IEM Chengdu 2025 Power Rankings: Are Vitality back on top for good?

IEM Chengdu 2025 is just around the corner, the next worldwide journey in the seemingly never-ending Counter-Strike calendar. While PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 is still ongoing, the calendar waits for no one. Over the last few weeks, many of the best CS2 teams have opted out of some of the smaller events on the circuit, instead opting to fly to China for IEM Chengdu 2025. Who will win? Our Power Rankings of all 16 teams are below!

Vitality back on top, but will their break have helped?

Vitality have crept their way back to the top of the food chain in the second season of 2025, culminating in their recent ESL Pro League Season 22 victory. The undisputed Kings of the first half of the year, they’ve taken their time to get back to their best, and they looked great last time out. But by the time IEM Chengdu 2025 gets underway, Vitality will have enjoyed a three-week break off the server that could both help and hinder the team.

For me, Vitality are top of the IEM Chengdu Power Rankings. But it’s impossible to ignore the possibility that this short period of inactivity in the ever-packed Counter-Strike calendar could harm their momentum. Alternatively, they could come with tons of fresh ideas to the table, in which case, I’d expect Vitality to win IEM Chengdu 2025 pretty handily. When in top form, they’re the best Counter-Strike team in the world, no contest.

The MongolZ suffer reduced expectations following Senzu benching

Following The MongolZ’s out-of-the-blue Senzu benching, they are operating under highly reduced expectations at IEM Chengdu 2025. In Senzu’s place, The MongolZ will be using Chinggis Warriors’ controlez, who hasn’t exactly set the Counter-Strike world alight at any level.

I’m not here to speculate on why The MongolZ would bench their best player so suddenly, but it’s impossible to deny that it brings them down several pegs in the CS2 pecking order overnight. I don’t expect to see much from The MongolZ at IEM Chengdu 2025, but I’ll be watching with a morbid curiosity regardless.

Potential IEM Chengdu 2025 underdogs

Coming into IEM Chengdu 2025, there are some obvious favorites. All the big names, you know them. But what about underdogs? What teams could make a splash in Chengdu and possibly make the miracle run? Let’s have a look.

First, I want to highlight G2. After their win at BLAST Open London, they haven’t done much worthy of discussion. Treading water, almost. Stagnating. But they’re a good team, filled with some really good individuals. And because they didn’t attend any of the Thunderpick World Championship, CS Asia Championships, or PGL Masters Bucharest, G2 have also enjoyed a period of inactivity. If this break is beneficial, hopefully we’ll get to see a leveled-up G2 at IEM Chengdu 2025.

I’m also curious to see what paiN Gaming can bring to the table. Their inconsistency is their worst enemy, terrible at their worst, inevitable at their best. It’s for this reason I can’t place them any higher than 11th, here – I fully expect to see those struggles rear their head at IEM Chengdu. But if they can manage to find some true consistency, who knows what could happen?