It has been nearly a decade since the release of CS:GO. During this time, developers and players created countless maps and made thousands of players fall in love with them. Some maps are destined to remain on unofficial servers forever and remain in entertainment mode, while others are fortunate enough to enter the pool of competitive maps where the world's best players compete in exciting matches. Notably, Cobblestone, has become a favorite of many players and has brought many incredible highlight moments to the audience. Today we will look back at Cobblestone's past and present lives and trace that long-lost memory.
Origin and development of maps
The first version of Cobblestone appeared in 2000. This map is from Dave Johnston (UK), author of the Dust series of maps. Since the release of CS, developers have been mulling the idea of creating a large map with medieval overtones, and later, they saw the light of day in de_cstle (castle). However, this map did not end up in the official map pool. According to Johnston himself, he did not take into account the competitive nature of the game, so the map could not be listed. After experiencing de_cstle failure, Johnston immediately set out to work on Cobblestone, the first of which was released in Counter-Strike BETA 6.5.
Cobblestone与CS 1.6
This version of the map was used until the release of Counter-Strike: Source (CS Origin), and after the release of CS Origin, the map was only updated with the texture of the new shooting engine, and many other details remained unchanged. Until the official release of CS:GO, Cobblestone finally ushered in a major update.
Cobblestone in CSGO was officially released on December 18, 2013. In the renovation of de_cbble, which Valve took charge of, the author completely changed points A and B and redesigned their basic structures.
Lord William's Castle
Historical information about the Cobblestone prototype has long been scarce. According to official descriptions, the castle is located in France and belongs to Lord William. As was well known after the release of Operation Blood Hunt in 2015, the territory of the Kasbah has been bombed for years by terrorists led by Chace Turner.
The defense of the castle was provided by the elite unit of the French army - GIGN (French National Gendarmerie Intervention Group). On the side of the terrorists on the kasbah, fighters of the Phoenix Force are fighting, and the main representatives of them are many immigrants from Eastern Europe. It is because of their origins that shouts such as "Yo maio, I need help" are heard from time to time in the castle.
Kasbah Area B
Kasbah Area A
According to the plot, Chase Turner, who led the Phoenix Force after the death of his former leader, made Lord William, one of the most powerful supporters of the Coalition, a personal target and made it a mission to destroy his opponent at all costs. According to the official description, the terrorists will successfully reach the target and destroy it, at which point Cobblestone will be in ruins ... And becomes the de_cstle map (which exists in CS 1.6 and CS Origins) - on the ruins of the ruined Cobblestone Castle, Lord William's estate was built from scratch.
Change of the official map pool of the competition
Cobblestone was officially added to the official Competitive CS:GO map pool a few months after the redo was released, and the first event to open the castle was ESL One Cologne in 2014. The map was selected six times in that competition, and the main audience for the new map was Swedes from NIP, who won major victories in their history in that tournament. GeT_RiGhT's team selected Cobblestone in all of the knockout rounds and maintained a 100% win rate at the time, including the finals against rival Fnatic.
NIP - ESL One Cologne 2014 Champion
For more than three years, the castle never left the official competitive map pool. Ten consecutive Major events were held at de_cbble, the last of which was the 2018 Boston ELeague Major. Five of the ten World Championships have selected castles in the Finals. It is worth mentioning that in the history of major competitions, the teams selected and won on the de_cbble have basically won the championship and won the cup in the end. There is only one case – the 2017 PGL Clough Major. In the finals, the Brazilian from The Immersives lost two maps in a row to concede the title after cobblestone beat Gambit Esports 16:4, and after the match, Zeus said the legendary, love declaration: ": olofmeister I love you!" ”
We can't find exact statistics on the popularity of the castle in the professional arena, but if you take a quick look at the races of the Major in those years, you will find that almost every two races will pick the castle. The map shows a wealth of tactical diversity and is one of the rare well-balanced maps in which both sides have no apparent advantage. None of this, however, ultimately persuaded Valve to keep Cobblestone in the official competitive map pool. In 2018, Castle Battle was removed from the Competitive Map Pool and replaced with a new version of Dust2. The album also caused an uproar at the time, and the community was in an uproar — players and players were unhappy with Valve's decision to replace the castle with Dust2, but the developers still ignored it.
Map characteristics
Cobblestone is unique among similar maps. Its main difference is its size: neither before nor after de_cbble, there are no maps of this large in the official map pool. Its special terrain proportions allow the commanders of each team to formulate many complex battle strategies, pretending to attack and deceive, and changing hundreds of them. In addition, there are hardly any air walls in the castle, and players can use smoke bombs throughout the map, further expanding the tactical potential of the map. All in all, Cobblestone is extremely appealing to players and viewers who love tactical extensions.
Not only did the huge map affect the spread of tactical strategy, but the sheer size of Cobblestone also significantly increased the importance of snipers in the team. In the absence of a good sniper, it is very difficult to play effectively on the castle. With the rise in sniper levels in recent years, it will be interesting to see the game at Cobblestone in 2022. But the reality is that history does not allow a subjunctive tone. Therefore, you and I can only trace the glory and memories that have gone away from the highlight films and shadows that have been left over many years ago.
The best highlight moments at Cobblestone
1.olofmeister vs Natus Win(1V4 ACE)
When it comes to the castle, I believe that many players first think of this clip. That moment took place in ESL One Katowice in 2015, when Fnatic's "golden" line-up, which won multiple Major titles, met Status Vincere in the group stage. In the months leading up to the Polish Championship, Valve drastically weakened the CZ75-Auto, significantly increasing the popularity of the then-more cost-effective Tec-9. The beauty of this pistol was well reflected in olofmeister, who single-handedly defeated the NaVi army with only one Tec-9.
2.Snax vs Natus Win(1v4)
A year and a half later, at ESL One New York in 2016, Natus Vincere was once again the backdrop for one of Cobblestone's most legendary highlights. Same B-point, same pistol bureau, same 4v1 situation. Yes, this time the opponent is not olofmeister, but Snax, and he is not the attacking side, but the CT of the back defense. But the end result is the same...
3.friberg vs cloud9 (Extreme Time Stealing Bandits)
As mentioned earlier, cobblestone's first Major event to appear in the official map pool was ESL One Cologne in 2014. It was there that future champion Friberg staged a wonderful endgame for us. In an unconventional break at the A-Pack Point, the Swedish player told the world about the importance of a careful search. That map played a decisive role in the entire BO3 of NIP vs. Cloud9, and in the end NIP beat Cloud9 by a score of 16:14, and no one knew what the outcome would have been without friberg.
4.kennyS and Team SoloMid (12-shot flash sniper)
This is a game where the protagonist is not the winner, but the loser is one of the highlights. In the IEM Gamescom 2015 showdown, Team Envy played against Team SoloMid. When the star sniper KennyS was caught in a 1v2 situation, the Frenchman confidently looked back and pulled out and finished the game with the last man in an instant. And the eldest cousin Karrigan's USP back 12 shots, is still a player's favorite mistake operation, a mistake into thousands of years of hate, the classic will live on forever.
5.s1mple vs Renegades (Lancers 1v5)
So didn't the infamous s1mple leave something on this map? The answer is no. At the 2017 DreamHack Malmö Masters, Natus Vincere faced Renegades from Australia. The Australians joined forces to defend, and in an instant the NAVI four were wiped out, but a more serious task awaited them - s1mple. As you might have guessed, the Australian mission failed, and s1mple caught a 1v5 super highlight.
There are still many breathtaking highlights on this map, and I will only enumerate one or two for readers to enjoy.
The current state of the castle
As of early 2022, Cobblestone is rightfully considered... Sent. In 2018, after the end of the Boston ELeague Major, the Castle was officially removed from the Competitive Map Pool and sent for redo.
Usually in this case, the map disappears for a few years, however, players do not wait long. In October 2018, Valve relaunched a new version of Cobblestone during halloween events, and this time, V-Club put an end to the map once and for all. According to the professional players and many media in the community, the developers can not play this picture at all, which greatly weakens the CT side. Predictably, the map's popularity in official matches dropped significantly, so in March 2019, Valve moved it off to the fallback list and removed it from the official map pool.
Despite numerous requests from players to return the old version or remake the new version, Cobblestone has not been taken seriously for the past three and a half years. And now people go to the city sky, flying wu cluster. The castle is like yesterday, the sound of gunfire is still there, but it is like a world away. It lay quietly in the past, like a gravel falling into the sea, and there was no longer a single wave.