The launch of Counter-Strike 2 didn’t just shake up the game with major gameplay changes, it also reshuffled the deck in the professional esports scene. As the competitive landscape evolved, not every player or team adapted smoothly, giving both fresh talent and once-overlooked veterans a chance to shine at the dawn of a new era.
Nearly two years have passed since CS2 went live, and a new elite has emerged: a group of teams that consistently contend for titles at every major event. Out of the hundreds of squads competing, only seven have crossed the $1 million mark in tournament earnings. In this piece, we spotlight the top five, those who’ve already banked over $1.5 million since the game’s release in September 2023. Esports Charts takes a look at the teams that have made the strongest impression in the early days of CS2.
#5. G2 Esports ($1,516,450)
G2 Esports is currently undergoing a major restructuring, and their place in the CS2 top five is owed largely to the version of the roster that initially entered the new era of Counter-Strike.
The team kicked off its CS2 journey with two of the game’s biggest stars: Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov and Nikola "NiKo" Kovač, both of whom ranked among the top four players in 2023 and 2024. That powerhouse duo, now playing for Team Falcons, helped G2 enjoy a stellar 2024 season. Together, they secured several tier-S titles in the Intel Extreme Masters and BLAST Premier circuits and made deep runs at both Valve Majors, reaching the semifinals in Copenhagen and Shanghai.
With millions already earned and even more at stake, the top CS2 teams on this list are preparing to clash at the upcoming Major, a stage where reputations are made and prize pools can shift in a single round. It’s a high-stakes environment not unlike the case battles over at HellCase, where players compete for valuable rewards in head-to-head openings. In both arenas, timing, precision, and luck can change everything.
But the tides began to shift in early 2025 when NiKo made a blockbuster move to Falcons. Without him, G2’s momentum slowed. m0NESY, now the team’s sole remaining superstar, led them to a semifinal finish at BLAST Bounty Spring and a runner-up result at PGL Bucharest, but elsewhere, the team couldn’t crack the top four.
In April, m0NESY followed NiKo to Falcons, leaving G2 with a fresh lineup still searching for its identity. With the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 on the horizon, all eyes are on G2 to see whether this tournament can mark a new beginning in their pursuit of titles and redemption.
#4. FaZe Clan ($1,878,000)
FaZe Clan’s place among the top five highest-earning CS2 teams might come as a surprise. Their biggest successes came right at the dawn of the new era, with a particularly strong showing in late 2023. But when it comes to 2024 and 2025, the team has struggled to replicate that early momentum.
Across those two years, they’ve secured just one tournament win, at IEM Chengdu 2024, a significant event but not one of the calendar’s premier titles. So what propelled them into such a high-earning position? Beyond their excellent form at the end of 2023, FaZe also made it to the grand finals of both Majors in 2024, an achievement that significantly boosted their prize winnings.
FaZe Clan, and especially their veteran captain Finn "karrigan" Andersen, are known for rising to the occasion at Majors. Their deep runs in Copenhagen and Shanghai once again proved that when the stakes are highest, FaZe is a different beast. While the team did manage a tournament win during the 2024 season, it was clearly not enough for karrigan, whose emotional reaction after the Shanghai Major final loss spoke volumes.
The start of the new year has been rocky, with just a single top-3 finish to show for their efforts so far. But with another Major looming, past performances may not matter much. In Austin, we’re likely to see a completely different FaZe, this time without Robin "ropz" Kool, but with Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev in the lineup. And when it comes to pulling off surprises, few teams do it better.
#3. Natus Vincere ($1,992,950)
In contrast to G2 Esports, Natus Vincere entered the CS2 era amid sweeping changes, most notably, the departure of their iconic star, s1mple. His exit raised a huge question: could coach Andrij "B1ad3" Ghorodenskyi and the team’s new in-game leader, Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen, maintain NAVI’s fearsome reputation on the server?
As it turned out, much to the delight of fans and the dismay of skeptics, they absolutely could.
NAVI went on to have a standout 2024 season, emerging as one of the two frontrunners in the race for Team of the Year. And while their journey didn’t begin with sky-high expectations, everything changed at the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. Claiming the championship, an outcome few saw coming, NAVI not only defied their critics but also shut down any talk that their success was a fluke.
NAVI had a stellar run last year, rarely slipping up and securing wins at some of the scene’s biggest events, including the ESL Pro League, the Esports World Cup, and an IEM tournament in Rio. Had they pushed just a bit further at the year’s closing events, particularly the second Major, they would’ve easily claimed the title of Team of the Year. But fate had other plans.
So far, the new season has been off to a shaky start. After back-to-back semifinal appearances at BLAST and IEM, things have cooled off since March. Still, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about NAVI, it’s never to count them out. B1ad3 and Aleksib have a knack for flipping the script and delivering peak performances when the odds and the expectations are low. And honestly, is there a better place to make that kind of statement than at a Major?
#2. Team Vitality ($2,206,750)
Team Vitality has been nothing short of unstoppable this season. They're the clear front-runners heading into the upcoming Major and the top contender for Team of the Year, an assertion that already feels justified, despite the season still being far from over. The arrival of ropz has completely revitalized the squad, kicking off a jaw-dropping win streak that now stands at 30 consecutive series. For context, only one team in Counter-Strike history has ever gone further: Ninjas in Pyjamas way back in 2012, in an era with significantly less competition than today's hyper-stacked field.
While captain Dan “apEX” Madesclaire publicly admitted that the team underperformed last season, their actual results tell a more forgiving story, especially when compared to other top-tier hopefuls. Vitality claimed the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne title and made deep runs to the finals at both ESL Pro League and IEM Dallas. Still, it’s fair to say the team fell short of their own high expectations.
Their current dominance in 2025 isn’t the first time they’ve found top form in CS2, either. At the tail end of 2023, right as CS2 launched, the team delivered a strong finish with a BLAST Premier Fall Final victory, followed by a win at the prestigious BLAST World Final.
Vitality is currently in fearsome form, so dominant that it's hard to imagine what they might unleash at the upcoming Major. But with great power comes great pressure. The real question is whether this squad can manage the weight of expectations and stay composed when it matters most. We won’t have to wait long to find out.
#1. Team Spirit ($2,717,125)
Unlike the teams listed above, which were already part of the elite during the final years of Counter-Strike, Team Spirit was still on the rise. It wasn’t until the release of CS2 that they truly established themselves as a top-tier force.
Team Spirit had already achieved promising results before the launch of Counter-Strike 2, including several tier-2 trophies and even a Major semifinal. But it wasn’t until 2024 that true recognition came. That year, they claimed their first top-tier title at IEM Katowice, and from that moment on, the spotlight has never left Danil "donk" Kryshkovets. Widely hailed as the most talented rookie on the scene and the best player of the year, donk quickly became the driving force behind Spirit’s run of success, culminating in their crowning achievement: a championship win at the Perfect World Shanghai Major.
Their dominant performance at the final event of the year secured them the title of Team of the Year, while donk racked up a collection of individual accolades. The new season has also started strong, with two more titles already in the bag and consistent semifinal finishes across the board. Right now, Spirit looks like the only team with the firepower to challenge Vitality at the upcoming Major, but so far, the European powerhouse remains their toughest opponent. Whether Spirit can overcome that final hurdle, we’ll soon find out.
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