Best Esports Teams 2025
The esports scene is in a period of boom. Popular games such as Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and League of Legends are organizing tournaments attracting millions of viewers whose prize pools are revolutionizing players’ lives.
In 2024, the Esports World Cup occurred in Saudi Arabia, where the world’s top esports organizations competed in 22 games.
The total prize pool for the Esports World Cup was 62.5 million USD. In addition, there is increasing talk about the Esports Olympics, which should also be a new step in the industry.
As the esports scene grows and expands, we invite you to get to know the best esports teams. Here, you will find out what an esports organization is, the top names of esports teams, how to get into an esports organization and other key information.
Table of content
What is an Esports Organization?
First, let’s start with the fact that there is an esports organization. Everything works similarly to the world of sports. Some sports clubs manage several different teams.
For example, big names such as Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, or Real Madrid have football, basketball, and other sports teams under their umbrella. The same goes for esports, with big names like Team Liquid, Natus Vincere, Twisted Minds, and Cloud9 all having teams in different esports games.
The size of an organization can vary widely. Some focus on just one game, while others expand to cover many different games. Some are richer; others have less money—just like in the world of sports.
Some organizations maintain high excellence in different sports, while others can only boast success in one.
For those who like to bet on esports, we invite you to look at the best esports betting sites.
What are the Structure and Roles of an Esports Team?
The structure and roles of an esports team depend on the game on which you are concentrating. Let’s take the Counter-Strike 2 team as an example.
If it belongs to a large organization, then the CS2 team is managed by a dedicated person who reports to the board members of the whole organization.
Under this CS2 team, managers are usually personal assistants, coaching staff, and players. A Counter-Strike 2 team consists of five players and a head coach, but the team may have more players and assistant coaches.
In terms of roles, just as employees have specific roles within an organization, for example, some are responsible for marketing, others for analytics, and others for scouting players and opponents. Hence, players in teams have specific roles.
For example, in a Counter-Strike 2 team, all five players have one of the following roles: AWPer, Entry Fragger, Anchor, Lurker, Support, and In-Game Leader. The same is true in other games, where each player is assigned a role depending on the game and its essence.
The World’s Top Esports Organizations
It would be too difficult to choose the best esports team in the world because you have to look at the achievements of different games and because some teams are the most successful now, while others dominated a few years ago.
For this reason, we have compiled a list of the most outstanding teams in each game or on the esports scene as a whole.
These teams aren’t necessarily winning these days – they are the most famous names in the esports industry, have dominated over time, or have a reputation for professionalism and longevity. Some organizations have teams in different games where they maintain the highest level.
T1 (South Korea)
In 2002, former StarCraft player Lim “BoxeR” Yo-hwan founded Team Orion. In December 2003, it was renamed 4 Union. A year later, it was sponsored by SK Telecom and given a new name: SK Telecom T1. It was initially a StarCraft team, but in 2016, the team disbanded.
T1 currently has two gaming teams: League of Legends and Valorant. The League of Legends team has achieved the most victories.
The organization has won the LoL World Championship five times – in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2023, and 2024. In 2023, T1 was named Esports Team of the Year at the Esports Awards.
Fnatic (Europe)
Fnatic is an esports organization founded in 2004 and is headquartered in London. The organization has eight active teams: Apex Legends, Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Overwatch 2, Street Fighter, Rainbow Six Siege, and Valorant.
In 20 years, the organization has won over 200 championships in 30 games. According to Forbes, Fnatic was worth 260 million USD in 2022.
Team Liquid (North America)
Team Liquid is an esports organization founded in 2000 and headquartered in the Netherlands. It currently has 22 active teams in different games and boasts resounding victories.
In 2017, the Dota 2 team won The International; in 2019, the Counter-Strike: GO team won the Intel Grand Slam, and League of Legends has won five League Championship Series titles. In 2022, Team Liquid is worth as much as 440 million USD.
G2 Esports (Europe)
G2 was founded in Spain in 2014 by former League of Legends player Carlos “ocelote” Rodriguez Santiago under the name Gamers2 . The company is currently headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
The organization has nine active teams in different games. As of 2022, G2 Esports is worth €340 million USD.
Cloud9 (North America)
In 2013, League of Legends players Jack and Paulie Etienne formed a team that became Cloud9 in 2016. The organization is currently headquartered in Santa Monica, California.
They have active teams in sixteen different games. In mid-2022, Cloud9 was ranked the fifth most expensive esports organization, worth 380 million USD.
NaVi is an esports organization founded in 2009 in Kyiv, Ukraine, with active teams in 16 games.
Once established in 2010, the Counter-Strike team won the Intel Extreme Masters, the Electronic Sports World Cup, and the World Cyber Games. In 2011, the Dota 2 team won The International, making NaVi one of the most successful esports organizations.
FaZe Clan (International)
FaZe was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Texas, USA. In 2023, it was announced that GameSquare would acquire FaZe Clan’s parent company, FaZe Holdings.
In 2024, GameSquare announced that it was forming a new company, FaZe Media, which separated FaZe Holdings into esports and media companies. In total, FaZe Clan currently has active teams in ten different games.
Evil Geniuses (North America)
Evil Geniuses has been based in the USA since 1999, but the team was founded in Canada in 1997. The organization had active teams in Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, Dota 2, League of Legends, StarCarft II, and other well-known games.
Currently, the only active teams are in Valorant and Rocket League. In Dota 2 in 2015, Evil Geniuses won The International 2015 tournament, which at the time had the largest prize money in the history of the esports industry. In 2018, the Call of Duty team won the Call of Duty Championship; in 2023, Valorant team won the Valorant Champions 2023.
Gen.G (South Korea/International)
Founded in 2017, this organization was valued at 250 million USD in 2022. USD 250 million by 2022. The South Korean organization has three headquarters – in Los Angeles, Seoul, and Shanghai. It has active teams in eight games, the most successful being League of Legends.
DAMWON Gaming (South Korea)
DAMWON Gaming, now known as Dplus KIA, is an esports organization founded in South Korea in 2017 and currently has teams in five games.
With a focus on League of Legends, Dplus KIA won the first Korean Championship in 2020 and two months later became world champions.
How to Become Part of an Esports Team
To become part of an esports team, you must choose your path. If you want to become a professional esports player, you need to start performing well at a lower level and hope to get noticed by one of the scouts of a professional team.
Another option is to find an agent who will be an intermediary between you and a professional esports organization. It is important to note that competition in esports is constantly growing, and becoming a professional player is not easy.
If you want to join an esports team as an employee, the easiest way to get in is by sending your CV and keeping an eye on the positions available. Roles such as marketing, analytics, or finance can be filled just like in any other company—keep an eye on the team’s job postings or get in touch yourself.
Suppose you are interested in coaching, scouting, or similar roles. In that case, you can also monitor the organizations’ job adverts to see if there is a vacancy, and at the same time, you can send in a presentation about yourself—you might find a team that needs your services.
Conclusion
As the esports industry grows, so do organizations. Whereas teams used to consist of players, a coach, and a team manager, these days, you can find very large organizations that have their coaching studios in different European countries.
Some esports teams employ hundreds of people, which shows the level of the esports scene.
FAQ about the Top Esports Companies
🎮 What is an esports organization?
An esports organization manages teams competing in various games, similar to sports clubs with teams in multiple sports like football and basketball.
🎮 What are some of the most sucessful esports teams?
Some of the best gaming teams include T1, Fnatic, Team Liquid, G2 Esports, Cloud9, and Natus Vincere, known for their achievements across games like League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike.
🎮 How are esports teams structured?
Esports teams typically include players, a coach, and team managers, with large organizations also employing personal assistants, analysts, and marketing staff.
🎮 How do players get noticed by esports teams?
Aspiring players can excel in lower-tier competitions, attract attention from scouts, or work with an agent to connect with professional organizations.
🎮 What are some of the biggest achievements in esports history?
Highlights include T1’s five League of Legends World Championships and Team Liquid’s victories in Dota 2’s The International and Counter-Strike’s Intel Grand Slam.