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.
Since the last edition of the rankings, Dreamhack London, Dreamhack Stockholm and Gfinity Champion of Champions have taken place.
These are my CS:GO Top 10 World Rankings for the 2nd of October, 2015.
1. FNATIC (KRiMZ, JW, olofm, Flusha and pronax) [-]
Recent form:
ESL ESEA ProLeague S1 (1st)
FACEIT Stage 2 Final (3rd-4th)
ESL One Cologne (1st)
ESL ESEA PL Invitational Dubai (3rd-4th)
Gfinity Champion of Champions (2nd)
No surprises here, as FNATIC retain their top spot. Despite recent series losses, with three of the 13 this line-up has ever suffered coming within the last three months, FNATIC still boasts two titles from two of the biggest events of the year, one being a major, along with four finals appearances and five straight top fours. They are no longer dominating the scene, but they still remain ahead of the game in terms of accomplishments.
2. EnVyUs (kennyS, Happy, kioShiMa, apEX and NBK) [+4]
Recent form:
ESL ESEA ProLeague S1 (5th-6th)
ESWC (3rd-4th)
IEM X Gamescom (1st)
ESL One Cologne (2nd)
ESL ESEA PL Invitational Dubai (5th-6th)
Dreamhack London (1st)
Gfinity Champion of Champions (1st)
It’s very rare for teams near the top of the rankings to jump as many spots as this, but EnVyUs won two events, securing a Bo3 win over TSM and Bo5 wins over VP and FNATIC, taking down the three best teams in the world in the span of two weeks. That’s massively impressive and added to the two titles they acquired during those campaigns, the French side return to the spot their old line-up occupied for so long.
With the major just around the corner, FNATIC look to have a worthy contender to potentially take the number one spot from them.
3. Team SoloMid (device, dupreeh, cajunb, Xyp9x and karrigan) [-1]
Recent form:
ESL ESEA ProLeague S1 (7th-8th)
FACEIT Stage 2 Final (1st)
Acer Predator Masters (7th-8th)
IEM X Gamescom (2nd)
ESL One Cologne (3rd-4th)
ESL ESEA PL Invitational Dubai (2nd)
Dreamhack London (2nd)
TSM have played in five tournaments since they last won a title, but they have established a high level of consistency. Two runner-up finishes ensures they hold strong in the top three, even though they had to drop from second. Making the final of Dreamhack London is hardly a great feat, being as they only had to beat dignitas to get there, but they have a title within the last three months, made the final of Dubai and finished top four at the major.
TSM are still a world class team with the potential to take trophies home. Their biggest problem is that nV are looking to be their Kryptonite and are making deep runs in all the tournaments.
4. Virtus.pro (Snax, byali, pasha, NEO and TaZ) [-1]
Recent form:
ESL ESEA ProLeague S1 (3rd-4th)
FACEIT Stage 2 Final (7th-8th)
CEVO-P S7 Final (1st)
ESL One Cologne (3rd-4th)
ESL ESEA PL Invitational Dubai (1st)
Gfinity Champion of Champions (3rd-4th)
VP played EnVyUs well at Gfinity for the first three maps, but were beaten by a mixture of a poor performance from NEO and nV out-fragging them over the last three maps. VP are still very dangerous and their time as champions seems far from over, being as they were in phenomenal form in Dubai, but VP have never been a team who stack titles one after the other. A rematch with EnVyUs would certainly be an enticing prospect.
5. Na`Vi (GuardiaN, Edward, Seized, flamie and Zeus) [-1]
Recent form:
ESWC (1st)
FACEIT Stage 2 Final (3rd-4th)
CEVO-P S7 Final (2nd)
ESL One Cologne (5th-8th)
Gaming Paradise (2nd)
ESL ESEA PL Invitational Dubai (7th-8th)
Na`Vi’s resume is still littered with top placings, but their blazing hot Summer has begun to fade, both in terms of current form and the finishes which count towards this ranking. They’re still far ahead of all the teams below them, but it appears as if Na`Vi match-up poorly against all the teams above them and are much less likely to be crowned champions any time soon.
6. Cloud9 (Skadoodle, Shroud, n0thing, fREAKAZOiD and sgares) [-]
Recent form:
ESL ESEA ProLeague S1 (2nd)
ESWC (2nd)
FACEIT Stage 2 Final (2nd)
CEVO-P S7 Final (3rd-4th)
ESL One Cologne NA Qualifier (Qualified)
ESL One Cologne (9th-12th)
ESL ESEA PL Invitational Dubai (7th-8th)
Dreamhack Stockholm – Qualifier for Cluj-Napoca (Qualified)
Cloud9’s special three tournament run is still the story they dine out on, but not for long. By the next edition of the rankings they will have begun to lose some of those placings, much like Marty McFly lost family members from that photograph in the first Back to the Future movie, but with more tank tops. C9’s form hasn’t been world class in what feels like a long time, due to how busy the CS:GO circuit is. They must deliver a top performance soon or they will be in position to be passed over by other teams come the major.
7. Ninjas in Pyjamas (GeT_RiGhT, f0rest, friberg, Xizt and allu) [-]
Recent form:
ESWC (5th-8th)
FACEIT Stage 2 Final (5th-6th)
ESL One Cologne (5th-8th)
ESL ESEA PL Invitational Dubai (3rd-4th)
Gfinity Champion of Champions (3rd-4th)
NiP are no longer a top team, but they are still good enough in all respects to be the best of the lower teams. C9 have the better recent record, but I’d bet on NiP in a match against any of the bottom five teams right now. Their top four at Gfinity is a little deceptive, being as they didn’t win a series there, since it featured only four teams, and they have never actually been a champion with this line-up. With all of that said, they still have the placings to stick around this high a little longer.
Losing Gfinity Summer Masters I means NiP are back down to one Bo3 win over a top ten ranked team, at the time, with their win over nV in Dubai.
8. mousesports (nex, ChrisJ, denis, NiKo and gob b) [-]
Recent form:
CEVO-P S7 Final (3rd-4th)
Acer Predator Masters (2nd)
IEM X Gamescom (4th)
ESL One Cologne (13th-16th)
Gaming Paradise (5th-6th)
Dreamhack Stockholm – Qualifier for Cluj-Napoca (Qualified)
mouz are starting to lose the placings that made up their strong run of form earlier in the year, but they still maintain a top eight spot. Changing players means their past results lose a little credit, but they still have a little breathing room, for now.
9. Gamers2 (ScreaM, Rain, Maikelele, dennis and fox) [-]
Recent form:
FACEIT Stage 2 Final (5th-6th)
ESL One Cologne (5th-8th)
Gaming Paradise (1st)
Dreamhack London (5th-6th)
This line-up no longer exists, having lost the services of ScreaM, but their win at Gaming Paradise still puts them ahead of most of the bottom dwellers, and the upset wins of the events before that cement their status as a team who were showing promise. It seems unlikely they can stay top 10 ranked for long, in light of the recent transfer and word of potential roster shake-ups, but they stay here for now.
10. HellRaisers (?, mou, ANGE1, kucher and AdreN) [-]
Recent form:
Acer Predator Masters (1st)
ESL One Cologne EU Qualifier (Did not qualify)
Dreamhack Stockholm – Qualifier for Cluj-Napoca (Did not qualify)
Re-acquiring s1mple seemed to be the ticket for HR to qualify for the major and become a solid team again, building on their previous APM title. Instead, they fell apart when it mattered at the major qualifier and now it is uncertain if they will even have s1mple again in the future.
The future seems dark for HellRaisers and they live only on that APM title, which will soon mean little, being as they are a man down from the team which accomplished that feat. Titan are coming strong behind them.
Photo credit: ESL, Dreamhack, Gfinity
