CS2 Cache Guide (2026): Callouts, Mid Control, A and B Hits

Cache is the newest map in the Active Duty pool and one of the oldest in Counter-Strike's history. Created by FMPONE, Volcano and penE, it left CS:GO's pool in 2019; Valve released its own rebuilt version in Counter-Strike 2 on 28 April 2026 and promoted it to Active Duty on 8 July 2026, when Premier Season 5 began and Overpass left the pool. This guide covers what Valve changed and when, the callouts the game uses, why mid control decides Cache, default A and B hits with the smokes described in words, CT setups and the mistakes that cost rounds on it.

The return of Cache: every dated change

Valve's post called Cache "a classic three lane map that rewards strategy and teamplay" and added it to four modes at once. The map then got a run of fixes before and after it joined Active Duty. Here is the timeline from Valve's notes as the press reported them:

1. March 2026

   Valve buys the rights to Cache from FMPONE (reported by Dust2.in).

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2. 28 April 2026

   “The Return Of Cache”: added to Competitive, Casual, Deathmatch and Retakes — “a classic three lane map that rewards strategy and teamplay”.

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3. 14 May 2026

   Holes patched, surface types corrected, grating on some windows to block bullets, player and grenade clipping adjusted.

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4. 8 July 2026

   Added to the Active Duty pool for Premier Season 5 (Overpass out); “various clipping adjustments”.

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5. 22 September 2026

   Rush Hour: “Some gap fixes and clipping adjustments around the blue doors in Mid.”

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Two other changes from the same period affect every map, Cache included. On 8 July 2026 Valve also "re-designed effective range and extent of C4 explosion damage on all official defusal-mode maps", so post-plant positions that were safe on the old Cache may not be now. And since the 22 September 2026 Rush Hour update each Premier team picks two maps and one of four is drawn — you can't ban Cache any more.

What's different on Valve's Cache

The layout is the one CS:GO players remember: A at one end, B at the other, a long mid between them. Valve's version swapped the green, overgrown look for a cleaner, more neutral industrial style and made small geometry changes that matter in a fight. Refrag's walkthrough of the map on 29 April 2026 lists the ones worth knowing:

These are April 2026 observations. The 14 May fix added grating to some windows so they block bullets, so test any wallbang through glass before you rely on it.

Cache callouts

csdb.gg reads Cache's place names from the game files: 43 official callouts plus 24 community names. The official ones are what your radar shows under each teammate, so use them in calls; the community names are still everywhere in pro casts. Solid tags are the game's names, outlined tags are the players':

The names that trip new players up are Z (the community name for Connector), NBK (the pocket between Squeaky and Quad, which the game simply calls Corner) and Elektro (the Electrical Box area the CTs come through to reach A). Heaven on Cache is the CT platform over B, while the CT Heaven on Anubis is over A — a classic mix-up for players who switch maps in one evening.

Mid control: why Cache is played through the middle

On Cache the outside lanes are long and predictable: A Main and B Main are the obvious ways in, and CTs know exactly where to look. Mid changes that. A Terrorist who owns mid can go up Highway to arrive on A from the CT side, drop through Vents to reach B via Checkers, or push Connector to cut off the CT rotation entirely. That's why both teams spend their first utility here.

The rebuilt T-side mid wall matters here: part of it is glass now, which made some wallbangs into mid more effective in April. Valve's Rush Hour notes on 22 September 2026 also fixed gaps and clipping around the blue doors in mid, so lineups thrown around those doors before then may land differently today.

T side: the default A hit

A is entered from A Main and Squeaky, with the CTs arriving from Truck (Elektro) and Highway. csdb.gg describes A utility by target: smoke Highway and Truck, molotov Quad. In order (the timing is BoostPirate's advice):

1. Gather in Main and Squeaky0:30–0:40

   Three in A Main, one in Squeaky, one in mid watching Highway. Quiet until the smokes go.

2. Highway and Truck smokes≈ 0:45

   Highway cuts the mid rotation, Truck cuts the CT spawn rotation. Now A is played against whoever is already on it.

3. Burn Quad, flash the site+1 s

   The molotov forces the Quad player out; a flash over the top of Main blinds Forklift and the back of the site.

4. Main and Squeaky enter together+2 s

   Clear Forklift, then Corner (NBK) from Squeaky. The Shroud self-boost from launch is gone, so don't plan on it.

5. Plant and play the lanesafter the kills

   Watch the two smokes as they fade — the retake arrives from exactly those spots.

T side: the default B hit

B is raised above B Main and watched from Heaven, which csdb.gg calls the strongest defensive angle on B. A B hit therefore starts with a Heaven smoke. Our default:

• Heaven smoke — without it, every player who walks up B Main is seen from above.
• CT-side smoke — block the rotation from Hell and Tree Room so the site can't be retaken mid-hit.
• Sun Room window — use it for utility on to the site while the main group waits in B Halls.
• Checkers wave — a player through Vents and Checkers arrives from a second angle as B Main commits.
• Clear the left side — since April a pipe blocks the old self-boost on B's left, and a player there is hidden from B Main.

B hits are slower than A because of the climb on to the site, which makes the second wave through Checkers the difference between a trade and a lost round.

CT setups

As on every map, there are only starting points. These three are BoostPirate's, not a published meta — the numbers are players per area:

Retakes on Cache

A retakes come from Truck and Highway; B retakes come from Heaven, Hell and the CT side. The Terrorists' smokes from the hit are usually still up, so wait for them to fade or clear one with an HE grenade (it opens a smoke for a few seconds) and go together. Remember the Season 5 C4 rework: shockwave damage now expands from the bomb and is shaped by the map, so a corner that saved you from the blast on the old Cache may not now. More on this in our planned retakes guide.

Common Cache mistakes

How to practise Cache

Valve added Cache with Retakes mode, which is a good warm-up for the post-plant side of the map. For executes, start a practice server (map de_cache), turn on the trajectory preview with sv_grenade_trajectory_prac_pipreview 1 and re-throw with sv_rethrow_last_grenade — all in our practice commands guide. Learn the Highway, Truck, Heaven and White Box smokes first; the smokes guide explains why some old lineups no longer cover the gap they used to. For the rest of the pool, see the Anubis, Nuke and Dust II guides, and the map pool guide for how the Premier draw works.