Premier Season Four has begun in Counter-Strike 2, and the kickoff comes with a line-worthy map rotation: Anubis is back on Active Duty while Train has been removed. The update’s Premier section is unusually quote-friendly, “Premier Season Four has begun / Added Anubis to the Active Duty map pool / Removed Train from the Active Duty map pool”, and it sets the tone for what this season is about: refreshing the top-end competitive experience without reinventing it.
Beyond the map swap, the same patch bundles meaningful Competitive rank adjustments, weapon economy nudges, and a movement/jump mechanics update that targets how the game feels at a micro level. The result is a season opener that touches nearly every layer of play, from veto strategy to mid-round gun choices to the timing of a jump.
Season Four’s Official Start: What the Patch Actually Says
Valve’s patch notes plainly confirm the new season’s start with the direct statement that “Premier Season Four has begun.” That line has been echoed across summarized release-notes coverage as the formal marker that the ladder has moved on and Season 4 is now the live Premier context.
The Premier section also delivers the biggest structural change in one breath: “Added Anubis to the Active Duty map pool” and “Removed Train from the Active Duty map pool.” The simplicity matters, this is not a limited-time experiment, but a definitive rotation for the flagship map pool.
Even the way the update is organized reinforces the scope. Coverage of the Jan 21, 2026 patch structure highlights how the notes are grouped into clearly labeled blocks, commonly referenced as [PREMIER], [COMPETITIVE], and [GAMEPLAY], which mirrors how players will feel the changes: season rules and maps, ranking and matchmaking, and core mechanics.
Anubis In, Train Out: The Active Duty Rotation Explained
The marquee storyline is the trade: Anubis returns to Active Duty in place of Train, as reported in news coverage dated Jan 21, 2026. It’s a clean swap that immediately changes veto dynamics, default protocols, and how teams structure their map pools, especially for squads that leaned on Train as a comfort pick.
Context matters because Anubis had been away. Reports describe a “six-month absence” before rejoining Active Duty for Season 4, so its reintroduction lands as both a comeback and a re-test: the map returns not as a nostalgia pick, but as a modern CS2 battleground expected to hold up under Premier pressure.
Not everyone’s wishlist was granted. Community and press reaction frequently frames Valve’s choice as a rotation that “denies players’ Cache requests,” underscoring how map discourse has become part of the seasonal ritual. Even if players disagree on the selection, the practical reality is that Season 4’s competitive identity will be shaped by learning Anubis (again) more than debating what might have been.
The Premier Season 4 Active Duty Map Pool (Full List)
With the rotation locked in, Season 4’s Active Duty pool is widely listed as: Ancient, Anubis, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, and Overpass. That lineup preserves much of the established ecosystem while injecting Anubis as the key variable in preparation and strategy.
From a team-building standpoint, the pool mixes old reliables (Mirage and Inferno), high-structure tactical maps (Nuke and Overpass), and more brawl-friendly options (Dust II) alongside the newer strategic flavor of Ancient and the returning Anubis. The consequence is that “comfort map” coverage remains possible, but shallow pools are punished faster because opponents can steer series into less-practiced territory.
For solo-queue and smaller stacks, the pool also affects how players specialize. Season 4 encourages flexibility: if you were a Train-first player, you can’t simply replace it with a near-equivalent; you have to adopt Anubis’s rhythms, especially its mid control and its distinctive approach to rotations and information gathering.
Anubis Returns With Layout Changes You’ll Feel Immediately
Anubis doesn’t re-enter Active Duty unchanged. Reports list specific layout updates that alter key timings and sightlines, including Mid doors being reversed. Small on paper, that sort of tweak can reshape how early-round mid contests unfold, where defenders can safely peek, and how attackers sell pressure.
Another notable change cited is a new hole between Connector and the back of B. New connections like this tend to have outsized strategic impact: they open fresh spam angles, enable quicker support utility, and create new “information leaks” where a single sound cue or shadow can reveal presence.
Coverage also points to A-site changes, which typically matter most in late rounds, where plant positions, post-plant lines, and retake routes decide whether you can actually convert entry picks into round wins. If you played the previous Anubis heavily, expect muscle memory moments where a once-safe angle is now punishable, or a once-impossible post-plant is now viable.
Competitive Ranking Changes: Per-Map Values Adjusted and Skill Groups Expired
The Season 4 kickoff isn’t only about Premier. The same update ships a Competitive change that adjusts per-map competitive matchmaking rank values. That implies Valve is tuning how performance and outcomes on each map translate into ranking progression, likely to better reflect map difficulty, population distribution, or volatility.
More disruptive for many players is the administrative reset described in coverage: existing per-map skill groups have expired until players earn enough wins. In practice, that means your historical per-map badge is no longer the live signal; you’ll have to re-establish it through results in the new season environment.
This kind of expiration can feel harsh, but it also creates a short window where matchmaking may be less predictable as the system re-collects data. If you care about stability, expect a brief recalibration period, and consider focusing on a smaller set of maps early to rebuild reliable per-map placement faster.
Economy and Weapon Tweaks: MP7/MP5-SD Buffs and Cheaper Options
Season openers often sneak in economy nudges, and this one does. The MP7 and MP5-SD received slight damage increases, reduced damage fall-off, and a price reduction of $100. Those are subtle levers, but together they encourage more frequent SMG buys in specific force and anti-eco scenarios.
In the same update, the PP-Bizon also drops by $100. While it’s historically niche, price changes can make a weapon appear more often in coordinated buy strategies, especially for teams optimizing utility budgets or trying to hit specific money thresholds without fully committing to rifles.
These tweaks won’t rewrite the meta overnight, but they do change the margins. A small buff plus a small discount can be the difference between “never worth it” and “worth considering,” particularly on maps like Anubis where close-range fights and rapid rotations can reward SMG mobility and rate-of-fire.
Movement and Jumping Updates: Subtick Landing, Stamina Changes, and Bunnyhop Timing
The [GAMEPLAY] side of the patch brings changes that many players will feel instantly. Landing time now uses subtick precision, a detail that aims to make movement outcomes more consistent and better aligned with CS2’s underlying timing model.
Additionally, jumping and landing no longer affect stamina, and the bunnyhop timing window has changed. Together, these updates can alter how “sticky” movement feels, how quickly you can chain actions after a drop, and how forgiving (or punishing) repeated jumps are in real engagements.
Importantly for community servers and custom practice, legacy behavior isn’t completely gone. A quote-ready detail from the update thread notes: “Legacy jump behavior can be restored on private servers with sv_legacy_jump.” That gives organizers, trainers, and movement-focused communities a way to preserve a familiar feel when desired, even as official matchmaking moves forward.
Season Timing, Medals, and What Players Expect From a New Cycle
The Season 4 start also lands against clear expectations built in the prior cycle. Pre-Season-4 reporting indicated that Season 3 was scheduled to conclude on January 19, 2026, with the widely anticipated outcome: Train out, Anubis in, for the new season rotation.
Medals and end-of-season goals shape how people approach the ladder, and Season 3 requirements were widely reported as needing 25 wins plus a visible CS Rating (CSR) at season end. Even when the exact season details evolve, the principle remains: players want clarity on what counts, how much they must play, and what “finishing” a season actually means.
That’s why the blunt messaging, “Premier Season Four has begun”, matters. It’s not just an announcement; it’s a signal that the clock has restarted on progression, map mastery, and the social status tied to rank and seasonal achievement.
Premier Season Four kicks off with a focused set of changes: the Active Duty swap that puts Anubis back in the spotlight, Competitive ranking adjustments that effectively reset parts of the per-map identity, and mechanical refinements that target movement consistency. The patch’s most repeatable line, “Premier Season Four has begun / Added Anubis… / Removed Train…”, captures the moment: a new season defined by a new battleground.
Whether you’re a structured team refining veto plans or a solo-queue player trying to stabilize results, the immediate priorities are clear. Relearn Anubis with its updated geometry, anticipate short-term rank turbulence as per-map values and expirations settle, and pay attention to how the movement and SMG tweaks change the margins of fights. Season 4 isn’t a reinvention, but it’s a recalibration that will reward players who adapt early.