath it's about mirage, if they are talking abt overpass, ofc they will put it there

[@cjnogodula]

I think CS would benefit from a map refresh; just take out all the maps we're used to playing and take them out of the active duty, allow new maps to take their place It's going to be rough, but it would refresh the game, make new players want to play, and old players want to come back

[@xmm-aibrahimonealrafif7923]

i wish cobblestone is back on active duty

[@Strain117]

@@xmm-aibrahimonealrafif7923 but valve ruined the map

[@notdave5081]

Yeah all the old players already returning for maps such as climb

[@twist3dgUt4219]

I hated mirage when i started playing csgo (I had very limited cs 1.6 experience so didnt know the maps all too well, except ofcourse d2), just felt everyone else in the lobby was better. Now we play mirage 80% of the time, with a sprinkle of inferno here and there.

[@sviitor]

This map is amazing, unfortunately it's overplayed in pugs, so it became repetitive to me and a lot of people

[@jamesnguyen7069]

bring back train

[@sviitor]

@@jamesnguyen7069 Agreed

[@afrobrur2065]

Was my favourite map when I started following csgo in 2013/14 and still is to this day

[@dxwkx9119]

'Nobody wants to play anymmore' Defusal Group Delta players: Hold my vote

[@XM06]

I still love mirage

[@duarte11_pt40]

Pro players in a nutshell, "yeah this map is good" a few years later, " this map is so s**t I hate the developers"

[@reasonrevived]

Cache was a great map and people complained about that too, maybe we just need a whole new set of active maps and then rotate between them?

[@DerMaflon]

Mirage is outdated. It needs an overhaul, both in looks and in layout. I can't stand Mirage any more. CS:GO changed, Mirage didn't. It's not modern any more. Especially the spawns NEED to change as 3kliksphilip showed, it's too much RNG.

[@marcie5620]

i think valve should take mirage out and get a new one to the active pool, the plays on the map are getting kinda expected, and MAYBE valve should change the active map pool more... plus mirage has nothing that make it stand out implying it to be there, like vertigo, ancient or nuke

[@YunTaeGoO]

"perfect map" - same utilities at the start of every round just to get to mid or A-site ...noone ever goes B ...this is probably one of the worst maps in the whole game and you wonder nobody wants to play this piece of crap?

[@JohnDoe-tn5qp]

The problem with Mirage is that it's so good that it makes all the other maps seem mediocre.

[@stee5y995]

the title is so true lol

[@matthewhickling1350]

Love how this whole video is an awesome highlight reel, more play = more clips

[@denn1ssss]

I love Mirage

[@megamiisamaa]

I know each and every corner of Mirage more than my own home

[@GoDUsopp-dr6pn]

literally all i ever play is mirage, like out of my 4k hrs ingame, i have like 3.9999 k hrs just on mirage itself

[@nyChannel09]

4:30 sandwich guy cant hear sounds, can he He didnt even react after Hiko started shooting

[@didi-jh1su]

Maybe cs is the only game where problems happen only because it is played too much.

[@JohnSm1th762]

Mirage is fine. They should take out dust. Maybe make a 9 map map pool. We need a change.

[@nikolapopovic9192]

I just got so sick of mirage that its my perma ban on faceit rn.. but half of my hours of cs are on it tho

[@ahmetgorkemserdar5202]

Nobody wants to play ??? Brah me and bois play mirage whenever we play cs go

[@nartouthere]

Look Mom I made it!!!

[@Monolitus7]

The title should be *the only map competitive plays"

[@sla7889]

12:27 I noticed it was taking too long

[@nyChannel09]

8 Times in a row mirage in Prime, and I dont mind it. Mirage is perfect.

[@razizaidi2460]

If you think its overplayed then stop playing...that's it❤

[@AimbotThundah]

Its the last surviving good map that hasnt been updated to look and play like garbage yet, so its my favourite and once it gets updated i die

[@rao27_cs]

cache, dust 2, inferno, ancient all seem fine to me?

[@Jin-1337]

@@rao27_cs ancient colour contrast is terrible

[@legend98er]

Mirage is an og Map there’s no reasoncto hate it tho, for my personal view it’s the best map to play cuz it’s kinda a neutral map.Both sided so much love and i personaly salute the creator of it

[@wallyy4331]

I hate all the maps in the pool tbh I think inferno and mirage the most simple and fun to play but the rest all the angles and the way the awp can dominate the map. They are not fun. I honestly want a hostage map in the comp pool not even trolling lmao

[@blakecarr3544]

i wouldnt mind seeing the pro's take on the challenge of hostage maps

[@Tt-qf1qs]

Maybe try learning other maps too. Mirage is the most awp friendly map there is

[@wallyy4331]

@@Tt-qf1qs im 2.4k elo faceit 5.6k mmr esea and on a main PO team. ik other maps lmao and mirage is not the most awp friendly compared to others but i think all the maps in the pool are pretty bad

[@kubocs]

I beg they dont change mirage and kill it like how they did Dust 2

[@Felix-ke7nx]

I feel like if you are no full team, or just without any good plan on T and CT side it’s literally not playable. I like it sometimes but I would play any other map over mirage to be honest.

[@LFKrebs]

Damn, seeing these comments I think I'm the odd one out, absolutely despise mirage and can't wait to see it go away from the map pool, bring back OG Cobblestone to take its place.

[@floetete]

+1

[@Bored__AF]

istg people who want cobble back are smoking crack. Cobble was one of the worst maps like ever. It's still better than new ones ( _khm_ ancient) but it is nowhere close to mirage.

[@addzee9865]

The perfect map is Inferno. A map shouldnt have places where the T's should slip through like Mirage, Nuke, Vertigo. Inferno has also hosted the most iconic csgo matches ever.

[@Fyr35555]

It's good because it forces you to take map control to win.

[@Bored__AF]

Both mirage and inferno are perfect for their own reason. Third one I'd say would be nuke, only if Ts could get more map control early in the round.

[@Bighomer5]

I've felt this way since all my placement matches ended up being on mirage. Removed it from the q afterwards lol.

[@antond131]

Add cobblestone again. Miss it with all my heart.

[@THICEofficial]

Nuke is the shit

[@maks0212]

At the minute 10:12, micael almeida, portuguese streamer, its a miracle when he dont rage, and also its a improvement when he only breaks 2 tables, 3 keyboards and 1 monitor per week

[@iScreenDRc]

Demorei demasiado tempo a encontrar este comentario

[@specter290]

New cs go players : what’s cpl and de cpl strike? Lmao. And it’s called jail not bench

[@Toaster___Bath]

I prefer to use the jail call out if they are tucked into the corner right beside bench (close to van kind of), so they can not be seen from app's

[@robirimpinen8397]

Shittiest title of the year

[@chris-lh6ol]

You guys need to do a story of overpass and story of dupreeh

[@unfa00]

You played the same clip of an AWP ace on A two times :P

[@CompletelyRandomNick]

80% of my total csgo playtime was spent in competetive mirage. I'm not like the other girls

[@rainy6563]

From the beginning of the video, i was sure that the "Jumping Double" would be surely included.. and lo ! There it was

[@Cuzi19997]

I dont think it’s particularly a map problem I think its more of being played so often.I used to love inferno but now I’m getting 7 games in a row on inferno

[@niemandac]

2024 here, mirage still sucks

[@TheZamphire]

I get this feeling for Kings Row in overwatch the best map in OW by miles wish i could run it 24/7

[@alexnooijens3964]

i feel like over the years so many things have been found like nade line-ups, strats, fakes, playstyles, one way smokes, movement jumps. it's just a bit boring right now

[@dabsinjapnese98]

I like how when he said plebs he showed xqc lol

[@TheItalianoAssassino]

CSGO without Mirage, Dust 2, Inferno would just feel cursed

[@eerr5321]

Man sometimes when I play with my friends i say we play mirage not counter strike because we play it so much XD

[@trinity.channel]

How about a video on Aztec. ;)

[@OurFreeReflections]

i'm over it... it was the first map i learned properly, but i have PTSD from a competitive match - our team opened the competition by losing 16-3 against the eventual winner... ive barely played Mirage since haha

[@jamesnguyen7069]

lol

[@anthonywilsongolf]

It's weird cuz everything that i hate about the map is a reason I also love it

[@viniciuscmaia]

Even it has been on the map pool for very long time and being played a lot in professional scenario, I feel like mirage still has more variations and options to do somes executions than vertigo. A map that I would like to see in CS 2 map pool would be tuscan. For the young fellas, it can sounds crazy, but de_cpl_mil/tuscan (they are, basically the same map with different textures) were most played and loved by the community in CS 1.6 than de_cpl_strike/mirage.

[@Lolywiz]

The map is overplayed but people are still : - peeking dry mid every round with every weapon - fcking up the 3 basics smokes on A - not knowing any smoke on B - using there 2 smokes simultaneously on A at the start of the tround and spending the last 1min40 naked - STILL STEPPING LIKE SOME FCKING ELEPHANT PALACE AND APPS RUINING THE EXECUT

[@vitaminprotein2217]

This is my favorite map though

[@t3h51d3w1nd3r]

I really like the new Iris map, it feels and plays well on both sides, nice places to boost, multiple areas where Ts and CTs can meet and shoot out, corners for peeking, straights for sniping, places to hide, multiple angles to approach a site, it seems well thought out and polished. And the "please fix valve" on one of the taps/faucet is the cherry on top. Good job, BubkeZ and Oliver plus Valve for introducing so many to it.

[@RestBlossom]

How to fix the CS:GO Map Pool? 20 rotating Maps. 4 Seasons every year. 5 unique Maps every season. 1) Forces the meta to change every season and keeps the game interesting. 2) New maps/executions/gameplay to learn instead of the same old repeated stuff over and over again. 3) Allows the previous community made maps to be officially integrated into the map pool as well. Anubis/Chlorine/Mutiny/Biome/Ruby/Engage/Swamp/Abbey are some of the maps they should consider bringing back.

[@najerrys5061]

L + Ratio, this is one of my favorite maps (Aka Myrage)

[@h3iberg456]

valve sleeping on the fact that theme matters. theres 3 sand maps now, pls stop make different themes for existing maps, de_mirage_tokyosuburbs, de_dust2_neoncity

[@ThatsMySkill]

mirage is still my favorite map. its still fun for me after probably 1.5k play hours just on that map. i definitely get why people came to dislike it recently tho. its so optimized that its plays out the same every time. if i had to rank csgo maps from best to worst it would be: 1. mirage 2. vertigo 3. cache 4. overpass 5. anubis 6. dust 2 7. nuke 8. train 9. inferno (i lose every game on it) 10. ancient (i havent played it enough to judge)

[@drz2k4]

I remember playing in CAL league the first season they dropped cpl_strike and everyone hated it, now it’s blossomed into a flagship map of this game.

[@bcaz385]

The main reason why mirage pick rate fell off is bc of Astralis era where they automatically ban mirage they play mirage 5 time in 2019, 0 time in 2020 and 7 time in 2021 where they re-organise their team and get blamef + konfig in. Astralis era are so dominant that top team started move away from mirage bc they knew, they wouldn't even have a chance to pick it against Astralis, which appear in most final of 2019 and 2020 big tournament. Team were forced to drop mirage in order to learn Nuke, as almost nobody pick the map pre astralis era. Nuke become one of the most picked map as team trying to find a hole in Astralis Nuke game since 99% of the time Astralis get 1 free map. Even when the Astralis era die down, the damage they done to mirage didn't wave that much, Nuke stay at the top as the most picked map in the pool 2020, Inferno still one of the most play map since Astralis is really good on inferno, so does everyone, mirage gone down. It has gain it popularity back in 2021 since Astralis stop their domination, Navi pick Nuke and Mirage a lot, Mirage is Gambit, Heroic, and G2 best map, Liquid mirage game also on point, so does VIT and VP.

[@fakuhu178]

Late comment but I really like cache and mirage for some reason. Maybe its because they have the same type of layout (which I love). I also think that the gunfights are more fun than on inferno because inferno is so closerange all the time and people behind lots cover (ugh) and no flank opportunitys except long is kind of boring for me. Overall I'd say mirage is the magnum opus of counter strike maps because the gameplay is so balanced and varied. Its not "a" or "b" anymore but its contact plays lurks midcontrol splits and so on I just love mirage ngl

[@jeksewnoleeray1020]

This is so cap, pro players obviously have their own opinions about the game because they're playing a different game. For 99.99% of the player base this doesn't matter; mirage is the best designed, most fun, most played map in CS:GO and that won't change until they release a new, better map.

[@gamma2816]

Put it in the same separate folder as D2, then when inferno becomes the new over played one move that too, followed by Vertigo. After all over played maps have gotten removed from the current pro maps, introduce some new maps from scratch. People will then hate these new maps, because of course they will... Then slowly but surely fix them and after a few months of trying, give up and reintroduce the old maps because by then they will be missed and loved. Let people play the old maps again and while they are distracted with that you fix those aforementioned new maps in the background to be later reintroduced all fixed up and boom, all of a sudden we have double the number of interesting maps. Easy.

[@fredrikxx2867]

Again and Again i see youtube videos with stopid names, mirage is the map that is most played, Even now. Where do you get your info from? Def not from playing cs, because then you would know that deathmatch and casual is full of monkeys only wants to play mirage.

[@itallomagalhaes6621]

FPS BRUHHH, same reason why cache flopped, ancient, most people play mirage, inferno, overpass because they are fps friendly, cs:go is a bad optimized game let's face it.

[@PCGNp]

I never liked mirage cause there are people who's knows everything about it and tries so hard on gold lobby normal matchmaking. Also I queue more than 6 minutes just to skip dust, mirage and inferno. I like danger zone but it is full of cheater and newbies. Valve should have known and I guess they want to kill this game and move on with another cs project.