What is Ancient?

CS:GO’s most recent addition to the map pool has also been one of it’s most controversial. With many viewing it as a modern take on de_aztec, Ancient CSGO Map boasts an exciting spin on 5v5 with a familiar green setting. So read on fellow gamers for this beginner's guide to the Ancient CSGO Map.

Recently Train was removed from the active duty map pool in CS:GO leaving long time veterans in the same boat as the newbies. So, what else to do apart from take a look right? Many players are initially intimidated by the brand new Ancient CSGO Map, whilst it undoubtedly is a stunningly beautiful map, with it’s all new high-resolution assets and textures, its clipping leaves a lot to be desired. In all fairness though, with the map still being new, let’s just take it as an early teething problem and hope that Valve will fix it in one of their constant tweaks that we should expect to see to this map in the near future. 

Ancient CSGO Map Overview

Let’s start by taking a look at the layout of the Ancient CSGO Map. Just like your typical defusal map in CS:GO it has 3 main areas; A Site, B Site & Middle. Where this map differs from your typical 3 lane arena is with its seemingly contrasting bombsites and awkward angles and bending corridors in-between. 

The Middle part of this map, especially towards top Mid and Tomb reminded me a lot of Cache’s Middle & Highway area. It played rather differently though, with a lot more focus being placed on Tomb in the Ancient CSGO Map, in comparison Highway seems to get slightly less attention on Cache.

So, what is it with the angles that have so many spooked on this map? Well, for example we will take a look at tunnels. CT’s as previously stated gain a huge a mount of map control before the T’s, meaning they can afford to play aggressively and may well catch you off guard if you’re not careful. They’re able to make it to Tunnels at the same time as the terrorists, meaning that if you push awkwardly with your knife out, you may just end up regretting it.

There is a way to counter this though and that is utility! When playing on T side make sure that you opt into buying, HE Grenades and Molotov’s when playing T Side ancient.

Another area of interest would be Cat. It’s also easy to forget that CT’s can very well push you from Sunroom and end up catching you by surprise if you’re the CAT player. (We go over this one in the video below, so make sure you give it a watch to find out more!) The obvious solution to this one would be keep an eye out but in reality, it forces you to either stay hyper alert to more than one angle or using some utility early to keep any wandering CT’s from pushing.

Another area of interest for both sides on the Ancient CSGO Map has to be Tomb. With it being crucial to taking full mid control and also being a huge factor in whether the T’s decide to take A Site or rotate, let’s just say it’s kind of a big deal. CT’s will want to think wisely when holding Tomb as if they play too passively and fall back to A Site, the T’s then gain a huge advantage and could leave you guessing to what they’re about to do next. We think it’s best to have 1 player in Tomb ready to assist the CT mid player in keeping the T’s out of Middle.

Jump Throw Bind

A lot of the smokes demonstrated in this beginner's guide to Ancient CSGO Map video made use of a jump throw bind, but before we tell you how to do it, for those who are new to CS we will briefly talk about just what it is.

A jump throw bind is a button that you press when you have lined a grenade (Such as a smoke grenade.) up for a throw. When pressing this button, the bind makes it so that when you reach the height of your jump you release the grenade automatically. This helps a lot in keeping consistency for your grenade throws as it’s extremely hard to do without the help of a bind, and a lot of grenade throws in CS:GO are delicate and can be rendered useless just by your crosshair being slightly to the left or right.

That being said, you should always have a jump throw bind when playing competitive. The way to make this bind work is by going into CS:GO and opening the developer console by pressing ‘`’ (The key that is located next to the 1 key on your keyboard.) Once the developer console has opened, just simply paste the following command in:

alias "+jumpthrow" "+jump;-attack"; alias "-jumpthrow" "-jump"; bind X "+jumpthrow"

The default button will be set to the left Alt key on your keyboard but you can chose whatever key feels comfortable to use.

A Site

When taking a look at the top of A Site on the new Ancient CSGO Map, many things become clear, CT’s have the initial advantage as it’s right next to CT Spawn. This means CT’s have the chance to position themselves further up the site in Tunnels to try and kill any pushing T’s. If we look again however, we will notice that Tomb (Which connects Mid to A Site.) is also fairly large and the site provides little to no cover from an aggressive push from Tomb. The site itself is vast and open with few places to hide, this means it can be difficult to play if you lose mid control early as you will have to worry about a potential A split, meaning that you now have to keep Tunnels and Tomb in mind. To avoid having so many angles to worry about, we recommend focusing on Mid control and always have a player posted in tombs.

If that is not possible however, have a player hold Temple and watch tombs from there as it keeps the player out of the reach of and T’s pushing from Tunnels and they will only have to focus on one area, keep in mind though if you don’t have vision on Tomb any CT player that is holding Triple is vulnerable to being pushed.

Another point to make about A is just how vulnerable planters and defusers are, now depending at one point in the round you’re at, this is either your advantage or your enemies. If you’re on CT side, make sure you apply pressure to the Terrorists and make them second guessing going for the plant, or hold an off angle and swing out on them as you hear them try to secure the plant.

If you’re on T Side the opposite applies for you. You will want to make sure that you check the entirety of site before making yourself vulnerable and planting. If you’re by yourself this can be difficult but remember A site is vast, open and doesn’t have many hiding spots. The exception to this being the Temple area. Once you have the plant down, the ball is now in your court as you have many choices for an after plant position and unless the CT’s have a number advantage on you, it’s going to be difficult for them to defuse without at least getting traded.

B Site

B Site is the opposite to A. Instead of being open with few places to check, it’s quite claustrophobic and has a real close quarters feel to it. This makes it play out quite differently to A and also allows for SMGs to be fully utilized. On B Site CT’s are vulnerable to being smoked off if they don’t position themselves correctly. Also if T’s do smoke an angle off, they’re unlikely to check and it will be more focused on the remaining angles (The one that you’re most likely holding.) To combat this, try to have a player hold Sunroom and if they’re feeling up to it then sometimes have them push it to try and catch the T’s at Middle or if they push Double doors. Losing control of Sunroom will be devastating to the Counter Terrorists and will ensure an easy take for the T’s. You could also combat a B take by getting aggressive early and utilizing Molotov’s and flash grenades.

Simply throw a Molotov down ramp to prevent a push from double doors and that also allows you to get further down ramp than usual. Also you could pair this with a push from Sunroom to create a crossfire with your teammate. If all else fails though and you’re forced to give up control of the site, fear not as the rear of the site also known as alley, is still a formidable position to play and if not dealt with quickly you can really punish the T’s from this position.

After a site take, the T’s most likely will be low on utility as well, meaning they will be less equipped to deal with a CT who is holding Alley, if you can try and get some info on where they have positioned themselves and wait for any team mates to join you for a push from either side.

If you’re on T Side, B Site can be intimidating, but you don’t have to worry about getting picked off by an AWP as much as you do over on A. You have the advantage if you correctly use your utility. Learn the correct smokes and flashes and even Molly positions and you will push the CT’s off site easily.

If you’re interested in learning some useful smoke spots, we showcase some in our video guide. Once you have smoked off alley for example, get a player to take control of Sunroom, this could be your mid player falling back into Cat or you could do a B Split from Ramp and Sunroom, make sure that you flash out for them before they peak, forcing the CT’s to fall even further back.

Like previously mentioned though, just because you have pushed them off site, doesn’t mean they can’t be a threat to you. If you’re fortunate enough to have any utility left at this point then use it wisely to eliminate any CT’s lurking in Alley, if not though make sure you hold a good angle and don’t let them push up to far.

Middle

Img Text: Middle on Ancient CSGO Map

Middle is different to most maps on Ancient. It is huge, extremely wide and has a lot of areas that you need to worry about. Also with CT’s being able to push up so far before T’s make it there it can be difficult to be the Mid player on T Side. You will definitely need to learn some essential mid smokes, in the video we showcase how to smoke off Top Mid from Spawn, Cat & Connector. That’s not all though we show how you can smoke off Tomb and Jungle as well. If you’re serious about taking Mid control early on, get one player to smoke off tomb, whilst another smokes Top Mid, make sure you flash yourself out just in case any CT’s have pushed early and you will only have to worry about a player holding Jungle.

Once you have Mid control as a Terrorist you have a huge advantage as now you have left the CT’s split down the middle. If they try to rotate to either site they risk being cut off by you at top mid. It’s also easy to do an A Take once you have gained mid control as you can push Tomb.

On the CT Side as previously mentioned, it is important to have 2 players on Mid. The most effective way to do this is having a top mid and a Tomb player. If you get smoked off though your best chances are utilize some utility off your own. Learn how to play Middle aggressively on CT side as if you fail to do this, the T’s will surely punish you for it.

Conclusion

So, what do you think of the Ancient CSGO Map? Do you miss Aztec? Which one do you prefer? Let us know in the comments or head over to our YouTube channel and let us know there, where you can enjoy a full 10 minute guide on this amazing Ancient CSGO Map. If you're interested in more guides in this style from us please let us know! Or perhaps even go check out one of our many elite ranges of Gaming PC's below or click Here!