Following the conclusion of the StarLadder Budapest Major, top CS2 teams are looking to strengthen their rosters ahead of the upcoming CS2 events in 2026.
Some organizations have already pulled the trigger, bringing in hot new talent, changing the leadership structures, or even re-instituting former players.
Here are all the latest CS2 roster updates in our transfer hub.
phzy, and ryu join Astralis. Credit: © Astralis
Astralis finally put together their 2025 lineup, adding Love “phzy” Smidebrant and Gytis “ryu” Glušauskas, therefore transitioning to an international roster.
On top of the active lineup changes, Martin “stavn” Lund, who stepped away from the team in August last year for personal reasons, has officially departed Astralis and is looking for new opportunities elsewhere.
It won’t be long until we see the new look Astralis in action, with BLAST Bounty kicking off on January 13th.
Astralis are now:
vsm and piriajr complete full Brazilian paiN roster. Credit: © paiN Gaming
paiN have completed their roster ahead of the upcoming season, bringing in Vinicius “vsm” Moreira and Guilherme “piriajr” Barbosa to join their ranks in 2026.
The Brazilian organization was originally looking to sign Michel “ewjerkz” Pinto, who was benched by Ninjas in Pyjamas at the end of the previous year. Unfortunately, the talks with the Portuguese rifler fell through in the end.
With their new all-Brazilian lineup, paiN will be hoping to get back into the top 10 conversation as soon as possible.
paiN are now:
susp reunites with nilo on HEROIC. Credit: © HEROIC
HEROIC continue to rotate players on a regular basis, this time replacing Simon “yxngstxr” Boije with Tim “susp” Ångström. The all-Swedish trade sees them replacing one anchor with another.
Earlier in the break, HEROIC also cut their in-game leader Linus “LNZ” Holtäng in favor of Christoffer “Chr1zN” Storgaard, who made an impression while playing on OG.
Let’s see if this iteration of the team has what it takes to break through the gatekeeper barrier.
HEROIC now are:
device is the final piece of the 100T puzzle. Credit: © 100 Thieves
100 Thieves has finally completed their new Counter-Strike roster, confirming the signings of Nicolai “device” Reedtz from Astralis and three exciting youngsters: André “Ag1l” Gil, William “sirah” Kjærsgaard, and Alex “poiii” Nyholm Sundgren.
We delved deep into the changes and 100T prospects in 2026 in this article.
100 Thieves now are:
MUTiRiS will be the leader of BC.Game in 2026. Credit: © SAW
BC.Game continues making moves in the market, this time acquiring the former core of SAW. The transfer will help the team move up in the VRS rankings, which could lead to more top-tier tournament invitations in 2026.
It will be interesting to see how the new pieces gel with the infamous duo of Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and Denis “electroNic” Sharipov. We further discuss the change in the full article.
Joining the team is also Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas, who will be the new coach of BC.Game. The Pole returns to coaching after his stint with G2, where he had decent results and lifted a couple of trophies.
Let’s see if he manages to handle the big personalities he will be working with on this roster.
BC.Game are now:
Senzu is seemigly out of The MongolZ for good. Credit: Michal Konkol | © BLAST
The MongolZ decided to bank on youth with their new addition, as they brought in the 19-year-old Anarbileg “cobrazera” Uuganbayar from The Huns into their 2026 roster. Despite not getting the full-time gig, Unudelger “controlez” Baasanjargal played really well during his short-lived The MongolZ stint.
With this new addition, it’s now virtually confirmed that Azbayar “Senzu” Munkhbold will not be returning to the active roster. There have been rumours that he is searching for a new team and that he could transition to being an AWPer in 2026.
It will be interesting to see how the next year will treat both The MongolZ and Senzu after their split.
The MongolZ are now:
device’s second Astralis tenure comes to an end. Credit: © Astralis
Astralis are making roster changes yet again, with both Nicolai “device” Reedtz and Emil “Magisk” Reif departing the team. While Magisk was only a temporary replacement for the benched Martin “stavn” Lund, device is leaving amidst reports of him joining 100 Thieves‘ new Counter-Strike project.
In their statement, the organization expressed that it is not limited to a single pool of players when recruiting their next additions, hinting at moving towards an international roster, like the majority of the top CS2 teams.
Astralis are now:
soulfly joins Aurora. Credit: © Aurora
After a disappointing end to 2025, Aurora decided to shake up their CS2 roster. Samet “jottAAA” Köklü is out of the team after a full year in the lineup. Replacing him is a newcomer to the tier-one scene, Caner “soulfly” Kesici.
soulfly made a name for himself playing on European mix teams for the past couple of years, performing well as an entry fragging rifler. However, he might have to change up his style in Aurora, as they do not really need another aggressive piece within their ranks.
Aurora are now:
gla1ve makes coaching debut. Credit: © 100 Thieves
100 Thieves are in the middle of recruiting their new Counter-Strike roster, with Havard “rain” Nygaard set to lead the project. Four-time Major-winning IGL, Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander, is their latest addition.
The Dane recently retired as a player and will be taking on coaching duties for the first time in his career, alongside rain and four other players, who are yet to be announced.
100 Thieves are now:
chopper and zweih are gone. Credit: © Team Spirit
Spirit are the first of the top CS2 teams to make roster changes, drastic ones at that. Boris “magixx” Vorobiev and Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotia return to the active roster, as Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov and Ivan “zweih” Gogin are moved to the bench.
Read more about the change in this article.
Spirit are now:
JBa replaces HexT. Credit: © M80
After a decent run at the StarLadder Budapest Major, M80 have opted to upgrade their roster, removing Jadan “HexT” Postma and acquiring Josh “JBa” Barutt from Wildcard.
This change should cement M80 as the team to beat in North America, and could see them elevate to the level required in order to compete with the European field on a consistent basis.
M80 are now:
ash steps down from coaching role. Credit: © GamerLegion
GamerLegion have decided to completely alter their leadership structure, benching their in-game leader, Erik “ztr” Gustafsson, in favor of the returning Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski.
An additional change came in the coaching department, as Ashley “ash” Battye stepped down from the roster due to burnout. The team’s former assistant coach, Adrian ‘imd’ Pieper, will be his temporary replacement.
GamerLegion are now:
Only the Brazilians remain. Credit: © paiN Gaming
After a dismal second half of 2025, paiN had to make some roster changes. Following their StarLadder Budapest Major exit, David “dav1deuS” Tapia Maldonado and Franco “dgt” Garcia were moved to the bench.
There is no information on who their replacements might be at the time of writing.
paiN are now:
Feature image credit: © StarLadder
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