ESL Announces Major Map Pool Update: New Challenges Await at IEM Dallas and Beyond Starting May 27!

ESL has revealed that beginning May 27, its competitions, including the ESL Pro Tour, ESL Impact, and ESEA League, will adopt the newly updated Active Duty map pool. This update aligns with the start of IEM Dallas, marking the first major tournament to feature Dust2 instead of Overpass, following Valve's recent adjustments to the Active Duty map rotation.

Prior to IEM Dallas, the BetBoom Dacha Belgrade tournament will occur, featuring prominent teams like Spirit and MOUZ. This event, boasting a prize pool of $500,000, will also incorporate the new map pool, as confirmed by the organizers to HLTV.

Additionally, the Impact League's Season 5 Finals, which begin on May 31, will take place concurrently with IEM Dallas and will use the same updated map pool.

Despite previous statements from an ESL representative that a mid-ESL Pro League map pool update was not under consideration, the timing for the introduction of these changes remained uncertain until now. The change will officially take place following the conclusion of an ongoing competition in Malta, which ends on May 12.