G2 Esports are now ranked #1 in CS:GO

G2 Esports took a big gamble when it signed Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov more than a year ago. After an entire season full of struggles and a few Grand Finals but no big wins, the team finally succeeded at BLAST Premier: World Final in December 2022. This was the first $1 million CS:GO event won by G2 in a very long time.

Following this success, G2 climbed to the third position in global rankings. But all the analysts and pundits knew that they were the big favorite to win IEM Katowice. Natus Vincere, Team Vitality, FaZe Clan, and Team Liquid were nowhere near their level. As for Heroic, they weren’t even expected to finish in the top four.

In the end, Heroic were the second Grand Finalist but they couldn’t stand up against G2, despite their excellent roster. On the first three maps, the battle between the two teams was close: 16-12 on Nuke, 16-13 on Mirage, and 11-16 on Inferno. But the fourth, Ancient, was easily won by G2: 16-7.

Back to being #1 in the world

G2 were the number-one team in the world before. It happened in June 2020. Back then, only one of the current G2 members was part of the roster: Nemanja “huNter-“ Kovac, who had joined in September 2019.

G2 didn’t spend much time at the top. They were quickly dethroned and this was their only glorious moment in almost seven years of activity. Just a few months later, they were ranked 13th.

After a series of roster changes, the team climbed back to the top-3. Another series of ups and downs followed. During this rollercoaster period, G2’s peak was reached in November. Back then, they were ranked second in the world. The bottom was reached in August 2022, when they were ranked 14^th.

The biggest disappointment for G2 was their failure to qualify for the IEM Rio Major. The tournament would have been an amazing opportunity for them but they fell short of qualifying. At that point, everyone assumed that the roster would soon collapse and then get rebuilt.

But instead of giving up, G2 Esports stayed strong and continued to train hard. This lasted for several months until, in December, their efforts were rewarded with a tournament win that more than compensated for their IEM Rio failure.

Now it’s clear that their BLAST Premier: World Final wasn’t a fluke. Given the difficulties that other top teams are experiencing right now, G2 are likely to have a very successful season in CS:GO.

Header: ESL