The premier event this month was DreamHack Masters in Dallas which saw Team Liquid pick up another trophy for the case, ENCE proving to everyone again that they can go toe-to-toe with the big boys, and Astralis no-showing. What has that done to this edition of the tier rankings?

Tier Rankings compiled by Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert (@PalmtopPitbull on Twitter) and Grady Hooker (@GradyHooker on Twitter).

S-Tier A-Tier Astralis NaVi Liquid ENCE B-Tier MIBR FaZe NiP Vitality Fnatic NRG mousesports FURIA C-Tier Renegades BIG HellRaisers G2 North AVANGAR D-Tier Valiance Windigo Heroic Grayhound MVP PK Ghost Cloud9 OpTic

Reasons for Selected Teams (Movement or Roster Changes)

Astralis (-1): They need to attend more premier events. Only attending Blast events isn't enough to continue to prove they are the best.

ENCE (+1): ENCE again proved why they belong in A Tier by making another Grand Final and taking it the distance.

FURIA (+2): FURIA has exploded back into the scene with an impressive showing at DH:M Dallas.

Renegades (-1): Renegades hasn't quite lived up to the hype bestowed upon them post-Major.

Additionally Ghost Gaming, Cloud9 and OpTic Gaming re-enter the rankings into the D-Tier based on their recent performances.

ViCi Gaming, compLexity and TyLoo were removed from the rankings.

Explanation of Tiers

S-Tier: Teams you expect to win every tournament they are in. They are the current kings of the Counter-Strike scene.

A-Tier: Teams that can be expected to easily beat teams in the tiers below, and may even upset an S-Tier team once in a while. Regularly makes the playoffs.

B-Tier: Teams that; Have shown recent potential or Former A-Tier teams with recent and extended periods of poor play.

C-Tier: Teams that; Have had decent showings at recent international LANs or Teams that may have dropped off recently, but have historically decent placements and can potentially make the playoffs.

D-Tier: Teams that have appeared at a few international LANs recently, likely via qualifiers, but have not shown skill consistently on the level of the other tiers. Rarely make playoffs if they ever have.

These rules are not exact, and they are not hard and fast. There are always exceptions. If there were not, it would become impossible to rank teams due to the nature of the game.