CS 2
Like it or not, CS:GO is now gone, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop talking about it.
Global Offensive was a huge part of our lives for the best part of eleven years, and in that time we saw history be written as heroes rose and fell before our very eyes. There have been countless great players, but if we take metas and eras out of the equation, which five would fit together to make the greatest team of all time?
Let’s try to answer that question.
In-Game Leader
Kicking it off with the IGL, we should establish that we won’t be taking Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo into consideration for the spot. Though he was a great leader, and his successes shouldn’t be disregarded, the fact he also occupied the role of the AWPer would complicate things further down the line.
With FalleN out of the way, let’s also get the controversial decision out in the open: Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander will not be our in-game leader.
We get that might be surprising. For most people, gla1ve is considered to be the greatest IGL of all time, and we can see why. A four-time Major winner, Intel Grand Slam winner, and father of the meta that would later become a necessary adaptation for all top teams if they wished to truly compete, gla1ve had an incredible impact on the game, we just don’t think that makes him the greatest of all time.
Credit: Joao Ferreira/PGL
With Astralis, gla1ve had one of the greatest assemblies of talent in history, and each member of that team could easily take a spot in this team, but we only consider that to be an argument against gla1ve’s inclusion.
Not only that, but gla1ve also struggled to stay on top once every team had adapted to his more tactical way of playing. In the past few years, his achievements have been very few, and as Astralis continued to be mediocre this year, he was benched and replaced as leader by Benjamin "blameF" Bremer.
The final point that takes gla1ve out of consideration is that his successes came with just one team, a fact we consider to be very important. Being able to lead one group of people is impressive of course, but if you struggle in different environments, is that not too much of a question mark?
With that being a key factor, who else can we take out of the equation? Markus "pronax" Wallsten was incredible in the early years of CS:GO, as was his compatriot Richard "Xizt" Landstrom, but they both also only had success with one team, so count them out too.
That leaves us with two notable names: Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko and Finn "karrigan" Andersen.
Credit: Helena Kristiansson/ESLZeus may have become a bit of a meme for his individual level, but his achievements in Global Offensive deserve more respect than they get. Winner of ESL One: Cologne 2018 with NAVI, he also took Gambit to a Major win at PGL Krakow 2017, his crowning moment as a leader.
However, the thing we admire the most about Zeus is that he had a distinct style. His teams were known for running down the clock, leaving it until the last second to strike their opponents when the fear was truly starting to set in. It’s a uniqueness that has been lost in recent years.
With all that said, it’s clear we’re big fans of Zeus, but he isn’t the man to lead our team, karrigan is.
karrigan is an excellent tactician, and outside of that, not many people have won as much in the game as he has. Cologne, Katowice, the Major, the Grand Slam, you name it, karrigan has won it, and even more impressively, he’s now had success with four different cores.
It might be a controversial choice, but it’s one that we’re confident in.
AWPer
From captain to star, there are only three names worth mentioning here: Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, Nicolai "device" Reedtz and Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev.
Let’s start with the Frenchman.
A two-time HLTV Best Player of the Year award winner, ZywOo is without a doubt one of the greatest players to ever grace the game. He’ll pick up his third Best Player of the Year award this year, the same year he also became a Major winner at the BLAST.tv Paris Major.
If ZywOo was a couple of years older, we think he actually may have won this spot, but unfortunately, his time at the top still has too many caveats. Too much of his career was spent locked away in the online era, and there are still too many big events still to be won. One of a kind he may be, he won’t be the AWPer in our team.
So why not device? device is arguably the most consistent player of all time, and that dates back to before he even started AWPing. A phenomenal talent, he may have struggled with choking in big games earlier in his career, but that’s a problem he put behind him a long time ago.
Credit: Stephanie Lindgren/ESLSince then he has won four Majors as well as an Intel Grand Slam, the heaviest hitter on gla1ve’s dominant Astralis team, if it wasn’t for s1mple he would’ve been the best player in the world in 2018, and despite s1mple, many believed he should have been at the time.
device is the AWPer that anyone looking to AWP should learn from. His rotations are excellent, as is where he picks to start rounds to remain unpredictable, he very rarely makes mistakes, and since his return to Astralis, he’s carving out new paths for opening kills and using the AWP in a way that had seemed lost in tier one.
A truly one-of-a-kind player, device will forever be a part of Counter-Strike history, but sadly for him, there’ll always be one man ahead of him: s1mple.
The greatest player to ever play Counter-Strike, it would be impossible to make this team without including s1mple. A true X factor for any team he has played for, no one has ever won as many MVP awards as s1mple, his three HLTV Best Player of the Year awards are the most any player has won.
It’s simple really.
Credit: Stefan Petrescu/PGLLurker
Moving onto the passive star of the team, the obvious answer is Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund. The Swede is the man who invented lurking in Global Offensive, and he was awarded the Best Player of the Year twice by HLTV in 2013 and 2014, but we don’t think that means his inclusion in this team should be a foregone conclusion.
GeT_RiGhT was an exceptional, meta-defining player, and a key part of why NIP managed to make all five of the first five CS:GO Major finals, but we just think there’s a better fit for our team.
Marcelo "coldzera" David may have somewhat stained his legacy in his spells with FaZe and Complexity, but in his prime coldzera was indomitable. The MVP of both of his team’s Major wins in 2016, he was awarded the Best Player of the Year by HLTV in both 2016 and 2017, and outside of s1mple, Counter-Strike arguably hasn’t seen a peak as great as his.
Credit: Adela Sznajder/DreamHackTwo players that have become overshadowed by the later years of their careers being weaker individually than the earlier years, their greatness is now disrespected, and in truth, either one of them could be a part of this team, but there’s an extra element to coldzera that makes him so impressive.
GeT_RiGhT was already a tier-one professional player before the release of CS:GO, he already had years of experience and being in the typically stronger European scene, he had everything there for him to succeed in the game.
On the other hand, coldzera debuted in HLTV’s top 20 in the top spot, and he did so while playing for a South American team, a region that while it had always been present, had failed to have any real achievements of note prior to 2016.
He helped put Brazil on the map in Counter-Strike, and for that reason, coldzera will be our lurker.
Entry Fragger
The aggressive star of the team, the role of the entry fragger has become a more supportive role in more recent years. Now often used as bait for a trade fragger à la Rene "TeSeS" Madsen and Martin "stavn" Lund, we’d prefer to instead have more star power in our team, so we’ll be looking at entries who can take a game upon their shoulders and dominate.
If we want to go off tournament victories alone then look no further than Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen. A five-time Major winner in CS:GO, no one has won or ever will win more Majors than dupreeh in our beloved game, and he could be included in the team for that reason alone.
The only player to feature at every CS:GO Major, similarly to his former Astralis teammate device, dupreeh is consistency personified, another important metric in a role where players often struggle to stay relevant over extended periods of time.
Consistency is key, and for that reason, we’d be remiss to not mention Havard "rain" Nygaard. Many have called for him to be benched from FaZe many times, but the Norwegian giant is still standing, and there’s good reason for that.
Credit: Stefan Petrescu/PGLA CT-side specialist, outside of dupreeh, he is probably the most consistent aggressive star of all time. The MVP of the PGL Antwerp Major, rain has had a career renaissance in the past couple of years, and he has now shown why FaZe are never willing to part with him.
That being said, rain does struggle at points, so instead we’ll turn to his former teammate for our star entry.
Nikola "NiKo" Kovac may not be the first name that springs to mind when people think of entry fraggers, but in recent memory, that’s how he’s been operating. Far more selfless than he used to be, NiKo is one of the best openers in the world, and when he is in top form, it’s almost impossible to stop his G2 team from winning whatever event they’re attending.
A lack of tournament victories was always the caveat for NiKo, but given he has now won both IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne, no one can hold that over him anymore. His peak is absurdly high, and alongside s1mple and device in 2018, he’s part of the most hotly contested Best Player of the Year ever.
The greatest rifler in CS:GO history, we needed to find room for NiKo in our team, and we think he’ll be perfect as its aggressive star.
Credit: Stephanie Lindgren/ESLSupport
The final spot on our team is to be filled by its most supportive element.
If we want to go with consistency and longevity, then look no further than Freddy "KRIMZ" Johansson. The last man standing from the golden age of Sweden in CS:GO, KRIMZ can still be found playing tier one CS today, and there’s good reason for that.
An incredibly composed player, KRIMZ is everything you want from a support player. He’s capable in clutches, reliable when needed to anchor a site, and selfless when he needs to be. It’s no surprise he’s made it this long.
Another name worth throwing into the ring is Ilya "Perfecto" Zalutskiy. The Russian was part of the NAVI team that dominated 2021, and as far as support players go, his peak is one of the highest to ever be seen.
That being said, we can’t truly consider him for our team, because he just doesn’t have the longevity compared to KRIMZ and the man we have chosen.
So who will be our support player? There are really no prizes for guessing.
Andreas "Xyp9x" Hojsleth is the greatest support player of all time. Known as "The Clutch Minister" for the sheer amount of seemingly impossible 1vX situations he walked away from with a round win in his hands, Xyp9x is the man who defined the meaning of the support role.
An exceptional site anchor and a key part of the way Astralis played as they rose to dominance in 2018 and 2019, Xyp9x could do all the things KRIMZ can do and more, and it wouldn’t be right to consider any names above him.
Credit: Joao Ferreira/PGLCoach
Okay let’s not be silly here, it’s Danny “zonic” Sorensen. It’s not up for debate if we're being intellectually honest. With that, our CS:GO GOAT team list is closed up. What do you think about our choices?
