Ancient in CS2: Valve's official smoke lineups and map history

Valve’s official map guide for Ancient covers smokes for Top Mid, Donut, Left Side, Right Side, Ramp and CT. Each entry gives a spot to stand, a point to aim at and the type of throw. This guide lists them as Valve describes them and adds the map’s update history from Valve’s posts, up to the Aug. 14, 2025 update.

Official smoke lineups for Ancient

For every lineup, Valve’s guide describes where to stand, what to aim at and which throw to use. All of them except the Ramp Smoke are marked as a left click jump throw. The Ramp Smoke is a plain left click throw.

Top Mid and Donut smokes

Valve’s guide groups the Top Mid Smoke and the Donut Smoke under one title, “Top Mid and Donut Smokes.” Both start from the same standing spot: flush with the back of the wall. For Top Mid, place the crosshair at the center of the dark brick. The Donut Smoke aims at the top of the first triangle.

Left and Right Side smokes

The Left Side Smoke and the Right Side Smoke also share one standing spot. Valve’s guide says to push into the corner. For the Left Side Smoke, aim at the upper left of the brick. The aim point for the Right Side Smoke is the left side middle of the brick.

Ramp Smoke

The Ramp Smoke is the one lineup in the guide without a jump. Stand flush with the edge of the corner, aim at the top of the branch and left click to throw.

Second Donut Smoke and CT Smoke

The guide lists a second Donut Smoke with a different standing spot and aim point. Push into the center of the diamonds, aim at the right side middle of one diamond and jump throw.

The CT Smoke starts by pushing into a corner. Aim at the upper left of the dark square and jump throw.

Ancient update history

Dec. 3, 2020: Ancient arrives with Operation Broken Fang

Valve’s release notes for Dec. 3, 2020 introduced Operation Broken Fang. In the maps section, Valve wrote that Ancient, Engage and Apollo were added to the Scrimmage, Casual and Deathmatch game modes.

May 3, 2021: Ancient joins the Active Duty Group

When Operation Broken Fang ended on May 3, 2021, Valve changed the Active Duty Map Pool. In its announcement, Valve wrote:

“Train is leaving the station, and Ancient is taking its place with a revamped A Site and minor changes to B site.”

The release notes for the same day say Ancient was added to the Active Duty Group, the competition map pool at the time, and Train was removed from it. Valve listed these Ancient changes:

• New route from CT spawn to A site
• Widened T entrance to left side of mid
• Opened up skylight in T tunnel to A site
• Extended plantable bomb zone in B site
• Opened up ledge in A site
• Various minor bugfixes

August 2023: Casual, Deathmatch and Competitive

Valve’s release notes for Aug. 2, 2023 added Ancient to the Deathmatch and Casual game modes. The same notes added Anubis to Deathmatch, Casual and Competitive, and removed Overpass and Vertigo.

On Aug. 7, 2023, Valve’s notes added Ancient to Competitive mode and removed Anubis from it. They also list various lighting adjustments on Ancient and missing collision detection added to some debris.

Nov. 6, 2024: CS2 map fixes

The Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) update of Nov. 6, 2024 listed these changes to Ancient:

• Reworked collision on the staircase to A-main for better player movement
• Removed a tree that was creating a distracting shadow at A site
• Adjusted collision to better match visible geometry so that players can hug the walls more closely
• Fixed a few lighting bugs
• Reduced shadows to increase performance in some areas
• Fixed some spots in the house where players could get stuck
• Fixed a collision gap at the bottom of B ramp
• Fixed some disappearing mesh

Aug. 14, 2025: visual upgrade and night version

In its Aug. 14, 2025 post, titled “Tonight’s Forecast: Rain-cient,” Valve wrote that Ancient and Shoots had received visual upgrades and nighttime versions. The post begins: “It’s a brand new day (and night) in CS2’s tropical maps.”

According to the update notes, Valve refreshed all ancient materials to use the latest CS2 shaders. They also list new blending options for those materials, including wetness and moss, and a map for mapmakers with all assets and blending examples.

FAQ

When did Ancient join the Active Duty Group?

Valve’s release notes for May 3, 2021 say Ancient was added to the Active Duty Group, replacing Train. The map had come to Scrimmage, Casual and Deathmatch with Operation Broken Fang on Dec. 3, 2020.

Which Ancient smoke is thrown without a jump?

In Valve’s guide, the Ramp Smoke is a left click throw. All the other lineups are marked as left click jump throws.

Is there a night version of Ancient?

Yes. Valve added nighttime versions of Ancient and Shoots on Aug. 14, 2025. Valve wrote in that post that the night version of Ancient is only available in Casual and Deathmatch.

When was Ancient added to Competitive mode?

Valve’s release notes for Aug. 7, 2023 list Ancient as added to Competitive mode, along with lighting adjustments and added collision detection on some debris.

What changed on Ancient when it joined the Active Duty Group?

Valve’s notes for May 3, 2021 list a new route from CT spawn to A site and a widened T entrance to the left side of mid. They also list an opened skylight in the T tunnel to A site, an extended plantable bomb zone in B site, an opened ledge in A site and various minor bugfixes.