G2 CS:GO Profile: The Past, Present and Future of G2 Esports

The G2 CS:GO roster stands at the moment as one of the best CS:GO teams in the world. While the team has seen some legendary players, success has often eluded them until more recently. We’re taking a look at the past, present, and future of the G2 CS:GO team, bringing you up to date on the story so far.

kennyS is a G2 icon. Credit: Liquipedia

Early Days of G2

G2 entered the CS:GO scene in early 2015, but it took a few years to build a team that could really challenge for the big prizes. Starting out with an all-Polish roster, the team chopped and changed to find something that worked. Most notably, the team briefly featured rain in late-2015, who would go on to bigger and better things with FaZe Clan later in his career.

It was February 2017 when G2 announced a brand-new roster, consisting of shox, bodyy, NBK-, apEX, and kennyS, whom many regard as the best CS:GO player of all time. This G2 Esports CS:GO team defined a lot of the early meta of the game, with the AWP needing to be nerfed by Valve due to kennyS’ aggressive playstyle dominating the server.

The team was unfortunate to exist around the same time as a dominant Astralis team. Because of this, G2 was limited in terms of competition wins. A DreamHack Masters Malmö 2017 was the best it ever got, and they spent a few years watching Astralis conquer the entire scene.

The Start of Something Great

The building blocks of the current G2 CS:GO team were put in place between late-2019 and late-2020, with the signings of the Kovač cousins, huNter- and NiKo. But the puzzle wasn’t yet complete. Between March 2020 and February 2022, the team reached four finals, including three IEM events, and one CS:GO Major. They lost each one without taking a single map, and it seemed that the G2 Esports CS:GO team was cursed.

They were one of the best CS:GO teams in the world, but they wanted to be the greatest. The next piece was the signing of m0NESY, an untested 16-year-old from NAVI Junior, for a massive fee of $600k. It was a huge show of faith in the youngster, one which immediately paid off. Despite his age, he was head and shoulders above many established Tier-1 AWPers. G2 were painfully close to the top, but something wasn’t quite clicking.

The HooXi Era

Earlier in 2022, G2 brought in Aleksib as their new IGL to replace nexa. It was immediately clear that it wasn’t working out, and by August, they had already replaced him. His replacement was none other than Copenhagen Flames’ HooXi, with Aussie jks arriving on the same day.

HooXi, known affectionately by the community as the Gigachad, didn’t really have experience among the top CS:GO teams. His first few months were rough, and he became more meme than player. That was until he and his G2 CS:GO team went to the BLAST Premier World Final 2022. From nowhere, they were unbeatable. They lifted the trophy, and went on a two-month unbeaten streak that saw them also win IEM Katowice 2023. Two competition wins within a couple of months, after five years with zero. HooXi had changed everything. G2 had the pieces, and just needed someone to finally put them into place currently. He was that guy.

That brings us to today, where the G2 Esports CS:GO roster goes to Paris hoping to become first-time CS:GO Major winners. If they can do so, they’ll write their name into the history books, and begin embarking on a true G2 CS:GO era.

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