Team ranking: July 2024
NAVI climb to top spot, FaZe drop out of the top five, and Liquid breach the top ten in the first team ranking of the new season.
July marked the first month of the new season in Counter-Strike as the world's best teams returned from the tournament break for the Esports World Cup and BLAST Premier Fall Groups.
There was also the Skyesports Championship LAN, and a myriad of online cups including the $100k RES Regional Series 6 that moved the dial of the top thirty of our ranking.
For new readers or those in need of a refresher, here's a summary of how the HLTV World Ranking by 1xBet works. This is our first post since the May team ranking given the player break, but usually posts can be expected at the end of every month.
Our team ranking is based on teams' achievements over the past year (with severe decay in points throughout each month), recent form over the last two months, and performance in recent events in the last 3 months.
Each team is required to have a three-man core in order to retain their 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.
Below is the current top 30 table as of Monday, August 5, which goes more in-depth into how the points are distributed — or you can check our special page, where you will be able to find the latest, weekly version of our ranking. You can see the lineup for each team by hovering over their name in the table.
POINTS
The international NAVI reach No. 1 for the first time
Natus Vincere may have been Major winners in March but the underdog winners never reached number one, something they have now achieved by claiming the Esports World Cup title to kick off the new season.
"A year ago we made a crucial decision: to switch to English and form a new team," Andrey "B1ad3" Gorodenskiy said on Twitter. "It was a genuine challenge for us and fully transformed our development path. Yesterday, we reached the top of the HLTV rankings. Indescribable pride fills me for the work we've done."
The organization have not been top dogs since August 2022, when Natus Vincere still sported a Russian-speaking team with Denis "electroNic" Sharipov, Ilya "Perfecto" Zalutskiy, and Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev.
Just Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy remains from that lineup, and fittingly it was his MVP performance in Saudi Arabia that fired NAVI past G2 to win glory and get back on their perch as the best team in the game.
It also dispelled fears of Natus Vincere resting on their laurels after the Major, as the team finally overcame their post-Copenhagen hangover (a decline that saw them drop to No. 6 in May) to return to trophy-winning form.
Still, though, they are just four points clear of Spirit in second, who won BLAST Spring Final at the end of last season. NAVI need to do more to cement their grip on No. 1.
FaZe fall out of the top five for the first time since October 2023
Ever since they won IEM Sydney, FaZe have been a permanent fixture in the top five of Counter-Strike 2. Until now.
Finn "karrigan" Andersen's men got off to a slow start in the new season with a quarter-final exit in Saudi Arabia and were banished to Fall Showdown by Ninjas in Pyjamas in Copenhagen.
Those results were the final nail in the coffin of a team that have not seen a semi-final or final since they won IEM Chengdu in April.
FaZe reached eight finals in a row before Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut ended that streak at ESL Pro League, and it seems the reality of that run — where FaZe won the first three finals but then lost four of the next five — is taking its toll on the roster. With IEM Cologne around the corner, they are officially in a slump.
Twistzz leads Liquid back into the top ten
Liquid started the year at No. 48 after breaking up their core and signing Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken, Casper "cadiaN" Møller, and Felipe "skullz" Medeiros in a statement of intent to start the year.
Results, however, soured almost immediately and after failing to make the Major, the team never recovered. As cadiaN was isolated, Twistzz took more control, and the team did have improved showings at IEM Chengdu and ESL Pro League to take them to No. 11.
But it took more changes, adding Justin "jks" Savage and Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak whilst making Twistzz IGL, to bring Liquid back into the top ten for the first time since July 2023.
The new lineup have only played three series, but managed to snag two wins over No. 1 Natus Vincere and a third over No. 7 Virtus.pro to qualify for BLAST Fall Final and earn enough points to climb five places in the monthly ranking.
3DMAX and Aurora crack the top 20
Skyesports Champions 3DMAX did so by defeating The MongolZ, Aurora, and ENCE to complete an impressive run for the trophy.
Their reward is a climb of nine places to No. 18 in the world, matching the core's peak from February 2022 when they still played as HEET.
The Frenchmen were also given a chance to capitalize on that momentum after visa issues for BetBoom led to them securing an invite to IEM Cologne, where they will battle 9z in their opener.
Aurora have also made it into the top 20, reaching a new zenith for both the core and the organization.
The Russian squad made top four in India at Skyesports Championship and just before the break at ESL Challenger Jönköping and Nomadic Masters to confirm their status as dangerous underdogs on LAN as well as online.
Other notable changes
Sashi break into the top 30.
Complexity fall out of the top ten.
BetBoom and
FlyQuest drop out of the top 20.
GamerLegion down to No. 32 after roster changes.
Erik 'ztr' Gustafsson
Sebastian 'volt' Maloș
Henrich 'sl3nd' Hevesi
Andreas 'aNdu' Maasing
Ashley 'ash' Battye
Fritz 'slaxz-' Dietrich
Håvard 'rain' Nygaard
David 'frozen' Čerňanský
Helvijs 'broky' Saukants
Filip 'NEO' Kubski
Keith 'NAF' Markovic
Jimi 'Jimpphat' Salo
Dorian 'xertioN' Berman
Viktor 'Lack1' Boldyrev
Alexandre 'bodyy' Pianaro
Alejandro 'alex' Masanet
Artem 'r1nkle' Moroz
Rigon 'rigoN' Gashi
Alexander 'kakafu' Szymanczyk
Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski
Pavle 'Maden' Bošković
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa
Justinas 'jL' Lekavicius
Maximiliano 'max' Gonzalez
Nicolás 'buda' Kramer
Matias 'HUASOPEEK' Ibañez Hernandez
Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou
innocent_killer
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kjoiy
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