CS:GO has always struggled for a consistently updated and coherent set of World Rankings, with so many teams attending different events and the difficulty of judging the context of which event’s results should count for more than another. Rather than construct some kind of elaborate point system and place my expertise into the task of allocating which would receive how many points, I’ve instead looked back over the recent form of each of the teams out there and determined, according to my own analysis and intuition, which team ranks where in my global top 10.
Offline results are the only ones I take into consideration. In general, I consider the results of a team across a range of around three months, with those at the beginning of that period being weighted a little less, in contrast to more recent tournament results. Finishes, consistency, current form and opponents faced are all factors to be weighed up and considered.
FACEIT 2015 Stage 1 saw some of the top teams in action, so let’s see how the results of that tournament affected the standings. PENTA changed the majority of their line-up, so I have removed them from the rankings entirely, until new results have been acquired. It doesn’t make sense to give them credit for results which their new line-up was barely any part of.
These are my CS:GO Top 10 World Rankings for 7th May, 2015.
1. FNATIC (KRiMZ, JW, olofm, Flusha and pronax) [-]
Recent form:
ClutchCon (1st)
IOS Pantamera (1st)
ESL One Katowice (1st)
ESEA S18 LAN Finals (2nd)
PGL CCS (2nd)
FACEIT Stage 1 (3rd-4th)
Failing to make the final of a tournament for only the second time in 2015, and the first time in the last six LANs, was a shock for FNATIC, though more understandable when one considers that part of that placing came due to TSM losing in the group stage but then being the eventual champions. TSM aside, FNATIC still looks strong and will beat practically anyone in the world in a Bo3. TSM’s rise and three offline Bo3/Bo5 series wins over FNATIC does hint that the Danes may be the counter to FNATIC, but the Swedes have yet to be knocked off the top spot in the rankings.
2. EnVyUs (shox, Happy, kioShiMa, SmithZz and NBK) [-]
Recent form:
IOS Pantamera (3rd)
ESL One Katowice (3rd-4th)
Gfinity Spring Masters 1 (1st)
StarSeries XII (1st)
EPL Winter (3rd-4th)
PGL CCS (4th)
EnVyUs did not play since the previous edition of the rankings and thus have not had any opportunity to gain in the standings.
3. Team SoloMid (device, dupreeh, cajunb, Xyp9x and karrigan) [+1]
Recent form:
ESL One Katowice (5th-8th)
StarSeries XII (3rd)
Copenhagen Games (2nd)
EPL Winter (3rd-4th)
PGL CCS (1st)
FACEIT Stage 1 (1st)
TSM’s victory at FACEIT moves them past NiP and into the top three for the first time in the history of CS:GO and these rankings. In the past, when they were Dignitas, they could be ranked as the fourth best team, but purely on the basis of beating the teams below and finishing in 3rd-4th at most LANs. One thing that era of the team was not was a threat to reach the final and take out the top three teams in Bo3 series. Now, TSM are seemingly in hot pursuit of the number one spot, beating out world number ones FNATIC in three straight offline Bo3/Bo5 series in recent history.
TSM’s win at PGL CCS was pure class, dominating the best teams in the world and dropping only a single map en route to the title. Their win in London, at FACEIT, was entirely different, as they found themselves both close to progressing in first place from their group and close to failing to reach the play-offs. Once they did make the semis, they comfortably beat FNATIC and then overcame a terrible start to the final to edge out NiP in a thrilling final two maps.
They haven’t entirely overcome their choking, but they have improved in so many areas that TSM are now a real threat to EnVyUs’s top two spot. The French side will have the opportunity to improve their position at Dreamhack this weekend.
4. Ninjas in Pyjamas (GeT_RiGhT, f0rest, friberg, Xizt and allu) [-1]
Recent form:
ASUS ROG Winter (1st)
IOS Pantamera (4th-6th)
ESL One Katowice (2nd)
Gfinity Spring Masters 1 (2nd)
StarSeries XII (2nd)
PGL CCS (3rd)
FACEIT Stage 1 (2nd)
NiP are not ranked in the top three for the first time since late January. NiP’s fall has been less their own doing and more the meteoric rise of TSM, taking down two straight events. The Ninjas have continued to add Bo3 series wins over top teams and pile up top placings, but they still lack for a big event title and are now starting to look more like the gatekeepers to titles. If you can beat NiP in a Bo3, then you can win a title.
5. Virtus.pro (Snax, byali, pasha, NEO and TaZ) [-]
Recent form:
ASUS ROG Winter (5th-8th)
IOS Pantamera (4th-6th)
ESL One Katowice (3rd-4th)
Gfinity Spring Masters 1 (3rd)
StarSeries XII (5th-6th)
Copenhagen Games (1st)
EPL Winter (5th-8th)
ESEA S18 LAN Finals (1st)
FACEIT Stage 1 (3rd-4th)
The hardest working team in CS:GO, in terms of event attendance, continues to lack for consistency. After winning ESEA S18 over FNATIC and beating TSM in the FACEIT group stage, one would expect them to beat NiP and move on to the final. Instead, they fell in narrow fashion and were forced to settle for a top four finish. For all their traveling, VP have only managed five top four finishes out of their nine events over the last three months. Despite having won two titles, their consistency and overall number of big series wins drags them down below NiP.
VP are maddening to spectate, as at their peak form they can beat most of the teams out there and potentially take the title, but that peak form can be fleeting from map to map.
6. Titan (kennyS, apEX, Ex6TenZ, Maniac and RpK) [-]
Recent form:
ASUS ROG Winter (2nd)
IOS Pantamera (2nd)
ESL One Katowice (9th-16th)
StarSeries XII (4th)
EPL Winter (2nd)
ESEA S18 LAN Finals (3rd)
Titan did not play since the previous edition of the rankings and thus have not had any opportunity to gain in the standings.
7. Na`Vi (GuardiaN, Edward, Seized, flamie and Zeus) [-]
Recent form:
ESL One Katowice (5th-8th)
StarSeries XII (5th-6th)
EPL Winter (1st)
FACEIT Stage 1 (5th-6th)
This event should have been the one where Na`Vi impressed and moved past Titan in the standings. The team which beat both EnVyUs and Titan to take EPL Winter, instead failed to crack the top four for the third time in their last four events. Na`Vi’s strengths are obvious, as TSM found out in their two Bo3 series against them, but the CIS side have a bad habit of playing opponents closely only to still lose the series.
An event victory is impressive, but the rest of Na`Vi’s resume is sorely lacking right now, ensuring they have not overtake the sustained top four finishes of Titan.
8. Team Dignitas (Pimp, Nico, aizy, Kjaerbye and MSL) [+1]
Recent form:
Copenhagen Games (3rd)
EPL Winter (5th-8th)
Dignitas did not play since the previous edition of the rankings, but have been moved up due to PENTA changing three players in their line-up.
9. Flipsid3 Tactics (s1mple, WorldEdit, markeloff, bondik and B1ad3) [+1]
Recent form:
ESL One Katowice (9th-16th)
Copenhagen Games (4th)
CIS Championship Voronezh (1st)
Flipsid3 did not play since the previous edition of the rankings, but have been moved up due to PENTA changing three players in their line-up.
10. Keyd Stars (steel, boltz, fer, zqk and FalleN) [NEW]
Recent form:
MLG X Games Aspen (5th-8th)
ClutchCon (5th-8th)
ESL One Katowice (5th-8th)
Keyd returns to the top 10 purely due to PENTA’s changes, as they have no LAN results to add to their resume. They get the nod over other teams, such as HellRaisers and Cloud9, due to having the best placing at the major coupled with some solid single map upsets. Once you get down to the end of the list, the teams are not securing notable Bo3 series wins, so it comes down to more scarce data from which to draw conclusions.
Dreamhack Tours takes place this weekend and will provide an opportunity for teams to affect their placings in my rankings.
