5 Oldest Pro Teams in Counter-Strike
Undoubtedly, the date of November 9th, 2000 should be inscribed in Esports history. The release of Counter-Strike 1.6 not only launched the longest competitive gaming discipline but also became a driving force for the whole cybersport development.
At the same time, Counter-Strike wasn’t the first competitive game to give a start for Esports organizations, and it wasn't the beginning for some of the oldest pro CS teams. Thus, elderly games like Quake, StarCraft, and Half-Life were released before and deserve their portion of fame. That’s why some teams mentioned below were founded even before the competitive Counter-Strike launch. Earlier, we talked about the oldest cs2 pro player who are still active on the scene.
Despite possible structural muddles during the last 20+ years, we have chosen the teams that launched their CS projects in the early 2000s and are still active and well-known. So, here is our list of the top 5 oldest teams in Counter-Strike history:
Rating Number | Team | Foundation Year | Country | S-Tier Events Won | Notable Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SK Gaming | 1997 | Germany | 20 | SpawN, Fisker, RobbaN, f0rest, GeT_RiGhT, face, Delpan, Magisk, MODDII, Friis, Pimp, cadiaN, g1ave, fer, FalleN, coldzera, TACO, Stewie2K |
2 | Evil Geniuses | 1999 | USA | 5 | lurppis, n0thing, dboorN, FRoD, RUSH, tarik, Stewie2K, Brehze, stanislaw, autimatic |
3 | Ninjas in Pyjamas | 2000 | Sweden | 21 | SpawN, HeatoN, RobbaN, GeT_RiGhT, friberg, Xizt, f0rest, REZ, dev1ce |
4 | Complexity Gaming | 2003 (1998) | USA | 4 | tr1p, FRoD, dboorN, fnx, FalleN, n0thing, autimatic, stanislaw, RUSH, blameF, coldzera, EliGE |
5 | Virtus.pro | 2003 | Russia (Armenia since 2022) | 14 | Zeus, Edward, Dosia, GuardiaN, AdreN, TaZ, Snax, NEO, pashaBiceps, Jame |
5. Virtus.Pro — since 2003
The youngest representative in the oldest CS teams in the world list belongs to Virtus.pro, a cybersport organization that was founded in 2003 in Russia. Despite being present in competitive Counter-Strike for the most years consecutively, VP hasn’t won many notable tournaments except for the Intel Challenge Cup 2007.
However, the switch to CS:GO made a difference, especially after the managers decided to buy a full Polish squad of the Golden Five team. Between 2014 and 2019, the Polish squad delivered 11 out of the total 14 elite trophies, with ESL Katowice Major 2014 as the best one from their collection. In 2022, Armenian investors bought the rights to the team and signed the ex-Outsiders roster that won the Rio Major 2022, and the team continues to be pretty high in 2024.
4. Complexity Gaming — since 2003
Team cs2 Complexity Gaming was founded in 2003 and is still on the big CS scene without long pauses in competitive gaming. However, the list of their achievements is the shortest in the presented list of the oldest CS2 pro teams, but includes trophies from diverse decades — starting from ESWC 2005 and ending with BLAST Spring EU Finals 2020. All the chances are that Complexity will fight for many more in the CS2 era, as the team is actively investing in its players as of 2024. You can find information about them and other professionals in the cs2 player ratings on our website.
Interestingly, the history of Complexity Gaming takes root in 1998, when Jason Lake started playing in the Counter-Strike 1.3 team but then decided to pay teammates from his own pocket in 2003. Lake is still the CEO of one of the oldest Pro teams in CS, while the list of owners has grown to 5 people and more than a dozen regular sponsors.
3. Ninjas in Pyjamas — since 2000
Ninjas in Pyjamas is one of the most iconic representatives in Counter-Strike, winning the most elite titles from the list of the oldest Pro CS teams — 21. Their story began in Sweden in 2000, and the majority of their players were living in this Nordic country. After relatively good results in the first half of the 2000s, NiP paused their Counter-Strike activity in 2007 until the release of the Global Offensive version in 2012 to re-join the competition.
In fact, it was a golden period for the Ninjas in Pyjamas, winning ESL One Cologne Major 2014 as the cherry on the cake they are still proud of. With an experienced CS 1.6 core in the face of GeT_RiGhT, Xizt, and f0rest, and the Counter-Strike: Source experience of “King of Banana” friberg, NiP was able to adjust to the new game faster than other teams. It led to an astonishing 87-0 LAN winning streak, which ended after winning several S-Tier titles. Despite the team’s struggles with good results recently, they are always competing at the top level and have cemented their position as the top-fly of CS.
2. Evil Geniuses — since 1999
Team cs2 Evil Geniuses finished one step behind the status of the oldest team in CS, with the organization being founded in 1999 and still active in early 2024. The US-based team dove into the competitive Counter-Strike in 2002 without notable successes until 2009, winning a few elite trophies at the end of the 1.6 game version.
The transition to CS:GO wasn’t made, and EG closed its CS department in 2012, focusing on other Esports disciplines. However, the oldest cs team decided to make a comeback in 2019, signing the full roster of NRG Esports, which was a promising squad at that moment. StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 8 was their main offline achievement in 2019, with a few COVID-caused online-gained titles during 2020. Still, Evil Geniuses has enough top trophies in the organization’s hall of fame, but they have been seriously struggling with results since 2021.
1. SK Gaming — since 1997
Of course, the oldest pro Counter-Strike team, SK Gaming, had to be on the list of the most successful ones, and they are. The German organization (initially called “Schroet Kommando”) started its path in Esports in 1997 and launched a CS department in 2001. The first elite trophy came pretty fast — the team won CPL Summer 2002, added the same in a year, and gained WSG 2003 and a bunch of other titles during the CS 1.6 era.
Their second-best period came with the vector shift when they changed the Nordic direction into the South American one. They bought the legendary Brazilian squad of Luminosity Gaming, who won a Major for SK’s collection — ESL One Cologne 2016, and a few other elite cups. However, the old CS pro team started struggling in 2018, and SK decided to close the CS division, focusing on other Esports disciplines. As the legendary name is still popular and profitable in other competitive scenes, many CS2 fans expect them to re-open the Counter-Strike direction once again.
Conclusion
Counter-Strike became one of the first computer games to show the whole spectrum of common aspects of popular sports. In the beginning, the teams could be formed on the enthusiasm and initiative of particular players, outgrowing into pro organizations with serious goals and results. You can check out the cs2 pro team rankings to find out about the best teams at the moment. At the same time, the tough competition forced CS teams to build stable business models, where those who developed into other gaming disciplines gained a better survival ability. The examples of long-standing CS pro teams confirm that everything is real in the Counter-Strike world but very complicated at the same time.
