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 StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3 and Copenhagen Games.
These are my CS:GO Top 10 World Rankings for the 21st of April, 2017.
1. Astralis (device, dupreeh, Kjaerbye, Xyp9x and gla1ve) [-]
Recent form:
ELEAGUE Major (1st)
Dreamhack Masters Vegas (3rd-4th)
IEM XI Katowice (1st)
StarSeries S3 (2nd)
Astralis continue to hold firmly onto to the top spot, finishing StarSeries with a second place and finding themselves a single round from the title. Astralis’ resume of top 10 ranked wins is utterly ridiculous, beyond anything comparable from any other team and indictative of a team poised to put their stamp on this period as their era. Astralis have won six Bo3 series over ranked teams and nine Bo1s.
FaZe are rising, but they have a long way to go still to overcome Astralis’ recent accomplishments, especially as the Danes continue to finish top four or better at every event.
2. Virtus.pro (Snax, byali, pasha, NEO and TaZ) [-]
Recent form:
ELEAGUE Major (2nd)
Dreamhack Masters Vegas (1st)
IEM XI Katowice (7th-8th)
StarSeries S3 (13th-14th)
The last two tournaments have been nightmares for the Poles, but their two big placings combined with having five Bo3 series wins over ranked opponents keep them this high. FaZe are edging ahead of them with finishes, but the international super-team has yet to accrue the same level of series wins.
3. FaZe (NiKo, Rain, kioShiMa, allu and karrigan) [+2]
Recent form:
ELEAGUE Major (5th-8th)
Dreamhack Masters Vegas (9th-12th)
IEM XI Katowice (2nd)
StarSeries S3 (1st)
Victory at StarSeries, succeeding where they failed against Astralis in Katowice, gives FaZe their first ever legitimate push towards the top of the world rankings. Alas, as previously highlighted, upsets on their sides of brackets have denied them the chance to pick up big series wins, with their only one to mention being the finals win over Astralis. A good back-log of Bo1 wins will stand them in good stead to gain on VP, should they gather more placings or series wins.
4. SK Gaming (coldzera, FalleN, fer, TACO and felps) [-1]
Recent form:
ELEAGUE Major (3rd-4th)
Dreamhack Masters Vegas (2nd)
IEM XI Katowice (11th-12th)
StarSeries S3 (9th-12th)
Despite a similar run of poor form as VP, SK also retain a top ranking, likewise in part due to their good run of form earlier in the year. Beyond that, SK has a very respectable bank of wins, with three Bo3 series wins, admittedly one with fox as a stand-in, and Bo1 wins over Astralis, FaZe, Virtus.pro and North – some of the world’s elite sides. SK will lose ground as the major disappears by the next rankings roll around, unless they can again return to a top finish.
5. Na`Vi (GuardiaN, Edward, Seized, flamie and s1mple) [+1]
Recent form:
ELEAGUE Major (5th-8th)
Dreamhack Masters Vegas (5th-8th)
IEM XI Katowice (5th-6th)
StarSeries S3 (3rd-4th)
Coach Andi seems to have worked some magic on the Na`Vi boys, as they broke their quarter-finals curse at the same time as overcoming FNATIC, their nemesis who had beaten them in every offline Bo3 in CS:GO history. A top four finish put the consistent but previously far from contending Na`Vi back in the mix and seemingly heading the right way, climbing up a spot to fifth. The return of GuardiaN certainly bodes well for the talented squad.
6. North (k0nfig, cajunb, Magiskb0Y, Aizy and MSL) [-2]
Recent form:
ELEAGUE Major (5th-8th)
Dreamhack Masters Vegas (3rd-4th)
IEM XI Katowice (5th-6th)
StarSeries S3 (5th-8th)
North are the most underwhelming team in CS:GO and they continued to show as much, again progressing to the play-offs and for the second tournament in a row being upset by an underdog. Their placings and Bo1 back-log keep them relevant, but it will take Bo3 series wins and deep finishes to give North any real chance of moving up high, having dropped two spots here to sixth.
7. Immortals (HEN1, boltz, lucas1, fnx and steel) [-]
Recent form:
IEM XI Katowice (3rd-4th)
StarSeries S3 (9th-12th)
An appalling StarSeries campaign has left IMT living purely off their form in Katowice. That top four and, crucially, series win over North has narrowly retained the seventh spot for the boys from Brazil.
8. HellRaisers (Deadfox, ANGE1, STYKO, bondik and Zero) [NEW]
Recent form:
ELEAGUE Major (15th-16th)
StarSeries S3 (3rd-4th)
Whether HellRaisers are actually one of the 10 best teams in CS:GO is irrelevant to the fact that their run at StarSeries and eventual placing have secured them a spot as high as eighth. Down this far in the rankings placings and results are so sparse, so a top four at a big event and a Bo3 series win over North go a long way. As crazy as it may sound to say, if HR can add another result relatively soon then they have a real shot of moving further up the rankings, with IMT barely ahead of them.
9. Gambit (AdreN, mou, Dosia, HObbit and Zeus) [-]
Recent form:
ELEAGUE Major (5th-8th)
Dreamhack Masters Vegas (5th-8th)
StarSeries S3 (13th-14th)
Gambit have gone from a team hyped by many to one which seems to have run dry on their potential. In a world in which teams ban cbblestone and overpass, Gambit could not produce any performances of value and even managed to lose their unbeaten streak on cbble to the lowly CLG. Zeus’s men still lack a ranked series win.
10. FNATIC (olofm, dennis, KRiMZ, JW and flusha) [NEW]
Recent form:
ELEAGUE Major (3rd-4th)
Dreamhack Masters Vegas (9th-12th)
IEM XI Katowice (7th-8th)
StarSeries S3 (5th-8th)
The side which dominated CS:GO in early 2016 have returned to the rankings, with a play-off finish in Kiev and some good Bo1 wins, including one over Virtus.pro, to boast about. The major will be gone soon enough, so this team of fraggers need to put more kills up and grab some more ranked scalps to get back into the meat of the rankings.
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