Na’Vi surpasses Astralis for No. 1 spot in HLTV’s world rankings

Natus Vincere are the best CS:GO team in the world, according to HLTV’s world rankings.

Na’Vi are now on top of the leaderboard after HLTV updated its rankings a week after the Russians won IEM Katowice, the first Masters ESL Pro Tour event of the year. Na’Vi sit at 853 points, six more than the second-place Astralis.

Astralis had been No. 1 for the last four months since they surpassed Evil Geniuses after their successful championship run at IEM Beijing in November 2019. The Danes, however, also held the top spot from April 2018 to June 2019, a period where they dominated the scene and won two CS:GO Majors in a row—the FACEIT London Major in September 2018 and the IEM Katowice Major in March 2019.

This is the second time that Na’Vi have been considered the best CS:GO team in the world by HLTV. The CIS squad became the top squad in the world in April 2016 for the first time following two runners-up campaigns at the MLG Columbus Major and at DreamHack Masters Malmö.

Na’Vi’s reign at that time only lasted three weeks before Luminosity Gaming, the MLG Columbus Major’s winner, surpassed them. Na’Vi have won several tournaments since then, but they weren’t as consistent as Astralis and Team Liquid, for example.

The Russians are 2-0 against Astralis in 2020 so far, having eliminated them from BLAST Premier Spring Series and IEM Katowice in the semifinals. Their rivalry will continue soon since both sides will compete in ESL Pro League season 11, which kicks off next week.