Anubis Updated – Everything You Need To Know

It’s official – the map named after a god has just got even more holey (sorry). With the new Counter-Strike 2 Season Four update, the game has received a few changes, none more important than those made to Anubis.

The map has recently come back into the competitive map pool rotation, and has historically been the focal point of a lot of criticism. As the most T-sided map in the pool, I’m sure most of you will have experienced the sinking feeling of you CT side never getting started, and the sense that getting anything done on your defensive side is mostly impossible.

Valve have taken this feedback on board and, ostensibly, looked to make Anubis a more equal experience. Today, we’re going to take a look at the changes, how they affect the game, and how you can use them to benefit yourself in your matches.

A New Mid Hole

First off, let’s take a look at Mid. There have been a couple of significant changes made to this portion of the map, designed to make defending Mid and controlling the map much easier for the CTs.

The most noticeable of these changes is that the hole in the wall of Bridge has been moved from the centre of Mid to just outside Mid Doors. This means that the CTs no longer need to fight a sustained war of attrition to gain control of Drop – now the impetus is on the Ts to control that space with either a smoke, or by taking that area of map control away from the defending side.

This new hole gives CTs a myriad of defensive options. They can take control of the long angle, holding Stairs. They can throw utility, stopping an E-Box rush and controlling Water more efficiently than before. They can also flash teammates into Mid if the retake situation calls for it, without having to double commit to Mid as an entry point for the A site. All these and more will be covered in an updated Utility Secrets article on the new Anubis, coming soon.

Mid Doors Changed

At first, this might seem like a relatively small change, but the effect it has will favor the CTs significantly. Mid doors have had their orientation reversed, resulting in a much easier defensive holding position. It is now much harder for Ts to take total control of Mid, with the old version of the doors essentially denying all information. Now, a CT can play close to doors and take active angles, rather than either forcing themselves to overcommit or hiding in a one-and-done angle behind the leftmost door.

E-Box Gains A Hole

Another hole! This time, a hole has been added inside E-box, allowing for an exchange of nades between E-box and the back of the B site. Whilst, on paper, this seems like a fairly balanced change, this will ultimately benefit the CTs more often than the Ts.

Keeping control of E-box for as long as possible is one of the most important tasks in a lot of Anubis CT setups. It is also one of the trickiest tasks if the T’s gameplan is specifically to take control of the space. Now, the ability to have utility support from a second B player is huge for keeping control of the area, or for retaking the space later in the round.

A-Site Crates And Scaffolding

A site has become slightly easier to retake. Cue the sigh of relief from B and Mid players throughout the world. The crates on Anubis’ A site – which were previously at ground level, on the site itself – have been moved up to the Walkway. This means there is now a slightly higher chance of surviving a strafe-jump through the inevitable Camera smoke, and an option for more comprehensive cover when attempting to defend or retake the site.

This change also has the dual benefit of giving the T-side players less cover on the site, so they have fewer options to rat and catch a retaking CT offguard.

Finally, a small amount of scaffolding has been placed on the A site, neutralizing the angle from Heaven to Camera and vice versa. All in all, retaking the A site from Camera specifically has never seemed easier. It’ll be interesting to see how these changes play out at the top level of the game, but until then, keep up the grind!