CS2 has been out for a while now, having been released on September 27th, 2023. Since then, we’ve already witnessed tight competitions in the upper echelons of play from the best CS2 teams. However, it makes it all the more refreshing to see that, instead of a dominant team monopolising the entire scene, there are multiple teams taking turns to claim titles.
Teams like NAVI, MOUZ, Spirit, Vitality, G2, FaZe, and Liquid are filled with a lineup of superhumans who boast the power to flip the outcome of a game within a few rounds, and it becomes super interesting to examine which roster of five has shone the most so far. Taking into consideration recent form, number of titles to their name, and their rankings in CS2, I have compiled a list of the top 5 best teams in CS2 so far.
5. The MongolZ
Although there’s a clear gap between 5th and 4th place on this list, The MongolZ deservedly make the top five best CS2 teams for their consistent deep runs throughout 2025 so far. They haven’t yet managed to get over the line and win a Tier 1 tournament as they may have hoped coming into the year, and that will be a point of disappointment for them.
Their best result so far this year is a top-four finish at IEM Katowice 2025, and you could go as far as to argue that The MongolZ have staked their claim as the best Asian Counter-Strike team of all time. Still, it’s not hard to feel like this team still has plenty of room to grow, and there’s certainly no need to make roster changes given the low average age on the lineup.
4. Team Spirit
After a roaring 2024 culminating in glory at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, this year has been a little more muted for Team Spirit. They’re still comfortably among the best CS2 teams, sure, but they’ve often struggled when coming up against the teams above them on this list, while consistently beating everyone lower than them in the rankings. Essentially, they’re hard-stuck, with even donk’s immense quality not enough to bail them out. Team Spirit feel a little like a one-man team at the moment.
2025 started so well for Team Spirit, too. They won their first event of the year at BLAST Bounty Season 1, but it proved to be a false dawn, with not a single trophy to speak of since. Could Team Spirit’s roster need a refresh to compete in the second half of 2025? Perhaps.
3. MOUZ
Always the bridesmaid, and never the bride. MOUZ took the shocking step of removing in-game leader siuhy at the start of the year, a decision which looked like borderline insanity. However, their gamble to make Brollan IGL has paid off in spades, with the team winning their first event together at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025.
Since that trophy win, MOUZ have had several second-place finishes, which is enough to land them in 3rd place in our list of the best CS2 teams. To go even further, they just need to get over the line in a few more Finals, but I have no doubt they can do that if they just find an extra 5% on the server. Their days as “stage chokers” seem to be behind them, and they’ve only really been beaten by teams that were simply better than them on the day.
2. Falcons
After completing the blockbuster signing of m0NESY earlier than expected, Falcons have gained an enormous amount of momentum as we prepare to head into the second half of 2025. The reunion between m0NESY and NiKo has been an immediate hit, with them appearing in the Grand Final of every event they’ve appeared in since.
The only problem is the fact that they’ve lost these Grand Finals to the best CS2 team on this list (more on them soon). Just prior to m0NESY’s arrival, Falcons did win PGL Bucharest 2025, but it’s hard to properly judge that due to the lower level of competition at that event. It’s easy to see that the team are so, so close to being the best CS2 team in the world right now, if only for one unstoppable juggernaut.
1. Vitality
There can be no doubt about the fact that we’re in a Vitality era right now. At the time of writing, the team have won their last five trophies in a row, starting at IEM Katowice and culminating at the recent BLAST Rivals Spring 2025. They even managed to pick up an ESL Grand Slam along the way. On top of it all, they’ve amassed a win streak that currently stands at 25 – the second-longest in Counter-Strike history behind only the legendary NIP lineup at the start of CS:GO.
Vitality are comfortably the most dominant team in the modern era of Counter-Strike, a run spearheaded by the greatness of ZywOo, who stakes his claim to be known as the greatest Counter-Strike player to ever touch the game every time he steps onto the server. Right now, they seem like an absolute guarantee to win the BLAST.tv Austin Major, and it would be an enormous surprise if they didn’t manage to get it over the line.
Can the best CS2 teams stay on top?
While these five teams have asserted themselves as the best CS2 teams in the game right now, the upcoming season could bring significant changes. Vitality are the finest example of how quickly a team can rise to prominence amongst the very best. With roster shuffles after the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 imminent, it will be interesting to see if these five powerhouses continue to rule the scene, or if new challengers will emerge to cause turmoil.
