Top 5 best esports teams in 2023

As the year 2023 draws to a close, it's a good time to highlight the teams that have shone on the world stage and made their name in the history of the sport. In each of the popular disciplines, it is possible to single out a team that either became the world champion or dominated throughout the ranking season.

In this article you will find out why Gaimin Gladiators are called the most successful team of the year in Dota 2, and how Team Vitality ended the year on a Major note in CS2. In addition, we'll talk about how Evil Geniuses steadily came to success in Valorant, what made T1 's win at Worlds 2023 so remarkable, and how Danawa e-sports won the biggest prize of the professional season in PUBG.

Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2).

In Dota 2, it's hard to single out any other team on the professional scene other than Gaimin Gladiators. The European club has had a truly phenomenal season. The GG roster hasn't changed since 2022 and has continued to build team synergy and individual play.

Gaimin Gladiators managed to win all three Major tournaments in the last DPC season, two ESL Pro Tour Dota 2 2023 tournaments, as well as BetBoom Dacha. Yes, the team slipped a bit towards the end of the year, finishing fourth place at the Riyadh Masters 2023 and 7th-8th at DreamLeague Season 21. But silver medals at The International 2023 and ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 cemented their status as the most successful team in Dota 2 this year.

Some might argue that Team Spirit became world champions by winning The International 2023, and they deserve to be the best team in Valve's eSports discipline, and they would be entitled to it. But if we look at the entire game year, the last time something similar to the Gaimin Gladiators' performance in 2023 was only shown by Team Alliance a decade ago.

Team Vitality (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive/ 2)

Team Vitality had a great season in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Counter-Strike 2. Until the middle of the year, the roster remained unchanged. ZywOo and his teammates won at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2023, Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023 and BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023. At the last Major CS:GO tournament, the European club was able to earn an impressive $500,000 in prize money for the championship.

The silver medal at BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2023 was the last achievement for dupreeh for Team Vitality. He was replaced by flameZ, who gradually managed to fit into the team. This was evidenced by his victory at Gamers8 2023, which provided the players with $400,000. A slump in the game in September-October marked the departure of zonic and Magisk, but they were successfully replaced by XTQZZZZZ and mezii.

Team Vitality confirmed their status as Valve's best shooter team of the year by winning BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023 and BLAST Premier: World Final 2023 at the end of the year. The two championships combined brought the European club $700,000 in prize money. Vitality were able to not only successfully adapt to the changes in the roster, but also show that the revamped Team Vitality can also be the best of the best.

Evil Geniuses (Valorant)

The journey of American team Evil Geniuses to Valorant has been extremely concise, yet memorable. Boostio and his teammates started the season with a 9-16th place finish at the opening VALORANT Champions Tour 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo, which is hardly a good result.

At their home VALORANT Champions Tour 2023: Americas League Evil Geniuses already showed what they are worth by finishing in third place in the standings. The $40,000 was a nice bonus to their tickets to the VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo and VALORANT Champions 2023. It's worth noting that the team only improved their results at each of the above tournaments.

VALORANT Champions Tour 2023: Masters Tokyo was marked by the excellent play of Evil Geniuses, but their kryptonite was the Fnatic team, which the American club could not defeat either in the final of the upper grid or in the grand final of the competition. The players earned $200,000 for their second place finish. The main achievement of EG was its performance at the VALORANT Champions 2023. Yes, the team had problems in some matches there, and the fans will remember the tense bo5 series against LOUD in the final of the Championships for a long time. But the result was a 3-1 victory on Paper Rex in the grand final of the competition.

Evil Geniuses showed systematic growth, which translated into a world championship and substantial earnings for the team. They can rightfully be called the best Valorant team of the past year.

T1 (League of Legends).

If we're talking about the discipline from Riot Games, T1 rightfully deserve the status of the best team of the outgoing year in League of Legends. The team finished both splits in second place, Ledgeaying at both Gen.G Esports tournaments. Mid-Season Invitational 2023 brought the players a bronze medal and $30,000 in prize money.

But the real story was made by this team at the 2023 World Championship. In the group stage, the team could not cope only with the aforementioned Gen.G Esports and with the statistics 3-1 went into the play-offs. Considering the trends, it is perhaps even good that both of these clubs did not meet in the play-offs.

On their way to the championship T1 dealt with LNG Esports, JD Gaming and defeated Weibo Gaming in the grand finals with a score of 3:0, which brought the team $445,000 in prize money. Also worth mentioning is the fact that Faker became a four-time League of Legends World Champion, making him one of the most successful, if not the most successful, eSportsman in history. It's also worth noting that the notable Korean first won the Worlds in 2013 at the age of 17. To repeat such an achievement for the fourth time in ten years is something to be commended and honoured.

Danawa e-sports (PUBG).

The professional e-sports scene in PUBG is not at its best in Europe and America, but is in great shape in Asian countries. The brightest representative of this discipline in 2023 is the Danawa e-sports team.

The South Korean club, owned by the popular supermarket of the same name, has dominated the regional scene throughout the year, winning PUBG WEEKLY SERIES: KOREA Phase 1, PUBG Global Series 2023 Phase 2: Korea Qualifier and PUBG WEEKLY SERIES: KOREA Phase 2, as well as silverware at other tournaments.

At the international level, Danawa e-sports were consistently in the top 4 and made it to the PUBG World Championship. The team won the PUBG Global Championship 2023 and earned an impressive $705,000. Regional dominance and strong play on the international stage, backed by a world championship, makes seoul and his teammates the strongest team in their discipline.

Conclusion

The past year has given fans of the big eSports a lot of highlights and memorable teams. The aforementioned teams became the best of the best in their games, some as world champions, and some because of their classy performance throughout the season. Let's see what the eѕроrtѕive world will present us with in the year of the green wooden dragon.