Every team that has won a Tier 1 CS2 event in 2025

Since January, a total of 20 Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) events have formed the 2025 Tier 1 scene, where the FPS title’s best players showcase their skills. 

CS2 Tier 1 tournaments are held by the world’s biggest organisers and often take place in sold-out arenas across the globe. Alongside huge venues, Tier 1 events attract the biggest esports organisations in the world, competing for the lion’s share of massive prize pools and Valve Regional Standings points that determine which teams compete at a Valve-sanctioned Major.

Esports Insider takes fans on a trip down memory lane and looks at the teams that have won a CS2 Tier 1 event in 2025, starting with BLAST Bounty Season 1.

Disclaimer: This article will be regularly updated when a Tier 1 event concludes. Originally published August 22nd 2025.

After winning the Perfect World Shanghai Major in late 2024, Team Spirit headed into 2025 as one of the world’s best teams. Having defeated Fnatic and FlyQuest during the closed qualifiers, the esports organisation continued its momentum on LAN, sweeping aside HEROIC and NAVI to book its place in the first Grand Final of the year. 

Despite Eternal Fire taking the opening map in the Grand Final, Team Spirit showed its class to take the series 3-1 along with $288,125 (~£213,725) in prize money. The victory would cement Team Spirit as one of Counter-Strike’s top teams, with Danil ‘Donk’ Kryshkovets leading the charge.

Team Vitality lifted the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 trophy to cement its place among the world’s best. IEM Katowice 2025 laid down the foundations for the French organisation’s most recent run of domination. 

Team Vitality cruised through the Group Stage with wins over FaZe Clan and Virtus.pro before sweeping aside The MongolZ in the semi-final to set up a blockbuster clash with Team Spirit in the final.

Team Vitality came out swinging against the BLAST Bounty Season 1 champions, winning the event with a convincing 3-0 sweep to earn its first trophy of the year. The victory marked Vitality’s second win of ESL Grand Slam Season 5, a million-dollar initiative for teams competing in Tier 1 events operated by ESL FACEIT Group.

Another team that has appeared among the teams competing this year is MOUZ, which ended January 2025 as the sixth-best CS2 team in the world according to the Valve Regional Standings (VRS). While its rank was lower than that of other teams in attendance, the German organisation powered into the Playoffs and earned its Grand Final appearance after beating PaiN Gaming and Astralis. 

Joining MOUZ in the Grand Final was Team Falcons, a team which was preparing to make roster changes as attention turned towards the Austin Major. MOUZ looked the stronger team from the outset, closing the series 3-1 to secure its first LAN victory since May 2024. Despite defeat in the final, Team Falcons showed glimpses of quality as it continued to build its presence among the world’s top teams. 

Following its victory at IEM Katowice in February, ESL Pro League Season 21 further solidified Team Vitality’s position as CS2’s powerhouse. The team steamrolled its group without conceding a map before sweeping aside Team Liquid in the quarter-finals to set up a battle with The MongolZ in the semi-final. 

The Mongolians were the only team to score a map win over the French side in the entire tournament and went on to defeat MOUZ in the Grand Final to add another trophy to the ever-expanding cabinet. Victory marked Vitality’s first Pro League triumph since 2022, where it defeated Team Liquid to win Season 16.

Three days after winning the Pro League, Team Vitality was back in action at BLAST Open Lisbon, another event featuring the biggest names in CS2 esports. Similar to Pro League, the French organisation qualified for the playoffs without losing a single map, automatically placing it in the semi-finals.

Continuing its impressive form, Team Vitality secured a 2-1 victory over Team Spirit to make another appearance in the Grand Final alongside MOUZ. The best-of-five series went to the fifth and final map, with Team Vitality emerging victorious with a 3-2 scoreline. Alongside the lion’s share of the prize pool, the French also secured three Frequent Flyer Points that contribute to BLAST’s $2m (~£1.4m) revenue-sharing initiative.

PGL Bucharest was the final time Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov represented G2 Esports before signing with Team Falcons.

The Saudi Arabian organisation bounced back from two consecutive defeats with wins over PaiN Gaming, Rare Atom, and The MongolZ to lock in a Playoff place. 

With the momentum in its favour, Team Falcons bested GamerLegion and FaZe Clan to set up a clash with G2 Esports in the Grand Final. G2 failed to win more than eight rounds on any of the three maps, with Team Falcons walking away with a 3-0 victory. The victory also marked Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif’s final appearance on the Team Falcons starting line-up.

In April, Counter-Strike headed down under, with 16 teams from across the globe competing in front of a sold-out crowd. 

Team Vitality’s winning streak continued after it managed to defeat a revamped Team Falcons in a thrilling five-map Grand Final. With victory in Australia, Vitality secured Season 5 of the ESL Grand Slam, taking home an additional $1m (~£741,234) in prize money.

The French powerhouse continued to dominate CS2 as attention started shifting towards the Austin Major. Team Vitality topped its group with comfortable wins over Wildcard and MOUZ to book yet another place in the playoffs of a Tier 1 event. 

Vitality defeated Team Spirit in the semi-finals to set up a rematch against Team Falcons in the IEM Melbourne Grand Final. The best-of-five series went the distance once again, with Team Vitality emerging as champion to add another victory to its collection. 

Vitality’s AWPer Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut’s exceptional performance earned him his fifth consecutive HLTV MVP award of the year, taking his career total to 25.

Team Spirit hadn’t won a Tier 1 event since BLAST Bounty Season 1, but managed to hit a purple patch at PGL Astana when it comfortably advanced from the Group Stage into the Playoffs. Wins over Ninjas in Pyjamas and FURIA, the team booked its place in the Grand Final against Astralis, where it secured a 3-1 victory.

Donk continued to cement his position as one of the best riflers in the history of Counter-Strike with another dominant performance. The Russian phenom scored his second MVP award of the year after earning his first following Team Spirit’s BLAST Bounty Season 1 victory.

With Team Spirit not in attendance, Team Vitality had an excellent opportunity to cement its place at the top of the VRS with a strong showing at IEM Dallas. The event captured massive attention as Counter-Strike legend Oleksandr ‘S1mple’ Kostyliev made his debut for FaZe Clan.

After easing through the Group Stage, the French organisation won against Team Falcons in the semi-finals before facing MOUZ in a rematch of the ESL Pro League Season 21 Grand Final. 

Vitality closed out the event with a clinical 3-0 sweep over MOUZ, giving the team another accolade.

The momentum of Team Vitality showed no signs of slowing down at the Austin Major. Even with a shock defeat to Legacy, which brought its 30-match winning streak to an abrupt end, the team advanced to the Moody Center with relative ease, with victories over Nemiga Gaming, 3DMAX, and Virtus.pro. 

By further defeating NAVI and MOUZ, the team secured yet another appearance in a CS2 Grand Final. Despite a valiant effort from The MongolZ, Team Vitality secured the second Major of the CS2 era and its seventh tournament win of 2025, cementing its place as one of the best rosters of all time. 

Another highlight-filled performance from ZywOo earned him his second Major MVP award.

IEM Cologne was the first event following the post-Major player break. With several teams making changes to rosters, a trip to the cathedral of Counter-Strike hosted players looking to usurp Team Vitality from the top spot. 

Vitality made it through the Group Stage in a fashion fans expected from arguably the best team in the world; however, its streak came to an end with a 2-0 semi-final loss to MOUZ. 

This left MOUZ and Team Spirit to battle it out in the Grand Final for the champion title and trophy.

Team Spirit then dominated the series to defeat MOUZ 3-0 and grabbed the title of the best CS2 team in the world. The win also marked Ivan ‘zweih’ Gogin’s first Tier 1 victory since joining the roster in July. 

Team Spirit continued building the momentum from Cologne with another strong performance at BLAST Bounty Season 2. Heading into the event, reports of former HEROIC player Andrey ‘tN1R’ Tatarinovich joining the team to replace Myoslav ‘zont1x’ Plakhotia after the Esports World Cup surfaced.

Despite the distraction of an impending roster move, Team Spirit battled through the online closed qualifiers. The Russian organisation swept aside Virtus.pro and MOUZ to secure another Grand Final place. 

Even though the event followed an unusual format, Team Spirit lifted the trophy with a win against The MongolZ in the Grand Final. 

With Team Vitality falling in the semi-finals, the interesting question is whether the French side’s domination is coming to an end.

With Team Vitality and Team Spirit battling over the top spot in the Valve Regional Standings, the Esports World Cup had the potential to host a blockbuster Grand Final between the top two teams in the world.

However, The MongolZ managed to capitalise on an out-of-sorts Vitality side in the semi-finals to earn another Grand Final appearance, while Team Spirit was stunned by a HEROIC team preparing for the imminent departure of tN1R.

As a result of Team Spirit’s early departure, Aurora Gaming managed to secure a Grand Final place, with victories over FaZe Clan, HEROIC, and the hometown heroes of Team Falcons.

The MongolZ were too strong for Aurora, sweeping aside the Turkish organisation with a 3-0 victory. Could the Mongolians stake a claim to the top spot with Team Vitality’s grip on CS2 starting to loosen?

BLAST Open London started with Team Spirit topping the VRS, after knocking Team Vitality off the top spot for the first time since March 2025.

Despite this, Team Spirit failed to earn a place at the LAN playoffs after losing to G2 Esports in the final qualification match of Group B. Meanwhile, Team Vitality booked its place at another offline event after easing through Group A’s upper bracket.

G2 continued the momentum from the online phase of the tournament, sweeping aside FaZe Clan and FURIA to join Team Vitality in the Grand Final.

A thrilling five-game series went the way of G2 Esports, securing its first Tier 1 event victory since winning the BLAST Premier World Final in November 2024.

With G2 Esports becoming the latest winner of a Tier 1 event, Counter-Strike esports is set for an exciting end to 2025 as several teams begin to establish themselves as championship contenders.

The second edition of the FISSURE Playground tournament series saw several notable names from the VRS top ten head to Belgrade, Serbia, for a chance to cement their place among the top 32 sides.

Despite a lack of practice, The MongolZ eased through the Swiss Stage with victories over Lynn Vision, FISSURE Playground 1 champions TYLOO, and FaZe Clan.

Elsewhere, FURIA’s strong run of form continued, scoring wins against Team Liquid, BLAST Open London champions G2 Esports, and PaiN Gaming to book its place in another playoffs.

The Brazilian organisation swept aside Astralis in the quarter-finals, setting up a blockbuster clash against Team Falcons. The Saudi Arabian side squandered several opportunities to send FURIA home, leaving Gabriel ‘FalleN‘ Toledo and co to send them home in the semi-finals.

A battle between The MongolZ and FURIA would decide a hotly contested FISSURE Playground 2 event. The best-of-five series went the distance, with two of the maps going into overtime. After a hard-fought series, FURIA would emerge victorious to secure its first LAN win since December 2023.

FURIA became the fourth different winner from the last four events, demonstrating that Counter-Strike 2 esports has entered its most competitive era, with several teams frequently in contention for victories.

With several teams in contention for championship glory, ESL Pro League Season 22 looked to deliver a hotly contested event featuring the world’s best teams.

The last-minute inclusions of Gentle Mates and ENCE added a layer of excitement, with the French esports organisation managing to advance to Stage 2 in addition to scoring a notable 2-0 sweep over Team Vitality.

Despite the early defeat, Team Vitality rebounded in convincing fashion, sweeping aside GamerLegion, HOTU, and G2 Esports to secure a place in the Playoffs.

Team Vitality’s semi-final match against FISSURE Playground 2 champions FURIA set the tone for a dominant run to the Grand Final. A 2-1 win over the Brazilian organisation was followed by a hard-fought victory over FaZe Clan in the semi-finals. Team Vitality had seemingly rediscovered its dominant form from earlier in the year.

The Grand Finals against Team Falcons confirmed Vitality was back in business. A clinical 3-0 sweep clipped the wings of the Falcons and secured Team Vitality’s eighth Tier 1 win of the year.

With the likes of Team Vitality, Team Falcons, and Team Spirit steering away from the Thunderpick World Championship 2025, the trio of FURIA, The MongolZ, and NAVI headed to Malta for the next stop in the Tier 1 calendar.

FURIA looked to avenge its quarter-final Pro League elimination, topping Group A with a flawless win-to-loss record to advance to the playoffs.

Despite making it out of the group stage, The MongolZ’s lack of practice continued to haunt the team, falling in the semi-finals to a coordinated NAVI, setting up a Grand Final between FURIA and the Ukrainian organisation.

NAVI looked to spring the surprise over one of the world’s best teams, taking the opening two maps of the best-of-five in convincing fashion.

FURIA wasn’t done yet. Some inspired performances from Gabriel ‘FalleN‘ Toledo and Danil ‘molodoy‘ Golubenko saw the team level the series to force a fifth and final map on Train, one of FURIA’s stronger maps.

With the momentum in its favour, FURIA dominated map five with a 13-1 scoreline to lift its second Tier 1 trophy of the year. As the Budapest Major moved into view, FURIA looked to have hit form at the perfect time.

With the battle for the top spot continuing to heat up, the fifth Intel Extreme Masters event of 2025 featured several teams looking to lay the foundations for a strong Major campaign.

Fresh from victory at the Thunderpick World Championship, FURIA eased through the group stage to lock in another playoff appearance alongside the likes of Team Vitality, Team Falcons, and The MongolZ.

The Mongolian side shocked the Counter-Strike scene with the surprise benching of Azbayar ‘Senzu‘ Munkhbold after missing out on the ESL Pro League Season 22 playoffs. Taking his place in China was Unudelger ‘controlez’ Baasanjargal, an experienced rifler acting as a temporary stand-in. Even with the late addition of Controlez, The MongolZ earned a place in the playoffs.

The MongolZ’s Chengdu campaign came to an end at the hands of FURIA in the quarter-finals. The in-form Brazilian organisation kept the momentum rolling, with a 2-0 sweep over Team Falcons to secure consecutive Grand Final appearances.

After besting Astralis and MOUZ, Team Vitality joined FURIA in the Grand Final, with another chance to add to its expanding trophy cabinet on the line.

Molodoy once again proved his worth as FURIA’s AWPer, landing shots with lethal precision to give the team the advantage over the opposition. Despite glimmers of hope from Team Vitality, FURIA cemented a 3-0 sweep to lift its third trophy of the year.

Despite being classed as a Wildcard event, the eight-team BLAST Rivals Fall 2025 event saw several high-profile names descend on Hong Kong for the last notable tournament before the Major.

Team Falcons and FURIA topped the two groups, with Passion UA, Team Vitality, Team Spirit, and PaiN Gaming joining the pair in a six-team playoff bracket.

Team Vitality bested Team Spirit in the opening quarter final, while PaiN Gaming continued to turn its form around with victory over Passion UA.

Vitality’s run came to an end in the semi-final, losing 2-0 to a Team Falcons side managing to keep finding consistency on the big stage. On the other side of the bracket, FURIA swept aside PaiN Gaming, setting up a battle between two of Counter-Strike’s in-form teams.

Team Falcons opened proceedings with a dominant win on Inferno, placing November’s VRS chart toppers on the back foot. FURIA responded emphatically, taking the next three maps to secure a 3-1 victory and another trophy.

With its third win in a row, FURIA has established its own run of dominance in Counter-Strike esports, heading into the Major as one of several championship contenders.

The StarLadder Budapest Major rounded off the 2025 Tier 1 Counter-Strike calendar, with 32 of the world’s best teams descending on the Hungarian capital for a chance to etch their names into the history books.

With several teams in contention to win the second Major of the year, Team Vitality faced stiff opposition as it looked to defend its Austin Major title. However, the French organisation won three of its four Stage 3 matches to book its place in yet another playoffs.

2-0 sweeps of The MongolZ and Team Spirit locked in a Grand Final appearance, where FaZe Clan would await. The Red Militia made an incredible run to another Tier 1 Grand Final, narrowly avoiding elimination against the Brazilian sides of RED Canids and Fluxo in Stage 1.

FaZe Clan struck first in the Grand Final before Team Vitality showcased its class, dominating Dust II, Inferno, and Overpass to secure a 3-1 victory and a second Major trophy.

Team Vitality’s victory in Budapest cements the team as 2025’s strongest roster, having won 9 Tier 1 events, including 2 Majors, over the last 12 months.

For FaZe Clan, a second-place finish rounds off a year filled with roster changes, the acquisition of an unproven rookie, and struggles to establish consistency on the big stage. However, the final Major leaves its fanbase with hopes and optimism going into 2026.