2019 brought a brawl between the world's best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams. While Astralis, Team Liquid, and Evil Geniuses will surely continue the battle in 2020, a few other teams have fought for their spots among the top ranks. While there is no telling who will bring the most fire in the new year, three teams look ready to continue their rise in 2020.

mousesports

Multinational squad mousesports have earned their spot at the top of the CS:GO scene. After kicking off the year with a disappointing result at the IEM Katowice Minor, the team took on a complete rebuild. Maintaining just Robin “ropz” Kool and Chris “chrisJ” de Jong, mousesports added Özgür “woxic” Eker, David “frozen” Čerňanský, and renowned in-game leader Finn “karrigan” Andersen. The team quickly found a respectable form, placing 5-6th at IEM Sydney and winning DreamHack Open Tours. After a long run through the European Minor system, mousesports qualified for the StarLadder Berlin Major. A close battle with Team Liquid saw the team narrowly miss out on a play-offs appearance at the roster’s first Major.

via StarLadder

Picking up from Berlin, mousesports made the semi-finals of the V4 Future Sports Festival, and placed 5-6th at DreamHack Masters Malmö. The team qualified for the ESL Pro League Season 10 LAN Finals after securing the top spot from their group. A string of LAN tournaments at the end of the year allowed mouz to reach a new level, as they kicked off their run with a victory over ENCE at the CS:GO Asia Championships. They next attended the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals, coming out with another victory after defeating Evil Geniuses, Astralis, and Fnatic. Their final two LAN appearances ended in another victory at cs_summit 5, and a runner-up finish at EPICENTER 2019. Now standing as the second-ranked team in the world, mousesports won't be slowing down any time soon.

G2 Esports

Traditionally French side G2 Esports suffered a rough start to 2019, taking an early exit from the IEM Katowice Major and missing out on Grand Final appearances at the WESG Finals and DreamHack Open Tours. Their form picked up again as summer arrived, finishing 5-6th at DreamHack Masters Dallas and reaching the Grand Final of the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals on home soil. A group stage exit from the StarLadder Berlin Major would mark the end of that roster’s time together, as Richard “shox” Papillon left the team shortly after. The team would play briefly with a stand-in before taking a risk, moving their historically French squad to a multinational status.

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In October, G2 signed Serbian up-and-comers Nemanja “nexa” Isaković and Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač. With little time to practice, the squad immediately jumped into DreamHack Masters Malmö, where they were eliminated in 9-12th place. Shaking off their debut performance, the team finished 5-6th at StarSeries Season 8 later that same month. Though the international side has struggled to find consistent results, G2 did end the year on a high note. Despite their loss to a stand-in-riddled mousesports, G2 did reach the Final of cs_summit 5, and later redeemed themselves with a victory at the Champions Cup Finals. G2 have exhibited a fast-paced playstyle powered by the talents of huNter-, François "AmaNEk" Delaunay, and Kenny “kennyS” Schrub. As the language barriers continue to fall, G2 will become an exciting factor in 2020.

100 Thieves

The Australian side of 100 Thieves began their year under the Renegades banner. After fighting through the Asia Minor, the squad made an unprecedented run to IEM Katowice’s quarter-finals - the farthest an Australian team had ever gone in a CS:GO Major. They followed that result with some inconsistent performances, reaching the semi-finals of StarSeries Season 7 and taking an early exit from IEM Sydney. They stagnated throughout the summer, only reaching a peak again as StarLadder Berlin came around. They doubled down on their IEM Katowice showing, and reached new heights as they made it to the semi-finals of the year’s second Major.

via ESL

The Aussie squad picked up their form after the Major, finishing fourth at StarSeries Season 8 and qualifying for the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals. The team joined North American organization 100 Thieves in October, debuting under their new banner a week later at IEM Beijing. 100 Thieves reached the Grand Final of the Beijing event, falling to a dominant Astralis. They closed out the year at the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals, where they finished in 7-8th place. The Australian side achieved a new level in 2019, with Justin “jks” Savage taking center stage as one of the best players in the world. 100 Thieves look poised to maintain their rise up the CS:GO ranks in 2020.

These three teams, and more of Counter-Strike’s best, will return to competitive play in 2020.

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