From Paris to Copenhagen, what's changed?

Only 13 of the 24 organizations who were in Paris return for PGL Major Copenhagen, and not a single one of their rosters went untouched.

Reigning Major champions Vitality no longer have Magisk, dupreeh and zonic on their books

The months that follow a Major are always volatile, bringing about tides of change that crash over the shores of Counter-Strike. Organizations structure entire rosters around making it through the RMR cycle and finding success at the Major, and failure to do so is a bitter pill to swallow for players who dream of the day they can leave their names permanently etched as champions of the game.

For some, it might have been the only chance in their career to fight for a Major title. For others, bite after bite of the cherry has left just the pit remaining, the sweet taste of victory having danced at the tip of their tongue for years only for it to turn sour when it mattered most.

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Thus, it is inevitable that the failure of the biggest names to live up to expectations at the Major cascades into changes that reverberate across the entire professional scene. But this year has been more cataclysmic than we've ever experienced.

More than 10 months — 314 days — separate the first Major of Counter-Strike 2 from the last of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but much more than the version of the game has changed in the past year as teams anew gear up to stamp their name on the first page of Valve's new history book in Copenhagen.

Liquid missed out on the Major after heartbreak at the Americas RMR

13 out of 24 organizations return - only eight kept their cores

Even those who regularly dined at the Table of Champions were either forced into or chose to make difficult changes, and as such, the first CS2 Major begins with new title contenders, few rosters bearing likeness to their Paris counterparts, and some of the most historic organizations and storied names absent entirely.

In March 2023, Valve made it known that the Paris Major would be the only one of the year and the last before the switch to CS2. Failure or victory in France meant everything for those looking to leave their mark in Global Offensive, but it also signaled the start of an arms race — organizations knew they had at least seven months to prepare for the first-ever Counter-Strike 2 Major, and unexpected names wasted no time in taking calculated risks.

New hearts beat within Vitality

The poetic tale of Vitality lifting the Major trophy on the organization's home soil was an enamoring one, but it was not the only story that captured attention in Paris. Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen, at 30 years of age, secured a record-breaking fifth Major trophy for himself and cemented his name as the only player to attend all 19 Valve-sponsored Majors in CS:GO, a feat that he alone can hold claim to for the rest of his days.

But that streak is also not one that will carry on. Mere weeks after Vitality lifted the Paris Major trophy, the organization was presented with an opportunity they couldn't refuse: The chance to sign 20-year-old Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan in place of dupreeh and "build a new generation of champions," a move that would give the roster longevity and deliver on the organization's promise to surround Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut with the best players of his generation.

Vitality won the trophy in Paris, but will be hard-pressed to defend their title as the page turns to CS2

It was a cutthroat but pragmatic change, and one that paid off. Vitality added another trophy to their cabinet at Gamers8 later in the year and made a deep run at IEM Cologne, barely missing a beat with flameZ in tow. But they were caught off-guard in October by the announcement that Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif, head coach Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen, and Sports Psychologist Lars Robl would soon depart for Falcons, and the effect of the news was immediately apparent as Vitality crashed out of the first CS2 tournament, IEM Sydney, in last place.

The team added William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman and former coach Rémy "⁠XTQZZZ⁠" Quoniam to fill two of those places and, after nearly a month without officials, claimed two BLAST titles to close out the year on a high note. A last-place finish at IEM Katowice at the start of the year posed some questions about the team's form, but after showing renewed form at the RMR, Vitality at least head into Copenhagen showing they can put up a fight to defend their title, albeit not as favorites to take home the crown.

Paris teams
Europe
Vitality
Apeks
HEROIC
FaZe
Natus Vincere
ENCE
G2
MOUZ
GamerLegion
Monte
Into the Breach
fnatic
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Bad News Eagles
9INE
FORZE
OG

Americas
FURIA
paiN
Complexity
Liquid
Fluxo

Asia
The MongolZ
Grayhound

Copenhagen teams

Vitality
Apeks
HEROIC
FaZe
Natus Vincere
ENCE
G2
MOUZ
GamerLegion
Spirit
Virtus.pro
Cloud9
Eternal Fire
SAW
AMKAL
KOI
ECSTATIC


FURIA
paiN
Complexity
Imperial
Legacy


The MongolZ
Lynn Vision

Hover over the teams for lineups

Picked apart

Not all risks were created equal, however, and many who made blockbuster moves did not benefit in the end: Astralis, Liquid, and Falcons spent heavily to create super-teams, the latter even buying and building around the top-five ranked core of ENCE, but all were struck down in the RMRs and missed out on the Major entirely.

Instead, HEROIC and ENCE — who had their lineups torn asunder in the shuffle — emerged from the rubble and became unlikely names to claw their way back to the Major with rosters pieced together mere weeks before the qualifying cycle began.

Granted, the latter did so by signing the Polish core of 9INE that made the Legends Stage in Paris, thus earning an invite to the Europe RMR, but it is a vastly different team.

Now under the leadership of Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander, the lineup communicates in English and has proved capable against top opposition with an admirable run to the playoffs of IEM Katowice.

They are not quite the world-beaters or title contenders that the ENCE roster under Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer was, but there is a fire, a hunger in gla1ve that had gone dormant during his last year in Astralis. It has instilled new life in a core that did very little in the past year without the Danish captain's leadership, and witnessing a return to form of the four-time Major-winning in-game leader is a welcome sight for fans of tactical Counter-Strike.

gla1ve is again showing why he was long considered the best in-game leader in the world

HEROIC, meanwhile, suffered blow after blow not long after the switch to CS2. First, the organization benched talismanic in-game leader and AWPer Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller in a move it claimed was initiated by Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund and Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard, who were in discussions to re-sign their contracts, but a sudden about-face from the pair of riflers amidst interest from Astralis left the Norwegian organization reeling.

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It took a few months to pick up the pieces, but, somehow, Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck, René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen, and HEROIC were the ones who emerged victorious from the ashes of this fiasco. stavn and jabbi failed to qualify for the Major with Astralis, while cadiaN — though his original departure from HEROIC was through no fault of either party — couldn't lead his new Liquid lineup to success through the Americas RMR.

HEROIC added two crucial pieces from the previous ENCE roster, Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz and coach Eetu "⁠sAw⁠" Saha, and rounded out their lineup with Nico "⁠nicoodoz⁠" Tamjidi and Macedonian in-game leader Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski. The latter had impressed by leading Apeks to the quarter-final of the Paris Major and was a highly sought-after piece by a handful of teams for much of 2023, and immediately proved his worth for HEROIC by leading the new team from the RMR open qualifiers all to the way to the Copenhagen Major.

Apeks remain in flux after losing kyxsan, calling back Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk from the bench to retain a core of players from their Paris Major run to earn a direct invite to the RMR. Ådne "⁠sense⁠" Fredriksen has taken up leadership duties to fill the gap and the team is gelling well under Torbjørn "⁠mithR⁠" Nyborg's system, but with the caliber of teams competing this time, making another run to the semi-final seems out of the question.

GamerLegion's former five players return only through luck

kyxsan was not the only captain to distinguish himself in Paris: Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek's GamerLegion punched multiple classes above their weight, thanks to a combination of the Polish captain's excellent leadership and an incredible individual performance by Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan, one which nearly earned him a Major MVP.

iM and siuhy made too much of an impression at the Major not to earn a chance elsewhere

The underdog team's Cinderella run to the final naturally led to their two best pieces going elsewhere not long after the Major. siuhy joined MOUZ, reuniting with his former MOUZ NXT teammates, while iM was picked up by Natus Vincere as the Ukrainian organization pivoted to an international project.

The remaining trio of GamerLegion stuck together and, despite an expected drop-off, continued to impress following the addition of Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski. They originally fell just short of a return to the Major following a loss in the RMR Last Chance Qualifier, leaving iM and siuhy as the only players set for a return in Copenhagen, but were invited at the last minute to come as a replacement for the ill-fated 9 Pandas, sidelined by passport issues.

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NAVI hit their stride without s1mple

Natus Vincere is the sole organization to have played at every single Major, and that streak will be extended in Denmark. For the first time in 20 Majors, however, they will attend with an English-speaking roster.

A pivot to a truly international roster in June signaled a cataclysmic change for the organization as Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius, iM, and Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen linked up with Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy and Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev. Ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, the team had struggled to return to their dynastic levels showcased at PGL Major Stockholm 2021, and with NAVI uneasy about dealing with Russian players and organizations, going international seemed the natural next step.

NAVI ushered in a new era with an international roster

Early results were promising: The team finished as the runners-up at ESL Pro League Season 18, and despite some teething issues and questions around iM's form, looked like they were making steady progress towards re-building as a title contender in time for the Major.

But s1mple was suddenly absent at the first Counter-Strike 2 event in Sydney over reported issues with his EU residency papers, and mere days after the event it was revealed the Ukrainian superstar, considered by many as the GOAT of CS:GO, would take a break from competition.

s1mple had been vocal about his distaste for Counter-Strike 2's state at release and he had previously hinted at a break, so the move didn't come as a complete surprise. It did, however, mean Natus Vincere were left without their superstar toward the end of the season, but 19-year-old Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov has proved to be a more than capable replacement for a s1mple whose form had dipped from otherworldly to mortal at the end of CS:GO.

Natus Vincere has had a superb start to the year, tallying wins over G2, Complexity, and Virtus.pro while being the only team to take a map off Spirit during their indomitable IEM Katowice run. The team around Aleksib made it through the RMR with a 3-1 record and, thanks to their Valve ranking, earned a direct berth to the top-16 stage of Copenhagen, where they will look to return to the playoffs after NAVI missed out in Paris last year.

MOUZ establish themselves as title contenders

siuhy returned to the MOUZ organization not long after the Major amid much fanfare, with calls for him to even replace Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen after G2 failed in Paris and GamerLegion made their impressive run.

The Polish in-game leader wasted no time in righting the ship and elevating MOUZ to consistent title contenders, getting the best out of a Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás who had looked woeful under Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong and helping to integrate 17-year-old superstar-in-the-making Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo, who has looked unfazed against the best teams in the world.

MOUZ won their first LAN title in over three years at siuhy's second event with them, lifting the final Big Event trophy in CS:GO at ESL Pro League Season 18, and under his leadership the team continued to shine.

MOUZ won EPL S18, their second LAN under siuhy's leadership

A 3-4th place at IEM Sydney followed despite the team using a stand-in for Jimpphat, and a runners-up finish at CS Asia Championships then cemented MOUZ among the world's elite in Counter-Strike 2.

The loss of David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský to FaZe that followed should have been a devastating blow to the team given the Slovakian's sheer impact and experience, but Jimpphat has stepped in to fill that gap with aplomb. The once-questionable addition of Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin has turned many heads, too, as his form has revived in MOUZ from a dismal period in Ninjas in Pyjamas.

siuhy's side has added a top-four finish at IEM Katowice and an undefeated run through the RMR to their tally in 2024, becoming the only team to defeat Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets and Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov's Spirit roster on LAN this year.

The German organization had looked woeful beyond belief in Paris, exiting the Challengers Stage with a 0-3 record, but under siuhy and coach Dennis "⁠sycrone⁠" Nielsen's leadership they are among the wider group of favorites to make a run at the title alongside Spirit, FaZe, and Vitality.

Mostly familiar faces

G2, despite their heartbreaking exit in the Paris Major Legends Stage, kept their lineup together long enough to lift the IEM Cologne trophy before nearly losing Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač to Falcons in November. In an eleventh-hour decision, the Bosnian superstar made a shock U-turn and stuck with G2, who soon opted for a change of their own by swapping Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage for Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković and adding Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas as a coach.

Can NiKo avoid heartbreak in Copenhagen?

The former decision has been polarizing in the community, particularly for those who were fans of jks on the team, and even outside of that questions have remained about the move. Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov has looked excellent and is often the catalyst for G2 in several of their wins along with NiKo, but the other riflers have struggled.

Whether a flawless run through the RMR helped invigorate confidence is left to be seen, but a return to normalcy is much needed for NiKo if he wants to change his Major fortunes in CS2.

FaZe, meanwhile, were forced into a change when Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken chose to depart and join Liquid. frozen was called up from MOUZ to replace him and reunite with former teammates and Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool. With the Slovakian able to slot into most of the roles he played in karrigan's MOUZ, the team has barely lost a step.

They enter the Major as the No. 1-ranked team in the world, but aren't favorites for the title with a fearsome Spirit in the ranks. Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov's side beat FaZe twice at IEM Katowice and currently hold a 5-0 record over them, and could well be the favorites for the title if karrigan can't find a solution to getting "donked."