Top 10 NA CSGO Ranking October 2015
With the departure
of ESEA-NEWS and their power rankings, a ranking system for NA does not appear
to exist. Thoorin of course has his world top 10 which is comprehensive and
accurate and if you’re looking for the 10 best teams, you should go there. HLTV
also now has a top 20 best teams, where they use some statistical mumbo-jumbo
formula to come up with team ranks. My rankings on the other hand are going old
school where I, the ranker, attempt to take into account all the achievements each team has acquired in the past ~3 months. Flame on.
Ranking system:
Teams with offline
wins will be ranked before any team with online only achievements: Offline (international) >
offline (domestic).
If not all of the top
10 NA teams have offline wins, I will have to consider online achievements via
the following: Online qualifier (for international offline event) > ESL/ESEA
> PGL > CEVO > Face It > RGN > other online league
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#1
Cloud 9 Roster: freakazoid, n0thing, seangares, shroud,
Skadoodle
Achievements:
Offline:
·
ESL/ESEA Pro S1
Finals 2nd
·
ESWC 2015 2nd
·
FACEIT 2015 Stage
2 Finals 2nd
·
Cevo S7
Professional Finals: 3-4th
Online:
·
HTC Reborn 1st
·
ESL/ESEA Pro S1
NA 19/3 1st
·
Cevo S7 NA
Professional 10-0-2 1st
Breakdown:
While Cloud9 did not get out of groups at the last major, the other teams in
this ranking have not done enough in the past three months to contest with C9’s
previous achievements. I said at the time that C9 is going to kick itself later
for not being able to cash in on one of the three finals appearances (as you
never know if you’ll get back there), especially if they continue their
on-going streak of failing to get out of groups at the next major.
Cloud9 still needs to continue
to work on their T-sides of each map but I believe C9’s best maps are: cache,
overpass, cbble, train. This leaves dust2, inferno and mirage. Since C9
regularly bans mirage that leaves inferno and dust2 as the weak points.
Although, C9 has the potential to choke on any of their strength maps as well.
Speculation & discussion: About a month or so ago there was some chatter about
C9’s time invested: it was reported that some of C9’s main accounts showed less
than ~eight hours played over two weeks. Some people cited fatigue and grind of
traveling to a bunch of events. I honestly hope this isn’t the case. The
easiest motivation comes from not winning an event. If C9 is becoming fatigued
by taking 2nd or not making it out of groups than C9 has a serious
problem. They say that winning back to back championships is one of the hardest
things to do: first because it is hard to maintain enthusiasm and second
because you get everyone’s best. That’s why fnatic’s success is so impressive. I’m
really hoping C9 was just using alt accounts in this case as C9 is currently
NA’s best shot at doing something at an international event. They have the
resources and a quality line up. Last week I watched an ESEA match of theirs
against Luminosity where I believe I observed further progress which may lead
to a C9 playoff bound at the next major. But then C9 goes off and fails to make
the finals at the Crown Invitational. NA fans, hold your breath and cross your
fingers. Me on the other hand, I think I've reached my breaking point... Until swag comes back this team won't reach a finals again.
2
# #2
Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) Roster: FNS, hazed, jdm, reltuC, tarik
Achievements:
Offline:
·
ESL/ESEA Pro S1
Finals 3-4th
·
Intel Extreme
Masters Season X- gamescom 6th
·
WinOut.net CS:GO
Championship 1st
·
Cevo S7
Professional Finals: 5-6th
Online:
·
Cevo S7 NA
Professional 6-4-2 5th
·
ESL/ESEA Pro S1
NA 14/8 4th
·
RGN Pro Series NA
1st
·
CS:Go
Championship Series: Season 1 3rd
Breakdown: Not really anything has changed from CLG since the
last rankings: they can beat just about any other team in NA on any given night
(but consistency is an issue). However, at international offline events they
are middle of the pack. The next goal for this team should be making an
international offline final. Ultimately they’d probably lose in the match up but
gain much needed experience that every top team has to go through.
Speculation
& discussion: Three words:
Get a coach.
I’ll refer back to what I said in my previous ranking
as I still believe it applies:
“CLG would benefit from a coach whoseexpertise revolves around strategy and execution. A trend I’ve seen watching CLG matches is jdm getting 2-3 kills in rounds that CLG loses. While this ishelpful in not letting the opposing team’s economy become a Swiss bank, at acertain point these multi-kill rounds need to occur in rounds that CLG wins(especially when playing teams ranked in Thoorin’s top 10). Until this happensCLG will stay ranked within the top 3 in NA and not ranked at all on the worldtop 10.”
3
# #3
Luminosity Gaming Roster: boltzz, Buuyyaakkaa, coldzer44, FALLEN^Raze,
fer, steelega
Achievements:
Offline:
·
ESL/ESEA Pro S1
Finals 5-6th
·
ESL One: Cologne
2015 5-8th
·
ESWC 2015 9-12th
·
WinOut.net CS:GO
Championship 2nd
Online:
·
ESL/ESEA Pro S1
NA 17/5 2nd
·
Intel Extreme
Masters Season X- gamescom 6th
·
WinOut.net CS:GO
Championship 1st
·
iBUYPOWER
Invitational 2015- Summer 1st
·
iBUYPOWER
Invitational 2015- Fall 2nd
Breakdown: Luminosity Gaming has some success at major events
(aka making it out of groups at these events). However at both Katowice and
Cologne they have lost in the following quarter finals match. This really isn’t
all that shocking seeing as the two teams they have been matched up against
were Virtus.Pro and fnatic. Per the current international scene, NA teams just
cannot compete with team’s on Thooorin’s top 10 rankings.
Speculation
& discussion: Overall I think
this team is slowly building and has potential to make a semifinals appearance
at the next major. If they do this and both C9 and CLG slip again (not make it
out of groups), this will dramatically affect my rankings. They have skilled
players and clearly employ strategies on each map. As long as LG makes sure
they aren’t over rehearsed on a particular game plan: meaning LG doesn’t
crumble when the opposing team disrupts their execution. The best teams are
fluid; they have a game plan going in but can change on a moment’s notice depending
on what happens in game. I have yet to fully see this from LG.
#4
Team Liquid Roster: adreN, EliGE, FugLy, nitr0, hiko
Achievements:
Offline:
·
ESWC 2015 5-8th
·
FACEIT 2015 Stage
2 Finals 7-8th
·
PGL Season 1
Grand Final 4th
Online:
·
Cevo S7 NA
Professional 3rd 8-3-1
·
HTC Reborn
Invitational 2nd
·
HyperX CS:Go
Clash 1st
·
iBUYPOWER
Invitational 2015- Summer 2nd
·
ESL/ESEA Pro S1
NA 14/8 5th
·
CS:Go
Championship Series: Season 1, 1st
·
iBUYPOWER
Invitational 2015- Fall 1st
Breakdown: It’s quite evident that Team Liquid’s online
achievements vastly out number their offline ones. However, TL is hoping this
will change with the acquisition of hiko. Hiko brings top tier NA talent and
veteran-offline experience to this young-offline team. Other than adren, this
team has basically zero international-offline experience. And this essentially
sums up where they are at. TL needs to attend every offline event they can and
take the lumps (losses) that will come with it. Hopefully they will grow and get
better with each loss. Essentially go the Sayian route and get stronger with
every loss that doesn’t kill you. Don’t expect this team to do anything offline
before the start of next year. Yes, we saw them look better that the PGL finals
vs top EU teams but it still wasn’t enough. Also, remember competition level at
an event like PGL is far different from major competition. Every team brings
150% effort at a major.
Speculation
& discussion: If TL truly
wants to become a contender offline and online, they need to consider a gaming
house. TL now has a coach and being as TL has vast resources getting the team
and coach together in one house where quality practices can occur would be
ideal in my opinion. I feel as though Hiko might want to retain his
independence (especially for his own personal stream) but TL needs to build
chemistry and build it fast. The chemistry on fnatic, VP, TSM and others is
definitely one reason for their success. TL has to reach those team’s chemistry
levels if they truly want to compete.
#5
Team Conquest (Former Tempo Storm) Roster: daps, NAF-FLY, RUSH, ryx, ShahZam
Achievements:
Offline:
·
Cevo S7
Professional Finals: 5-6th
·
ESL One: Cologne
2015 NA Qualifier: 5-8th
Online:
·
Cevo S7 NA
Professional 4th 5-2-5
·
DreamHack
Stockholm 2015 NA Qualifier 3-4th
·
iBUYPOWER
Invitational 2015- Fall 3rd
·
FaceIt League
2015 stage 3 NA Qualifier 3-4th
·
HTC Reborn
Invitational 5-8th
·
ESL/ESEA Pro S1
NA 10/12 8th
·
RGN Pro Series NA
4th
Breakdown: Conquest has really surprised me. I thought they had
a quality performance at Cevo finals given the last minute invite and ever
since then they have just been improving. My observation is they have
frequently been giving the teams ranked above them (in this ranking) trouble
when playing against them.
One of their storylines is Ryx becoming a must watch
player:
Speculation
& discussion: When it comes
to this team, I believe everyone is in a “wait and see moment”: either they
will continue to improve and move up the ranks or they will stay where they’re
at and be middle of the pack. My money says they will stay where they are at as
it is just so hard to hit the next level. If Conquest is to have a truly
breakout performance it won’t be until the middle of next year. Or maybe they
will surprise again at the RGN finals.
#6
WinterFox (Formerly Mythic and Luminosity) Roster: LeX, pyth, Xp3,
Devilwalk, anger
Achievements:
Offline:
·
ESL/ESEA Pro S1
Finals 7-8th
·
ESL One: Cologne
2015 NA Qualifier: 5-8th
·
DreamHack
Stockholm 2015 13-16th
Online:
·
Cevo S7 NA
Professional 2nd 6-0-6
·
ESL/ESEA Pro S1
NA 16/6 3rd
·
Games Academy
Show Match 1st
·
RGN Pro Series NA
5-6th
·
DreamHack
Stockholm 2015 NA Qualifier 1-2nd
·
iBUYPOWER
Invitational 2015- Fall 5-8th
Breakdown: This team had everything going for it leading up to
ESL/ESEA Pro S1 Finals… and that’s when the trouble began. The dominant
performances they had online in NA matches did not transfer over to
offline-international matches. That’s not surprising as NA is very behind EU
and some OCE (Renegades and Immunity on occasion). The problem for this team is
once the offline losses started happening, they basically snow balled into
losses online too. It feels like this team is currently at rock bottom which
isn’t all that bad considering they are still being ranked 6th here
and if they are truly at rock bottom all the can do is go up…
Speculation
& discussion: Apparently part
of the team is in Europe and part of the team is in North America. This does
not sound like a recipe for success as most leagues determine their offline-playoff
seeds based on the online season (which WF will clearly have a ping
disadvantage in). If this team can figure out its identity there may be
potential for a better rank. However, I still don’t expect them to be top 3 NA
or even remotely close to being ranked internationally.
#7
Complexity (Formerly Maximum Effort & Nihilum)Roster: automatic, roca, semphis, sancz, valens
Achievements:
Offline:
·
ESL One: Cologne
2015 NA Qualifier: 5-8th
Online:
·
Cevo S7 NA
Professional 6th 4-4-4
·
RGN Pro Series NA
5-6th
·
iBUYPOWER
Invitational 2015- Summer 5-8th
·
ESL/ESEA Pro S1
NA 13/9 6th
Breakdown: Now that the dust has settled and this team has found
a permanent home, they can finally begin to put in some hard work. Being picked
up by complexity is no joke. Jason Lake (owner) expects his team to compete.
While this team is still far off from competing internationally, they do have
potential to compete in NA as the lineup is talented. It’s nice to see the
former core of Denial E-Sports working together again. That team actually made
a run back in 2014 at CEVO 5 and ESEALan 17. This is where I see the potential
and part of my basis for this ranking as I know they have been able to produce
offline.
Speculation
& discussion: It will be
interesting to see how much of a leash J.Lake is willing to give this team. coL
is currently in 1st place in ESEA S20 (although they have the most
games played) but they are 6th in CEVO S8. Ideally this team needs
to get to as many offline events as possible. As previously mentioned in other
team’s rankings, coL needs to get the much needed experience and the lumps that
come with them. I think it would be unrealistic of J.Lake to expect his team to
compete internationally before 2017. In my opinion it will take coL all of 2016
to just get their foot in the door. I say this because I just haven’t seen the
success from this cast against any team in Thoorin’s top 10.
#8
3sUP Roster: DAVEY, jasonR, arya,
abE, kiko
Achievements:
Offline:
·
WinOut.net CS:GO
Championship 3rd
·
CS:GO OC 5k Open 2nd
(m0E stand-in for jasonr)
Online:
·
Cevo S7 NA
Professional 7th 4-4-4
·
DreamHack
Stockholm 2015 NA Qualifier 5-8th
·
iBUYPOWER
Invitational 2015- Fall 5-8th
·
RGN Freedom Cup 13-16th
·
ESL/ESEA Pro S1
NA 8/14 9th
Breakdown: My comments regarding 3sUP in my last ranking were
they needed to continue to grind and put in hard work to generate wins and thus
become eligible to attend offline events. Luckily for them, WinOut.net hosted a
NA event and this team took advantage. They achieved a solid 3rd
place showing at this event (behind LG and CLG). Not to mention beating method
head to head 2-0 who I declare is now a rival of 3sUP.
Speculation
& discussion: Unfortunately
3sUP has slipped a little after a good showing at WinOut.net. They started off
S8 of CEVO losing to Coast as well as losing later on to method 2-0. However,
3sUP has been able to beat coL in both CEVO and ESEA, despite losing to coL 2-0
in the DreamHack Stockholm qualifier 2-0. It appears the team understands that
this journey is going to be a rough one. I just hope they can continue to take
the hits and keep improving because honestly that’s the only way they will
improve. If they have indeed found their 5 players (with the addition of kiko),
they need to stick with them. I recommend no more changes to the lineup for at
least a season.
#9
Games Academy Roster: TACO, Hen1, Lucas1, SHOOWTiME, Fnx
Achievements:
Offline:
·
CS:GO OC 5k Open 1st
·
WinOut.net CS:GO
Championship 4th
Online:
·
iBUYPOWER
Invitational 2015- Fall 9th
·
DreamHack
Stockholm 2015 NA Qualifier 5-8th
·
Xtreme League #1 1st
·
FACEIT League
2015 Stage 3 NA Qualifier 5-8th
Breakdown: This team is essentially LG’s farm team or another BR
team that has decided to make the venture to compete in the NA division.
Founded by Fallen back on 8-02-15, this team has been off to a decent start.
They aren’t currently in ESEA/ESL Pro NA S2 but I expect they will be next
season as they are currently 8-0 in ESEA-main. I imagine they will try to get
into CEVO as well. In any case their skill range appears to be in the range of
the teams ranked here 6-10 and since they have 1 more offline appearance than
method, they are earn spot #9.
Speculation
& discussion: I’m wondering
if this is indeed LG’s farm team and if LG fails to make it out of groups at
the next major would they pull the best performer from this team to try and
elevate LG to an international contender.
#10
Method Roster: toy, Eleyfs, Silent,
Just9n, streboR
Achievements:
Offline:
·
WinOut.net CS:GO
Championship 5-6th
Online:
·
Cevo S7 NA
Professional 11th 2-5-5
·
ESL/ESEA Pro S1
NA 6/16 10th
·
RGN Pro Series NA
13-16th
·
CS:Go
Championship Series: Season 1 4th
·
DreamHack
Stockholm 2015 NA Qualifier 5-8th
·
FACEIT League
2015 Stage 3 NA Qualifier 5-8th
Breakdown: Per the achievements this team is essentially an
online team. There really isn’t enough data to gauge them on. They can compete
online vs most of the teams not ranked 3 or higher on this ranking. However, they
are ranked behind 3sUP based on losing to them 2-0 at WinOut.net offline event.
Speculation
& discussion:
This team needs to basically go the same route as
3sUP: do whatever you can to get to offline events. The RGN Pro Series Lan in
November will be a great opportunity for not just method but the other NA teams
on this list. Just9n and SileNt3m are method’s star players. According to my
research Just9n had a little drop off from his online to offline performance.
He’ll be needed at RGN if this team expects to place well at the event.
Teams
that just missed a ranking:
·
Coast –no recent
offline showings and roster instability: Stanislaw, a player I had my eyes on
is currently not on Coast’s ESEA roster (as of 10/7).
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