In the world of CS:GO history has always been written not only by heroic victories and impressive shootouts, but also by reshuffles that transformed teams and changed the face of the game. Throughout the history of CS:GO there have been many brilliant transfers, when players moved from one team to another, creating new super teams and changing the picture of the competitive scene.
In this article, we'll take a look back in time and identify the top 10 best reshuffles in CS:GO history. These transitions didn't just change teams, they raised the bar, presented new challenges to the competition and gave us unforgettable moments in the game.
First, however, we need to mention a few names that are worthy of mention, but for various reasons can't make it into the ranking of the best solifles. First of all, it is Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson, who joined FaZe in 2016, but that team is already a team of stars: Nikola "NiKo" Kovač, Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács, Finn "karrigan" Andersen and Håvard "rain" Nygaard.
The arrival of Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev will probably forever remain the most important event in the history of NAVI. However, the sniper was not able then with his arrival alone to raise the team to a new level. Yes, they won ESL One: New York 2016, but the real success came later in 2018 with the addition of Denis "electroNic" Sharipov and the return of Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko.
jabbi from Copenhagen Flames to Heroic (2022-)
It seemed that even before the arrival of Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard in Heroic everything was good: the team was consistently making the playoffs of major tournaments, including the majors. Therefore, the replacement of Ismail "refrezh" Ali was perceived by some with misunderstanding. However, as time has shown, jabbi was the final puzzle that allowed Heroic to reach the next level: IEM Rio Major 2022, IEM Katowice 2023, IEM Rio 2023 finals, victories at BLAST Premier: Fall Finals 2022, BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2023 and $1,185,500 in prize money won. Things aren't perfect for the team right now, and rumors of new replacements have started to surface, but Heroic can definitely credit last year.
karrigan z FaZe u mousesports (2019-2021)
Karrigan has taken more than one team to the top, what is only worth his last year's FaZe, but the period in mousesports should be put separately, because there the Dane was able to take a mediocre young team to a new level for himself. In almost two years in the German organization, karrigan won DreamHack Open Tours 2019, cs_summit 5, ICE Challenge 2020, CS:GO Asia Championships 2019 and ESL Pro League Season 10 - Finals. Total mousesports prize money for this period is estimated at $1,209,500.
Spinx from ENCE to Vitality (2022-)
Vitality and before Lotan "Spinx" Giladi joined were contenders to win almost every tournament, but with the arrival of the Israeli the puzzle came together and the team won ESL Pro League Season 16 outright. Then, after a period of downtime and not very successful results Vitality broke through: wins at IEM Rio 2023, BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 and reaching the finals of BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2023.
However, successful results did not guarantee a place in the roster for Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen. He was replaced by Shahar "flameZ" Shushan, with whom Vitality already won Gamers8 2023. In one year with Spinx, the team earned $1,546,000.
fnx and TACO from Games Academy at Luminosity/SK (2015-2016)
The legendary Brazilian five didn't last that long, but they shined very brightly. They won DreamHack Open Austin 2016 and ESL Pro League Season 3 - Finals, but that's not as important as winning two consecutive majors: the MLG Major Championship: Columbus 2016 and ESL One: Cologne 2016. The fairytale ended with the departure of Lincoln "fnx" Lau. After that, there were a few more successful tournaments, but such success was no more. In a little over a year, Luminosity/SK have generated $1,792,500 in prize money.
NiKo with FaZe in G2 (2020-)
NiKo is considered the best riffler of the modern era for a reason. He can win matches solo and his transition can take the organization to serious heights. It is with the arrival of the Bosnian is associated with the growth of G2 on the CS:GO scene.
It didn't happen immediately, but with each month the team gradually rose, made reshuffles and grew again. With NiKo G2 reached the finals of PGL Major Stockholm 2021 and IEM Katowice 2022, won BLAST Premier: World Final 2022, IEM Katowice 2023 and IEM Cologne 2023. In addition, the organization earned $2,701,750 of its $4,985,434 in prize money during the Bosnian's tenure with the team.
kennyS and apEX with Titan at Envy (2015-2017)
Envy approached the next major at DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 in impeccable form and therefore won quite confidently. In total, Envy earned $1,591,250 with this core.
Stewie2K з MIBR в Liquid (2018-2022)
Jackie "Stewie2K" Yip joined Liquid December 2018 and the team started producing results right away. It started with a win at iBUYPOWER Masters IV, second places at BLAST Pro Series: São Paulo 2019 and BLAST Pro Series: Miami 2019 and a win at IEM Sydney 2019 and a win at IEM Sydney 2019. Then there were three consecutive wins at DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019, ESL Pro League Season 9 - Finals and ESL One: Cologne 2019, and as a result, the fastest Intel Grand Slam win in history.
After that, the team won more BLAST Pro Series: Los Angeles 2019 and IEM Chicago 2019, but that's where the victories ended. The only thing Liquid failed to accomplish in 2019 was winning majors, at both of which the team ended up in the quarterfinals. Along with Stewie2K, the team won 2,650.75 in prize money.
ropz from MOUZ to FaZe (2022-)
Only a worthy player could replace olofmeister. And such a player was Robin "ropz" Kool, who joined FaZe in 2022. The Estonian had already played under the leadership of karrigan in mousesports, so the adaptation to the new requirements was hardly instantaneous. FaZe won IEM Katowice 2022, ESL Pro League Season 15, PGL Major Antwerp 2022 and IEM Cologne 2022.
The next victory had to wait for more than half a year, but it was worth it, because with the triumph at ESL Pro League Season 17 the team received gold bars for Intel Grand Slam Season 4. In a year and a half, ropz helped FaZe earn 3,271,750 in prize money.
b1t at NAVI (2020-)
The example of how Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy transitioned from academy level to dash-1 is a unique one. The player did not stand out statistically even at the NAVI Junior level, but the coach of the main squad Andrey "B1ad3" Gorodenskiy saw talent in him and started to gradually involve Valeriy in NAVI matches. Quite soon b1t got used to the new requirements and began to simply destroy opponents.
The first full-fledged tournament for him was the victorious DreamHack Masters Spring 2021. After that NAVI was unstoppable: first places at IEM Cologne 2021, ESL Pro League Season 14, Intel Grand Slam Season 3, PGL Major Stockholm 2021, BLAST Premier: Fall Finals 2021 and BLAST Premier: World Final 2021. The story of b1t in NAVI is still going strong and he is clearly not going to stop. During his time with him, the team has won 5,825,000.
Magisk with OpTic in Astralis (2018-2021)
Astralis 2018-2019 are considered the strongest team in CS:GO history. The Danes were powerful before that, but the final domination came with the arrival of Emil "Magisk" Reif. After that, the team won a bunch of tournaments, but most importantly, three consecutive majors (FACEIT Major: London 2018, IEM Katowice Major 2019 and StarLadder Berlin Major 2019) and the first Intel Grand Slam season.
Astralis remained at the top until Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz left for NIP in 2021. Magisk himself left the organization in 2022 when he moved to Vitality with dupreeh and won his fourth career major. Together with Emil, the Astralis won $6,694,750 and all players on that roster are now in the top 5 in history for prize money.
These solifles remind us how dynamic and exciting the global cybersports scene can be. They show how players can change teams, take them to the next level and set new goals. Each of these reshuffles has its own unique story and contribution to CS:GO. There are many more reshuffles to come that will capture us and define new eras in the history of the game, as CS:GO continues to grow and evolve.
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