The GOAT Teams of CSGO
Every so often there comes a team which blows the opposition away like it’s nothing. This team then continues to grow and evolve into a proper powerhouse, an unstoppable force for all other competitors on the pro scene. But as they rise, so they fall… Every team that has once dominated the esports competitive scene of CSGO has since fallen down the pecking order.
This isn’t anything surprising though; it happens all the time throughout the sports world. However, some teams leave a long-lasting impression of their greatness. Long lasting memories to their fans and a plethora of trophies to be celebrated for generations to come. The CSGO competitive scene is no different, and we have been seeing it since the very beginning of its mainstream success. Even in the days of Counter Strike 1.6, teams would appear out of nowhere and end up being untouchable by all of their direct competitors.
Driven by all that, in this article I will be talking about the three best CSGO teams that can be marked as the GOAT, each in their own right. The achievements of these three teams are unparalleled. Astralis, the team to beat for some time now will most likely end up like one of the greats. They are already one of the best teams around and if their form continues, they too shall join the Hall of Fame of the CSGO competitive esports scene.
With all that being said, here are all 3 teams that are in the race for being called The CSGO GOAT Team!
CSGO GOAT Team | Top 3 List
What all of these three teams have in common is insane skill, amazing teamwork, perfect team cohesion and in-game communication. Other factors are at play as well, but these are the most important ones, at least in my honest opinion. Each of these three teams have sharpened their skills to the maximum and have enjoyed years of successful competitive esports playing.
When they dominated the scene, their performances set the bar, if you managed to beat them, you’d achieve a proper miracle. Of course, over time, their play started to degrade, and, as all things change, so did they. Players left, the roster changed, the meta changed as well… but the memories trophies and success remained there., So, without further adue, let’s kick things off by introducing the top 3 CSGO GOAT teams to ever grace the competitive CSGO scene.
Current Astralis Team
So, this was a tough choice because Astralis is relatively new and, even though they have already shown true skill and dominance, some other teams throughout the year have made a larger impact. But the only reason why Astralis got the advantage over others is because of how quickly they win stuff. That… and their adaptation to new meta’s which are becoming more frequent than ever.
Even if you disagree, there is no point denying that the Astralis of today is a proper giant in every sense of that word. They took their first Premier tournament title in 20176 when they won against OpTic Gaming in the eSports Championship Series Season 2 Finals. Two more premier titles followed – ELEAGUE Major Atlanta 2017 and IEM XI World Championship. Not a lot of success during the rest of 2017 season which was a big caveat when deciding what team to place here. On the other hand, their 2019 run is, to put it in simple terms, shocking.
Astralis mainly plays around the use of utility equipment (grenades, molotov’s, smokes and so on) which has brought them great success. However, this strategy is no longer going under their opponents’ radars. However, all Astralis players know how to adapt and overcome, inventing new strats to catch their opponents off guard and win the match. And I mean, the current roster? Device, dupreeh, Xyp9x, gla1ve and Magisk… all names that will stay etched in the history of competitive CSGO esports scene. At the moment, Astralis is definitely the toughest opponent other teams can face in a competitive environment. This is why they deserve to be on this list even though they’re still an active side.
But I must give credit where credit is due; if not for the dominant form of Astralis over the course of just a few years, SK would surely be in this place instead of them. And SK is another one of the best teams of all time, but have fallen under the radar due to the brilliance of The Great Danes.
’12 to ’14 Ninjas in Pyjamas Team
Continuing from Astralis, we have got NiP which was absolutely unstoppable during this time period. Filthy plays, disgusting strategies, and ugly frags – exactly what worked perfectly for such a long time. The coherence with which this team played was unparalleled and they took almost everything that was up for grabs back then.
If you look at the statistical side of things, they are at the very top of the food chain. Consider this bit of info: NiP managed to achieve a top-four finish in 31 tournaments in a row. This includes domestic tournaments and competition. And out of 32 international appearances, they were top 8 in 31 of them. Crazy number-crunching we got going on here, right?
What’s even crazier is that NiP, at the end of their active period of play, managed to win a major. Who would have thought that the team which was set to shut down at the end of the year would win a major? But no one ever really doubted them either (it sounds like a counter-argument but bear with me guys) as they have shown time and time again just how dangerous and powerful they can be in the most crucial of moments.
At the end of it all, they were taken over as number one by VeryGames, but they stayed put in second place for quite some time. Lastly, NiP is a team that has defined and shaped the CSGO competitive scene perhaps unlike any other. They changed the way the game is played (at times) and forced others to work even harder to counter their tactics and beat them. An iconic team with great international recognition, no doubt about it!
What completed the circle regarding their success is just how well they divided their tasks. Everyone had an exact purpose in the team and they rarely strayed too far from it. GeT_RiGhT is arguably one of the CSGO GOAT team players out there and has had no equal during NiP’s first competitive year. Friberg was an outright champion early on with fifflaren destroying the enemy team using a specific AWP utility strats. Finally, we have f0rest who was a true janitor for the team, cleaning up frags and stuff… and last but not least – Xizt who always showed up when it mattered the most. Truly, NiP ’12 to ’14 team was a force to be reckoned with in every meaning of that phrase!
’14 to ’15 Fnatic Team
NiP’s success runs might be impressive but it is Fnatic who takes the real crown in this list. In 2014, Fnatic team was a proper beast, and I’m not even exaggerating here. Sure, statistically speaking, they are a bit worse than NiP, but this is mainly due to NiP grabbing record which will hardly be broken. But, on the other hand, Fnatic has definitely shown much more than what anyone could have imagined. Two major tournaments belong to Fnatic; the only team with the audacity to do so. And these majors have been won back-to-back too, which just goes to show their prowess at the time.
Since they started playing in the CSGO competitive scene, Fnatic has shown an insane amount of consistency; rarely making mistakes and falling out of tournaments early on. They were top 4 in all 14 tournaments they participated in. Only once were they outside the top for in 2014, during the DreamHack Winter quarterfinals where they forfeited the match against LDLC.
It is really baffling to see a team that works best with no major players that stand out… whilst also having this amount of consistency. Whenever the meta changes, this Fnatic team was there to seize the opportunity and take the W yet again. Let’s remember KriMZ being on top of the stats sheet and JW doing what he does best – fragging everything he had in sight. Let’s not forget Olofmeister in his prime – arguably the best player the competitive CSGO scene has ever seen. He was literally unstoppable back in his prime. And who can forget flusha who always managed to find a way to turn things around for his team.
This Fnatic team did not need star players nor did they need impeccable strats… all they needed was good team cohesion to start off their admirable run of competitive wins. Their natural talent, great team spirit, work ethic and determination are what drove them to be one of the teams’ worthy of being called the GOAT.
The reason they are number one on this list, and will remain there for quite a while, is because they are the best evidence that team play and brilliant work ethics can win games and dominate the world of competitive CSGO…
And all of that happened in around 13 months’ time…
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