Counter-Strike 2 has shaken up the game’s two core ranked modes, Premier and Competitive, with each offering its progression system that should keep the most competitive players sated for a long time.
If you’ve been out of the loop for a while and don’t know the difference between Premier and Competitive, or if you want a refresher on the changes made for CS2, we’ve got you covered.
How Premier works in CS2
Premier CS2 map selection, explained
Premier uses a map veto-and-pick system that allows both sides to vote on the map they want to play. During that process, the first team bans two maps from the seven in the active duty map pool. Then, the second team chooses three maps to ban. The first team selects the final map to ban, leaving the last remaining map as the one to be played. Then, the second team decides which side to start on, CT or T.
Votes on which maps to ban are determined by each member of a team casting their separate votes for the maps they want to ban. The maps with the most ban votes at the end of a voting phase are the ones that are banned.
What maps are in Premier Mode in CS2?
CS2 Map Pool in Premier Mode are as follows:
- Ancient
- Anubis
- Mirage
- Inferno
- Nuke
- Overpass
- Vertigo
Premier CS2 rank and rating, explained.
Instead of a skill group rank like Competitive, Premier now features a new metric called CS Rating. CS Rating gives you a number that effectively represents your Elo or rank rating, designating how you stack up against friends, players in your region, and players worldwide.
CS Rating will reset with each Premier season, featuring a global leaderboard. As of the morning of Sept. 28, less than 24 hours after CS2 officially launched, less than 100 players worldwide have a CS Rating of 15,000 or higher.
How long does it take to unlock Premier in CS2?
In CS2 Premier mode, you must first play 10 matches to receive a Premier mode rank. You update your Premier mode rank rating in Counter-Strike 2 with every completed match.
How Competitive works in CS2
Competitive CS2 map selection, explained
Competitive in CS2 is very much the same as how it worked in CS:GO. When queuing for Competitive, you and your party members will select the map or maps you want to play on and will only queue for matches against players who are also queueing for one of those maps.
Competitive CS2 rank and rating, explained
The most significant difference in CS2 compared to CS: GO is how the Competitive skill groups work now. Instead of one catch-all skill group for Competitive, you have a skill group rating for each specific map. Only your skill group for the map you play on will be affected after a game, but players now have a new mountain to climb to reach Global Elite across all nine eligible maps.
