I’d first like to take a second to thank everyone for their feedback and support on my first two editions of these power rankings this season. I’ve gained some valuable information and had a lot of great discussions with interested individuals and am looking forward to that continuing as long as I can keep pumping these out. I have decided to stick with the bi-weekly publication schedule as I feel it allows me to maximize the amount of articles I can put out whilst still allowing for changes and trends to develop within the league. Finally, I’d like to leave a reminder that the five teams I’ve chosen to write about do not represent a top-to-bottom ranking, but rather teams that I think are trending upwards or downwards over the past few weeks, as well as considering the season prior as a whole.

▲ 1. Mask off (Mainline, Jcruel, Grampz, Convict, Ryan)

I had Mask Off in the first spot of my first power rankings this season, and not much has changed as they are continuing to wreck face in stride. Dropping only two maps, most recently an overtime thriller against the formidable tacticians of the Miami Flamingos, this team is getting big performances out of all of its players. I’ve said it before that in this league it’s important to have a roster that need not place too much weight on any single player, and Mask off’s ability to share the wealth across its lineup is paying dividends. They take the top spot here once again due to their notable wins against other top teams such as Rise Nation and Ronin.

▲ 2. RONIN (emode, Makka, APE, REOVA, oderus)

Despite some roster shuffling with star-player Dallas, RONIN have managed to maintain their status as a staple premier team atop the league standings. Holding a 9–3 record, RONIN have stayed true to what casters and analysts have been saying about them for ages: never count these guys out of a map. Doubling up on Train wins has helped them stay in the top 3 of the league, and they have not shown too much trouble in adapting to their newest acquisition of APE who is filling the shoes of Dallas well. Makka has also been a strong player for Ronin throughout the season, and is doing well to help keep the team grounded and strong through this period of adjustment.

▲ 3. Denial (dapr, fLokiii, riko, Toy, XP3)

Also sitting at 9–3, Denial have consistently been a strong team in MDL. I’ve placed them below Ronin here simply due to the fact that they have a lot to prove over the next couple weeks with tough matchups like Rise, Miami and EANIX. They’ve shown that they can consistently outplay the middle-pack teams in the league, and now need to prove that they can find this success against some of the leagues better teams. Either way, expect these guys to be a force heading into playoffs, as they’ve certainly played well enough to get their name in the mix to take the title down the stretch.

▼ 4. CLG Academy (aproto-, cardiac, Char-, djay, mcs)

Many had high hopes for this roster coming into the season, but they’ve really struggled to find their rhythm as of late. Now on a three game losing streak (which is actually a 5 game losing streak considering the only win they have in their last 6 contests was an FFW courtesy of xoxo), this team holds a 4–8 record and are sitting just above the bottom-feeders in MDL. They’re next two matchups should give them the best opportunity possible to grab back a couple of wins, as Flipside and ANTI-ECO Club are both manageable opponents to say the least; however, this is as much about CLG finding their groove as it is about finding the win. It’s hard to point fingers in the case of CLG here, but hopefully this high potential roster can bounce back in the final few weeks here.

▼ 5. Ajax eSports (aesthetic, alter, crux, PureR, raz)

These guys really did get the short end of the stick to start the season, looking at their opponents to say the least. That said it is unfortunately not really a feasible excuse in this league, and Ajax has not been able to mount much of a season here. Their only win came against Flipside, the one team that is doing worse than they are. Roster swaps in a last ditch effort to salvage some points in these last few weeks have not paid off for Ajax, and relegation looms overhead should the team manage to stick it out through these last few weeks.