CS2 Premier Season 4 Is Here: New Map Pool, Fresh Skins & Movement Changes
Premier Season 4 is officially here, and as usual, Valve started the new season with some nice changes.
We're talking about a new map pool, some fresh skins, weekly drops updates, some small meta changes, and a pretty big movement rework.
The main update landed on January 22nd, but we already had a quick hotfix following on January 23rd to clean up a few issues.
But let's go through everything that changed.
Map Pool Changes: Anubis In, Train Out
The big news for competitive players: Anubis is back in the Active Duty map pool, replacing the worst map in CS2: Train.
So the current lineup is now: Ancient, Anubis, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, and Overpass. And no, Cache still isn't here unfortunately.
But Anubis didn't come back the same. Valve made some layout changes:
- Bridge drop moved near Mid Doors
- Mid doors orientation reversed
- New hole added between E-box and Back of B
- Bombsite A crates moved up onto Walkway
- Scaffolding added to pillar on Bombsite A
Some players are happy with the changes, others not so much.
The new E-box hole especially is getting mixed reactions since it makes it easier to molly the back of B from dark. But we have yet to see how it plays out in actual matches.
The hotfix (of 23) already addressed some clipping issues and updated the radar to match the new layout, so at least Valve is on top of the quick fixes.
SMG Buffs
Valve decided to give some love to the SMGs too:
MP7 and MP5-SD:
- Slightly increased damage
- Slightly reduced damage fall-off
- Price reduced by $100 (now $1,400)
PP-Bizon:
- Price reduced by $100
At $1,400, the MP7 might actually be worth considering now. Whether this changes the meta or not, here too, we'll have to wait and see.
Movement Changes
This one's big for the movement community. Valve reworked how jumping works:
- Landing time now calculated with subtick precision
- Jumping and landing no longer affect stamina
- Landing speed penalty is now a simpler function of landing time
- Bunnyhops should register more consistently within the timing window
The next day's hotfix also added that vertical velocity affects landing penalties similar to the old system.
Basically, bunnyhopping should feel less random now. KZ and surf players have been asking for this for a while, so it's good to see Valve addressing it.
If you want the old behavior, private servers can use sv_legacy_jump.
New Skin Collections
Two new collections were added to the Weekly Care Package drops:
Harlequin Collection – Colorful stuff with purples), pinks, and vibrant designs. 19 new skins if you like flashy loadouts.
Achroma Collection – The opposite vibe. Clean black and white designs with marble and silver looks. Great for minimalist setups.
Four collections got removed from drops: Safehouse, Dust 2, 2018 Nuke, and 2018 Inferno. These are now trade-only, so prices might go up.
Armory Addition: The AK-47 | Aphrodite is the new limited edition item. It costs 125 stars though, making it the most expensive Armory item we've seen in CS2. It's a pearlescent skin that looks different depending on the pattern seed, so some versions are already being hunted as "Pink Gem" or "Gold Gem" variants.
Audio Improvements
Some audio changes are in the mix too:
- Reduced audio output latency
- Better knife draw and inspect sounds
- Weapon/knife/utility sounds don't overlap anymore when switching fast
- Knife impacts now sound different based on attack type
- Ambient sounds don't restart when moving between map zones
Small stuff, but it adds up.
Visual Upgrades
Fifteen base weapons got a visual glow-up: AK-47, AUG, AWP, Berettas, Deagle, Galil, MAC-10, MP7, P250, TEC-9, USP-S, Bizon, CZ75A, FAMAS, and MP9.
Basically, Valve improved how the materials on these guns look. The metal actually looks like metal now, reflections are better, surfaces have more detail.
It's not a huge deal if you're running skins on everything, but if you ever use the default weapons, they should look noticeably cleaner up close.
Community Map Rotation
Valve shuffled the community map pool a bit:
Out: Golden, Palacio, Agency, and Rooftop got removed from all game modes.
In: Warden, Stronghold, and Alpine are now available in Competitive, Casual, and Deathmatch. Wingman players get Sanctum and Poseidon.
Agency getting cut hurts a little, that map was a hostage mode favorite for years and was only added to CS2 a few months ago. Feels like it barely had time to breathe before getting axed.
But the new additions look good too, and it's always nice to have some fresh maps to explore instead of the same rotations.
Ranking Reset
As expected with a new season, all per-map Skill Groups have expired. You'll need to grind out wins again to display your ranks. Same deal with Premier ratings getting recalibrated.
Expect some messy matchmaking for the first week or so while everyone settles back in.
Bug Fixes
A bunch of smaller fixes came through:
- Map Guides now work in online casual and retakes
- Fixed some surf ramp collision issues
- Fixed Butterfly Knife animation problems
- Fixed missing blood decals
- Various server stability improvements
The January 23rd hotfix also reversed some accidental VAC bans that hit a few players, so if you got hit by that, you should be good now.
Engine Update
Valve also updated to the latest version of Source 2. No details on what exactly changed, but engine improvements are always welcome.
What's Next?
Season 4 should run until around late June or early July, probably ending after the Cologne Major.
That's a good chunk of time to get used to the new Anubis and figure out if the movement changes actually make bhopping feel better.
Cache is still nowhere to be found despite Valve owning the rights now, so maybe next season? We'll see.
