Team Spirit climbs to second in VRS August global standings

Team Spirit has moved to second place in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) for August 2025, moving up from third place.

The August VRS will be used to determine which teams are invited to several upcoming Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) tournaments, including Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Chengdu and the Thunderpick World Championship.

Team Spirit’s move closer to the top spot comes after it won IEM Cologne 2025, defeating MOUZ in the Grand Final. Despite losing to MOUZ in the semi-finals, Team Vitality remains in first place, cementing its position as the best CS2 team in the world.

Elsewhere in the top ten, NAVI moved up three places to fifth after earning a place in the IEM Cologne Playoffs. Meanwhile, FURIA continued its impressive run of recent form, jumping from ninth to sixth.

The biggest gain was achieved by the Chinese side of TYLOO. Its victory at FISSURE Playground 1 saw it move from 20th to tenth.

As several teams moved up the rankings, some went the other way. Team Liquid‘s recent run of defeats saw it drop nine places to 26th, putting it close to dropping out of the top 32.

Aurora Gaming also exited the top ten and now sits in eleventh, while HEROIC also dropped six spots to 18th.

The August VRS decides the teams competing at IEM Chengdu and the Thunderpick World Championship, taking place later this year. The tournament organisers have yet to reveal which teams have accepted invitations.

For IEM Chengdu, two spots from Europe, the Americas, and Asia will compete at the event, along with ten from the global standings which are distributed once the regional invites are sent.

The Thunderpick World Championship features four spots from the global standings.

Below is a list of the top 20 teams from the August 2025 VRS, including all of the movements from July’s standings: