FaZe retake the No. 1 spot ahead of the tournament break

Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and company end the season on top of HLTV.org's world rankings.

IEM Cologne champions FaZe have reclaimed their status as the world's highest-ranked team after a 3-2 victory over Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov's side in the event's grand final. They took back their spot at the top after losing their 13-week reign in the July 11 update of the rankings, where Natus Vincere overtook them by 20 points.

The win is a significant boost to the team's confidence and morale heading into the player break after hitting a few roadblocks in their previous outings, most notably having shown signs of struggle at IEM Dallas where they lost to Cloud9 in the quarter-finals, and at the BLAST Spring Final where they had to settle for 5-6th after a one-sided defeat to Natus Vincere.

FaZe add yet another trophy to their 2022 collection

No. 1 in the world rankings isn't the only thing FaZe gained from Cologne, however, as the team now only require one more victory at an ESL tournament to claim the fourth Intel Grand Slam season for themselves, having already won both IEM Katowice and ESL Pro League Season 15 earlier in the year.

As of the current rankings, FaZe are now 40 points clear of second-placers Natus Vincere. Among other risers are Astralis who went six spots up to #5 in the world after a top-4 finish, Movistar Riders who did the same jump up to #7, their highest ranking to date, with MOUZ also securing a top10 ranking after breaking their Cologne curse.

With the player break just around the corner, the rest of the competitive field will have to regroup and find a way to challenge FaZe's crown at the start of the next season, which begins at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups in mid-August.