WOLFGANGSPORT

Discount

The 8 Best Esports Teams of All Time

best esports teams

Who are the best eSports teams of all time in an industry worth over $1.3 billion? The world of professional eSports continues to explode year after year and is expected to hit over $12 billion in 2030.

Best Esports Teams

From traditional tournaments such as Dota 2, League of Legends and CS:GO, eSports organizations have diversified on an insane level.

From subscription services, to apps for fans, to becoming a publicly listed company, or having collabs with some of the biggest companies in the world like Adidas, Ralph Lauren and BMW, eSports has truly taken off.

So who are the best eSports teams of all time? Let’s find out.

8. G2 Esports

Founded in 2014 as Gamers2, G2 Esports (G2) is based in Europe and headquartered in Berlin. G2 has some of the best eSports teams in the world across games like League of Legends, Rocket League, Valorant, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Apex Legends.

The team has a strong brand reputation due to the heavy focus on its media and entertainment content. Strong partnerships with giants such as Adidas, Mastercard, Red Bull, Domino’s and Ralph Lauren has positioned G2 as one of the best eSports organizations.

G2 has done it all on the back of solid eSports performances over the years with over $10 million in tournament earnings. Recent famous victories include the League of Legends 2019 Mid-Season Invitational, and League of Legends European Championships in 2020 and 2022.

7. Cloud9

Cloud9 is a professional eSports company based in California and founded in 2013 as a professional League of Legends team. They’ve had some of the best eSports teams of all time and they continue to see explosive growth with a major sponsorship deal with Red Bull, and receiving more than $78 million in venture capital funding since it’s founding.

The 2018 season was Cloud9’s most successful. They were the most valuable eSports organizations according to Forbes, and won three international championships including the Rocket League Championship, Overwatch League Grand Finals, and the CS:GO ELEAGUE Major: Boston.

With participation in over 900 tournaments, Cloud9 has earned more than $12 million from tournament play. Traditionally they have been one of the best eSports brands but have recently branched off into new business ventures like a premium subscription service and video game boot camp coaching services.

6. Faze Clan

FaZe Clan has some of the greatest eSports teams in the world. The California based organization was founded in 2010 and engages in multiple games including Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, PUBG, Halo Infinite, Valorant, Fortnite Battle Royale, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros and FIFA.

The organization has become one of the most valuable in the world. They’ve earned over $14 million in eSports tournaments and debuted on NASDAQ with a valuation of $725 million in 2022 after becoming a publicly listed company.

FaZe Clan has partnerships with Nissan, McDonald’s, DraftKings, Manchester City and Totino’s to name a few. The organization has broken into mainstream culture in a way no other eSports organization has. They’ve appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and even have a collab with DC Comics and G-Shock. 

5. Fnatic

Originating in Sweden in 2004, the now London based professional eSports organization Fnatic has some of the most well known and best eSports teams of all time. They’ve especially been known for having elite CS:GO, League of Legend and Dota 2 teams.

Fnatic is one of the top eSports performers with total tournament prize money earnings of over $18 million. They’ve also begun diversifying the business into gaming hardware such as keyboards and mice.

Commercially they have brand partnerships with huge companies such as BMW, Gucci and Monster Energy. Fnatic also has a growing popularity in Japan and has a partnership with Hello Kitty.

4. Natus Vincere

Natus Vicere, also known as NAVI, is based in Ukraine and was founded in 2009. The NAVI organization has elite eSports teams in Dota 2, PUBG, Halo Infinite, Valorant, Apex Legends but are known for their dominance in CS:GO.

The team has been consistent on the tournament circuit and NAVI was the first eSports team to win $1 million in a single tournament at The International in 2011. Most recently in 2021, NAVI won the CS:GO PGL Major Stockholm tournament.

NAVI is one of the biggest eSports earners, managing to win over $18 million in over 600 tournaments across various games. They hold commercial arrangements with corporate giants Logitech, Puma, Nissan, Philips and Monster Energy.

3. Evil Geniuses

Founded in 1999, Evil Geniuses has had some of the best eSports teams of all time. Based in Seattle, teams have featured in various games, most notably Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Fortnite Battle Royale, Halo, League of Legends, Rocket League and World of Warcraft.

Evil Geniuses’ Dota 2 squad won The International 2015, winning $6 million, which was the largest prize payout in eSports history at the time. Altogether Evil Geniuses has earned over $26 million, one of the highest earning eSports organizations in history.

They were bought out by PEAK6 Investments in 2019 and have partnerships with Premier League team Wolves, Monster Energy, Secretlab and HP to name a few.

2. OG

OG have some of the best eSports teams of all time and are the second highest overall eSports organization. OG won two of the three largest prize pools in eSports history – $11 million at The International in 2018 and $15 million in the 2019 edition.

The team specializes in Dota 2 and CS:Go, and most of its tournament play is in Europe. OG have become a global eSports powerhouse following their long term partnership with Red Bull which started in 2017. The organizations branding was also transformed, which included a new Red Bull sponsored OG logo.

OG are still relatively new compared to other eSports organizations. They’ve already achieved impressive success both in tournament play as well as their commercial success.

1. Team Liquid

Team Liquid was founded in the Netherlands in 2000 by Victor Goosens. They were one of the first eSport teams and have been a pioneer in the industry. They’ve participated in well over 2,300 tournaments and have earned the most money from eSports tournaments with over $40 million in earnings.

In 2017 the team famously won over $10 million following its victory at The International. Originally competing in StarCraft, Team Liquid has excelled at other games like Dota 2, and have been the best in the world at FIFA.

Team Liquid is the third most valuable eSports brand in the world and has diversified into influencer management, and also has their own content production division. Team Liquid maintains partnerships with huge brands including Honda, Alienware, Marvel Entertainment and Twitch.

Matt Ieriko

Matt Ieriko is a freelance writer who’s evolved his lifelong passion for sport into the creation of WolfgangSport.com in 2020 – an American sports blog covering the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS and more. As an Australian, he’s always been fascinated with the cultural differences and global significance of sports in America.

Leave a Reply