Team Ranking: November 2015

The most dramatic shift at the beginning of November saw EnVyUs overtake TSM as the world's number one team following a convincing win at CS:GO's last major: DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca.

As usual, our ranking expert Julien "topeiko" Hottias spent his November rigorously updating the rankings as four events transpired in North America followed by a $250,000 third stop of the FACEIT League at DreamHack Winter which closed out the month.

As always, the rankings are based on teams' achievements over the past year (with severe decay in points throughout each month), recent form over the last 2 months, and performance at the last ten offline events.

All of that is predicated around a three-man core each team is required to have in order to retain their past points. Online matches and tournaments are included, but with a diminishing factor which means they cannot make a big difference among the top teams, and mainly serve to put new teams on the map.

We will always have a special page where you will be able to find the latest version of our ranking.

Here is the current top 20 table as of December 1st, 2015, which goes more in-depth into the way points are distributed.

Please note that the +/- gain on this table differs from our weekly rankings page, and is in relation to October's ranking update.

Top 20 Team Ranking Powered by EGB.com

Rank	Team	Achievements	Form	LANs	Total points	+/-
1.	EnVyUs	447	207	250	904	-
2.	TSM	500	250	143	893	-
3.	fnatic	447	221	179	847	-
4.	Virtus.pro	491	179	126	796	-
5.	Null element Natus Vincere	367	157	203	727	-
6.	NiP	278	162	81	521	-
7.	Luminosity	142	164	98	404	+2
8.	G2	140	122	70	332	-1
9.	Liquid	138	129	63	330	+5
10.	Cloud9	168	75	45	288	-2
11.	mousesports	128	72	56	256	+2
12.	Titan	89	84	38	211	-1
13.	CLG	119	40	32	191	-3
14.	FlipSid3	96	67	12	175	+1
15.	Renegades	76	72	13	161	+2
16.	Conquest	31	70	23	124	+6
17.	dignitas	39	60	6	105	-5
18.	E-Frag.net	47	47	0	94	-2
19.	Vexed	43	22	12	77	-2
20.	HellRaisers	20	52	0	72	+1

We'll now discuss the top fifteen teams on the list with the top ten receiving more in-depth coverage.

1. EnVyUs

Player	Age	Rating
Kenny "⁠kennyS⁠" Schrub	20	1.14
Vincent "⁠Happy⁠" Schopenhauer	24	1.12
Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt	21	1.06
Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire	22	1.05
Fabien "⁠kioShiMa⁠" Fiey	21	1.01

EnVyUs took the first place spot on our Global Rankings powered by EGB.com list after a convincing and invigorating run at the latest CS:GO major of DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca.

The team then took a few weeks off, knowing that the two events which the Boys in Blue would play in under the shade of November took place at the end of the month, namely IEM San Jose and FACEIT S3 Finals at DreamHack Winter.

Unfortunately, extenuating and tragic circumstances in France meant that nV chose to withdraw from IEM San Jose and thus missed farming points there, which would have been likely as before the bracket redraw the Frenchmen were slated to play Liquid in their opener (a favourable match-up).

Happy and crew thus only appeared in one offline event at the very month's end, the FACEIT S3 Finals, only to find themselves on the upset end of a best-of-one loss to NiP and then an elimination match 1-2 loss to a red-hot Luminosity team.

Leaving the event in 7-8th place (a fate shared by the Australian-New Zealander Legacy team), EnVyUs thus lose points this month; this change brings them within a stone's throw of TSM and within firing range of fnatic, Virtus.pro, and Na`Vi.

With three of these teams attending the ESL ESEA Pro League S2 finals in addition to nV, December could throw a wrench in the French team's plans to finish the year on top.

2. TSM

Player	Age	Rating
Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz	20	1.17
Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen	22	1.06
Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth	20	1.06
René "⁠cajunb⁠" Borg	25	1.05
Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen	25	0.98

Team SoloMid gain points this month due to having made the finals of IEM San Jose and the semifinals of FACEIT S3, however the team certainly have some soul-searching to do due to failing to win both events as billed favourites.

A widespread expectation which was somewhat effaced following the Danes' quarter-finals exit in Cluj at first seemed revived in the early stages of play at IEM San Jose, with TSM edging out both Cloud9 and G2 (two legitimate contenders) in their path to the grand final.

Unfortunately for karrigan and his men, they were shut down in the grand final by an inspired and resurrected Na`Vi outfit, with both maps playing convincingly into the Eastern European team's favour.

Losing as the event's favourites seems to have taken an emotional toll on TSM, as they opened up the next weekend with a 16-0 defenestration of Liquid, using the North American team as a literal punching bag on which to vent their frustrations.

The Danes then edged out Virtus.pro but were ultimately stunned in the semifinals by Luminosity, the dark horse surprise of the tournament. Perhaps background issues relating to the team's ultimate fate are inhibiting the Danes from playing their best game possible; regardless, managing to finish in at least the top four for two events gives TSM some paltry points for this month.

3. fnatic

Player	Age	Rating
Robin "⁠flusha⁠" Rönnquist	22	1.13
Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer	23	1.10
Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson	21	1.10
Dennis "⁠dennis⁠" Edman	24	1.06
Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell	20	1.00

Like EnVyUs and TSM, fnatic are an elite-level outfit who only attended one event in the month of November: FACEIT S3. Unlike the two other teams however, fnatic also took part in an extremely high profile roster change this month, bringing in G2's dennis in lieu of in-game leader Markus "⁠pronax⁠" Wallsten.

Interestingly enough, 2015 has proven that roster changes reap immediate benefits (e.g. early summer Cloud9, late summer EnVyUs, and of course the recent Luminosity lineup) and such was the case with fnatic as the Swedes went on a solid run to win the FACEIT Stage 3 Finals at DreamHack Winter.

Despite losing points with pronax's departure therefore, fnatic continue to climb in our rankings, and are now in a sufficient position to challenge TSM for second and even eclipse EnVyUs' first place with a strong win at the upcoming ESL ESEA Pro League Season 2 finals.

4. Virtus.pro

Player	Age	Rating
Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski	22	1.07
Paweł "⁠byali⁠" Bieliński	21	1.00
Jarosław "⁠pashaBiceps⁠" Jarząbkowski	27	1.00
Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski	28	0.98
Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas	29	0.96

Beneath the 800 point waters lurk the Poles of Virtus.pro, who are always a legitimate threat more akin to a menacing and unseen shark than a lumbering bear as the team's logo would suggest.

And of course, the Polish team have vacillated between winning events or strong finishes and bombing out of events, as has always been the case.

NEO and crew started out the month with the twenty-eight-year-old leading the squad (that duty would return to TaZ later in the month) and the team took advantage of Na`Vi flopping at CEVO to win the entire event in Columbus.

The jetlagged team returned to America two weeks later for IEM San Jose only to be upset by Liquid in their opener match and thus be the only European team to lose their quarter-finals game in San Jose. However, this showing was without their star player Snax, who stayed home for medical reasons, and it utilised Michał "⁠MICHU⁠" Müller instead.

VP finished the month by getting their act together for FACEIT S3, which included a revenge win over Liquid to advance to the event's semifinals, only to lose in a close series to event winners' fnatic with a 1-2 score.

It was business as usual then for the Poles: the team are playing as back-and-forth as ever but with enough confidence and results to retain a fourth place spot.

5. Null element Natus Vincere

Player	Age	Rating
Ladislav "⁠GuardiaN⁠" Kovács	24	1.26
Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev	18	1.07
Denis "⁠seized⁠" Kostin	21	1.03
Ioann "⁠Edward⁠" Sukhariev	27	0.96
Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko	28	0.93

As another team with highly polarised results, Natus Vincere can at least feel proud to have finished November with a conclusive event win.

Following a 0-2 group stage blowout at CEVO Season 8 which saw the team finish in dead last alongside Liquid, Na`Vi no doubt took the intervening time in between to discuss the interpersonal and communication issues which have been a bane of the team for as long as it has existed.

What emerged from the anvil was a reforged Na`Vi lineup that could play ball (and was as always underpinned on GuardiaN playing god-mode Counter-Strike) and the Ukrainian-Russian-Slovak side took down Luminosity, Liquid, and finally the boss that was TSM to win IEM San Jose and close the month off with a strong points gain.

6. NiP

Player	Age	Rating
Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg	27	1.12
Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund	25	1.05
Aleksi "⁠allu⁠" Jalli	23	1.05
Richard "⁠Xizt⁠" Landström	24	1.01
Adam "⁠friberg⁠" Friberg	24	0.91

The strange thing about NiP is that this Swedish-Finnish team with so much pedigree and legendary achievements behind it is beginning to become a team that plays less and is talked about far more.

The team opted out of attending IEM San Jose but they did manage to qualify for FACEIT S3 and attend, where an early shock upset victory over EnVyUs scooped them some points as well as a close series against event finalists Luminosity.

NiP gain a morsel of points to remain in sixth place, however after this coming weekend's Fragbite Masters Season five finals (for which NiP have qualified), it is highly unlikely we will ever see this same lineup play again and thus a points drop in the future is expected.

7. Luminosity

Player	Age	Rating
Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David	21	1.16
Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga	24	1.13
Lincoln "⁠fnx⁠" Lau	25	1.11
Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo	24	1.10
Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo	20	0.95

The first massive change in our Global Rankings features Luminosity clinching seventh place, which is all the more surprising considering that the Brazilian team fell down to 14th place in our last weekly update.

Luminosity are also the first team in this month's update to have taken part in the flurry of North American events in November, and in fact the Brazilians are tied up with Liquid as having attended the most events this month (all of them).

At CEVO, Luminosity (with the old lineup) picked up their first best-of-three win against a European outfit (Titan) only to lose to the same team in the decider match and go out in 5-6th place.

From here however, a long three-event slump began which would culminate in the roster changes that occurred at the end of the month. Luminosity lost to Cloud9 in the iBP Cup semifinal to finish 3-4th (despite being favourites to win to some), became embroiled in some Liquid-esque beef in RGN and also lost to Renegades to finish fourth place at that event, and finally narrowly lost their opener in San Jose to Na`Vi to finish 5-8th place.

Attending this many events brings its own issues of fatigue, however the team clearly had deeper consistency issues and thus effected a lightning fast roster turnover which saw them bid adieu to Lucas "⁠steel⁠" Lopes and Ricardo "⁠boltz⁠" Prass and bring in Games Academys' talents fnx and TACO.

This change brought immediate benefits when the Brazilians flew to Sweden for FACEIT S3 as, following a 0-16 stomp from fnatic, Luminosity woke up and took down EnVyUs, NiP, and TSM in best-of-threes before succumbing to fnatic in the grand final. This miracle run brings them up in the table to seventh place, making them the highest ranked team outside of Europe.

8. G2

Player	Age	Rating
Philip "⁠aizy⁠" Aistrup	19	1.16
Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard	21	1.13
Joakim "⁠jkaem⁠" Myrbostad	21	1.12
Ricardo "⁠fox⁠" Pacheco	29	1.03
Mikail "⁠Maikelele⁠" Bill	24	0.98

G2 drop a spot in the rankings as a fairly paltry November combined with a roster change meant the European powerhouse had little chance to shine, although they did manage to perform well in San Jose.

The team could perhaps even be grateful for their chance to attend IEM San Jose since they narrowly failed to qualify for FACEIT S3 and only came to California in NiP's stead.

The team then notoriously lost member dennis to fnatic and signed dignitas' aizy, a move which lost them points and experience but brought on board undeniable firepower. Such firepower was evident in the team's quarter-finals defeat of CLG and almost looked a reality in the semifinals versus TSM before the Danish team regained control and won the series.

A 3-4th place finish gives G2 moderate points but not enough to stave off the rising fortunes of other teams or protect against a roster change's point drawbacks.

9. Liquid

Player	Age	Rating
Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella	20	1.14
Spencer "⁠Hiko⁠" Martin	25	1.10
Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski	18	1.05
Eric "⁠adreN⁠" Hoag	25	1.03
Jacob "⁠FugLy⁠" Medina	20	1.02

Liquid have successfully usurped the North American throne from Cloud9 thanks to a strong run at IEM San Jose (as the only non-European team to win their opener) and overall wins across the board at numerous events this month.

The month began with tilt and disappointment as Hiko and co. went out in 7-8th place at CEVO Season 8 following 0-2 losses to dignitas and the upstarts of Conquest. However the team got its act together in subsequent events, finishing second at iBP Cup, third at the RGN Pro Series, 3-4th at IEM San Jose, and losing a revenge match to Virtus.pro at FACEIT S3 to finish 5-6th place there.

10. Cloud9

Player	Age	Rating
Mike "⁠shroud⁠" Grzesiek	21	1.11
Tyler "⁠Skadoodle⁠" Latham	22	1.10
Jordan "⁠n0thing⁠" Gilbert	25	1.03
Ryan "⁠freakazoid⁠" Abadir	23	0.95
TBA

Despite the recent revelation that in-game leader Sean "⁠seang@res⁠" Gares would be stepping down from Cloud9, the team already had experienced a strange November. Back-to-back event wins against regional talent at iBP Cup and RGN Pro Series (the latter with Braxton "⁠swag⁠" Pierce as a stand-in) were of no avail in San Jose, where Cloud9 were brought down early by TSM.

The biggest hit to Cloud9 in the points system came from them losing a core member in seang@res, and the team's ability to hold top ten with just four players will be challenged in the coming month.

In addition, failing to qualify for FACEIT S3 and the ESL ESEA Pro League S2 finals will mean this team will have zero offline events in December and undoubtedly drop far more places before stabilising once a new fifth player is found in the new year.

11. mousesports

Player	Age	Rating
Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač	18	1.18
Johannes "⁠nex⁠" Maget	23	1.07
Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong	25	1.04
Denis "⁠denis⁠" Howell	21	0.87
Fatih "⁠gob b⁠" Dayik	28	0.77

mousesports only made one offline appearance in November, however the team's run at CEVO Season 8 (which saw them defeat Na`Vi, Luminosity, and Conquest) that culminated in a grand finals loss to Virtus.pro was both the German team's highest ever placing in CS:GO and enough of a boost to move them ahead to 11th place.

However, with event attendance in December out of the question, this team could theoretically lose its place to a red-hot North American performance from teams such as CLG or Conquest at EEPL Season 2.

12. Titan

Player	Age	Rating
Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon	23	1.07
Adil "⁠ScreaM⁠" Benrlitom	21	1.07
Cédric "⁠RpK⁠" Guipouy	26	0.98
Kévin "⁠Ex6TenZ⁠" Droolans	25	0.95
Edouard "⁠SmithZz⁠" Dubourdeaux	26	0.95

Titan attended CEVO Season 8 with shox calling and managed to make the semifinals of the event before losing to event winners' Virtus.pro.

While they gain a quiet amount of points for this result, a silent night awaits for this team and the next time we see them perform will likely be in the new year.

13. CLG

Player	Age	Rating
Josh "⁠jdm64⁠" Marzano	25	1.10
Tarik "⁠tarik⁠" Celik	19	1.08
James "⁠hazed⁠" Cobb	26	1.04
Stephen "⁠reltuC⁠" Cutler	27	1.00
Pujan "⁠FNS⁠" Mehta	23	0.98

Unlike many of the team's further down in the bowels of this list, CLG put in a number of offline performances in November, however none of them were quite convincing.

The team did make semifinals at the iBP Cup before losing to Liquid, then went out in groups at the RGN Pro Series after losing the decider match to Enemy, and finally benefited from nV dropping out of IEM San Jose at the last second as a replacement team, however they lost to G2 in the opener anyhow.

CLG will have the benefit of attending both Northern Arena this coming weekend (as a projected favourite) and the EEPL Season 2 finals, and if they've worked on ironing out their issues, this team could reverse the three spots they have dropped this month in our rankings in December.

14. FlipSid3

Player	Age	Rating
Georgi "⁠WorldEdit⁠" Yaskin	24	1.18
Vladyslav "⁠bondik⁠" Nechyporchuk	22	1.07
Yegor "⁠markeloff⁠" Markelov	27	1.01
Vadim "⁠DavCost⁠" Vasilyev	19	0.94
Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy	29	0.88

FlipSid3 have lost points in this month's update, however their past offline attendances at ESL One Cologne and DreamHack Open Cluj keep the team afloat in the top fifteen, as well as winning a few grisly online battles recently (notably against EnVyUs in StarSeries XIV).

15. Renegades

Player	Age	Rating
Aaron "⁠AZR⁠" Ward	23	1.13
Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage	19	0.98
Chad "⁠SPUNJ⁠" Burchill	26	0.95
Yaman "⁠yam⁠" Ergenekon	26	0.94
Luke "⁠Havoc⁠" Paton	25	0.88

The Australian Renegades are beginning to come back into form, despite a somewhat humbling 0-16 loss to Luminosity at the iBP Cup and eventual group-stage exit to CLG.

At RGN Pro Series however, SPUNJ and his men made a grueling lower bracket run that saw them defeat Enemy, Luminosity, and Liquid before falling to Cloud9 in the grand final and this result was enough to push them into the top 15.

We have also updated our graph showing the evolution of teams' points throughout 2015.

You can also see which teams round up the Top 20 over at our dedicated Team ranking page, and we still plan to expand the list over time to incorporate more teams as events continue to proliferate in CS:GO.

December will be a quiet, humdrum kind of month as following this weekend's Fragbite Masters Season 5 and Northern Arena and next weekend's EEPL Season 2 finale, we will see no more offline events until January. Big changes are still possible after these three events however.

stich writes for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter