Inferno Reclaims the Throne as the Most Popular Map at IEM Chengdu 2025

Inferno Reclaims the Throne as the Most Popular Map at IEM Chengdu 2025

Inferno has officially reclaimed its throne as the go-to battleground in top-tier Counter-Strike 2. At IEM Chengdu 2025, it was the most played map of the entire event, appearing 19 times according to HLTV’s statistics.

Inferno Dominates the Chengdu Map Pool

Tournament data shows just how far ahead Inferno pulled at IEM Chengdu 2025:

Inferno – 19 plays

Ancient – 11 plays

Nuke – 11 plays

Overpass – 10 plays

Mirage – 10 plays

Dust2 – 8 plays

Train – 7 plays

Inferno wasn’t just slightly ahead — it was the only map to surpass 15 appearances, while two of Counter-Strike’s classics, Dust2 and Train, ended up being the least played.

The event ran November 3–9 in Chengdu, China, with 16 teams competing for a $300,000 prize pool (plus another $700,000 distributed among partner organizations). In the grand final, FURIA Esports swept Team Vitality 3–0 — 13–11 Ancient, 13–10 Inferno, 13–11 Overpass — and Brazilian AWPer Danil “molodoy” Golubenko earned the MVP title for his dominant performance.

Why Teams Leaned on Inferno

Inferno has been a Counter-Strike staple since the early 2000s and made a seamless transition to CS2, benefiting from the Source 2 rework and updated visuals.

Several reasons explain its resurgence at IEM Chengdu:

Meta comfort and balance: Inferno maintains near-even win rates between T and CT sides, offering fair conditions where superior teamwork prevails over gimmicks.

Popularity in CS2: The map is consistently one of the most played and well-liked among both professionals and casual players.

Familiarity for top teams: Many elite rosters rely on Inferno as a “comfort pick,” reducing the need for constant relearning after updates.

This wasn’t an isolated event — Inferno also topped map charts at IEM Cologne 2025 (23 plays) and the Esports World Cup 2025 (10 plays), confirming its position as the most trusted map across premier tournaments. That’s a major shift compared to 2023–early 2024, when Inferno was rarely seen at events like Roobet Cup or Thunderpick World Championship.

Inferno’s Defining Moments at Chengdu

FURIA vs Falcons — Reading the Opponent

One of the standout Inferno performances came during FURIA’s semi-final against Team Falcons, where Yuri “yuurih” Santos delivered a phenomenal 2.35 rating. After the match, a Falcons player admitted, “Especially on Inferno, it felt like we were getting read.”

FURIA’s in-game leader Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo later emphasized how critical yuurih’s dominance was, calling it “one of the best Inferno performances of his career.”

Vitality’s Inferno Pick Backfires

In the grand final, Vitality chose Inferno as their map pick, hoping to regain control after losing Ancient. Instead, FURIA closed the map 13–10, effectively sealing their championship. A pivotal 4K from yuurih swung the momentum, while analysts like Janko “YNk” Paunović criticized Vitality’s veto as “overcooked,” noting that letting Ancient through gave FURIA an early advantage.

What Players and Analysts Say

Several professionals have praised Inferno’s current balance and playability:

Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy (NAVI coach) said his team feels “more comfortable on Inferno than on other maps.”

Analysts at StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 described Inferno as a “comfort map” for many top-10 teams, with a strong pick rate and consistent win percentage.

Community discussions and CS stats pages alike have noted that IEM Chengdu 2025 marked the point where Inferno became the year’s most-picked map, solidifying its return to dominance.

Chengdu’s Stats and the Evolving Map Meta

The IEM Chengdu map pool featured Ancient, Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, and Train. Despite Dust2 and Train being legendary staples of the franchise, they saw the fewest plays, while modernized maps like Inferno and Ancient dominated vetoes.

With Inferno also leading in map appearances at both IEM Cologne 2025 and the Esports World Cup 2025, it’s clear that the current CS2 meta revolves around Inferno as the premier test of utility usage, coordination, and tactical depth.

Summary

If one takeaway defines the IEM Chengdu 2025 meta, it’s this:

Inferno is the defining map of top-tier CS2 in late 2025.

From its prevalence across major events to its balanced design and tactical depth, Inferno stands at the heart of competitive Counter-Strike once again — while classics like Dust2 and Train slowly fade from the spotlight.