The top 5 CS:GO-teams that have been playing together for a long time

The five teams, in which cyber-sportsmen have been playing together the longest.

News about reshuffles in the CS:GO world emerge very often, many teams try to come to the success with a help of roster changes. But there are teams that have chosen the way of patience and stability. We will tell you about them in this material.

Not all representatives of the top have been playing with the same roster to this day but all of them have stood out with the fact that, despite all difficulties, had been playing in a team for a long time.

The 5th place — Astralis (1 year and 3 months)

The Dane players from Astralis set up on the fifth place with their coach zonic. Peter «dupreeh» Rothmann, Andreas «Xyp9x» Hojsleth, Nicolai «dev1ce» Reedtz and Danny «zonic» Sorensen became a part of Astralis on January 18, 2016. Astralis bought Lukas «gla1ve» Rossander, a young talented cyber-sportsman from Heroic 9 months later, on October 24, 2016, as a result, he became the team’s in-game leader.

After a month and a half, it became clear that lots of eSports issues had called gla1ve a rising star of the Danish CS:GO scene for a reason, when Astralis became the vice-champions of ELEAGUE Season 2, having lost to OpTic Gaming with a score 1:2. One week later, Astralis made a great rematch against the American team and, having won them with a score 2:0, became the champions of Esports Championship Series Season 2 — Finals.

After the victory in the league Esports Championship Series #2, the team was noticed by the company Audi that decided to sign a contract with the Danes and to become their sponsor.

Gla1ve and his team raised the cup of ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017 over their heads in a month and the most beautiful final against Virtus.pro, in which Astralis had made an amazing comeback, is still remembered by CS:GO viewers.

It is worth to notice that the final had been so insulting loss for Virtus.pro that ELEAGUE hosted the largest show match in the CS:GO history with the participation of Astralis and Virtus.pro. The show match was called ELEAGUE Clash for Cash: The Rematch. Its prize pool amounted $250,000 and Virtus.pro was not able to take revenge on the Danish five. In the beginning of 2017, when Astralis reached the top of the world CS:GO rate by HLTV.org due to high results but stepped down to the second place and then even lower. During the activity of the roster, Astralis achieved the following big results:

ELEAGUE Season 2 (the 2nd place). The sum of the prize amounted $140,000. The final was lost to OpTic Gaming with a score 1:2.Esports Championship Series Season 2 — Finals (the 1st place). The sum of the prize amounted $250,000. The final was won against OpTic Gaming with a score 2:0.ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017 (the 1st place). The sum of the prize amounted $500,000. The final was won against Virtus.pro with a score 2:1.ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2017 (the 2nd place). The sum of the prize amounted $150,000. The final was lost to FaZe Clan with a score 0:2.

On February 2, 2018, Markus «Kjaerbye» Kjaerbye transferred to the other Danish team, having joined the ranks of North.

The 4th place — Vega Squadron (1 year and 3 months)

The five cyber-sportsmen was assembled on October 4, 2016, it was playing under the tag ALL-IN. The team was signed by the organization Vega Squadron on November 17. Its roster included such players as Dmitriy «jR» Chervak, Nikolay «mir» Bityukov, Leonid «chopper» Vishnyakov, Sergey «keshandr» Nikishin and Pavel «hutji» Lashkov.

The victory at China Top 2017 - Shenzhen is the largest achievement in the history of the Russian five, where the team’s prize amounted ~$75,000. There, they beat AGO Gaming in the final with a score 2:1. Also, the 15th-16th place at PGL Major Krakow 2017 and the 9th-11th place at ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 are prominent achievements for Vega Squadron.

Vega qualified for a Major tournament twice, when they were not expected to do so. The fact that the CIS team beat FaZe Clan with a score 16-6 in the second round of Challengers Stage deserves a specific attention. This victory was one of the Major’s memorable events.

Compared to other teams that make reshuffles over and over again in the hope of improving team’s results, Vega Squadron has been playing with such roster for 1 year and 3 months, with which not every team can impress.

The 3rd place — Ninjas in Pyjamas (1 year and 5 months)

The Swedish five, that consisted of Patrik «f0rest» Lindberg, Christopher «GeT_RiGhT» Alesund, Richard «Xizt» Landstrom and Jacob «pyth» Mourujarvi, was playing with such roster from December 29, 2015, to May 19, 2017.

The victories at the following championships are three greatest achievements of the Swedish team during this time:

StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2 (the 1st place). The sum of the prize amounted $130,000. The final was won against G2 Esports with a score 2:0.DreamHack Masters Malmo 2016 (the 1st place). The sum of the prize amounted $100,000. The final was won against Natus Vincere with a score 2:0.Intel Extreme Masters XI — Oakland (the 1st place). The sum of the prize amounted $128,000. The final was won against SK Gaming with a score 2:1.

The triumph of Ninjas in Pyjamas in Oakland was a really important event in the history of the eSports organization. The victory was not easy and the Brazilian five, that is considered to be the strongest team in the last few years, appeared to be their opponent in the final.

During this time, the team also could hold the second place at DreamHack Open Summer 2016 and ESL Pro League Season 4 Europe and also to become the bronze medalist at ESL Pro League Season 3 — Finals and ESL Pro League Season 4 — Finals.

After the row of hard losses and pyth’s health problems, the decision to change the roster was made. Jacob «pyth» Mourujarvi had left Ninjas in Pyjamas on May 19, 2017, and has not appeared on the professional scene anymore. Adam «friberg» Friberg left this five too when moved to OpTic Gaming on July 31, 2017. With regard to f0rest, GeT_RiGhT, and Xizt, this three is still representing the colors of Ninjas in Pyjamas. It is worth to notice that the cyber-sportsmen joined NiP on August 10, 2012, and have been playing in the team for five years and a half.

The 2nd place — Natus Vincere (3 years and 8 months)

The golden roster of Natus Vincere set up on the second place, which is still remembered and looked back by many representatives of the CS:GO community.

In 2009, the team, that played under the tag Arbalet.UA, was assembled from the representatives of KerchNET and pro100. The roster was renamed into Na’Vi later. The five Ukrainian players, including Yegor «markeloff» Markelov, Arseniy «ceh9» Trynozhenko, Ioann «Edward» Sukhariev, Sergey «starix» Ischuk and their captain Danylo «Zeus» Teslenko, showed amazing results in 2010. Na’Vi became the first team that won three Major tournaments in one year. The golden roster prevailed at Intel Extreme Masters IV, having beaten Fnatic in the final with a score 2:0, and earned the main money prize in the sum of $50,000. The Swedish five considered to be one of the strongest teams at the moment and Natus Vincere’s victory was a surprise for a lot of viewers. ESWC 2010 was the second large tournament won by Na’Vi in 2010, where the Ukrainians overcame SK Gaming in the final with a score 2:1 and received the prize in the sum of $36,000. World Cyber Games 2010 became the third large tournament for Na’Vi, where the team beat mTw in the final with a score 2:1 and earned the main money prize in the sum of $25,000. Later, Natus Vincere became the champions of DreamHack Winter 2010 and set the record for the number of prize money in a year, having passed the mark $215,000. Previously, this record was owned by Fnatic that had earned $189,000 in a year. It is worth to notice that Na’Vi also won such tournaments as Arbalet Dallas 2010 and Arbalet Cup of Four, where earned $25,000 and $12,500, respectively.

In 2011, Natus Vincere again protected their title of the champion at Intel Extreme Masters V and started following the pass of varying success.

2012 was not very successful for the team: the only victory at IEM VI Global Challenge and the change of the eSports discipline. With a launch of CS:GO, many teams moved from CS 1.6 to CS:GO and Na’Vi was not an exception. After Natus Vincere started following the path of failures, Astana Dragons were created in 2013, which consisted of the best players from the CIS region. Edward and markeloff received an offer to join the ranks of Astana Dragons and the Ukrainians didn’t have reasons to refuse the offer.

3 years and 8 months after the assemblage of the roster, on July 18, 2013, the golden roster of Natus Vincere was changed and ceh9 finished a gaming career half a year later. A bit later, starix moved on a position of a coach and Zeus transferred to Gambit eSports.

To date, Zeus and Edward have returned to Na’Vi and been protecting the honor of the organization at various tournaments, markeloff has been playing in FlipSid3 Tactics since February 1, 2015, starix is listed as inactive in Team Spirit and ceh9 is a coach’s assistant in pro100 and a streamer of Natus Vincere.

The 1st place — Virtus.pro (4 years)

The Polish five of «the Bears» holds the first place. The Virtus.pro roster was assembled on December 18, 2013, and was playing under the tag AGAiN. After a month, on January 25, 2014, Virtus.pro signed contracts with the players of AGAiN, after which TaZ together with his team has been representing the colors of VP for four years.

After a year, a coach joined the team. During the time, the team went through thick and thin. They were raising cups over their heads together and were feeling the bitterness of defeats.

«The Bears» could achieve the following big results in four years:

ELEAGUE Season 1 (the 1st place). The final was won against Fnatic with a score 2-0 and the prize amounted $400,000.DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017 (the 1st place). The final was won against Astralis with a score 2-1 and the prize amounted $200,000.ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017 (the 2nd place). The final was lost to Astralis with a score 1-2 and the prize amounted $150,000.EPICENTER 2016 (the 2nd place). The final was lost to Team Dignitas with a score 1-2 and the prize amounted $100,000.EPICENTER 2017 (the 2nd place). The final was lost to SK Gaming with a score 2-3 and the prize amounted $100,000.

ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 was the last tournament, in which Virtus.pro competed. There, the Poles held the 15th-16th place and finished the participation in ELEAGUE Major: Boson 2018 — Legends Stage in the 3rd round. Their prize was in the sum of $8,750.

It is worth to remind that after the triumph at DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017, the CS:GO roster signed a contract with Virtus.pro that is valid until 2020. If the agreement is not canceled, TaZ together with his teammates will be able to become the first team, which members have been playing together for 6 years. However, rumors have recently emerged that Virtus.pro wants to make changes to the CS:GO roster: to finish a partnership with the team’s captain Wiktor «TaZ» Wojtas and to sign Michał «MICHU» Müller. There are no official comments from the management or players.

At the moment, Virtus.pro includes the following players:

Wiktor «TaZ» WojtasFilip «NEO» KubskiJarosław «pashaBiceps» JarząbkowskiJanusz «Snax» PogorzelskiPaweł «byali» Bieliński

Jakub «kuben» Gurczyński (coach)