CSGO Is Still The Most Competitive Esport In The World
As the Gamers8 CSGO tournament came to a close, Vitality once again established themselves as one of the world’s top teams. After their wins at the BLAST, IEM Rio 2023 and the Paris Major, this was inevitable.
Still, ENCE, Heroic, and G2 have all won events in the meanwhile, making this Vitality’s first title in three months. It’s a happy coincidence that these four squads all made it to the Final Four of Gamers8‘s CSGO competition. It’s been a long time since we had four teams all equally deserving of the biggest trophies. Tier 1 CSGO is more competitive than ever, as Gamers8 has demonstrated.
Multiple teams have established themselves as the best in the world at CSGO over the past year or two. In the middle of 2022, FaZe Clan was unstoppable, winning the Intel Grand Slam. Later in 2022, Heroic joined the fray. Even though they didn’t win as often as they’d have liked, they were the only team to regularly make it to the championship game.
In the first half of 2023, G2 rose to prominence, and they went on to have one of the longest unbeaten streaks in CSGO LAN history. Then there was Vitality, who finally gelled after a long period of discord starting in April. At the time of each competition, there was little dispute that these teams were the best in the world, despite the presence of other strong opposition.
So, what’s different now? In the end, the best teams never perform poorly enough to entirely slip off the map. A few missteps were to be expected, and they were, but nothing warranted pressing the panic button. All four teams—ENCE, G2, Vitality, and Heroic—are now at peak performance and can challenge for any and all trophies.
Roster changes, or the lack thereof, could be a contributing cause. Most of the best CSGO teams made significant changes to their rosters between the middle of June and the middle of July. G2, ENCE, and Heroic stayed true to their guys, while the other two teams switched.
These groups are reaping the benefits of their unwavering faith. The most notable squad that isn’t reaping these rewards is FaZe, but there’s a growing suspicion that they’re a spent force at this point. Counter-Strike 2 is about to be released, and that might drastically alter the gaming landscape. In the chaos, it might be crucial to have some roster continuity.
The unconventional structure of the Gamers8 CSGO tournament made it fun to watch. At Gamers8, there was only one path to the championship game, and that was through a single elimination tournament. Despite all, no major shocks emerged. The best and brightest nevertheless made it to the top in Riyadh.
As a result, we can see where the current status of ENCE, G2, Vitality, and Heroic currently stands. They’re now performing at a level that few others can match, and yet it’s nearly impossible to tell them apart when they play each other. When it does happen, the outcome is usually decided by a flash of genius from one player or another, or at best a coin toss.
Even if you don’t like the Gamers8 idea as a whole, you have to admit that the format has put the current state of CSGO’s competitive scene on full display. No doubt the scene is at its healthiest when competition is stronger than ever, so here’s hoping this trend continues for as long as possible.
Don’t miss out on the rest of our content as we’ll be covering a variety of CSGO, Valorant, and League of Legends tournaments in the coming months as well as sharing our esports picks with you! Don’t forget to bet on esports at BetUS Sportsbook & Casino. We’ve plenty of CSGO odds for you to consider
