HLTV, the go-to guide for all things Esports and Counter-Strike, have released their latest world rankings, and it might just go down in history as one of the most crazy updates in the history of the game. These updates in rankings go a long way in influencing how tournaments and events are structured, and are one of the most handy tools to have for players and fans to see how the scene is shaping up and how their favourite teams are performing.
The postponement of large scale LAN events and introduction of online tournaments has thrown the entire scene into disarray, and it’s fair to say that no one has really stood out enough to flex their full potential just yet. With that being said, there are some trends across the rankings that we can pick up on and guide you through. Here are our top stories from arguably the biggest update to competitive CS:GO rankings ever.
G2 Make It To The Top
One of the few established sides to actually a steady and consistent rise from May onwards, G2 have stunned the Esports world by being crowned as Counter-Strike’s current number one side. The European roster secured 2nd place at the year’s final LAN event, IEM Katowice, and have also finished as runners-up at DreamHack Masters Spring and ESL’s Road To Rio – Europe since the switch to the online formats.
Fnatic recovered a bit of form at the BLAST Series earlier this month, but their win at ESL Pro League Season 11 is still proving pivotal in keeping them in the top two sides in the world. Faze Clan have been given a bumper boost of four places from 7th in the world to complete Counter-Strike’s current top three.
FURIA Win The North American Battle
Brazilian side FURIA also saw a huge rise of four places to rise them up to fourth in the rankings, their highest placement ever recorded. The Brazilians have benefited greatly from only playing North American sides over the past three months or so, coming third in ESL Pro League Season 11 and second in ESL Road to Rio – North America before running riot and winning DreamHack Spring Masters, BLAST Americas Showdown and the North America Qualifiers for Pro League Season 12.
North America has really struggled since the breakup of LAN events, with Team Liquid, a nailed on favourite in every sane CS:GO betting market last year, dropping down to 8th, Evil Geniuses dropping three places to 12th and 100 Thieves dropping four down to 15th.
Astralis And Na’Vi Continue Their Slides
When LAN events were first suspended, Astralis and NatusVincere were unquestionably the two best sides in the world. Astralis were, and still are, the only side to win three Major Championships in a row and are the game’s most decorated side with four triumphs in total, whilst Na’Vi had just risen to the number world ranking after their thumping win at IEM Katowice.
Since then however, things have not gone well. Astralis have been plagued by the losses of in-game leader Glave and clutch master Xyp9x and have sunk down to fifth in the rankings, whilst Na’Vi have positively imploded on themselves following Katowice. The CIS side finished 7-8th in their CIS group at Road to Rio and were comfortably thumped 2-0 by both G2 and Faze Clan at Dream Hack Spring.
Their drop from 1st to 6th in the world rankings is one of the biggest downward swings the game has ever seen, and it’ll be fascinating to see how Na’Vi attempt to recover.
