Best CS:GO Teams in 2023 | Top 10 CS:GO Teams in the World

1. Natus Vincere

Na’Vi went on on a spree in 2021, winning ESL Pro League XIV, PGL Stockholm Major, as Oleksandr “S1mple” Kostyliev secured his first-ever Major victory. They followed up with a win at BLAST Fall Finals and BLAST World Final back to back. They started ’22 with a runner-up spot at IEM Katowice, and a solid win in BLAST Spring.

However, outside events put NAVI’s roster and players in a difficult position this season. The Russia-Ukraine conflict meant several players were stuck in limbo, with mental fatigue and inability to practice taking their toll. Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov had to step down from the team after scandals with both his wife (former) and his attitude towards the conflict, lead to the organization benching him. His replacement was Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev, who took up the mantle on loan from MAD Lions.

In terms of individual talent, there are some fantastic players within Na’Vi’s current line-up. They are still considered the top seed in all premier events, even though the wins were lacking this season. They were 5th in Antwerp, Rio and at the Fall Finals, 3rd in Katowice and 2nd in Cologne.

Recency bias would likely put Heroic in the rankings, but looking at the entire season, Natus Vincere has shown more consistency in placements across the board. The only way our next time on the list surpasses them is Natus Vincere flopping out at this years BLAST World Finals.

2. Heroic

Coming up in 2nd is the best performing team in fall 2022. Heroic is having an amazing end to the season and they jumped up through the rankings from 6th to 2nd.

Heroic saw a ‘meteoric rise’ throughout 2020 and 2021, quickly becoming known as one of the best CS:GO teams in the business. It was a prolific year for Heroic in 2021, with the team stepping up to secure huge sums of money at some of the biggest CS:GO tournaments around. At the start of that year, Heroic secured first place in the ESL Pro League Season XII, before going on to achieve high placements at a string of S- and A-tier events.

Many CS:GO fans have attributed the success of Heroic to key members of the squad. For instance, Casper ‘CadiaN’ Møller, the in-game leader and driving force behind the Heroic squad. It is widely believed that Heroic saw another great year in 2022 thanks to CadiaN at the helm.

The team had an underwhelming start of the season, falling out early out of IEM Cologne and ESL Pro League S16. However, the tail end of the year sees them finish runner up in Rio and winning BLAST Fall Finals, setting up an interesting play for #1 seed at year’s end against NAVI at World Finals.

3. FaZe Clan

FaZe Clan kicked off ’22 with a dominant streak, effortlessly pushing forward through its opponents and securing some monumental victories. Following a string of wins, Karrigan, an iconic player, stepped in to fill Olofmeister’s shoes, bringing his in-game leadership abilities to an already-powerful FaZe Clan unit. At the start of the year, FaZe Clan also bolstered its squad with ropz, one of the best CS:GO players in the industry today.

Since 2022 opened up, FaZe Clan has stormed to the top of both the ESL and HLTV world rankings. Firstly, the team secured first place at the IEM Katowice event, smashing down G2 in a 3 – 0 final that boasted a $400,000 prize for the team. It was just weeks later that FaZe Clan won the ESL Pro League Season XV, landing a $190,000 prize. At the start of February, the squad secured a 1st – 3rd finish in the BLAST Premier Spring Groups.

Wins in both Antwerp and Cologne, had FaZE in #1 throughout the year up until ESL Pro League S16 and IEM Rio came along. Two early exits see them fall out of grace all the way down to #4 before climbing a spot only recently after reaching the final in BLAST Fall Final.

Going into the end of the season, whoever wins the BLAST World Finals between NaVi, Heroic and FaZe will be the #1 team going into 2023.

4. Outsiders

Owing to political concerns, Virus.pro rebranded in March of 2022, becoming known as Outsiders. However, this rebrand did nothing to impact the team’s dominance, being as it is one of the oldest CS:GO teams in the industry. Where CS:GO esports are concerned, Virus.pro, now Outsiders, is a staple of the community.

There has been something of a minor downfall in terms of the overall rankings for Outsiders in 2022. The team had to play through series of Challenger and mid-tier events due to restrictions and just generally bad climate for esports organizations in Russia.

Them coming up in fourth in our rankings is largely due to their performance at IEM Rio recently. Given that the team was unable to participate at most ESL and BLAST events and missed out, we cant adequately place them in the rankings higher then where they currently sit.

5. Team Vitality

Vitality may be a relatively young contender in the CS:GO space, but it’s certainly one of the most watched teams in the scene. As a squad, Team Vitality boasts some of the finest CS:GO talents in the business, with a line-up featuring the likes of apEX, ZywOo, and dupreeh. In the last year or so, Team Vitality has struggled to land too many big wins, with a few exceptions, but that isn’t for a lack of trying. At the very end of 2021, Vitality secured first place at the IEM XVI Winter tournament, beating out NiP and winning a $100k prize.

Since then, the scene has mellowed slightly for Team Vitality, with the exception of a close third-place finish at the BLAST Premier: World Final. Throughout this year, their only notable win was at ESL Pro League Season 16, and a runner-up spot at BLAST Spring Finals. What carries Vitality to #5th in our rankings is the diversity of tournament winners in the ’22 season, and the sheer firepower among the players.

6. Cloud9

In April of 2022, Cloud9 returned to CS:GO esports after a hiatus of almost a year. In one fell swoop, Cloud9 acquired the entire Gambit roster, a team that had been performing remarkably well in the months leading up to the acquisition.

Gambit’s roster made up one of the most consistent teams in CS:GO today, boasting several big victories in the last few years. At the end of 2021, Gambit sat at the top of our best CS:GO teams list, and while the squad has fallen down a couple of places, it’s not for lack of effort. Toward the end of 2021, Gambit secured some high placement finishes at some of the best CS:GO tournaments out there, proving that the team had grit, determination, and above all else, ability. For instance, Gambit narrowly missed out on a grand victory at the PGL Major Stockholm event, losing to an overwhelming Natus Vincere side. But, mere weeks before that loss, Gambit had beaten Na’Vi at the BLAST Premier Spring Finals, securing a massive $225k prize pool. Moving into 2022, Gambit showed intense talent at an A-tier tournament, the Funspark Ulti 2021, beating Entropiq in the final to secure a $150k prize.

Top five finishes at Pro League and Rio place C9 exactly where we put them among the top 10 CS:GO teams in 2023.

7. Team Liquid

Team Liquid started 2022 with a rank reset. The benched Stewie2K and Grim departed for EG and Complexity respectively, while FalleN went on to create his own superteam in Brazil. Shox and adreN also departed by June. In their stead, nitr0, pashaBiceps and eventually YEKINDAR had to work with the old Liquid core in bringing them former glory.

Throughout the year, they slowly climbed the ranks and eventually won the American Rio RMR and finished second at ESL Pro League Season 16. This combined with a top three performance in Fall Groups, was enough to secure them a spot at the World Finals at year’s end a shot at improving their standings.

8. G2 Esports

G2 is a household name where CS:GO esports are concerned. In recent years, G2 has become one of the best CS:GO teams to follow and to place CS:GO wagers on. While G2 had a hard year in 2021 that led to many second-place finishes, there are high expectations for the team to go above and beyond in 2022.

Last year, G2 almost snatched the top prize at the BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown, IEM Cologne, the PGL Major Stockholm event, and at IEM Katowice in February of 2022. It is an unfortunate list, but G2 has only lost to the best teams in CS:GO, such as FaZe Clan and Na’Vi. We still have to award credit where it’s due, as G2 has managed to amass a staggering amount of prize money in the last year, despite not landing any first-place finishes.

They started 2022 by signing CS:GO prodigy Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov who climbed through the CS:GO ranks the season before. However, it took nearly half the year to finally settle by roster by acquiring jks and HooXi. After placing runner-ups in Katowice, they have finished top 5 at all major events this year, but never really shined through.

Their roster inconsistency and tumultuous season is only good enough for eight place among the best CS:GO teams.

Read also: Bet on CS:GO teams with real money

9. FURIA

Like Team Vitality, FURIA is a relatively young CS:GO esports team. Yet, it has enjoyed a star-studded, if somewhat brief, tenure in the industry. Currently the best Brazilian CS:GO team in the world, FURIA has worked hard to prove itself against European and North American teams for the last five years. They’re a tenacious squad, easily matching the best CS:GO teams in combat, even if they don’t walk away with a huge prize at most tournaments.

FURIA is also yet to achieve a monumental, defining victory, despite finding success at several smaller tournaments. This is a team that has proven time and again that it has the ability to take games off of the likes of Cloud 9 and FaZe Clan. In truth, FURIA’s best year is 2022, especially in the later half. IEM Rio was on home turf and they managed to enchant the crowed with their top 4 finish, eliminating Natus Vincere along the way. Sadly we wont see them at BLAST World Finals, but we may see them in Katowice in early 2023.

10. MOUZ

It’s a tough decision to select the final team on our list. Between MOUZ, Astralis, OG, Complexity, ENCE and even Fnatic, all teams had a rather underwhelming season with each only barely making Playoffs in some.

MOUZ gets our pick as the most improved team through the season. Next to Liquid’s rank reset, MOUZ also started the season at the bottom and worked their way through the ranks. With consistency across the board, we won’t be seeing much of MOUZ until year’s end, but given how they grew this year, 2023 may be the year to break deeper into the top 10 CS:GO teams.