In May 2021, Ancient was confirmed to officially enter the CS:GO competitive map pool. Since then, it has been enough time for the big teams to know almost all the details of this map and make the most of their tactics. Though this scenario is one of the most used lately, in many games there is a feeling that the defensive side is the big beneficiary.
We look at the latest statistics from csgo stats website to find out whether it is really a CT-side map and, if so, what can be improved with this. All our conclusions are listed below.
Odds of Winning as CT in Ancient
To analyze closer statistics, let us take the data for the last three months, in which the teams have been able to prepare all possible tactics in Ancient. As it turned out, the victory percentage as CT in Ancient provides 58.2%, two points more than the famous CT-sided map. Obviously, it results in the lowest win rate for the terrorist side, which is 52.4%.
Victory Percentage of a Pistol Round
With 55.7%, Ancient is the map most likely to win a pistol round as a CT, which can give you a slight advantage at the beginning. Conversely, the offensive side see a 44.7% pistol round win rate on this location, which once again means its favor from the CT side.
4vs5 and 5vs4 Win Rate
Another detail to keep in mind is that if the defensive side makes the first kill, Ancient is the map that most assures you to win that round with 75.9%. However, what is more interesting is that this scenario also allows CTs to win the round with 32.6% in case of losing the first player. Therefore, it has the best percentage in terms of both superiority and inferiority.
Match Winning According to the First Side
Let’s also see the odds of winning the match according to the first side. To determine whether it is more advantageous to start CT or TT, you can see an interesting data from the last three months featured at the HLTV website:
- Scoring at least 10 rounds in the first half gives more than a 50% win rate for the CTs.
- The probability of winning the match drops to 37% if the defensive side scores only 9 rounds before the change of side.
- The winning percentage is reduced to 10% for the team getting only six rounds as anti-terrorists.
- Scoring between 13 and 15 rounds on the first CT side increases the probability of winning the match to 93%.
- Recovering a 4-11 score for Ts has been possible on two occasions in the last three months.
Why is Ancient so Unbalanced?
The plant locations have potentially dangerous layouts, which require the terrorists a lot of utility and depend heavily on winning the duels. To this is added some very exposed bombsites, such as a B point, which has only one totem to cover. Thus, it is difficult for Ts to enter the sites and defend themselves with the planted bomb. Also, they should dominate other areas such as the medium one to control a site, which separates an offensive team a lot causing a clear disadvantage.
What Can be Done for Improvement?
Firsty, the improvement could be related to creating more effective space for the terrorists. By this we mean giving the Ts a little more space in the cave to prevent them from being damaged from wallbangs. For example, the damage would be reduced through scaffolding at B site. In addition, it would connect A lobby with the corridor, feeding directly onto the bombsite (the “donut” room). Another option would be a cave window towards the T mid that allows the terrorists to observe the medium area and prevent rapid rotations.
Our Verdict
Whether Ancient is considered unbalanced or not, statistics confirm that it is the map with the greatest advantage for the CT of the current CS:GO map pool. However, this can change with new ideas implemented on the terrorist side or some modifications launched by Valve. For the time being, we will have to wait and enjoy a scenario favoring the CTs.
Despite the imbalance, this map leaves good performances, entering matches that are decided by the side in the final rounds. Moreover, Ancient is a map that favors the underdog team since it depends heavily on the defensive side, which is why it is usually seen as the decisive map.