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

Following a short post-Major player break, the second half of the 2025 Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) season is currently underway.

Since January, a total of 13 events operated by different tournament organisers have formed the 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.

With the second half of the year in full swing, Esports Insider takes fans on a trip down memory lane and looks at the teams that have secured a victory at a CS2 Tier 1 event in 2025 so far, starting with BLAST Bounty Season 1.

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.

Disclaimer: This article will be regularly updated when a Tier 1 event concludes.