Vitality Remains at the Top of the CS2 Rankings after Austin Major 2025 Triumph

A European team born in France wins the most defining Counter-Strike tournament of the year. The Austin Major trophy became Vitality’s seventh in a row — the squad has been dominating the entire season, meaning the first half of 2025. That alone kept them at the top of the CS2 Rankings for weeks, but now they’ve locked in the #1 spot with a massive gap from anyone below. Let’s break down how Vitality pulled off this win at BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.

Vitality’s Current CS2 Ranking

Since the start of 2025, Team Vitality has secured victories at seven straight Tier-S tournaments: Intel Extreme Masters Katowice in February, ESL Pro League Season 21 and BLAST Open Spring in March, Intel Extreme Masters Melbourne in April, BLAST Rivals Spring and IEM Dallas in May, and finally BLAST Austin Major in June. The win at IEM Melbourne also brought Vitality the ESL Grand Slam Season 5 title — a trophy awarded for winning four elite events within a set time frame, along with a bonus prize of $1 million in gold bars, separate from regular tournament winnings.

This streak marks the first long-lasting domination — a so-called era — by a team since Counter-Strike transitioned from Global Offensive (CS:GO) to CS2. Naturally, this is reflected in any CS2 Ranking, where Vitality currently holds a massive lead in rating points over the second and lower spots. Recently, EGamersWorld launched its own branded ranking system that stands apart from more mainstream options by focusing on tournament class — whether it’s Tier-S, Tier-A, and so on — and ranking teams based on their success in top-tier events. Unlike Valve’s World Ranking, which often boosts teams for wins in minor regional tournaments, our approach prioritizes elite-level consistency.

Image: EGamersWorld CS2 Ranking: Vitality has 2054.0 EGW Points after securing victory on BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.

An alternative ranking is one way to push analytical depth. Every CS2 Ranking is a tool for understanding the scene, but using multiple tools gives you a fuller picture of the professional Counter-Strike landscape. That’s why, for forecasting or any serious discussion about upcoming team performances, relying on one or two rankings isn’t enough. The more you explore, the better you’ll catch those shadowy details that tell the real story.

Vitality – MongolZ Grand Final Matchup Review

The MongolZ received a direct invite to Stage 3 of the Major as Asia’s top representative according to Valve’s world ranking. Their opening match saw them fall to a strong FURIA side, who stormed through the stage with a flawless 3-0 run. But the Mongolian squad quickly found their rhythm, eliminating Liquid and Lynn Vision, narrowly losing to FaZe, and then taking out G2 in a high-stakes elimination match. In the playoffs, they earned sweet revenge against FaZe — a massive confidence booster, which landed them a favorable semifinal matchup against paiN. By the time they reached the Grand Final, the MongolZ were underdogs on paper, but fan favorites in the arena. Watching it live, it felt like 80% of the crowd was rooting for them, with every last frag they landed triggering huge roars of support.

apEX's appearance on stage before the Austin Major Grand Final clash with Team MongolZ/EGW.NEWS

They had a solid showing on Mirage, but Vitality — who were oddly booed throughout the match for no clear reason — stayed laser-focused. They shut down the MongolZ on Dust2 and absolutely dominated the first half of Inferno, where the game started slipping away fast. As the win for Vitality became more and more inevitable, the Austin crowd shifted to rooting against them rather than for the MongolZ. Vitality’s captain apEX leaned into the crowd’s energy, responding with cheeky finger gestures both during and after the match — a fitting end to a spicy Grand Final atmosphere.

Vitality’s Historic Stats

Right before the Grand Final kicked off in Austin, a moment of CS history took center stage — five-time Major champion and Astralis legend dupreeh appeared on stage to announce the end of his career. With tears in his eyes, he said the timing felt right, just moments before another team would lift the BLAST trophy. That emotional farewell added a layer of historical weight to the end of the tournament and marked a symbolic passing of the torch.

For every Vitality player, this win felt like the performance of their lives. For apEX, it’s his third Major victory — and solid proof that under his leadership, Vitality has become the strongest team in CS2 and officially kicked off the first real era of the new game.

For ropz, it’s a proud milestone. Since joining Vitality, the team’s level skyrocketed — Robin turned out to be the missing piece of the puzzle that led to their seventh trophy and this Major win.

ZyWOo now holds 27 MVPs at the age of 24 — statistically unmatched so far. Two MVPs ago, Mathieu Herbaut overtook Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev as the top of the all-time MVP leaderboard.

As for mezii, this was his first-ever Major win. And for FlameZ, he got to celebrate his 22nd birthday by winning a Major — doesn’t get more memorable than that.

Vitality Title Defense

Further tournaments in which the team will participate in large numbers will not decide their fate on the list, because Vitality can afford a long rest and even a defeat, the gap in points in the CS2 Ranking is quite large, so the teams on the list below also need to establish themselves as long-term dominators, only then will they be able to move the favorite of CS 2025.