Thorin's CS:GO World Rankings, June 2021

After some time away I've decided to bring back my CS:GO world rankings and their new home is here at DBLTAP. In light of the time since the last edition I've decided to reset the rankings entirely and not highlight the change in position between each team.

While other rankings are based on strict points formulas, tweaked by those who design and maintain them, the philosophy of this ranking from the outset, when it was the first significant world ranking in the game, has always been to incorporate an expert's eye and explain each position qualitatively as well as quantitively.

(Be sure to check out May's CS:GO World Rankings)

The basics:

• Covers the previous three months, to the date.
  
• Previously covered only LAN performances but, until the wide scale return of LAN competition, is now entirely online.
  
• Only real tournaments and not individual qualifiers (i.e. Dreamhack Open qualifier) are counted.
  
• Results are based on beating a team ranked top 10 at the time on a map or in a series.
  
• "One map" results can be Best-of-1 (Bo1) or winning a map in a series.
  
• Team changes result in a reduction in the weight of that result, though during this period I have decided not to punish teams utilising legitimate sixth men, as this has been a development in CS:GO.
  
• The "Class" system, hailing back to Korean StarCraft: Brood War, helps characterise how strong the teams are beyond mere ranking number and victories.

Time span: 8th March 2020 - 8th June 2021

Tournaments (or tournament portions) impacting the ranking (due to teams ranked attending):

Mar 08 - Apr 11 ESL Pro League Season 13 [Online]

Mar 08 - Mar 10 Snow Sweet Snow #2 [Online]

Mar 08 - Apr 04 Pinnacle Cup [Online]

Mar 10 - Mar 14 DreamHack Open March 2021: North America [Online]

Mar 19 - Mar 21 Winstrike CIS Cup Spring 2021 [Online]

Mar 15 - Apr 07 BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown 2021 [Online]

Mar 23 - Mar 25 Fantasyexpo Cup Spring 2021 [Online]

Apr 12 - May 05 Spring Sweet Spring #1 [Online]

Apr 13 - Apr 18 Snow Sweet Snow #3 [Online]

Apr 19 - Apr 26 Funspark ULTI 2020 [Online]

Apr 29 - May 09 DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 [Online]

May 10 - Jun 02 Spring Sweet Spring #2 [Online]

May 10 - May 30 Flashpoint Season 3 [Online]

May 12 - May 30 EPIC CIS League Spring 2021 [Online] [NEW]

May 20 - May 30 cs_summit 8 [Online] [NEW]

Jun 03 - Jun 13 Intel Extreme Masters Season XVI - Summer [Online] [NEW]

B Class - Ranked but not top teams

10. Team Spirit [degster, mir, somedieyoung, magixx and chopper] [-1]

Recent form:

Winstrike CIS Cup Spring 2021 (1st) [Online]

Pinnacle Cup (3rd-4th) [Online]

BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown 2021 (3rd-4th) [Online]

DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 (9th-12th) [Online]

Spring Sweet Spring #1 (5th-8th) [Online]

EPIC CIS League Spring 2021 (4th) [Online]

Intel Extreme Masters Season XVI - Summer (9th-12th) [Online]

Bo5: N/A

Bo3: GMB (EPIC) [Online], Na'Vi (EPIC) [Online]

One map: GMB (Pinn) [Online], G2 (BLAST Show) [Online], VP (EPIC) [Online], VP (IEM Sum) [Online]

Spirit remain the CIS team everyone forgets about until they beat their fellow regional rivals. Their results are all over the place but you can't argue with their resume of wins for a 10th ranked team. I suspect a few teams can push them out of the rankings soon, but for now credit remains with the fourth best CIS team and a top 10 team in the world - what a statement to be making in 2021!

9. Team Liquid [EliGE, NAF, FalleN, Grim and Stewie2k] [-1]

Recent form:

DreamHack Open March 2021: North America (3rd-4th) [Online]

ESL Pro League Season 13 (9th-12th) [Online]

BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown 2021 (9th-16th) [Online]

cs_summit 8 (1st) [Online]

Bo5: FURIA (sum 8) [Online]

Bo3: FURIA (sum 8) [Online]

One map: N/A

Despite winning cs_summit 8, the NA RMR, Team Liquid dropped a spot, thanks to the emergence of teams like mouz and NiP. Competing in NA means the only big named team they have to face right now is FURIA and so tournament wins are hard to compare favourably to stacked European tournaments. The potential to fall further looks likely with a bunch of teams making surprise play-off runs at IEM Summer, where TL are nowhere to be found.

8. mousesports [ropz, frozen, acoR, dexter and bymas] [NEW]

Recent form:

ESL Pro League Season 13 (21st-24th) [Online]

Fantasyexpo Cup Spring 2021 (7th-8th) [Online]

Snow Sweet Snow #3 (1st) [Online]

DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 (9th-12th) [Online]

Flashpoint Season 3 (1st) [Online]

Bo5:

Bo3: G2 (EPL) [Online], Ast (FP3) [Online], G2 (FP3) [Online]

One map: N/A

The Flashpoint RMR was obviously not one of the most stacked tournaments of the year, as so many of the top teams at the top were from the CIS region and thus not competing. Still, the dominant nature of mouz's wins, dropping only one map and taking down G2 en route as well as the new pretenders of NiP showed ropz and the gang were potentially once more a relevant team in European Counter-Strike. Certainly, the narrative that karrigan leaving would make FaZe what mouz used to be has not played out on either end.

One tournament does not an elite team make, though. I'll certainly be looking forward to mouz facing off against the top CIS squads.

7. Astralis [dupreeh, Magisk, gla1ve, Xyp9x and Bubzkji] [-]

Recent form:

ESL Pro League Season 13 (5th-6th) [Online] [device]

BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown 2021 (9th-16th) [Online] [device]

DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 (5th-6th) [Online]

Flashpoint Season 3 (5th-6th) [Online]

Intel Extreme Masters Season XVI - Summer (9th-12th) [Online]

Bo5: N/A

Bo3: TL (EPL) [Online], VP (EPL) [Online], coL (DH Spring) [Online]

One map: G2 (DH Spring) [Online]

One has to marvel at the tenacity of Astralis. Without device most expected them to fade into irrelevance. They managed to still make an impact at Flashpoint and if anything they were unlucky to meet Gambit, the game's number one team, in the second round of the lower bracket at IEM Summer. How far can Astralis go? Nobody can really say but they still have some amazing names and good players in their starting line-up.

A Class - Top teams, but not championship favorites

6. Virtus.pro [YEKINDAR, buster, Jame, qikert and SANJI] [-2]

Recent form:

ESL Pro League Season 13 (7th-8th) [Online]

DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 (7th-8th) [Online]

EPIC CIS League Spring 2021 (2nd) [Online]

Bo5: N/A

Bo3: Spirit (EPIC) [Online]

One map: Ast (EPL) [Online], coL (EPL) [Online], GMB (EPIC) [Online]

A strong run at the CIS RMR, again failing to best rivals Gambit, ensures VP remain one of the better teams in the game, but there's no getting away from that lack of ranked wins. What they do in the IEM play-offs will determine if this team is ready to again climb up to near S Class status.

5. Ninjas in Pyjamas [device, plopski, REZ, hampus and LNZ] [NEW]

Recent form:

Snow Sweet Snow #2 (5th-8th) [Online] [nawwk]

Pinnacle Cup (5th-8th) [Online] [nawwk]

ESL Pro League Season 13 (3rd-4th) [Online] [nawwk]

Flashpoint Season 3 (2nd) [Online] [ztr]

Intel Extreme Masters Season XVI - Summer (7th-8th) [Online]

Bo5: N/A

Bo3: Vit (EPL) [Online], Heroic (FP3) [Online], G2 (FP3) [Online], Heroic (IEM Sum) [Online]

One map: G2 (FP3) [Online], VP (IEM Sum) [Online]

A finals run at Flashpoint included quality wins over the likes of Heroic and G2. Another Heroic win came at IEM Summer, but the team somehow fell apart against VP and failed to make the play-offs. Having so many of their results with line-up changes makes it tricky to rank them but their resume of series won is no joke. The future looks promising for NiP.

4. G2 Esports [NiKo, huNter-, nexa, AmaNEk and JaCkz] [+1]

Recent form:

ESL Pro League Season 13 (7th-8th) [Online]

BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown 2021 (1st-2nd) [Online]

DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 (3rd-4th) [Online]

Flashpoint Season 3 (3rd) [Online]

Bo5: N/A

Bo3: Vit (EPL) [Online], TL (EPL) [Online], Spirit (BLAST Show) [Online], VP (BLAST Show) [Online], Ast (BLAST Show) [Online], Heroic (FP3) [Online]

One map: GMB (DH Spring) [Online]

A third place finish at FP3 looks good on paper and is the usual limit for this team, but the lack of the elite CIS teams make it a bit of a miss for G2. Beating Heroic was a nice change of pace but this team still looks to be hovering on the brink of becoming a full blown elite side in their own right.

S Class - Elite Teams

3. Natus Vincere [s1mple, electronic, Boombl4, Perfecto and B1T] [-1]

Recent form:

ESL Pro League Season 13 (9th-12th) [Online] [flamie]

DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 (1st) [Online]

EPIC CIS League Spring 2021 (5th-6th) [Online]

Bo5: GMB (DH Spring) [Online]

Bo3: VP (EPL) [Online], VP (DH Spring) [Online], FURIA (DH Spring) [Online], Heroic (DH Spring) [Online], GMB (EPIC) [Online]

One map: TL (EPL) [Online], GMB (EPL) [Online], GMB (DH Spring) [Online]

As much as the difficult run at the CIS RMR hurt Na'Vi, it is not competing at IEM Summer which may yet cost them most of all. With teams like mouz, NiP and a refreshed Vitality on the rise they will have to again show us why they are a team capable of beating anyone and winning any tournament.

Na'Vi are as ever consistently inconsistent, even despite having the best player in the world in their ranks. Even at said CIS RMR they were able to beat Gambit yet again in the Swiss system portion.

It is worth considering they may have been playing questionable circumstances in that RMR and the event will likely live in infamy.

2. Heroic [stavn, TeSeS, cadiaN, sjuush and refrezh] [+1]

Recent form:

ESL Pro League Season 13 (1st) [Online]

DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 (3rd-4th) [Online]

Flashpoint Season 3 (4th) [Online]

Intel Extreme Masters Season XVI - Summer (9th-12th) [Online]

Bo5: GMB (EPL) [Online]

Bo3: BIG (EPL) [Online], coL (EPL) [Online], FURIA (EPL) [Online], BIG (DH Spring) [Online], Ast (DH Spring) [Online], coL (FP3) [Online], Ast (FP3) [Online]

One map: GMB (BLAST Show) [Online], Na'Vi (DH Spring) [Online], G2 (FP3) [Online]

Heroic should on paper have had a wide open path to the Flashpoint title if they were truly contending for the top spot, with Gambit and Na'Vi playing in a different RMR, but somehow they flopped out in fourth, establishing NiP as a new potential counter to them. At IEM Summer they have already been eliminated with the play-offs not even having taken place. Despite all of this they managed to pass up Na'Vi, with the CIS squad relying on that IEM finish to keep their results looking strong and failing to perform at their own RMR.

1. Gambit Esports [sh1r0, Ax1Le, interz, nafany and Hobbit] [-]

Recent form:

Snow Sweet Snow #2 (5th-8th) [Online]

Pinnacle Cup (1st) [Online]

ESL Pro League Season 13 (2nd) [Online]

BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown 2021 (1st-2nd) [Online]

DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 (2nd) [Online]

EPIC CIS League Spring 2021 (1st) [Online]

Bo5: VP (EPIC) [Online]

Bo3: Na'Vi (EPL) [Online], FURIA (EPL) [Online], Ast (EPL) [Online], FURIA (BLAST Show) [Online], Heroic (BLAST Show) [Online], G2 (DH Spring) [Online], Na'Vi (DH Spring) [Online], G2 (DH Spring) [Online], Spirit (EPIC) [Online]

One map: N/A

It says a lot about how far Gambit are ahead as a consistent elite team, a rare commodity in the online era, that even losing their monster IEM Katowice win couldn't knock them down a spot. Winning the EPIC CIS RMR was another very legit performance, with the likes of Na'Vi and Spirit in attendance, even if there was an ominous tone to some of the other results.

Gambit have a monster resume everywhere and remain the game's best squad.

The rankings will return in a few weeks, following the conclusion of the BLAST Premier Spring Finals.