2024 has so far been one of the most competitive years in Counter-Strike history and by far the most in recent memory.

Each of the last three years has had dominant teams with NAVI, FaZe, and then Vitality all taking a turn at the top of the ranking and consistently taking trophies home, but so far no team has managed to stake as strong of a claim towards being the best team in the world. 

Even FaZe, whose deep runs were often stopped in the grand final of events haven’t truly convinced many people that they were the best in the world. Not when Spirit won two of the four big events they attended so fast this year, anyway. 

With Spirit, FaZe, G2, MOUZ, and NAVI all winning big events as well as Eternal Fire and The MongolZ being successful in some smaller events they were not favourites for, the Counter-Strike landscape is looking incredibly competitive right now, and it’s only set to become even more competitive - so who are the teams that will be looking to add their names to the ranks of the elite?

Vitality

Let’s start with Vitality, a team that realistically should already be considered elite within CS.

Vitality was the last team to be dominant in CS, winning five trophies (including the BLAST.tv Paris Major) across 2023 as ZywOo truly threw his name into GOAT contention for the first time in his career. 

However, despite their dominance, Vitality continued to make changes throughout the year, with the Danish trio of dupreeh, Magisk, and zonic all departing at various points and flameZ, mezii, and XTQZZZ taking their place.

Although Vitality still tasted a trophy win with the current team they have at the end of 2023, they are yet to do so in 2024, but as they keep reaching the deep end of tournaments, it feels inevitable that they will not be adding to their trophy cabinet in the coming months.

The MongolZ

launders recently told BLAST.tv that The MongolZ are ‘On trend to break into the top five” - and it’s not hard to see why.

The Mongolian squad has been a consistent underdog presence at international LAN events for the best part of two years now, and all the experience they have gained in that time is beginning to pay off.

Wins at the MESA Nomadic Masters 2024 and YaLLa Compass 2024 truly announced The MongolZ as a top-calibre team, especially seeing as their runs included impressive wins over a strong new NIP team, an in-form BLEED, and one of the best teams in the world in Astralis.

NIP

Speaking of NIP, their new squad already looks capable of shooting the Swedish organisation right back up the rankings.

r1nkle has so far been a revelation on the AWP and is already making the gamble of replacing headtr1ck with him seem like one of the most calculated decisions of all time.

Fans may have doubted alex’s ability to lead the squad due to the first NIP team he IGLed, but a second-place finish and a top-four finish while playing some of the best CS NIP has seen in years is quickly putting those doubts to rest.

Complexity

Complexity are a team who have flirted with the top on multiple occasions now, but their win at ESL Challenger Jonkoping might be the true difference maker that makes them a consistent contender.

Despite their two years in tier one, their limited playoff experience has meant that Complexity have always been an inexperienced side. The addition of EliGE visibly helped, but one man couldn’t fix all of the issues.

However, that trophy win will prove to be incredibly valuable in the long run, not just for the experience gained, but also for the confidence the team would have gained after winning against an impressive field.

Falcons

Falcons’ struggles thus far in 2024 may have been incredibly joyous to watch, but their success is inevitable. There is simply too much money behind the organisation, and there is already a decent level of talent to build around. 

SunPayus may not have yet reached the height of his ENCE days, but the talent is undeniably there, and it won’t be long before he is once again regarded as one of the best AWPers in the world. 

The same goes for Snappi, too. The veteran Dane is the man who truly put SunPayus on the map, and he is starting to get his mojo back as a leader now that he has the added firepower of dupreeh in his unit. 

Liquid

Finally, we have Team Liquid, a team that many would have already expected to be considered elite given how strong their previous lineup was. However, things didn’t quite work out and cadiaN and skullz have since departed the team. 

That being said, there is still plenty of talent on the team. NAF and Twistzz are two of the greatest players in their region’s history and have both been in stellar form in 2024, and YEKINDAR remains one of the best aggressive players in the world even if the stats might tell you otherwise at face value.

All it will take for Liquid to become the contender we expect them to be is a couple of smart roster decisions and time, we just have to hope that the organisation affords the team that time if initial results aren’t exactly what is expected of them.