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 we’ve had the the last ELEAGUE group, ESL One Cologne and the ELEAGUE Last Chance Qualifier.
These are my CS:GO Top 10 World Rankings for the 20th of July, 2016.
1. SK Gaming (coldzera, FalleN, fer, fnx and TACO) [-]
Recent form:
DreamHack Austin (1st)
ESL ProLeague S3 Finals (1st)
ELEAGUE S1 Group A (1st)
ECS S1 (2nd)
ESL One Cologne (1st)
SK’s spot at the top was already incredibly strong, to the extent that even someone else winning the major would not have moved them immediately, so taking the major cements them as the best team in CS:GO by a wide margin. They didn’t add many big Bo3 series wins during the run, but their work over the last few months speaks for itself. This is the SK Gaming era of CS:GO.
2. G2 (shox, SmithZz, bodyy, ScreaM and RpK) [+2]
Recent form:
ESL ProLeague S3 Finals (2nd)
ELEAGUE S1 Group B (2nd)
ESL One Cologne Qualifier (Qual’d)
ECS S1 (1st)
ESL One Cologne (13th-16th)
The French side went out in last place at the major, failing to win a single game but also losing to the eventual champions and another team who finished top four. With the removal of past results all across the board, G2 nonetheless move up the rankings. Two big finals in the last few months and a big win is better than anyone outside of SK can boast right now. How long the French side can keep it up, or keep this roster together, is another matter entirely.
This is a team with two Bo3 series wins over FNATIC teams, a Bo3 over NiP, a Bo3 over SK. shox’s men have won five maps against the Brazilian SK Gaming team over the last three months. When you consider that SK lost only a single map at the major, you see how impressive the French side’s run has been.
3. FNATIC (KRiMZ, JW, olofm, Flusha and dennis) [+2]
Recent form:
ESL ProLeague S3 Finals (3rd-4th)
ELEAGUE S1 Group D (1st)
ECS S1 (3rd-4th)
ESL One Cologne (3rd-4th)
FNATIC seem to have had some of the sting taken out of how scary they were for teams as a result of Team Liquid taking them down in straight maps at the major, but one cannot look past the fact the Swedes still managed to secure a top four finish at that major and escape the group of death. olof and company haven’t beaten a top 10 ranked team in a Bo3 over the last three months, but two straight top four finishes in international competition, with one coming at the major, has been enough to boost them back into the top three, for now.
With ELEAGUE slowing the tournament circuit down, the placings after SK and G2 are very tenuous, since there have been so few champions and tournaments played.
4. Team Liquid (s1mple, Hiko, nitr0, EliGE and JDM) [NEW]
Recent form:
DreamHack Austin (3rd-4th)
ESL ProLeague S3 Finals (5th-6th)
ELEAGUE S1 Group A (3rd-4th)
ECS S1 (5th-6th)
ESL One Cologne (2nd)
This is a line-up which will never be seen again, but boy was it fun to watch play. A second place at a major, the first for a North American team in history, was made possible thanks to Bo3 victories over Na`Vi and FNATIC, top five ranked teams. While this ranking can only be a snapshot of a beautiful moment in time, they deserve to be credited for how impressive a run they had.
5. Virtus.pro (Snax, byali, pasha, NEO and TaZ) [+2]
Recent form:
CEVO-P S9 (3rd-4th)
Adrenaline Open Cyber Cup (1st)
Starladder i-League Invitational (1st)
ELEAGUE S1 Group F (2nd)
ESL One Cologne (3rd-4th)
Never count out Virtus.pro. The Poles escaped a tricky group and edged a frankenstein Astralis to reach the top four of yet another major in their storied careers. That they were the only team at the event to win a map off SK Gaming works to their favour too. VP are finally looking like an elite team again.
6. Ninjas in Pyjamas (GeT_RiGhT, f0rest, friberg, Xizt and pyth) [-3]
Recent form:
ESL ProLeague S3 Finals (3rd-4th)
ELEAGUE S1 Group B (1st)
Dreamhack Summer (2nd)
ECS S1 (7th-8th)
ESL One Cologne (9th-12th)
NiP had the worst major in their history, despite only needing to beat FlipSid3 to retain legendary status. This line-up still has the top four at ESL ProLeague and a runners-up finish at Dreamhack Summer, with their Bo3 win over the full strength Astralis there. With the major counting in the favour of the likes of FNATIC and Virtus.pro, NiP has work to do at ELEAGUE and in the coming months to climb again in the rankings.
7. Immortals (HEN1, boltz, lucas1, felps and SHOOWTIME) [-1]
Recent form:
CEVO-P S9 (1st)
DreamHack Austin (2nd)
Americas Minor – Cologne (2nd)
ESL One Cologne Qualifier (DNQ)
Dreamhack Summer (1st)
The second best Brazilian team did not take part in the major, but hold strong with their solid tier two results at events like CEVO-P, Dreamhack Austin and Dreamhack Summer. They can still boast Bo3 victories over dignitas and NiP, as well as a Bo5 win over VP.
8. Na`Vi (GuardiaN, Edward, Seized, flamie and Zeus) [-5]
Recent form:
Starladder i-League Invitational (2nd)
Adrenaline Open Cyber Cup (2nd)
ELEAGUE S1 Group E (1st)
ESL One Cologne (5th-8th)
Na`Vi not only failed to finish top four at the major but has not secured a Bo3 win over a top 10 ranked opponent in the last three months. The CIS side still have a solid finish at Starladder and did retain legendary status at the major, but there is too little there to keep them in the top five, marking the first drop into the bottom half of the rankings in over a year.
9. Astralis (device, dupreeh, Kjaerbye, Xyp9x and karrigan) [-4]
Recent form:
ESL ProLeague S3 Finals (7th-8th)
Dreamhack Summer (3rd-4th)
ELEAGUE S1 Group C (1st)
ECS S1 (7th-8th)
ESL One Cologne (5th-8th)
Reaching the top eight of the major doesn’t mean much when you consider they used stand-ins all the way through that campaign. Even so, there are enough decent placings to keep the Danish side clinging on to a top 10 ranking.
10. FlipSid3 (WorldEdit, markeloff, B1ad3, wayLandeR and shara) [NEW]
Recent form:
ESL One Cologne Qualifier (Qual’d)
ELEAGUE S1 Group E (2nd)
ESL One Cologne (5th-8th)
FlipSid3’s improbable run at the major sees them returning to the top 10 for the first time since roughly a year ago, back in the s1mple days. A bo3 victory over NiP and a top eight at the biggest tournament of all-time counts for a lot, especially in the context of the light amount of results and wins this far down the rankings.
Photo credit: ESL, Dreamhack, ELEAGUE, Helena Kristiansson
