CS2 Maps, Callouts & Slang
Counter-Strike 2 is played on a small set of maps that players learn by heart, and every corner of them has a name. Those names, the callouts, are how a team shares information in a second: "two Banana", "one Palace, low", "AWP Mid". On top of them sits a layer of slang for roles and plays that you will hear in every Premier lobby. New players who learn both understand their team's calls long before their aim catches up.
This glossary starts with the maps themselves (the current map pool, how Premier chooses a map, the game modes), then gives the core callouts for each of the seven Active Duty maps, and ends with the most common slang. Map facts are checked against the game as of October 2026, including the official map guides Valve ships with the game.
| Map | Callouts you hear most |
|---|---|
| Mirage | Palace, Window, Connector, Jungle, Apartments |
| Dust II | Long, Cat, Xbox, Tunnels, Pit |
| Inferno | Banana, Apartments, Coffins, Pit, Library |
| Nuke | Outside, Heaven, Hell, Ramp, Secret |
| Ancient | Donut, Mid, Cave, Temple, A Main |
| Anubis | Water, Mid Doors, E-box, Heaven, Walkway |
| Cache | Forklift, Squeaky, Checkers, Sun Room, Vent |
Maps and modes
Active Duty map pool
The Active Duty group is Valve's list of seven competitive maps. It is the pool for Premier and for top-level tournaments, so these are the maps you meet in every Premier match. Since 8 July 2026 the pool is Ancient, Anubis, Cache, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage and Nuke.
Valve rotates one map at the start of a Premier season. Cache came back on 8 July 2026 and took the place of Overpass; in January 2026 Anubis returned and Train left; in July 2025 Overpass replaced Anubis; in January 2025 Train replaced Vertigo. Maps that leave the pool stay in the game: Competitive still offers Train, Vertigo and Overpass.
Premier map pick
Before a Premier match the two teams choose the map together. Since 22 September 2026 this is a pick process rather than a ban process: the first team picks one map, the second team picks two, and the first team picks one more. The game then selects one of those four maps at random and the match starts. Valve made the change so that players get more chances to play the maps they have been practicing. Until then, teams banned maps until only one was left, which is why older guides still talk about a "veto".
Game modes
The matchmaking menu offers more than ranked play:
- Premier and Competitive: 5v5 ranked play, explained in the ranks glossary.
- Wingman: 2v2 on a single bombsite with its own skill group.
- Casual and Deathmatch: unranked modes for warming up and practicing aim; Casual allows up to 20 players.
- Arms Race: a race through a fixed list of weapons, where kills move you on to the next one.
- Retakes (official mode since October 2025): every round is a 4v3 after-plant situation, with one side defending the planted bomb and the other trying to defuse it, and you pick a loadout card instead of buying.
- Rush (added 22 September 2026): a fast 3v3 mode in which teams fight through randomly chosen arenas toward the enemy castle.
Callouts
Callout basics
Every bomb map has two bombsites, A and B, plus the two spawns, T spawn and CT spawn (often just "CT"). Between them you find the same kinds of places on almost every map: Mid, the middle lane; Main, the Terrorists' main path into a site ("A Main", "B Main"); a Connector, a small room or corridor linking two areas; Long and Short, the longer and shorter routes to the same site; Heaven and Hell, a high position and the spot below it; and Default, the usual plant spot on a site.
Many of these names are built into the game as place names, and the game helps you learn them. Since March 2026 the official map guides for the Active Duty maps can be loaded in limited form during the first five rounds of each half in Competitive, and they can also be loaded in Casual. The guides label grenade spots with callouts such as Window, Connector or Banana, so they double as a callout lesson.
Mirage callouts
On the A side of Mirage, Palace is the raised entrance Terrorists use to drop onto the site, A Ramp is the main entry from T spawn, and Tetris is the stack of boxes near that entry. Defenders come from CT spawn past Ticket, the booth, or through Jungle and Connector, which link the site with Mid. In the middle, Window (Valve also calls it Sniper's Window) is the room that overlooks Mid, and Cat is the catwalk, also called Short, that leads toward A. On the B side, Terrorists come through Apartments ("Apps"), the corridor from T spawn to B, and Market is the building behind the site.
Dust II callouts
On Dust II, Long (or Long A) is the long open route to A, entered through Long Doors; Outside Long is another name Valve uses in its patch notes. Pit is a lower position at A, and Goose and Car are other A-side spots. Cat (catwalk, also called Short) is the path from Mid toward A, and Xbox is the box in Mid that gives access to it; in April 2026 Valve uncovered a jump spot on it on purpose. For B, Terrorists go through Tunnels: Upper Tunnels, Lower Tunnels and Outside Tunnel. The official guide also names Mid CT and B Doors on the defending side.
Inferno callouts
Inferno's most famous name is Banana, the lane that is the main Terrorist route to B; whoever controls it decides how much room the Terrorists have for a B attack. B site callouts include Coffins, New Box and Dark. The way to A leads through Apartments ("Apps") or through Mid, Top Mid and Second Mid. On A, players call Pit, Library, Arch and Moto. Two 2026 changes matter here: in March Valve extended the Balcony at A and closed off Graveyard, so that old callout no longer describes a playable spot.
Nuke callouts
Nuke puts its bombsites on two levels: A on the upper level and B on the lower one, so callouts include height. Terrorists start through Lobby and enter A via Hut and Squeaky. Above A sits Heaven, a high position over the site, and below it Hell. The big yard is Outside, with Garage, Silo and Mini around it, and Secret is the route from Outside toward the lower site. The lower level is reached through Ramp and the Vents, and its rooms include Decon and Control.
Ancient callouts
Ancient is one of CS2's tropical maps. Mid and Top Mid are the center, and Donut is the passage from Mid toward A. Terrorists reach A through A Main and B through B Main and Cave. Other names you hear are Temple on the A side, Red Room, Ramp and Jaguar. In Casual and Deathmatch you may also get the night version of Ancient; the official map guides work on both.
Anubis callouts
On Anubis, Water in Mid is a key callout. Mid also has Mid Doors, Bridge and the E-box, which players also call Connector. Terrorists hit A through A Main, with Heaven as the raised position at the site; other names include T Stairs, Back of B and Walkway. The January 2026 return changed several of them: the Bridge drop moved next to Mid Doors, the doors were turned around, a hole now links E-box with Back of B, and crates on A moved up onto Walkway.
Cache callouts
Cache returned in April 2026 and joined the Active Duty pool in July. Valve describes it as a classic three-lane map. Names you hear on it include A Main, B Main and Mid, Forklift (Valve's own release post jokes about clearing it), Squeaky, Checkers at the B Main entrance, Sun Room, Vent, Garage, Sandbags, Heaven, Tree, White Box and Connector. The CS2 version has been patched many times since April, so if a name from an old CS:GO guide does not match what you see, check the official map guide.
Roles and slang
Roles: entry, lurker, AWPer, IGL
Teams split jobs between players. Entry means the first kill of a round, and the entry fragger is the player whose job is to get it by going into a site first; winning it gives the team a player advantage. The lurker plays far from the team, often alone, to catch enemies rotating between sites. The AWPer uses the AWP whenever the team can afford it. The IGL (in-game leader) picks the strategies and makes the main calls during the round.
Rotate and stack
To rotate is to move to another part of the map, usually because the team has information about where the enemy is going. CTs rotate between sites when Terrorists show up at one. To stack a site means that most or all CTs wait at one site instead of spreading out, gambling that the Terrorists will come there; it is a common choice on an eco round, when the CTs need weapons from kills.
Trade
A trade is killing the enemy who has just killed your teammate. Good teams play close enough together that every death can be traded, so the exchange stays even. The opposite is baiting: letting a teammate fight alone when you could have helped.
Clutch, ace and ninja defuse
A clutch is winning a round from a disadvantage, most often as the last player alive; players call it by the numbers, as in "a 1v3". An ace is one player killing the whole enemy team in a single round. A ninja defuse is defusing the bomb without the Terrorists noticing. When the round is lost, CTs may go for exit frags, picking off Terrorists as they leave the site before the bomb explodes, instead of saving.
Peeking, prefiring and wallbangs
To peek is to come around a corner to challenge an angle. A jiggle peek is a quick strafe out and back to gather information, and a shoulder peek shows only your shoulder to bait a shot. To prefire is to shoot a common hiding spot before you see anyone there. A wallbang is a kill through a wall, door or box that bullets can pass through. When shooting, tapping means single shots, bursting short bursts of two or three, and spraying holding the trigger while controlling recoil. Who sees whom first is also a matter of netcode and peeker's advantage.
Default, execute and rush
A default is the standard, flexible setup a team takes at the start of a round, spreading out to collect information before committing. An execute is a planned attack on a site with a set sequence of smokes, flashes and Molotovs (see utility). A rush is the opposite of patience: the whole team runs at one site as fast as possible to catch defenders off guard, as in the call "rush B".
Sub-tick
Sub-tick is the system CS2 uses to record your inputs more precisely than the server's update rate. The server still simulates the world in fixed steps (see tick rate), but your client marks the exact moment between two steps when you clicked, moved or jumped, and the server uses that moment. For players it means a shot counts where your crosshair was when you fired, not where it was at the next update. Valve keeps refining it in patches, for example with subtick shooting consistency fixes in 2025 and landing times calculated with subtick precision since January 2026.
FAQ
Which maps are in the CS2 map pool?
Ancient, Anubis, Cache, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage and Nuke, since Premier Season Five began on 8 July 2026.
How do I learn callouts fast?
Load the official map guide for your map in an offline game, then focus on the ten or so names your team calls most on that map before moving on to the next one.
Related terms
- CS2 ranks, Premier rating and FACEIT levels · CS2 economy, buy rounds and weapons
- In the general gaming terms: gaming slang · minimap icons · strategy and meta
