"Map veto in CS2, defined"

The map veto is the alternating ban-and-pick sequence teams run before a series to decide which maps are played.

In a best-of-three, each team bans a map, each picks one, further bans follow, and the map left over becomes the decider. Because teams ban what they fear and pick what they practise, the veto is a public statement of preparation — often the most informative pre-match signal available.

Veto data is unusually useful precisely because it is revealed before the match. A team repeatedly banning the same map is telling you where its comfort ends. And the decider is, by construction, the map neither side chose.

Order matters too: banning first surrenders information but shapes the pool.

See the CS2 map veto meta for the most-banned and most-picked maps across professional play.