Mirage Map Guide
Moroccan town
The balanced three-lane map that defines modern Counter-Strike. A Moroccan town square with iconic calls like Jungle, Palace, Connector, and Van. Mirage rewards teams that win mid and execute clean A site defaults.
Mirage Radar Overview
Full de_mirage top-down map with callouts. Smoke lineups coming soon.
Mirage Layout & Bombsites
A site: Palace, Ticket Booth, Firebox, Triple Box. B site: Apartments, Van, Bench, Market. Mid: Top Mid, Connector, Catwalk.
History & Lore
Originally created as de_cpl_strike for Counter-Strike 1.6, reworked into de_mirage for CS:GO in 2013. Its near-perfect map balance made it a permanent staple of professional play from ESL One Katowice to IEM Katowice majors.
Core Tactics — CT & T Side
CT side: two A, one B, one mid rotator; contest connector with flash support. T side: fast default into mid, push connector or stack A with jungle + palace; B apartments hits punish weak anchors.
Competitive History on Mirage
Mirage has been a Major permanent fixture since DreamHack Winter 2013. fnatic's olofboost at Cache drew controversy but Mirage is where Fallen carved NAVI apart in MLG Columbus 2016. More recently, Heroic, FaZe and NAVI have all won pivotal Mirage series in the Paris and Antwerp Majors. Mirage still holds the record for most times played in Major playoffs.
Mirage CS2 Meta Notes
CS2 Mirage received subtle geometry tweaks around A ramp and mid window. Molotov spread has been rebalanced, affecting the classic jungle molly and the ticket-booth molotov that pushed T-side anchor timing. Ladder-room entry angles are now clearer in Source 2 lighting.
Mirage Economy & Buy Rounds
T side: B apartments rush is the strongest pistol round play, follow up with full-buy on round 3 regardless of round 2 outcome. CT side: AWP primary on mid, stack two A or two B based on T tendency. MP9 on CT pistol for max DPS vs rifles.
Recommended Weapons for Mirage
Mirage CS2 FAQ
What are the main callouts on Mirage?
A site: Palace, Ticket Booth, Firebox, Triple Box, Default, CT, Jungle, Connector, Catwalk, Short. B site: Apartments, Van, Bench, Market, B Short, B Long. Mid: Top Mid, Connector, Underpass.
Is Mirage CT or T sided?
Mirage is famously one of the most balanced maps in CS2 with a professional round win rate around 50/50 on CT vs T sides.
Best AWP position on Mirage?
CT: window / connector for mid control. T: mid (top mid) for early picks on jungle and connector holds.
What is the best smoke setup on Mirage A?
Execute smoke set: Jungle, CT (to block default rotate), Stairs smoke to block ticket booth, then flash over Palace for the A site entry.
When was Mirage added to CS2?
Mirage debuted in CS:GO as de_mirage in 2013 and carried over to CS2 with the global release in September 2023 after minor Source 2 visual and geometry updates.
