Roster changes have always been an essential part of professional CS:GO. When a team is underperforming or just wants to take the next step towards becoming champions, a roster change can often end up becoming necessary. Roster changes always cause a lot of excitement and debate in the CS:GO community, so I wanted to take a look back at some of the most significant and most impactful roster changes in CS:GO history.

Before I start the ranking, I want to establish the criteria I considered as I ranked these roster changes.

The immediate impact of the roster change — Often a roster change is intended to have an almost immediate effect on the roster. While a new team might need a few months to reach their full potential, I still consider that immediate in this case. An example of the opposite would be Coldzera joining what eventually became SK Gaming. In retrospect, it was a fantastic move, as Coldzera would later be known as the best player in the world. But at the time when the roster change happened, the Brazilian team did not improve dramatically. As a result, I would not rank a roster change like that very high on the list. On the other hand, when the team added TACO and fnx later on, they improved almost immediately. Therefore, I would rank that roster change a lot higher.

Luck is for losers (or in some cases winners) — Luck is a natural part of roster changes. A lot of times, a team will gamble on a young and unproven player. Sometimes it might end up being a disaster, but other teams you might just have found a diamond in the rough. Take Stewie2k as an example. When he joined Cloud9, most people were very skeptical. In retrospect, it ended up being a great move, but I very much doubt that even Cloud9 themselves knew how well it would work out. As a result, you won’t find Stewie2k on this list.

How much did the team improve — This one is very much self-explanatory, but still the most critical factor. If a team went from being terrible to becoming the best team of all time, they made a great roster move. If a team made a roster move and stayed at the same level, you won’t find it on this list.

The overall success of the team — Much like the last point, this one is self-explanatory. If a lineup was more successful, it was ranked higher on the list. Simple as that.

Now that we’ve established the criteria let’s get on with the list.

15. The Brazilians find their superstar (Coldzera joins ex-Keyd Stars)

The Brazilians squad that we now know as SK Gaming was one of the revelations of 2015. Earlier in the year, they had reached top 8 at their very first major, ESL One Katowice. Despite that achievement, that Brazilians wanted more. As a result, the team realized that they needed a roster change. At the time, Caio “zqkS” Fonseca, was the main AWP’er of the team, and it quickly became clear that he was a reliability. In July of 2015, he was kicked from the team and replaced by Marcelo “Coldzera” David. Not only did this change add a lot more firepower to the lineup, but it also allowed in-game leader Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo to pick up the AWP, something that would become essential to the success of the team. Before the change, Keyd Stars had to almost solely rely on Fernando “Fer” Alvarenga to carry the team with his firepower. However, with this change, they now had three different sources of firepower, Fer, Coldzera and their new primary AWP’er FalleN. Throughout 2015, the new team that soon became known as Luminosity would continue their rise, taking top 8’s at several tournaments, including the majors ESL One Cologne and Dreamhack Cluj-Napoca. The team still needed further changes before they became the force we know them as today, but this was the first step towards becoming that force.

14. Natus Vincere finally arrives in CS:GO (GuardiaN and Edward join Natus Vincere)

In the early days of CS:GO, Natus Vincere (NaVi) were not able to make their legendary 1.6 lineup work. After a string of disappointing results, star players Yegor “Markeloff” Markelov and Ioann “Edward” Shukhariev would leave the team. NaVi had to look for new talent and ended up adding Denis “Seized” Kostin and Anton “Kibaken” Koleshnikov. The results didn’t improve, and after finishing in last place at the first CS:GO Major, Dreamhack Winter 2013, it was time for another change. NaVi removed Kibaken from the lineup, along with longtime player Arseny “ceh9” Trynozhenko. Instead, Edward would rejoin the lineup, but more importantly, Natus Vincere would finally get the star to take them to the next level, Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovacs. Building around GuardiaN turned out to be the right answer for the team, and they would end up winning their very first CS:GO trophy at the SLTV StarSeries IX finals. NaVi still had a long way to go before they could consistently contend for tournament victories, but adding GuardiaN was a significant step in that direction.

13. The Ninjas are forced to make a change (Maikelele joins NiP)

In the first year of CS:GO, NiP were unstoppable. 87–0 was their remarkable LAN record. But in November 2014, remarkable is the last word you would use to describe NiP. After a disappointing finish at ESWC, where they even managed to lose to the unknown French team Platinium, one of the best CS:GO teams of all time had to make a change. Original member Robin “Fifflaren” Johansson would step down from the team and retire. In his place, NiP would add the explosive AWP’er Mikail “Maikelele” Bill. While a change was necessary, it came at an inconvenient time, right before the next CS:GO Major, Dreamhack Winter 2014. A tournament where NiP had to defend their title. At the event, Maikelele became an essential part of NiP’s run to the final, where they came very close to defeating the French superstars of LDLC, and defending their title. Maikelele didn’t get to play in a lot of events during his original run with NiP. The team decided to kick him due to personality conflicts. However, I think I can say with a lot of confidence, that the NiP that failed to move past the group stage at ESWC, would have been nowhere near that Major final.

12. North America comes back into contention (Skadoodle and Freakazoid join Cloud9)

The early parts of 2015 were dark times for North American Counter Strike. Valve had banned the core of the former iBUYPOWER team, and Cloud9 seemed to be the only hope North America had remaining. With Spencer “Hiko” Martin having left the team at the end of 2014, the team had to rely on the unproven Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan to be one of their main stars. To say that it didn’t work out would be an understatement. ShahZaM’s run on Cloud9 was a disaster, and in April of 2015, Cloud9 removed him from the team, along with Kory “SEMPHIS” Friesen. Instead, Cloud9 recruited former iBUYPOWER star Tyler “Skadoodle” Latham and entry-fragger Ryan “Freakazoid” Abadir. Adding Skadoodle was an obvious key to the team’s success, as he was one of the biggest stars in North America at the time. But the impact of Freakazoid cannot be understated. Freakazoid was an in-game leaders dream, seemingly willing to do whatever his captain Sean “seangares” Gares told him to do. At the same time, Freakazoid replacing SEMPHIS allowed Seangares to fully take over as the in-game leader, without anyone questioning his calls. With this lineup, Cloud9 would go on to take 2nd place at three big LAN’s in a row, something that was unheard of for North American Counter Strike at the time.

11. G2 Esports comes out on top of the third French shuffle (kennyS, apEX, and NBK join G2 Esports)

When G2 Esports first picked up their French lineup, it was the 2nd best team in the region. Their rivals, EnVyUs, was a top 5 team in the world, while the former Titan lineup seemed to lack the firepower to reach that status. After Richard “shox” Papillon took over as the in-game leader of the team, the team would have a couple of fantastic performances. G2 ended up winning the ECS Season 1 Finals and managed to reach the finals of the SL i-League Season 2 Finals. But later on, the results started going back to where they were before. In late 2016, it became clear that both sides of the French scene needed changes and that a French shuffle was imminent. G2 would come out as the clear winners. The EnVyUs core of Kenny “kennyS” Schrub, Dan “apEX” Madesclaire and Nathan “NBK” Schmitt would join Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro and Richard “shox” Papillon to form what was dubbed the French superteam. Despite a few struggles at the beginning, G2 would go on to win Dreamhack Tours, ESL Pro League Season 5 and Dreamhack Masters Malmö, something none of the previous French lineups could have hoped to accomplish at the end of their lifespan.

10. A simple solution to a major problem (s1mple joins Team Liquid)

Before MLG Columbus 2016, we had to go all the way back to the first Major, Dreamhack Winter 2013, to find a North American team in the semifinals. In the case of Team Liquid, the playoffs at a major had not even come close. They had only managed to qualify for a major once, with their only reward being the sticker money and a participation trophy. In January of 2016, Team Liquid would make one of the biggest and boldest moves in CS:GO history, adding Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev to the team. The Ukrainian player was unlike any player the North American scene had ever seen, and with him in the lineup, Team Liquid suddenly had a chance to do damage at the Major. At MLG Columbus, Team Liquid would replicate what only one other North American team had done, reach the semi-finals. Unfortunately for Team Liquid, their run with s1mple was not as easy as it sounded. Due to internal conflicts, Team Liquid decided to remove s1mple from the team shortly after their run at the Major. But somehow, the story between Liquid and s1mple had not reached its final chapter. After removing Eric “adreN” Hoag from the team, s1mple would return to Team Liquid as a stand-in for two events. One of them being the Major, ESL One Cologne 2016. With s1mple having one of the most incredible tournaments in CS:GO history, Team Liquid managed to outdo themselves. This time, they made it all the way to the Final, beating some of the best teams in the world, Natus Vincere, and Fnatic. In the Final, they would fall short to SK Gaming, but their result still stands. With huge thanks to s1mple, Team Liquid is the best team in North American CS:GO Major history.

9. FaZe finds a leader (Karrigan joins FaZe Clan)

For a long time, FaZe Clan was nothing but a luxury prison for their CS:GO players. They would get paid some of the highest salaries in CS:GO, but the results were almost nonexistent. Under the FaZe name, the lineup had never made the playoffs of a tournament, despite having plenty of firepower on the team. What they lacked was leadership. Something that Finn “Karrigan” Andersen added to the team. After adding Karrigan, it didn’t take long for FaZe to make a playoff run. In fact, Karrigan would take FaZe to the playoffs of his very first event with the team, ELEAGUE Season 2. Soon enough, the playoffs became a regularity for FaZe, and at the ELEAGUE Major in 2017, they took Legend status, securing themselves a spot at the following Major. Karrigan managed to give the FaZe Ferrari an engine, something that it had lacked for a long time. They were still one change away from winning championships, but without Karrigan, we would still be begging for FaZe to release their players from their luxurious prison cells.

8. Making NaVi great again (Flamie joins Natus Vincere)

When I mentioned NaVi earlier on in the list, that was just their first step towards becoming one of the CS:GO titans. Despite having a massive superstar in Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovacs in the lineup, it wasn’t enough to secure them the titles they wanted. NaVi needed more firepower. They found that firepower in April of 2015 when they added Egor “Flamie” Vasilyev to the lineup. Flamie would come into the lineup replacing Sergey “Starix” Ischuk, who would go on to become the coach of the team, another key to this move. Flamie had shown that he had the talent, now it was just a matter of unlocking that ability on the big stage. Something that Starix would play a crucial part in doing. With Flamie in the team, NaVi managed to win their first big CS:GO events since the previously mentioned StarSeries victory. They would go on to win ESWC 2015, as well as another StarSeries event, SLTV StarSeries XIII. Despite winning these competitions, Flamie wasn’t fully unlocked. His performances were still very up and down, and as a result so were NaVi’s. In the fall of 2015, the team made an internal change. Instead of Zeus, their coach Starix would take over as the in-game leader. With Starix at the helm, Flamie’s overall performance drastically improved, resulting in NaVi having a fantastic run of finals at the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016. They would reach the final of 2 majors and take several championships home with them. The only teams that could stop them from one of the best runs of all time were some of the best teams in CS:GO history, EnVyUs, Fnatic and Luminosity Gaming.

7. The most expensive player of all time (NiKo joins FaZe Clan)

With Finn “Karrigan” Andersen in the lineup, FaZe had found the key to reach the playoffs on a consistent basis. However, they still didn’t have what it took to take home trophies. That is what would lead to the biggest transfer in CS:GO history. With a buyout reportedly around $500.000, FaZe had secured their ace. Now that Nikola “NiKo” Kovac was in the lineup, the playoffs were just the beginning. With a win at StarSeries Season 3 Finals, along with multiple top 2 finishes, FaZe would finally establish themselves as one of the top teams in CS:GO. It’s difficult to say how much more the lineup could have achieved, as it ended only a few months later. But with NiKo, FaZe have secured themselves a star player for many years to come.

6. From chokers to champions (Karrigan joins Dignitas)

Here he is again. Finn “Karrigan” Andersen. Before his time on FaZe, Karrigan was a longtime member of the best team in Denmark, the team we now know as Astralis. In December of 2014, the team was known as Dignitas. They were still the best team in Denmark. But they had one huge issue. The semifinals. Despite attempt after attempt, Device & co had never made a final in CS:GO. With Karrigan in the lineup, the story would become very different. Now known as Team SoloMid, the Danish team would win three tournaments in a row in the spring and summer of 2015, with a 4th title soon to follow. These were the first CS:GO championships for not only Karrigan but also for Device, Dupreeh, Xyp9x, and Cajunb. Thanks to Karrigan, the Danes were now serious contenders to every tournament they entered, as the semifinals were no longer their final destination.

5. New leadership. New trophies (Gla1ve joins Astralis)

While Finn “Karrigan” Andersen had taken Astralis to new heights, it became clear in the fall of 2016 that the team needed a change. Astralis seemed to have lost faith in Karrigan, and as we found out, both parties would benefit from the change. Instead of Karrigan, Astralis would add Lukas “Gla1ve” Rossander to replace him. After showing everyone his great mind for the game on Western Wolves back in 2013, Gla1ve seemed to disappear from the top of the CS:GO scene. Once he reappeared on Heroic, he had given up the role of in-game leader, despite his obvious talents. But with Astralis in need of a new in-game leader, Gla1ve was the guy they decided to recruit. Gla1ve would join Astralis, and go back to his old role. It became an immediate success. Astralis and Gla1ve took 2nd place at ELEAGUE Season 2 and would go on to win the ECS Season 2 Finals. But it didn’t stop there. The Danes would go on to win their first Major in CS:GO at the ELEAGUE Major in 2017. To this day, Astralis has a constant presence in the playoffs of tournaments and is still regarded by most experts as one of the top teams in the world. Consistency is the name of the game for Astralis, and who knows what the future brings for the lineup.

4. A shuffle for the ages (Shox, NBK, SmithZz, and KioShiMa join LDLC)

In the early days of CS:GO, the French scene only had one team worth talking about: VeryGames. Under the leadership of Kevin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans, the team was one of the main rivals of NiP. In the Summer of 2014, things had changed. VeryGames, now known as Titan, didn’t seem to be able to perform in the majors. A group stage exit at ESL One Cologne 2014 would be the last tournament for the original core. In the meantime, another French team, LDLC, had risen. Had it not been for NiP and their crazy run on Cobblestone, it’s very likely that LDLC would have been in the final of ESL One Cologne 2014, and perhaps even won the tournament. Despite LDLC’s great performance, the Titan players were still the kings of the French scene, and they were ready for a shuffle. Even though LDLC would come out on top, Titan were the ones who initiated the shuffle. Ex6TenZ wanted to recruit Dan “apEX” Madesclaire and Mathieu “Maniac” Quiquerez to replace Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom and Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux. However, some of the other players had different plans. Former Titan players Richard “Shox” Papillon and Nathan “NBK” Schmitt decided to make a different team and would recruit SmithZz, Fabien “KioShiMa” Frey and Vincent “Happy” Schopenhauer. With Ex6TenZ original plan being a lineup with NBK, he was forced to recruit Hovik “KQLY” Tovmassian. While Titan would come out on top in their initial meeting, the VAC ban of KQLY meant that the French shuffle had found its winner by default. LDLC would go on to become one of the greatest lineups in CS:GO history, winning the Major — Dreamhack Winter 2014, along with multiple other victories and top 2 placings.

3. A new era of Polish Counter Strike (Snax and Byali join Universal Soldiers)

Filip “NEO” Kubski and Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas are Counter Strike royalty. While they were famous for their history in Counter Strike 1.6, they would continue to build their legacy in CS:GO. But early on, it wasn’t easy. Along with Jaroslaw “Pasha” Jarzabkowski, NEO and TaZ realized that they had to make changes to get back to the top. As a result, the Poles had to bring new talent into the lineup, which they did in October of 2013. Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski and Pawel “Byali” Bielinski came in to replace longtime members of the original “Golden Five,” Jakub “Kuben” Gurczynski and Mariusz “Loord” Cybulski. NEO and TaZ committed themselves to being support players, allowing their new teammates, Snax and Byali to shine. In March of 2014, at the 2nd CS:GO Major, EMS One Katowice, we saw the Virtus.Plow for the first time, as the team now known and Virtus.Pro would win the tournament on home soil. The lineup is still the longest standing lineup in CS:GO history, and to this day, they can still pull out legendary performances, like we saw last weekend at EPICENTER 2017.

2. The Brazilians take over (TACO and fnx join Luminosity Gaming)

After adding Coldzera, Luminosity Gaming took their first step towards becoming champions. But the team wouldn’t make it to the next level until they recruited Epitacio “TACO” de Melo and Lincoln “fnx” Lau. In the very first tournament with the new lineup, the FACEIT League Stage 3 Finals, the team would take 2nd place, defeating top teams like EnVyUs, NiP and Team SoloMid. They even managed to take a map off of the seemingly unbeatable Fnatic in the final. With fnx adding some much-needed clutch factor to the team, and TACO turning out to be a very competent entry-fragger, the team had found the key to success. But the initial success was only the beginning. The Brazilians would go on to win both Majors in 2016, MLG Columbus and ESL One Cologne, clearly establishing themselves as the best team of the entire year, and one of the best lineups in CS:GO history.

1. Fnatic start their CS:GO dynasty (Olofmeister and KRIMZ join Fnatic)

To the surprise of everyone, Fnatic won the first CS:GO Major at Dreamhack Winter 2013, surprising NiP in the final. While a great result, it wouldn’t hold up, and the five-man lineup that won the first Major would never win a title again. If the Fnatic players wanted to taste gold again, a roster change was needed. Fnatic removed Andreas “Schneider” Lindberg and Jonatan “Devilwalk” Lundberg from the lineup, with the latter becoming the coach. Instead, they replaced them with former LGB-stars Olof “Olofmeister” Kajbjer and Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson. Along with Jesper “JW” Wecksell, Robin “Flusha” Rönnquist and Markus “Pronax” Wallsten they would go on to become the greatest team in CS:GO history. The results would come almost immediately. Although their fellow Swedes, NiP, defeated them in the final of ESL One Cologne 2014, it didn’t stop there. Throughout 2014 and 2015 Fnatic would go on to win countless tournaments, including two Majors — ESL One Katowice 2015 and ESL One Cologne 2015. The team would only finish outside the top 4 on two occasions. Once at Dreamhack Winter 2014, where the team themselves forfeited the tournament due to the controversial “boostgate” and at their final tournament as a team Dreamhack Cluj-Napoca 2015. Both KRIMZ and Olofmeister became keys to their success. In the beginning, KRIMZ, along with JW, was one of the primary stars of the team, carrying from a support position. Later on, Olofmeister would take over and go on to become one of the absolute best players in CS:GO history. Fnatic’s run was legendary, and there is a good chance that nobody will ever be able to replicate it. Putting this roster change in first place was an easy decision.