Valve has officially set a finish line for Counter-Strike 2’s competitive ladder: Premier Season 3 ends on January 19, 2026. Alongside the date, the developer also clarified what players must do to lock in their Season 3 medal, making the final stretch of the season feel as much about checklists as it is about clutch rounds.
But the bigger line for many teams is what happens immediately after. On the same day Season 4 begins, Train leaves the Active Duty/Premier pool and Anubis takes its place, a swap that tournament organizers are already aligning around.
Valve’s January 19 deadline: what’s confirmed
Valve has confirmed that CS2 Premier Season 3 concludes on January 19, 2026, and that Season 4 starts the same day. The announcement has been widely reposted and discussed, including via a reposted quote on Reddit that links back to Counter-Strike’s official X account.
Multiple news roundups and explainers echo the same core message: the end date is fixed, and the transition into Season 4 is immediate rather than leaving a long gap between seasons. In practical terms, January 19 is both the end of Season 3’s ranking race and the beginning of the new ruleset and map environment.
Several outlets also frame the update as a combined “season + map pool” patch moment: Premier’s seasonal reset cadence is being used as the natural point to refresh Active Duty maps, with Train removed and Anubis returning.
Medal requirements: 25 wins and a visible CSR
Valve also outlined the requirements for earning the Premier Season 3 medal. Players must secure 25 Premier wins during Season 3, and they must have a visible CSR (Counter-Strike Rating) at the time the season concludes.
The “visible CSR” detail matters because it signals that simply playing Premier isn’t enough if your rating isn’t displayed for any reason. As repeated in community recaps, the medal is tied to both performance (wins) and having an active, visible rating state.
With the season ending on January 19, the takeaway is straightforward: if you’re close to 25 wins, the remaining calendar is your buffer. Leaving those wins until the last week increases the risk of running out of time, especially if you also need to ensure your CSR is visible before the cutoff.
Season 4’s line change: Train out, Anubis in
For Season 4, Valve is swapping maps in the Premier/Active Duty pool: Train is removed and Anubis is added. This specific Train → Anubis replacement is consistently cited across reports, including Dot Esports’ explainer and additional coverage summarizing the seven-map Season 4 pool.
Anubis returning is notable because it marks the end of its time away from the top-tier pool, reported as roughly six months out in at least one explainer. The reintroduction means teams that deprioritized Anubis will need to rebuild their playbooks quickly.
Meanwhile, Train’s removal has strategic consequences of its own. Any roster that leaned on Train as a comfort pick loses a reliable option overnight, and map veto priorities will change immediately once Season 4 goes live on January 19.
How the pro scene is syncing: ESL and BLAST timelines
ESL has confirmed it will switch its tournament map pool on January 19, 2026 to match Valve’s Active Duty/Premier change, adopting the same Train → Anubis update. That alignment reduces the usual friction where pro events sometimes lag behind matchmaking changes.
BLAST, however, is moving even faster in at least one case. Coverage notes BLAST will use Anubis starting January 13, 2026 for BLAST Bounty, meaning some top-level matches will feature Anubis before Valve’s Premier Season 4 officially begins.
The net effect is a staggered on-ramp: teams may need Anubis-ready protocols for tournament play as early as January 13, even though many everyday Premier grinders won’t see the official Season 4 swap until January 19.
What the Train → Anubis swap changes for everyday Premier play
Map pool changes reshape more than just strategies, they affect how players climb. When Anubis enters Premier, you can expect a temporary spike in uncertainty: weaker defaults, shakier rotations, and more experimental utility as the player base reacclimates.
At the same time, Train specialists will be forced to diversify. Removing a map can lower the value of narrow expertise and raise the value of adaptable fundamentals, communication, mid-round calling, and transferable utility habits.
Because the change lands exactly at the season transition, it also influences early Season 4 ranking volatility. Players who are prepared for Anubis (lineups, role assignments, and basic mid-round plans) may gain an edge during the first weeks of the new season.
Timing, momentum, and why Season 3 is being framed as a full “run”
Some summaries describe Premier Season 3 as a roughly 186-day run, reflecting a longer, clearly bounded competitive window. That framing reinforces why the January 19 cutoff is being treated as a meaningful “end of chapter,” not just a routine patch day.
In practice, a defined season length influences behavior: players time their grinds, teams schedule practice blocks, and content creators build guides and tier lists around stable conditions. A hard end date makes the final weeks feel like a closing sprint.
With Valve pairing the season end with a marquee map swap, the momentum is likely to carry straight into Season 4 discussions, what the new seven-map pool favors, which roles rise in importance, and which teams adapt fastest.
Premier Season 3 ending on January 19, 2026 is more than a calendar note: it’s the point when medals lock, rankings transition, and the game’s most important competitive map pool shifts. If you want the Season 3 medal, the path is clear, 25 wins and a visible CSR before the deadline.
And if you’re looking a, Season 4’s Train → Anubis swap is the real strategic reset. With ESL matching Valve’s switch on January 19 and BLAST introducing Anubis as early as January 13 for BLAST Bounty, the competitive ecosystem is already preparing for a new set of defaults, veto priorities, and winning formulas.