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, there’s been Dreamhack Tours, Gfinity Spring Masters II and Fragbite Masters Season 4. Every single team in the top 10 has been in action, so it’s time to see how the results of those tournaments have shifted the standings.
These are my CS:GO Top 10 World Rankings for 13th June, 2015.
1. FNATIC (KRiMZ, JW, olofm, Flusha and pronax) [-]
Recent form:
ESL One Katowice (1st)
ESEA S18 LAN Finals (2nd)
PGL CCS (2nd)
FACEIT Stage 1 (3rd-4th)
Dreamhack Tours (1st)
Gfinity Spring Masters II (1st)
Fragbite Masters Season 4 (2nd)
Winning two of the last three offline events they attended, and making the final in all three, helped FNATIC maintain their status as the world’s best CS:GO team. The latter point in particular ended up being significant, as FNATIC have failed to make the final of only one of the seven offline tournaments they’ve played in the last three months. That’s undeniably impressive and means that while TSM’s repeated victories over them, and titles taken, has the Danes poised to depose them as the rulers of the realm, the red and white dynamite do not have the consistent record of excellence behind their titles to topple FNATIC yet.
FNATIC have the titles, with three LAN titles of their own and one being a major; FNATIC have the consistently high placings, reaching the finals of six tournaments in the last three months; and FNATIC have the overall consistency, finishing top four in all eight offline tournaments over that time span. For now, FNATIC retain their spot, even if we have discovered the first reliable counter to their style. Against anyone not called TSM, FNATIC still look very strong, as Virtus.pro found in the Gfinity final.
2. 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)
Fragbite Masters Season 4 (1st)
TSM are a favourite to win over FNATIC in a BoX series, that much is true, but the excellent three tournament streak of device and company is still not enough to earn them the number one spot. Of the three events each has won, one of FNATIC’s is a major. Also, TSM’s three tournament streak ignores that they did not attend either of the two events between their second and third victories, making it a streak only in a pedantic sense.
TSM are an incredible team, the only team with the potential right now to take the world number one spot from FNATIC. What they need, aside from more offline titles, is a better run of consistency to back it up. Yes, they have their three offline trophies, but prior to those wins they did not have any finals placings and were still the TSM plagued by choking issues.
TSM’s recent performances have been enough to move them past EnVyUs and claim the second spot for the first time in their history, but they still have work to do if they’re going to break FNATIC’s reign. Of course, being able to repeatedly beat FNATIC offline is a great ace to have up their sleeve, since that could be the path to gaining more titles and ensuring FNATIC don’t keep apace.
3. EnVyUs (shox, Happy, kioShiMa, SmithZz and NBK) [-1]
Recent form:
ESL One Katowice (3rd-4th)
Gfinity Spring Masters 1 (1st)
StarSeries XII (1st)
EPL Winter (3rd-4th)
PGL CCS (4th)
Dreamhack Tours (2nd)
Gfinity Spring Masters II (5th-10th)
EnVyUs’ incredible 14 tournament streak of offline top four finishes, starting with the formation of this particular five man line-up, came to an end at Gfinity, thanks to a round difference tie-breaker. That single finish outside of the top four seems to tie into the team’s fall from a sure-fire finalist and possible event winner to a team who are living on their past glory and watching rivals FNATIC take the titles.
Despite their online problems and their fall at Gfinity, EnVyUs still retain a top three ranking thanks to the impressive body of work they’ve put together over the last three months. Two titles, three finals and six top four finishes is the resume of an elite level team. The Frenchmen have a lot of work do do, though, if they wish to break into a top two that features the overall best team (FNATIC) and the hottest team right now (TSM).
4. Ninjas in Pyjamas (GeT_RiGhT, f0rest, friberg, Xizt and allu) [-]
Recent form:
ESL One Katowice (2nd)
Gfinity Spring Masters 1 (2nd)
StarSeries XII (2nd)
PGL CCS (3rd)
FACEIT Stage 1 (2nd)
Gfinity Spring Masters II (5th-10th)
NiP hold at fourth by virtue of having an overall better resume that VP, with more finals runs and more wins over top teams in Bo3 series, even if VP have more titles. NiP’s Gfinity elimination outside of the top four was a shock, but NiP still seem far from capable of truly contending for those top two spots. They are one of the world’s top teams, for now a fourth place ranking is more than enough.
5. Virtus.pro (Snax, byali, pasha, NEO and TaZ) [-]
Recent form:
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)
Gfinity Spring Masters II (2nd)
VP continue to put in work and travel, with eight events attended in the last three months, but they lack quality wins. They have only beaten top four ranked teams in Bo3 series twice during that time-frame, with two of their wins over TSM coming before that team had entered the top part of the rankings.
For VP, it continues to be an issue of blowing so hot and cold. Beating FNATIC to win ESEA might have looked to be the beginning of a challenge for a top three spot, but then they failed to make the final of FACEIT. At Gfinity, they found themselves facing Na`Vi for a finals spot and edged a tight series, only to get completely demolished by FNATIC in a Bo5 they couldn’t take a single map in. Still one of the most exciting teams to watch, VP seem to lack the polish of teams like FNATIC and TSM and the consistent records of EnVyUs and NiP.
6. Na`Vi (GuardiaN, Edward, Seized, flamie and Zeus) [+1]
Recent form:
ESL One Katowice (5th-8th)
StarSeries XII (5th-6th)
EPL Winter (1st)
FACEIT Stage 1 (5th-6th)
Fragbite Masters Season 4 (3rd)
Gfinity Spring Masters II (3rd-4th)
Na`Vi are still the most dangerous underdog team in the world, capable of playing all of the five teams above them closely, but unlikely to actually get the series win against them most days of the week. This is borne out with them having only two Bo3 wins over a top four ranked team in 2015. This is a team that is a champion this year, yet has made only that one final. They still live and die by godlike performances from Guardian and flamie continues to show masses of potential but also seem unable to solidify himself as a consistent star.
With some of Titan’s past event placings having decayed from the rankings, Na`Vi edge past the French side and into the top six.
7. Titan (kennyS, apEX, Ex6TenZ, Maniac and RpK) [-1]
Recent form:
ESL One Katowice (9th-16th)
StarSeries XII (4th)
EPL Winter (2nd)
ESEA S18 LAN Finals (3rd)
Dreamhack Tours (5th-8th)
Gfinity Spring Masters II (3rd-4th)
Titan are the other world famous underdog team, but their problem is that they always fade, whether that be in maps, in series or in tournaments. Strong starts to maps make the scorelines close, but they can’t close them out. Winning a map in a Bo3, such as against FNATIC on cache at Gfinity, allows fans to believe this is their time to upset, but they typically fall and don’t deliver. Even runs to semis and finals don’t yield titles for the French side.
Titan still have a solid resume, with their four top four finishes and their lone final ensuring they far ahead of the teams ranked below them, but they are outside of the top six for the first time in a number of editions.
8. Team Dignitas (Pimp, Nico, aizy, Kjaerbye and MSL) [-]
Recent form:
Copenhagen Games (3rd)
EPL Winter (5th-8th)
Dreamhack Tours (3rd-4th)
Dignitas have still yet to put up any big Bo3 offline series wins, but adding another top four finish, with their Dreamhack Tours run, was for padding their resume. Considered a team with the potential to improve, they seem the best of the rest right now once you get out of the top seven.
9. HellRaisers (Dosia, kucher, ANGE1, AdreN and mou) [NEW]
Recent form:
ESL One Katowice (9th-16th)
CIS Championship Voronezh (2nd)
Dreamhack Tours (3rd-4th)
Fragbite Masters Season 4 (4th)
A return to the top 10 for HellRaisers comes on the back of their two most recent LAN performances, finishing top four at both Dreamhack Tours and fbM S4 finals. At Dreamhack their win over FNATIC on inferno stands out as significant, both in the historical context of FNATIC’s inferno dominance and to seperate HR from some of the teams battling them for the bottom slots here. They are still far from any kind of run higher up the rankings, but HR is playing top teams close again and back at ranked status.
10. Vox Eminor (jks, AZR, SPUNJ, Yam and Havoc) [NEW]
Recent form:
ESL One Katowice (9th-16th)
Gfinity Spring Masters II (5th-10th)
Despite not making the play-offs, Vox’s performance at Gfinity, where the format allowed for a lot of play for every team, the Australians were able to secure two single map wins over FNATIC and NiP, top four ranked teams, and solidly beat Liquid 2:0. Once you get near the bottom of the rankings, all of the teams are lacking Bo3 wins, top placings and runs of consistency, so Vox’s hot form in London was enough to snatch them the 10th spot.
Dreamhack Summer begins today and the rankings will be updated at some point after that tournament or the next.
