Recently all the major leagues CS:GO leagues (including ESL, DreamHack, ESWC, etc.) changed their tournament map pools to align with Valve's match making system. The RaidCall EMS One Fall 2013 Finals are just around the corner and will represent the first time that the new CS:GO mappools will be used in an international pro tournament settings on ESL. Yet not all teams are happy with the recent changes. A common mappool: Why would you do that? Historically tournament organizers have always had free reign over which maps they used in their tournament map pools. Due to the fact that there are many different versions of the same maps in circulation this meant teams would need to adjust to all manner of similar but slightly different maps as they competed across different tournaments.



This recently led the major tournament providers such as ESL, ESWC and Dreamhack to decide on one standardized map pool to used in all tournaments and leagues. This mappool consists of the standard matchmaking maps as well as two additional custom maps; de_season and de_cache. Goal:



Have one standard mappool in all tournaments that every CS:GO player knows



The initial announcement from 29th of September was: As a part of our collaboration between several organisations to unify the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competition we have agreed on a mappool update. We would also like to announce that several other organisation who are not officially part of the collaboration have joined this agreement about the mappool.



The full announcement



Not everyone is happy Yet not everyone is happy with the changes, with several teams having spoken up to voice their concern about the new map pool. The main point of grievance is the changed de_mirage_ce map, which was picked up and modified by Valve and included in the match making rotation.



Most vocal critics are Team VeryGames, reigning RaidCall EMS One champion,





VeryGames starting the discussion - (c) by Philipp Saedler/ESL - Find more on the ESL Flickr Account

Where do we go from here? Valve have already confirmed that they will continue working on the maps. This means that all major leagues and tournaments are able to provide faster and more regularly updated content without the need for long discussions. What do you think: Should pro tournaments use different maps from the regular match making rotation or has this been a good step towards making CS:GO eSports more accessible? Historically tournament organizers have always had free reign over which maps they used in their tournament map pools. Due to the fact that there are many different versions of the same maps in circulation this meant teams would need to adjust to all manner of similar but slightly different maps as they competed across different tournaments.This recently led the major tournament providers such as ESL, ESWC and Dreamhack to decide on one standardized map pool to used in all tournaments and leagues. This mappool consists of the standard matchmaking maps as well as two additional custom maps; de_season and de_cache. Goal:Havemappool intournaments thatCS:GO player knowsYet not everyone is happy with the changes, with several teams having spoken up to voice their concern about the new map pool. The main point of grievance is the changed de_mirage_ce map, which was picked up and modified by Valve and included in the match making rotation.Most vocal critics are Team VeryGames, reigning RaidCall EMS One champion, who spoke against the changes made by Valve and the tournament organizers . CPH Wolves were also quite vocal in backing up the French team's statement. Both teams agree that de_mirage_ce is the more competitive map and would therefore want to see this map (as well as a few other changes) in competitive play "as fast as possible". Yet with only a few days remaining before the RaidCall EMS One Fall 2013 Finals and ESWC taking place the following week, it is questionable whether Valve or the leagues will be able to agree on a solution in time.Valve have already confirmed that they will continue working on the maps. This means that all major leagues and tournaments are able to provide faster and more regularly updated content without the need for long discussions. What do you think: Should pro tournaments use different maps from the regular match making rotation or has this been a good step towards making CS:GO eSports more accessible? Soodi , Thursday, 24/10/13 17:45