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 which have taken a similar approach, so I have rethought some of the surrounding concepts and designed a new approach. On the one hand, the ranking retains it’s numerical system, going from one down to 10, and on the other it simultaneously addresses the context of how strong a team is outside of the number attached to the name.

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 favourite 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.

18th July – 18th October 2018

Tournaments impacting the ranking (due to teams ranked attending)

Jul 16 – 20, Asia Minor Championship – London

Jul 19 – 22, Europe Minor Championship – London

Jul 21 – 29, ELEAGUE Premier

Aug 1 – 6, Intel Extreme Masters XIII – Shanghai

Aug 24 – 26, ZOTAC Cup Masters [NEW]

Aug 29 – Sep 2, DreamHack Masters Stockholm [NEW]

Sep 5 – 23, FACEIT Major: London [NEW]

Sep 7 – 9, DreamHack Open Montreal [NEW]

Sep 26 – 30, ESL One: New York [NEW]

Sep 28 – 29, BLAST Pro Series: Istanbul [NEW]

Sep 28 – 30, Games Clash Masters [NEW]

Oct 7 – 14, StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 6 [NEW]

S Class – Elite Teams

1. Astralis [device, dupreeh, Magisk, Xyp9x and gla1ve] [-]

Recent form:

ELEAGUE Premier (1st)

DreamHack Masters Stockholm (2nd)

FACEIT Major: London (1st)

BLAST Pro Series: Istanbul (1st)

Bo3: TL (EL Premier), mouz (EL Premier), TL (EL Premier), MiBR (DH Stock), FaZe (FACEIT), TL (FACEIT), Na`Vi (FACEIT), MiBR (Blast)

Bo1: North (DH Stock), North (DH Stock), Na`Vi (FACEIT), MiBR (FACEIT), MiBR (Blast)

To see how dominant Astralis has been consider that with most of their early titles departing they retain an even stronger grip on the top of the rankings, with three tournament titles in their last four played, one being the major, and the other tournament being a second place finish. Look at their resume of wins and they can boast eight Bo3 wins over ranked opponents in the last three months and a bunch of Bo1 scalps too. Truly this is the age of Astralis.

2. Team Liquid [NAF, EliGE, Twistzz, TACO and nitr0] [+1]

Recent form:

ELEAGUE Premier (2nd)

FACEIT Major: London (3rd-4th)

ESL One: New York (2nd)

Bo3: MiBR (EL Premier), MiBR (EL Premier), Na`Vi (EL Premier), NRG (ESL NY)

Bo1: Ast (FACEIT), mouz (ESL NY), mouz (ESL NY)

It’s perhaps fitting that Team Liquid has managed to climb to the number two position, the highest any North American team has ever reached, while still having not won a big international title, being as that seems to be the narrative defining this squad. Clearly an excellent CS:GO team, top four finishes are now routine and even expected. A solid run-down of Bo3 wins butresses what has been a remarkable but still lacking run to the top from the North American side.

With Astralis so far ahead, racking up strong placings will not be enough if Team Liquid wants to one day be crowned world number ones. Of course, for them the journey to such a position begins with finally getting that big trophy in their cabinet, sooner rather than later.

3. Natus Vincere [s1mple, electronic, flamie, Edward and Zeus] [-1]

Recent form:

ELEAGUE Premier (3rd-4th)

DreamHack Masters Stockholm (5th-8th)

FACEIT Major: London (2nd)

ESL One: New York (5th-6th)

Bo3: FNC (EL Premier), mouz (EL Premier), NRG (DH Stock), BIG (FACEIT), MiBR (FACEIT), FNC (ESL NY)

Bo1: FaZe (FACEIT), FNC (FACEIT)

Na`Vi’s top four streak with electronic was snapped in Stockholm, they failed to truly contest the major final and right after we saw the CIS squad bomb out of ESL New York without even reaching the play-offs. On the one hand we must compliment a team going through difficulties but managing to reach the major final, but on the other hand this team seems to be slipping and set to drop further in the rankings.

s1mple and electronic can’t carry them forever, or so history would tell us. Has Na`Vi made enough of their prime thus-far as a duo? There are plenty of series wins to keep Na`Vi in good position, but their upcoming months could well see them exiting S Class status.

A Class – Top teams, but not championship favourites

4. mousesports [oskar, suNny, ropz, Snax and chrisJ] [+1]

Recent form:

ELEAGUE Premier (3rd-4th)

DreamHack Masters Stockholm (3rd-4th)

FACEIT Major: London (15th-16th)

ESL One: New York (1st)

StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 6 (9th-11th)

Bo5: TL (ESL NY)

Bo3: FaZe (EL Premier), FNC (EL Premier), FaZe (DH Stock), FNC (ESL NY), NRG (ESL NY)

Bo1: Na`Vi (EL Premier), North (DH Stock)

This is a line-up which no longer exists, with STYKO being brought back to replace Snax, but one cannot deny their ESL One New York victory, culminating in a Bo5 series win over then number three ranked Team Liquid. As flawed as this mouz team was, they did manage to put up a big event victory, two other top four finishes at notable competitions and rack up many Bo3 series wins. Sure, they blew the major and couldn’t even reach the play-offs of an underpowered Starladder field, but rankings are about the points you gain from your highs.

If ever there were a ranking set to drop this one seems like it, but their roster move may yet allow them to benefit from such a strong position on past results.

B Class – Ranked but not top teams

5. Made in Brazil [coldzera, fer, Stewie, tarik and FalleN] [+1]

Recent form:

ELEAGUE Premier (5th-6th)

ZOTAC Cup Masters (1st)

DreamHack Masters Stockholm (5th-8th)

FACEIT Major: London (3rd-4th)

BLAST Pro Series: Istanbul (2nd)

Bo3: mouz (DH Stock)

Bo1: mouz (FACEIT)

The steady return of MiBR continues, but the team are in the dubious position of having their strength shown largely only in placings and not wins. Top eight in Stockholm, top four at the major and second in Istanbul is a respectable run of form, but the only Bo3 or Bo1 wins are against the flawed mouz. It’s rare a team can be ranked this highly without more ranked wins, so MiBR’s position is a precarious one and requires significant strengthening in the coming months.

6. NRG [CeRq, nahtE, Brehze, FugLy and daps] [+2]

Recent form:

Intel Extreme Masters XIII – Shanghai (1st)

DreamHack Masters Stockholm (13th-16th)

ESL One: New York (3rd-4th)

StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 6 (3rd-4th)

Bo3: FaZe (ESL NY), North (SLTV)

Bo1: Na`Vi (DH Stock), TL (ESL NY), North (SLTV)

NRG continue to build their case as not just a good North American team but one of the better teams in world Counter-Strike. Beating FaZe Clan in a Bo3 on LAN is a strong foot forward now the team has lost some of their past placings, but they have seen a number of chances at stronger runs, such as in New York and Kiev, slip by them at the last moment.

Top four in New York is legitimate, especially in a tournament featuring some strong names, but the resume of ranked wins is still nowhere near the teams atop this list. NRG have come a long way, but there is much further still to go.

7. North [valde, Kjaerbye, aizy, gade and cadiaN] [+3]

Recent form:

DreamHack Masters Stockholm (1st) [MSL, niko]

FACEIT Major: London (17th-19th) [MSL, niko]

StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 6 (5th-8th)

Bo3: Ast (DH Stock), Na`Vi (DH Stock), mouz (DH Stock), Ast (DH Stock)

Winning a big event like Dreamhack Stockholm, even with only 60% of the line-up remaining, cannot be denied. That’s the flaw of all points-based ranking systems: they can’t reset entirely when a team fundamentally changes and one very good result can boost a team much further than their real world level. North can be expected to drop to the bottom of the rankings and out entirely should they fail to produce strong results in the next couple of months. That run of series wins to take Stockholm was exceptional, though, and even moreso for a team ranked this low.

8. FaZe Clan [NiKo, GuardiaN, rain, olof and karrigan]

Recent form:

ELEAGUE Premier (7th-8th)

DreamHack Masters Stockholm (5th-8th)

FACEIT Major: London (5th-8th)

ESL One: New York (7th-8th)

Bo1: mouz (EL Premier), mouz (DH Stock), mouz (FACEIT)

Crazy to imagine a team with names such as these could fail to even crack the top seven and lose S and A Class status, but here we are. Since olof’s return the team have not been in a single top four, won a single Bo3 ranked series and are living largely off mouz’s own up-and-down form for some ranked wins. The next few months look grim for the team who were once poised to go for the Intel Grand Slam prize.

9. Gambit Esports [AdreN, HObbit, m0u, mir and Dosia] [NEW]

Recent form:

Intel Extreme Masters XIII – Shanghai (3rd-4th)

DreamHack Masters Stockholm (15th-16th)

FACEIT Major: London (20th-22nd)

ESL One: New York (3rd-4th)

StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 6 (12th-14th)

Bo3: Na`Vi (ESL NY), Na`Vi (ESL NY)

Bo1: mouz (ESL NY)

They are a dead line-up walking, or playing in this case, but Gambit’s two Bo3 series wins over Na`Vi and push into the top four in New York was a notable high and brought them back to the top 10 for the first time in more than a year. Sure, player changes incoming and the kind of form that can also see them fail to make play-offs at Starladder look set to rob Gambit of this brief resurgence, but enjoy it while you can.

10. Ninjas in Pyjamas [f0rest, dennis, REZ, lekr0 and GeT_RiGhT]

Recent form:

Europe Minor Championship – London (1st)

DreamHack Masters Stockholm (3rd-4th)

FACEIT Major: London (9th-11th)

BLAST Pro Series: Istanbul (3rd)

Bo1: NRG (DH Stock), mouz (FACEIT), MiBR (FACEIT)

NiP are on a lower level comparable to MiBR in passing the eye test and playing top teams close, but failing to get the wins to help them in the rankings. Then you can throw in their placings and early eliminations and tough draws have cost the Ninjas a real chance to climb higher. Top four at Stockholm is great, but the Swedes have yet to record a ranked Bo3 win.

Expect more regular updates to the rankings as we head into a busy closing run for 2018.