The first quarter of the year has already provided valuable insights into the current state of the competitive Counter-Strike scene. From the standout performances of Vitality to emerging trends, here’s what we’ve learned:
Vitality, Alone at the Top
The BLAST Open Spring 2025 concluded in Lisbon with a victory for Team Vitality, who triumphed 3-2 in the final against MOUZ, finally facing some competition this year. This win marks their third title of the year, following their victories at IEM Katowice and EPL Season 21. With a streak of 16 consecutive wins across all competitions, apEX’s team has lost only one match since the start of the year.
16 consecutive matches won on LAN 🤯 @TeamVitalityCS
This streak is already the fourth longest in CS:GO and CS2 LAN history… but will they go further? 👀 pic.twitter.com/qccxl4pHGU
— HLTV.org (@HLTVorg) March 30, 2025
It’s hard not to focus on the extraordinary start to the season by ZywOo, who, with a 1.41 rating and 3 MVPs already under his belt, has firmly positioned himself as a favorite in the race for the best player in the world. However, since we’re used to all the attention being on him, let’s turn our focus to other factors that explain the team’s success.
Best player at EPL, best player at BLAST Lisbon 🇫🇷👑@zywoo was voted HLTV and @thunderpickco Community Player of the Month for March 2025 pic.twitter.com/L3JaG6TvW8
— HLTV.org (@HLTVorg) April 1, 2025
ropz has already established himself as the transfer of the year. Arriving for free, he has not only proven himself to be one of the best players in history in his role but also brought his strong work ethic, becoming, alongside apEX, a true driving force for the team. The Estonian has also proven to be a winning machine. In the three finals of the year, he played a key role as the second technical leader behind the ever-impressive ZywOo, with standout performances: a 1.44 rating in the Katowice final, 1.25 in Stockholm, and 1.12 in Lisbon.
In a podcast with the famous influencer Gotaga this Monday, apEX revealed that he is in his best individual shape since becoming the team’s leader in 2020. He attributes his return to top form, after a tough 2024, to his work-life balance, regular exercise, and healthy eating. These performance factors, he became aware of a year and a half ago, when he sought to continue competing with the new generation of pro players. It comes as no surprise, then, that with a 1.10 rating during Katowice and 1.13 in the Pro League, Vitality’s captain has delivered his two best individual performances since December 2023 (1.14 at the BLAST World Final).
Une hygiène de vie de sportif, c'est ça qu'on veut voir se démocratiser dans toutes les équipes esport 🙏 pic.twitter.com/rkTcAOLl9W
— GotagaTV (@GotagaTV) March 31, 2025
With the next Major scheduled for early June, the only concern might be whether the team has reached its peak performance too soon.
MOUZ, the Second Force Behind Vitality
WE ARE YOUR BLAST BOUNTY 2025 S1 FINALS CHAMPIONS 🏆🏆🏆
Thank you all for your immeasurable support 🤍🖤#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/7lUGdDgrbn
— Team Spirit CS2 (@Team__Spirit) January 26, 2025
Behind Vitality, only two teams seem capable of competing. And unsurprisingly, these are the two other teams that have found success in 2025. Winners of the BLAST Bounty, Team Spirit has lost their two direct encounters with Vitality this year—in the playoffs in Lisbon and in the 3-0 final in Katowice. The Russians have only lost to two teams this year: Vitality and MOUZ. Although Russian stars donk and sh1ro have had an impressive start to the season, with ratings of 1.42 and 1.23 placing them both in the top 5 players so far, the team seems to be facing a situation similar to 2024, when they struggled to secure any trophies. This could potentially lead to magixx being removed from the roster—a player who was already on the verge of being cut at the end of 2024 before he redeemed himself with an exceptional performance in Shanghai. His place could be taken by kyousuke, the 17-year-old talent from the academy.
CHAMPIONS 🏆
We crown ourselves proud winners of PGL Cluj-Napoca with a 3-1 victory over Falcons. Very few believed in it in the beginning, but we never lost track of our goal. Big thanks to all the MOUZ fans out there for their relentless support! Today we celebrate, tomorrow… pic.twitter.com/LUjKXj9n3b
— MOUZ (@mousesports) February 23, 2025
With two consecutive wins against Spirit, it is now Brollan’s men who seem to be the biggest threat to Vitality. Since the arrival of Spinx after IEM Katowice, the team has found its cruising rhythm, starting with a victory at Cluj-Napoca. Without true stars but with a solid team dynamic, MOUZ has only lost three times since their PGL title—three times against Vitality. And although they were soundly defeated in the Pro League final in their first matchup, the gap seemed to narrow in Lisbon, where, after a close defeat in the group stage, MOUZ even led 2-1 in the final Bo5. The trio of xertioN, torzsi, and Spinx could emerge as the standout force of 2025.
In Short
The big names in the scene are struggling to compete with the Counter-Strike big three. G2 is still searching for its identity, with malbsMd facing difficulties. The player’s CT-side gameplay is often criticized for a lack of creativity. huNter doesn’t seem able to step up as the team’s second voice for now, and m0NESY sometimes overplays to compensate for the lack of impact from some of his teammates. There are many issues to address for the Polish duo of Snax and TaZ, who may soon start feeling the pressure.
NAVI hasn’t made much progress compared to the same time last year. Key players are failing to make enough of an impact to bring consistency to the team. Despite a rough end to 2024, the squad has refused to make any changes—but opting for one might soon become a priority ahead of the Austin Major.
G2 and NAVI aren’t the only teams struggling to reach a high enough level to compete with the best. Aside from the lost final in Cluj-Napoca, Falcons are struggling to break through, while FaZe, Liquid, and Astralis are all slipping down the global rankings. This situation has allowed two teams to break into the VRS top 5: TheMongolz and Eternal Fire.
