EWC 2025 CS2 Power Rankings: Spirit’s swan song starts on top

The EWC 2025 CS2 tournament gets underway in two days, bringing competitive Counter-Strike back to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the second consecutive year. We’re already two Tier 1 tournaments deep into the season following the player break, and Spirit have emerged as the top dogs at the events so far, winning IEM Cologne and BLAST Bounty back to back.

The single-elimination format of the EWC 2025 CS2 event throws the potential for upsets into contention – but who are the favorites to top the charts at the CS2 Esports World Cup? Our Power Rankings are as follows:

Spirit are officially the team to beat

One event win could be written off as a fluke, but two is undeniable. Spirit are officially the team to beat at the CS2 EWC 2025, usurping Vitality as top dogs. The latter’s glaring weaknesses coming into the second half of the year have left them looking slightly below pace, with donk leading the way for Spirit as they tear through the competition.

There is a catch, though. It’s no secret that the EWC 2025 CS2 event will be zont1x’s last in a Spirit jersey, a move that I think could be flying too close to the sun given their recent uptick in form. They’ll be looking to send off their young anchor with a trophy win, but will it affect their performance in what is a brutal single-elimination format? Perhaps.

For Spirit, just one question remains: can they beat Vitality? During their last two events, they’ve managed to dodge last season’s champions of everything. They’re top of my EWC 2025 Power Rankings, but I’m fascinated to see how a matchup between these two teams would look in current form.

Don’t write off The MongolZ

BLAST Bounty may have been a missed opportunity for a trophy for The MongolZ, but you get the sense they’re teetering on the edge of glory. They’ll cross the finish line eventually, and why not the Esports World Cup 2025? After beating Vitality, we saw a glimpse of what this team are capable of when all parts of the team are working as intended.

While I may have them in 4th in my EWC 2025 CS2 Power Rankings, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make it all the way to the Grand Final again. On their side of the bracket, the toughest team they’ll face could be Vitality, and we all know how that clash went down at BLAST Bounty.

Potential EWC 2025 CS2 underdogs

Looking at the teams for the CS2 Esports World Cup 2025, it’s pure quality from top to bottom. Even 3DMAX at 16th feels harsh, but it’s a testament to the quality at this event that it feels as though anyone really can beat anyone. So, who are the underdogs ready to cause shockwaves at the CS2 EWC 2025?

I’m not totally ready to write off G2. They have some really solid pieces, and they even managed to take a map from Spirit at BLAST Bounty. If they can find that extra 10% across the board, G2 could be a real menace for teams to face at the Esports World Cup 2025.

Call me crazy, but I just can’t lose faith in Astralis. Any team with these pieces should be much better than they are, and I’m convinced that with HooXi at the helm, they’ll find the right path forward. Perhaps the CS2 EWC 2025 is a little too early to have all the answers in place, but I expect to see a much better showing than we saw from the team at BLAST Bounty.