ESL to introduce Ancient into map pool for IEM Summer

The new map will feature in all ESL Pro Tour events starting next month.

Ancient will be introduced into the map pool for all ESL Pro Tour events starting with IEM Summer, ESL has announced. The decision was made following discussions between the tournament organiser, the ESL Pro League player council, and the Counter-Strike Professional Players' Association (CSPPA).

Ancient was added to the Active Duty map pool on May 3 as a replacement for Train in what was the first change to the pool since Vertigo replaced Cache in March 2019. Valve then clarified that the new map would not feature in the current round of Regional Major Ranking (RMR) events, which offer points towards qualifying for the PGL Stockholm Major.

IEM Summer will be the first ESL Pro Tour event to feature the new map

IEM Summer is set to run from June 3-13, with $250,000 on offer. It will feature six of the top ten teams in the world rankings, as well as 11 teams inside the top 20.

Earlier on Wednesday, ESL announced a collaborative effort with BLAST to create a "unified approach to the governance of scheduling tournament dates, rulebook alignment and integrity policies." It remains to be seen whether these aligned policies will see Ancient introduced during the BLAST Premier Spring Final, the culmination of BLAST's tournament circuit for the first half of the year, with the event taking place right after IEM Summer, from June 15-20.