Thorin’s CSGO World Rankings – 30th April 2020
When I originally launched my CS:GO World Rankings concept in 2014 there were no other attempts at a global ranking, regularly updated, of the world’s top teams.
Other rankings have since risen up and over time been tweaked to provide an accurate and reliable charting of the rise and fall of the many teams in the scene. What is lacking is an expert’s eye, to adjust for factors point-based systems cannot address, and an explanation of the various positions.
My rankings run over an exact three-month span, extending back three months prior to the date they are published, and encapsulating all offline results within that time span. This allows for a sense of how good a team is to be established after they have had time to accomplish multiple placings, but without unduly letting teams who were fantastic many months ago hang on to top rankings when the game and time has moved on.
As well as placings, the value of which is determined by the prestige of the tournament and the quality of the opposition in attendance, the opponents a team beats counts to their ranking. Teams who defeat Top 10 opponents, with the higher-ranked teams more valuable scalps to claim, help determine their overall ranking and break ties with other teams who have similar kinds of placings. Likewise, victories in Best-of-3 (Bo3) series are of more value than Bo1 results and a single map won in a series over teams of a similar level. Unlike past editions of my rankings, I will also list the victories teams have had over ranked opponents.
When a team changes players then past results are counted at a proportionally lower value, based on how many remaining players were present at that time.
The key approach which changes the nature of these rankings is the addition of a tier-based system as well, taking cues from the “class” vernacular of the StarCraft: Brood War community of the 2000s and recent rankings by Esports Kingdom. S class are the elite teams, who can be expected to win tournaments. A class are the teams below them, good and capable of competing with them but not expected to be the favorite at tournaments featuring all the teams. B class are the teams below both of the previous tiers, solid sides and capable of being ranked but not top teams.
The importance of this change is that it prevents situations where the scene, perhaps due to roster moves or a lull in form, has few elite sides and so a team finds themselves ranked fifth who likely will never win a big tournament. In other eras, perhaps even the fourth and fifth-ranked teams are championship material. The class system will signify as much.
Update: Due to the lockdown in many countries leading to essentially no offline play, I have taken the decision of covering online results, contrary to the usual precedent, in lieu of LANs. Once offline play resumes I will again return to ignoring online results.
30th January 2019 – 30th April 2020
Tournaments impacting the ranking (due to teams ranked attending):
- Jan 31 – Feb 16 BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 Regular Season
- Feb 01 – Feb 06 ICE Challenge 2020
- Feb 21 – Feb 23 DreamHack Open Anaheim
- Feb 24 – Mar 01 Intel Extreme Masters XIV – World Championship
- Mar 03 – Mar 05 Flashpoint Season 1: LAN Qualifier [NEW]
- Mar 16 – Apr 12 ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe [Online] [NEW]
- Mar 13 – Apr 19 Flashpoint 1 [Online] [NEW]
- Mar 26 – Apr 12 ESL Pro League Season 11: North America [Online] [NEW]
- Apr 22 – May 10 ESL One: Road to Rio – North America [Online] [NEW]
- Apr 22 – May 17 ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe [Online] [NEW]
B Class – Ranked but not top teams
10. MAD Lions [acoR, Bubzkji, roeJ, sjuush and AcilioN] [NEW]
Recent form:
- ICE Challenge (3rd-4th)
- Intel Extreme Masters XIV – World Championship (9th-12th)
- Flashpoint 1 (1st) [Online]
Bo3: N/A
One map: Mousesports (ICE), Evil Geniuses (IEM Katowice)
The HUNDEN gamble paid off for MAD Lions, as new IGL AcilioN led them to an epic run to the Flashpoint 1 title, losing only two series along the way and to the teams who finished second and third in the end. Certainly, there were no top 10 ranked teams at the event, but there were a number of teams battling to get in and the format meant MAD Lions had to play a massive amount of series and the play-offs were double elimination.
Victory at the event sneaks MAD Lions barely into the top 10, with a very precarious grip on a ranking. NiP could make a case for this spot but didn’t do that much work against ranked teams in online play. With both teams filled with potential talents on the brink of breaking through, the battle for ranking spots should be lots of fun in the coming months.
9. 100 Thieves [jks, jkaem, Gratisfaction, Liazz and AZR] [+1]
Recent form:
- BLAST Premier Spring Series Regular Season (4th in group)
- Intel Extreme Masters XIV – World Championship (5th-6th)
- ESL Pro League Season 11: North America (5th) [Online]
Bo5: N/A
Bo3: Evil Geniuses (IEM Katowice), Mousesports (IEM Katowice), Evil Geniuses (EPL) [Online], Evil Geniuses (RR NA)
One map:
100 Thieves were unacceptably poor in online play, with the exception of a win over EG. I suspect online play has saved 100T a little, largely due to the reduced competition in NA contrasted with global tournaments. All the same, 100T are hanging on and riding that top six at IEM Katowice from just before the lockdown.
With kassad departing as coach and his replacement yet to be announced, one could easily speculate the Aussies time in the rankings may be limited. Failure elsewhere allows them to jump a spot, though, for now.
8. Evil Geniuses [CeRq, Brehze, ethan, tarik and stanislaw] [-]
Recent form:
- BLAST Premier Spring Series Regular Season (3rd in group)
- Intel Extreme Masters XIV – World Championship (9th-12th)
- ESL Pro League Season 11: North America (2nd) [Online]
Bo5: N/A
Bo3: 100 Thieves (BLAST Spring)
One map: Team Liquid (IEM Katowice), 100 Thieves (IEM Katowice), 100 Thieves (EPL) [Online], Team Liquid (EPL) [Online], 100 Thieves (RR NA)
EG’s runner-up finish online got them zero ranked series wins and just some single map wins in series, but they still finished second in EPL and thus they remain mildly relevant. Their coaching change, bringing in zews for ImaPet, will be the crucible to see if this team is headed gradually out of sight or if they can harness the power of their line-up and challenge for titles again.
The clock is running, stan!
7. FaZe Clan [NiKo, coldzera, rain, olof and broky] [+2]
Recent form:
- BLAST Premier Spring Series Regular Season (1st in group)
- Intel Extreme Masters XIV – World Championship (7th-8th)
- ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe (5th) [Online]
Bo5: N/A
Bo3: Team Liquid (BLAST Spring), Team Liquid (BLAST Spring), NiP (BLAST Spring), Team Vitality (IEM Katowice), G2 Esports (RR EU)
One map: Na’Vi (IEM Katowice), Na’Vi (IEM Katowice), Mousesports (EPL) [Online], G2 Esports (EPL) [Online], Fnatic (EPL) [Online], Mousesports (EPL) [Online], Na’Vi (EPL) [Online]
FaZe are a tricky team, as their fifth place online doesn’t look that crazy until you consider how many series they went to three maps in and narrowly lost. The eye test says FaZe are so close to the cusp of both moving into the A class and potentially even beating most of the best teams in the world. All the same, they did not win those series and thus only get credit for single map wins en route to their losses.
FaZe could really go either way, especially with the rapidly changing fortunes of the teams below them, but close is not good enough.
A Class – Top teams, but not championship favorites
6. Team Liquid [EliGE, Twistzz, NAF, nitr0 and Stewie] [-1]
Recent form:
- BLAST Premier Spring Series Regular Season (2nd in group)
- Intel Extreme Masters XIV – World Championship (5th-6th)
- ESL Pro League Season 11: North America (1st) [Online]
Bo5: Evil Geniuses (EPL) [Online]
Bo3: NiP (BLAST Spring), Evil Geniuses (IEM Katowice), 100 Thieves (EPL) [Online], Evil Geniuses (EPL) [Online], Evil Geniuses (EPL) [Online]
One map: N/A
Despite winning EPL NA online, beating their main NA rivals along the way, that competition didn’t allow TL to prove themselves against any of the teams ranked above them and their offline results were not good enough to give them a shout at a top ranking. The eye test says they are A class, but there are some clear issues to be observed and the team still doesn’t look ready to produce consistency and win against Europe’s best.
Will both of NA’s stacked rosters continue to be repelled from championships in 2020?
5. G2 Esports [kennyS, AmaNEk, JaCkz, nexa and huNter-] [-1]
Recent form:
- BLAST Premier Spring Series Regular Season (1st in group)
- Intel Extreme Masters XIV – World Championship (2nd)
- ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe (10th-12th) [Online]
Bo5: N/A
Bo3: 100 Thieves (BLAST Spring), 100 Thieves (IEM Katowice), Mousesports (IEM Katowice), Team Liquid (IEM Katowice), Fnatic (IEM Katowice), FaZe (EPL) [Online]
One map: N/A
G2 were one of the teams with the steepest rises in 2020, with kennyS even looking like a top-five player in the world. Going offline actually has cost them big time, though, and hence they move down a spot after a disastrous tied-10th place finish in one of the weaker groups online.
A strong resume of offline wins from Katowice count heavily in their favor, but there’s only a single map win to be added since then. If we stay online, G2 could well be headed back towards the bottom half.
4. Astralis [device, dupreeh, Magisk, Xyp9x and gla1ve] [-2]
Recent form:
- BLAST Premier Spring Series Regular Season (4th in group)
- Intel Extreme Masters XIV – World Championship (3rd-4th)
- ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe (3rd) [Online]
Bo5: N/A
Bo3: Team Vitality (IEM Katowice), Fnatic (IEM Katowice), Team Vitality (EPL) [Online], FaZe (EPL) [Online], Mousesports (EPL) [Online], Team Vitality (RR EU)
One map: Na’Vi (BLAST Spring), Na’Vi (EPL) [Online], Fnatic (EPL) [Online], Mousesports (EPL) [Online], Fnatic (RR EU)
Astralis are far from the world-beaters they were at the end of last year, but they have followed a nice Katowice run with strong form online. Considering they beat the first and second place teams, it’s a bit rough they ended up in third. Then again, the eye test suggests they probably are worse than those teams. Dropping two spots again puts Astralis further away from the top than feels normal, but 2020 has been far for normal, especially for Astralis.
S Class – Elite Teams
3. Mousesports [karrigan, ropz, chrisJ, frozen and w0xic] [-]
Recent form:
- ICE Challenge (1st)
- Intel Extreme Masters XIV – World Championship (7th-8th)
- ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe (2nd) [Online]
Bo5: Na’Vi (ICE)
Bo3: FaZe (EPL) [Online], G2 Esports (EPL) [Online], FaZe (EPL) [Online], Astralis (EPL) [Online]
One map: 100 Thieves (IEM Katowice), Fnatic (EPL) [Online], Fnatic (EPL) [Online]
Mousesports hold steady in third, but only just. Their win online and adding a gang of resume results, allowed them to just sneak past Astralis, despite the latter having a better Katowice finish. Remember that mouz did beat Na’Vi in a Bo5 on LAN within this time window being considered. Karrigan and the gang remain one of the most overall consistent teams in the game.
2. Fnatic [KRiMZ, brollan, JW, flusha and Golden] [+5]
Recent form:
- Intel Extreme Masters XIV – World Championship (3rd-4th)
- ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe (1st) [Online]
Bo5: Mousesports (EPL) [Online]
Bo3: Na’Vi (IEM Katowice), 100 Thieves (IEM Katowice), FaZe (EPL) [Online], Astralis (EPL) [Online], Mousesports (EPL) [Online], Na’Vi (EPL) [Online], Astralis (RR EU)
One map: G2 Esports (IEM Katowice)
Fnatic were only down in 7th due to inactivity, contrasted with the other teams and largely due to not being included in the Blast circuit. Their offline results saw them making at least top four and more usually the final of everything they attended. CS:GO’s most entertaining team to watch delivered with a big-time online performance, beating seemingly all the big names, and snatching a second-place ranking.
Fnatic have been in third place months ago, but reaching as high as the top two has not happened in these rankings since the end of April 2016, when the six in a row olofmeister/dennis line-up began to run its course as champions. Impressive stuff by this core of three remaining players and two newer names, relatively!
1. Natus Vincere [s1mple, electronic, flamie, Boombl4 and Perfecto] [-]
Recent form:
- ICE Challenge (2nd)
- BLAST Premier Spring Series Regular Season (1st in group)
- Intel Extreme Masters XIV – World Championship (1st)
- ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe (4th) [Online]
Bo5: N/A
Bo3: Astralis (BLAST Spring), Team Vitality (BLAST Spring), FaZe (IEM Katowice), NiP (IEM Katowice), FaZe (IEM Katowice), Team Liquid (IEM Katowice), Astralis (IEM Katowice), Fnatic (EPL) [Online], Astralis (EPL) [Online], FaZe (EPL) [Online]
One map: Mousesports (ICE), Fnatic (IEM Katowice)
The CIS kings remain atop the standings, despite finishing only fourth online. Even in their online run they managed a few nice results. What keeps them at the top, naturally, is still that monster Katowice championship and the Blast group stage win. Nobody has been better on LAN than Na’Vi and by such a margin that three teams finishing above them online doesn’t displace them just yet.
As much as it might be mildly comforting to s1mple and company to retain their ranking, missing out on the offline window to win championships and even maybe a major must be a huge source of frustration. Has there ever been a more unhappy world number one ranked team?
A video featuring will becoming in a few days which summarises this top 10 and explains the placings in more detail and with more direct contrasts of teams competing for spots.