Ancient is the newest map to hit the active-duty pool. This spiritual successor to de_aztec was created by Valve in 2020 and introduced to competitive in mid-2021. Ancient is a very big map made mostly of corridors. The most open spaces on the map are actually the bomb sites themselves. Ancient is also by far the most one-sided competitive map, with CT’s being overwhelmingly favored.
The most common default on Ancient has T’s stacking the area at the bottom of Mid and outside Jaguar, or the T side of B. The B site is the more frequently attacked of the two, as the T’s can clear out tons of angles with Molotovs. A full smoke execute is required, since there is no true safe plant on the site. If the attackers manage to get the bomb down, playing post-plant from Cave or Ramp is very powerful.
The other main area of contention on Ancient is Mid. Both teams have the option to throw utility from spawn in order to create space for early control. Some examples include the CT’s smoking off Elbow or the T’s Molotoving Cubby. Getting control of Mid allows for pressure, rotations, and even flanks.
The A site is much more difficult to push than B, as the only ways in for T’s are two narrow corridors. Main is a difficult walkout, as CT’s have cover from Box, Temple, and can be boosted up close. Most of the time, attackers must split between Main and Donut to try and flush out the many positions CT’s could play. CT’s will often play just one to two players on A and opt to play for retakes. Since they have the option of Temple, CT Spawn, or a Donut flank, retakes are fairly consistent.