HLTV unveils 2025 Team of the Year finalists: Vitality, Spirit, and MOUZ

With Counter-Strike’s 2025 season in the books, HLTV has announced the three finalists for one of its most coveted annual honors: Team of the Year. The shortlist—Team Vitality, Team Spirit, and MOUZ—reflects a season dominated by Vitality’s historic trophy haul, Spirit’s peaks at elite arenas, and MOUZ’s remarkable consistency from spring through the winter break. The finalists were revealed on December 19, 2025, ahead of the HLTV Awards show. 

Vitality: a historic two-Major year and relentless top finishes

No storyline loomed larger in 2025 than Vitality’s. Dan “apEX” Madesclaire’s squad set the tone early, ripped off a run of consecutive titles across the first half of the year, and then bookended the season with back-to-back Major championships—first at BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 and then at StarLadder Budapest Major 2025—becoming the first team to claim consecutive CS Majors since Astralis in 2019. Their Budapest triumph over FaZe (3–1) sealed a year that will be referenced for a long time. 

The numbers and rankings back up the eye test. In mid-December, immediately after Budapest, Vitality returned to No. 1 on HLTV’s world ranking with a healthy points gap, underscoring their status as the year’s best team. During the season’s earlier stretch they strung together a seven-series, head-to-head winning streak versus MOUZ, the very team they frequently had to break through on the way to silverware. 

Vitality’s trophy cabinet was overflowing even before Budapest: their 2025 ledger features premier wins across multiple circuits, including the Major in Austin. Their Major double—and the fact they never dipped below top-four placements after the summer break—earned them a deserved place on the finalist podium and, for many observers, the inside track to take home the award. 

Spirit: peaks at the biggest stops, including Cologne

While Spirit’s form wasn’t as uniform as Vitality’s, the ceiling was elite. Captain Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov led his team to the IEM Cologne 2025 title, completing the prestigious trio of Cologne, Katowice, and a CS Major across the organization’s history. Spirit also opened the year by taking BLAST Bounty Season 1, reached multiple finals, and closed the season with a top-four at the Budapest Major, adding meaningful depth to their résumé. 

A mid-season roster move—adding Ivan “zweih” Gogin after a strong Austin Major playoff showing—didn’t blunt their momentum in the short term; they kept lifting trophies and logging deep runs, highlighted by Cologne. Although their consistency waned later on, those summit performances at tent-pole events kept Spirit squarely in the Team of the Year conversation. 

MOUZ: the gold standard for consistency

If Spirit represented the season’s peaks and Vitality its dominance, MOUZ were the embodiment of week-in, week-out excellence. After a brief bedding-in period following the departure of Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek and the arrival of Lotan “Spinx” Giladi, MOUZ snapped back into elite form. From PGL Bucharest onward they did not miss a single playoff, stacking 13 top-four finishes by year’s end and at one point posting nine straight top-four results through BLAST Bounty Season 2. That level of reliability across multiple formats and organizer circuits made them impossible to leave off the shortlist. 

The consistency also translated to strong showings at headline events. MOUZ reached the IEM Cologne 2025 final before running into Spirit’s best series of the year, and they remained competitive deep into the bracket at other Big Events throughout the calendar. 

How the field narrowed: other champions, but three stood out

Seven different teams lifted Big Event trophies this year—Vitality, Spirit, MOUZ, Falcons, G2, The MongolZ, and FURIA—creating a crowded field on paper. But when weighted for overall impact—Majors, elite LAN titles, ranking ascendancy, and week-to-week performance—the finalists separated themselves. Vitality’s double-Major landmark and constant podiums, Spirit’s conquest of Cologne plus additional titles, and MOUZ’s metronomic playoff presence collectively formed the most persuasive cases. 

For context, Natus Vincere captured the Team of the Year award for the 2024 season on the back of four titles and eight grand finals, a useful benchmark for how HLTV evaluates team-level excellence over a season. This year’s finalists comfortably meet (and in Vitality’s case, exceed) those historical standards. 

Key milestones that shaped the race

• Vitality’s Austin Major: The first Major of the CS2 era’s 2025 campaign set the tone and kicked off the conversation about a potential all-time season.

• Spirit’s run to the Cologne crown: Capturing one of the two most prestigious non-Major titles added heavyweight validation to their bid.

• MOUZ’s BLAST Bounty streak and constant semifinals: A season-long tape of deep finishes across organizers served as their calling card. 

• Vitality’s back-to-back Majors in Budapest: The clincher in many eyes; also vaulted them back to world No. 1 to close the year.

What happens next

The Team of the Year winner will be revealed during the HLTV Awards show, alongside individual and panel awards. Last year’s honors saw NAVI take Team of the Year, while the broader slate included role-based awards, community picks, and women’s accolades—an approach HLTV is continuing this season, with separate finalist announcements already rolling out for women’s categories. Expect a similar, comprehensive ceremony this time as well.