Top 10 teams of 2022

After unveiling FaZe as the team of the year on the HLTV Award Show by 1xBet, we present the rest of the top 10 teams of 2022 and an extended top 20 list.

Before the 2023 season kicks off, we look back at a year full of high-octane action to present who the best teams of 2022 were. We have crunched the numbers of the HLTV World Ranking and determined the order based on a combination of the total sum of points they earned and the average points gained per notable event in the past year.

Unlike the actual team ranking that is updated each week, these points were unaffected by roster changes or decay. Due to that and the ranking also being influenced by the previous year's results, increasingly so the closer to the start of the year the updates took place, the team's ranking progression is not an entirely accurate representation of their final standings for the whole of 2022. It is merely a helpful tool for portraying their story throughout the year.

The placings in the top 10 were hotly contested in 2022, with titles spread across many different organizations, but two rosters still managed to stand head and shoulders above the rest of the competition, as no one could match their performances throughout the year. Most of the other positions came down to the wire, at times just single-digit differences separating teams from each other, in particular further down the list but also closer to the top, such as between third and fourth place. A full top 20 list including a graph depicting the differences from top to bottom can be found at the bottom.

Vitality kick off this year's countdown in tenth place, a far cry from their third place in 2021, after transitioning from a French roster to an international one with limited success. They started the season with a blockbuster move by acquiring the services of Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif, Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen, and coach Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen from Astralis, a switch that created high expectations as the roster appeared to be a title contender on paper.

The new roster showed encouraging signs at BLAST Spring Groups, the season opener, as they traversed the tournament without a single loss and booked their place at the Spring final in the process. That proved to be a false hope for optimism, however, as they bombed out of IEM Katowice early with a loss to Gambit and failed to advance from the ESL Pro League Season 15 group stage.

Once the Major in Antwerp rolled around, Vitality went into the tournament as dark horses, not as favorites. They failed to reach the playoffs in Belgium after a gut-wrenching loss to HEROIC, with the roster plagued by a lack of identity — all while star player Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut failed to reach the heights from previous years. After the first Major of the year, Vitality attended three more tournaments and failed to reach expectations in two of them, placing 7-8th at IEM Dallas and 9-12th at IEM Cologne. They did however manage to put together an impressive campaign at the BLAST Spring Final, where they placed second to NAVI after wins over the soaring ENCE and G2. That encouraging performance wasn't enough to convince the team that this is the way to go forward and Vitality looked to the transfer market to revitalize their roster.

Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi was the man identified as the player to lift them to the next level, with Kévin "⁠misutaaa⁠" Rabier replaced in favor of the Israeli. The move was an instant increase in firepower considering the Frenchman averaged a 0.93 rating in 2022, while Spinx had a much higher 1.15 rating in ENCE. In their second tournament together, Vitality were proven right. ZywOo and Spinx powered their team to a victory at ESL Pro League S16 as the star duo's performance secured the team's first title since the organization transitioned from a French roster at the end of 2022.

Even with the added confidence of an ESL Pro League S16 victory, Vitality failed to build on their hot start with Spinx. They had an underwhelming display at the Rio Major, finishing in 12th-14th place, and placed 5-6th in the eight-team BLAST World Final, which ultimately cost them the chance to place higher on the list.

ENCE make their second appearance on the list after placing seventh in 2019 with their Finnish roster. Their consistent results and deep runs in the first half of the year gave them a good platform, but their results cooled down in the second half of the season after they were forced to replace their star, Spinx.

ENCE were another team that started 2022 with a roster move, unexpectedly replacing Joonas "⁠doto⁠" Forss with Pavle "⁠Maden⁠" Bošković, and their first tournament with the Montenegrin was far from a success as the roster finished last at Katowice 2022 without a single victory. They quickly put that behind them at their next event of ESL Pro League S15, placing second after losing to a FaZe side that looked simply unbeatable at the time.

More encouraging signs followed at the Antwerp Major, where Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and company made it to the semi-final and proved that they belong alongside the biggest names of the scene. A second place at IEM Dallas with Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski standing in for Spinx further proved the point, with a title all that was missing from an otherwise incredible and unexpected season from the European combine.

As the season neared the summer break ENCE were branded one of the best teams in the world, sitting in the top three of HLTV's team ranking. The last event of the season was disappointing as they placed 13-16th at IEM Cologne, but what followed was even more devastating for the team. Shortly after Cologne, it was announced that Spinx would be leaving for Vitality and Olek "⁠hades⁠" Miskiewicz was also removed from the active roster. In came the duo of Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså and Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García, but neither was realistically going to replace the Israeli's impact on the server.

As ENCE came into the second half of the year, their form dwindled. A lackluster debut with the new roster at ESL Pro League S16 started their time together, and 9-11th place at the Rio Major and a 5-6th at Elisa Masters Espoo failed to deliver the desired improvement. Their best result with the new roster came at ESL Challenger Rotterdam, where they once again came agonizingly close to a title but were halted at the last hurdle by Outsiders.

FURIA make their second appearance in the top 10, repeating their eighth place from 2020. The Brazilian side outdid ENCE and Vitality by the smallest of margins and made the list as the only South American representative. Ultimately, their better floor and back-to-back Major playoffs appearances helped them outplace the two teams with higher peaks by the slimmest of margins.

The beginning of the season was an eventful one for the Brazilians, placing second at ESL Challenger February in their first event of the year, followed by an uninspired group stage exit at IEM Katowice. The result at the Polish event proved to be only a blip, as FURIA returned to form at ESL Pro League S15, where they took eventual winners FaZe to the brink in a closely contested semi-final.

FURIA kept up their consistent performances at the first Major of the year and reached the quarter-finals. They then clinched a top-four placing at IEM Dallas and reached the top five in the team ranking. Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan's squad looked to have run out of steam after those results, however, placing last at ESL Challenger Valencia and exiting IEM Cologne in the group stage before the player break began.

The second half of the year was less busy for the Brazilians, as they attended just ESL Pro League S16 and their home Major in Rio. At EPL, FURIA traversed the group stage with just one loss to group favorites Cloud9 and thus qualified for the playoffs, but failed to go any further as they fell to Outsiders in the first round.

Once the Rio Major rolled around all Brazilian hopes rested on FURIA. The Challenger Stage was a breeze for them, qualifying for the Major proper after suffering just one loss. FURIA were once again imperious in the Legends Stage and qualified for the Champions Stage with a 3-0 record. Their first playoff opponents were Natus Vincere, who FURIA dispatched of in a three-map series, before their dreams were destroyed by HEROIC, capping off their season with a Major semi-final on home soil.

Outsiders come in at No. 7 as a team that won a Major alongside two smaller ESL Challenger titles despite losing their star player and undergoing a massive rebuild in 2022.

The team started the year under the Virtus.pro moniker and won their first event at ESL Challenger February, meeting expectations as the highest-ranked team at the $100,000 event. Next up they attended IEM Katowice and placed in a respectable 5-6th position, losing to a G2 team in the quarter-finals. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine they were forced to rebrand to Outsiders and their next two tournaments under the new name were far from a success, exiting in the group stage at ESL Pro League S15 and failing to make an impression at the first Major of the year with just one victory in the Legends Stage.

The PGL Antwerp Major in May ended up being Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis's final appearance with the team, confirming reports about his departure, with Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov following the Latvian out of the door. Outsiders revamped their roster by adding Petr "⁠fame⁠" Bolyshev and David "⁠n0rb3r7⁠" Danielyan, finishing second at ESL Challenger Valencia in their debut with the new roster, before a 13-16th placing at IEM Cologne capped off a disappointing end to the first half of the year.

Given their rebuild and the loss of their star player, it was a surprise how things quickly started to fall back into place for the new Outsiders roster. Encouraging signs started at ESL Pro League S16, where the team placed in the top eight, losing to eventual winners Vitality. Next up they attended ESL Challenger Rotterdam, where they clinched their second smaller title of the year to warm themselves up for the Rio Major. Then, seemingly from out of nowhere, the CIS side won the Major in an event filled with upsets, surprising everyone with the level of play that they showed all throughout the event, especially their one-sided victory over HEROIC in the final.

With the wind in their sails, Outsiders came into the BLAST Premier World Final to prove their Major win had merit, but they flopped in last place and failed to put in performances worthy of Major winners. That prompted the team to make a change going into 2023, replacing n0rb3r7 with young gun Aleksandr "⁠KaiR0N-⁠" Anashkin.

Liquid come in at sixth place of the list following a tumultuous year, representing North America as the only team from the continent making it into the top 10. Their early-year signings of VALORANT returnee Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella and new AWPer in Josh "⁠oSee⁠" Ohm did not bear the fruits the organization was hoping for, but a renaissance after signing YEKINDAR in the middle of 2022 put them back in contention for deep runs and as one of the most successful teams of the latter part of the season.

Their season started underwhelmingly, with last-place finishes at both BLAST Spring Groups and IEM Katowice. ESL Pro League S15 provided some encouraging signs for Liquid as they progressed through the group stage, only to fall to Ninjas in Pyjamas in the quarter-finals. The Antwerp Major was another disappointment, Liquid finishing winless in the Legends Stage and following that up with a group stage exit at IEM Dallas.

The lack of success forced the team into a change, replacing veteran Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon with Latvian superstar YEKINDAR joining in his stead. Liquid looked like a completely different team after signing the Latvian, placing 5-6th at IEM Cologne to go into the player break with a spring in their step.

The second half of the year was fruitful for the North American team, a breeze through the BLAST Fall Groups providing early signs of their improved form. They placed top four in three out of four tournaments they attended in the second part of the season and made runners-up finishes at ESL Pro League Season 16 and the BLAST Premier World Final. YEKINDAR not only played individually great but revitalized the entire team, with several of his teammates and coach praising the Latvian's impact in and out of the server. Their only unsuccessful event with YEKINDAR was the Rio Major, where Liquid exited the Legends Stage with a 2-3 record after close losses to HEROIC and Spirit.

2021's runners-up formerly known as Gambit, now Cloud9, drop down the list to fifth place after a consistent but unremarkable season. Funspark ULTI Finals was the first event of the year for the team, who still represented Gambit at the time, and the Russian squad proved they were a cut above their competition on their way to the first title of the year. IEM Katowice had a much more stacked field of teams in attendance and Gambit made it to the quarter-finals, where they got demolished by an in-form FaZe.

As a roster impacted by the sanctions against Russian teams with ties to the Kremlin, they attended ESL Pro League S15 under the Players moniker and were once again bested by the FaZe side in the first round of playoffs. With their organizational future in doubt, the roster made the jump to Cloud9 just before the Antwerp Major.

In their debut under Cloud9, they failed to deliver and exited the Major after a BO3 loss against Imperial proved to be the final nail in their coffin. The team attended IEM Dallas after the Major and showed up in dominant form, finally defeating FaZe in the quarter-finals and taking that momentum all the way to the title, powered by Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov's MVP performance. IEM Cologne was their final event before the player break and Cloud9 were far from convincing, winning just one match on their way to an early exit.

Cloud9 were another team with a quiet end to the year, attending just the Rio Major and ESL Pro League S16. They placed top four in the latter to get a good start to the second half of the year, and their form looked to be continuing into the Rio Major after they came back from a 0-2 record in the Challengers Stage. The Legends stage was flawless, and they went into the playoffs as one of the favorites for the title. They met with MOUZ in the quarter-finals and lost in a three-map series, ending their season wondering what could have been if they were to beat the European combine and exploring their first change in two years heading into 2023.

HEROIC have been consistently improving their ranking, placing sixth and fifth in the last two years, and now go one better to take fourth place on the list. The Danish squad placed well in several Big Events while also winning two titles throughout the year, giving them their highest placing so far, as they finished just shy of a top-three nomination.

Their year started with a top-four finish at IEM Katowice, where they shared the fate of many teams in the opening events of the season and lost to FaZe in the semis. Decent performances at ESL Pro League S15 and the Antwerp Major kept up their encouraging start to the year, but the Danes got eliminated in their first playoff games at both events and looked unable to take the next step. Pinnacle Cup Championship 2022 was their next challenge, and HEROIC clinched their first title of the year at the smaller eight-team event.

Their title run in Lund came amidst plans of a roster change. Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard came in for Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali ahead of IEM Cologne, but the roster encountered some growing pains. They finished last at the German event just before the player break, and things didn't improve much at the start of the next season. The Danes failed to make it to the Fall Final through the group stage and exited ESL Pro League S16 in the first round of playoffs, making their pre-Major form shaky at best.

When the Rio Major started, HEROIC weren't among the biggest favorites, but their good RMR campaign meant they had some time to iron out their issues before the Legends Stage. Once there, they showed good performances in the Swiss system and followed them up by eliminating Spirit and FURIA, only to be stopped at the final hurdle by Outsiders. With a good Major performance boosting their confidence, they went one better at BLAST Fall Final and battled through the competition to win their second and biggest title of the year to continue their good form. They finished last at the World Final to end the year, no doubt influenced by the fact they were forced to use Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke in place of Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund, and that result put them behind the event's champions G2 in the list by the smallest of margins.

G2 take third place in the list after a turbulent year, having played under two new IGLs, but nonetheless managing to put together some impressive performances as well as ending the organization's trophy drought.

G2 were active in the transfer market coming into 2022. The Berlin-based organization decided to bring in new IGL Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen alongside young hotshot Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov to replace the duo of Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković and François "⁠amanek⁠" Delaunay. The new-look team started the year well, making it through the BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022 in 4-6th place and building on their encouraging debut at IEM Katowice 2022. G2 made it to the grand final at the Polish event and were bested only by FaZe in a close best-of-five final in what seemed to be a promising start for the new squad.

The cracks began to appear later on in the first half of the season. Their ESL Pro League S15 campaign was far from perfect, with the team struggling and posting only two wins in a group stage exit. An up-and-down start to the season meant G2 went into PGL Major Antwerp 2022 with uncertain expectations, and they fell just short of making the playoffs at the Belgian event. A short resurgence followed with a quarter-finals appearance at IEM Dallas and a top-four placing at the BLAST Spring Final before a disheartening display in Cologne pushed G2 into yet another rebuild.

Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen and Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage were added to the roster and G2 once again came into the first post-break tournament as a new team. They showed encouraging early signs, progressing through the BLAST Fall Groups and finishing top four at ESL Pro League S16 after a flawless group stage.

The IEM Rio Major cycle followed and G2 suffered an inexcusable loss at the RMR, losing out on an appearance at the second Major of the year after going 1-3 in the qualifier in Malta. Their lack of a Rio berth meant the team had more than a month without official games before BLAST Premier Fall Final kicked off the final two events of the year. They failed to show much improvement and exited the first of the tournaments in 5-6th place after losing to eventual winners HEROIC.

Just as it looked like the team had gone through another trophyless year, Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and company turned up in Abu Dhabi for the BLAST World Final. They won the event despite losing the opening match against FaZe, defeating every opponent on their way to securing the organization's first Big Event trophy in five years. A last-minute charge put them in third place of the list, along with their early-year runner-up finish in Katowice and a few more deep runs throughout the season.

Natus Vincere showed incredible consistency throughout 2022 despite losing their IGL Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov in the middle of the season, but their lack of titles and FaZe's early-year dominance meant second place was as high as they could place.

Natus Vincere's season started with several consistent and proficient performances, as they progressed through the BLAST Spring Groups and placed top four at IEM Katowice. ESL Pro League Season 15 served as a good warmup for the Antwerp Major, with the CIS squad placing 5-8th at the German event to go into the Major on a streak of playoff appearances. In Antwerp, Natus Vincere were imperious on their way to the final but eventually had to concede the title to the dominant FaZe.

The Belgian Major proved to be Natus Vincere's final event with Boombl4, who got removed from the team due to "high reputational risks for the club." Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev was brought into the lineup and Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov took over the calling role. BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022 was the debut event for the new roster and they surprised everyone by taking home their first title of the year. Another grand-final appearance and a near-miss in another best-of-five title decider against FaZe at IEM Cologne followed their title victory, meaning they entered the player break with the wind in their sails.

After returning from the break, Natus Vincere progressed in BLAST Premier Fall Groups and quickly made yet another quarter-final appearance at ESL Pro League Season 16. Once the Rio Major rolled around, the Ukrainian giants established themselves as one of the biggest favorites at the event. As with all other favorites, Natus Vincere didn't show their best face in Rio but still kept up their streak of playoff appearances with a quarter-final loss to home-town heroes FURIA.

The last two events of the year saw Natus Vincere struggle with results, failing to reach the playoffs for the first time since the player break at both the BLAST Premier Fall and World Final. At the latter, the lineup also flirted with the idea of integrating Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi into the lineup. The 17-year-old filled in for sdy for a few maps at the tournament, before he was given a permanent spot on the main roster heading into 2023.

Following No. 10 placings in the previous two years, FaZe take the top spot after a dominant start to 2022. The European combine deservedly finished ahead of everyone else after winning four Big Event trophies, alongside placing in the top eight at every event bar the IEM Rio Major.

Armed with new recruit Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool, FaZe entered 2022 looking like a perfect team, finally adding the piece of the puzzle that made them title contenders. Their year began with titles at IEM Katowice, despite COVID bouts seeing them use jks as a substitute, ESL Pro League Season 15, and most notably the PGL Major Antwerp. The European combine was a force to be reckoned with and a FaZe era looked to be on the cards after their explosive start to the year.

Following their Major win, FaZe cooled off somewhat and placed 5-6th at both IEM Dallas and BLAST Premier Spring Finals, but did at least lose to eventual winners at both tournaments in Cloud9 and Natus Vincere. Another title in IEM Cologne proved the previous two events were just a blip in form, and FaZe capped off the first half of the year with four titles and the undisputed best team of the first half.

Something went wrong in the European squad after the player break in August and their dominant streak came to an end. There was no doubt they were still an elite team, though, as a middle-of-the-road showing at BLAST Fall Groups was followed up by a quarter-final exit at ESL Pro League S16. The biggest blotch on an otherwise impressive season was their IEM Rio Major performance, where Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and company shockingly exited the Major with a 0-3 record, after a BO3 loss to Bad News Eagles ended their substandard Major title defense.

FaZe returned to form for the final two events of the year, however, which saw them finishing second at BLAST Fall Final after a close loss to HEROIC before a top-four berth at the World Final capped off their outstanding season. They spent 25 weeks as the No. 1 team in the ranking during 2022 and set themselves up for an Intel Grand Slam Season 4 bid with just one more win to go.