Grail wins Mapcore 'Big Adventures' contest

Mapcore's Big Adventures Mapping Contest has reached its final conclusion after 267 maps were widdled down to just one. Grail, created by Bartlomiej "Lizard" Guzek, Radu Tanasie, and Florian "flowlee" Wagner, has claimed the lion's share of the $15,000 prize pool: $7500.

Grail is a bomb defusal map built in an over-the-top stylized mini golf course that looks more like a theme park than somewhere where you'd play putt putt. In the winners' announcement video, Mapcore judges panel member James Bardolph hailed Grail as "a fantastic example of what can be done in Counter-Strike 2."

Finishing second is the luxurious ski resort Alpine, winning $4500. In third is Palacio, a hilltop castle palace, winning $2000. In fourth place, taking the final $1000 from the prize pool, is Stronghold, a fortified castle in Gibraltar.

All 10 maps that reached the final stage are still playable on the Mapcore playlist on FACEIT, and can also each be downloaded individually from the Steam workshop. While unlikely, one of these maps could follow the same trajectory as Anubis, a current Active Duty map that was once the winner of a 2019 Mapcore contest.