CSGO Tier Rankings: ECS Season 5 & Moche XL Esports

This past week included two tournaments that had top teams; the ECS Season 5 Finals with the top four teams from each of the EU and NA conferences going head-to-head and a smaller tournament held in Lisbon called Moche XL Esports that featured HellRaisers and SK Gaming as well as major legends Quantum Bellator Fire.

Tier Rankings compiled by Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert (@PalmtopPitbull on Twitter) and Grady Hooker (@GradyHooker on Twitter).

S-Tier

Astralis

A-Tier

FaZe

NaVi

mousesports

Liquid

Fnatic

B-Tier

NiP

Cloud9

TyLoo

North

NRG

C-Tier

AGO

Space Sol.

HellRaisers

Renegades

Heroic

OpTic

AVANGAR

D-Tier

Gambit

GODSENT

Grayhound

Virtus.Pro

Rogue

EnVyUs

BIG

eUnited

MVP PK

Fragsters

Reasons for Selected Teams (Movement or Roster Changes)

FaZe Clan - They lost to NRG, and did not look like a threat to Astralis. While this was their first tournament with cromen, we decided to drop them down. However, this is a tentative drop. Should they show up next weekend at ESL One Belo Horizonte and remove all doubt that they are the best team there, they will regain their spot in S tier.

SK Gaming - While they swept Moche, they did not do it in convincing fashion. HellRaisers, a C tier team, took SK to OT on SK's map pick, and fought hard on their own map pick. This is another tentative move. Again, should they perform at Belo Horizonte, we may find ourselves staring at an SK back in A tier. However, should they be unable to beat any of the A tier teams, they will remain here.

Gambit - While they did not play in a LAN, they had multiple MDL matches, in which they lost to teams such as Tricked, Royal Bandits, and VP, all of whom are either not ranked or D-tier. They also struggled to close out EnVyUs Academy. This does not give us much hope for them going forward. However, they do have a chance to prove us wrong at DreamHack Open Summer 2018.

G2 Esports - Though last week's ranking of G2 was the former lineup, this week's ranking reflects the lineup as it currently stands. They did not perform very well, but they also faced NRG and FaZe. More time is needed to determine if they should be dropped or remain in place, and we will maintain our stance of only moving teams when they prove they should be moved.

GODSENT - They were a tentative C tier team to begin with, their only relevant win in recent weeks coming over TyLoo and Renegades at StarSeries. Their embarrassing loss to PACT in MDL only reinforces the fact that we made a mistake in placing them in C Tier last week.

Explanation of Tiers

S-Tier: Teams you expect to win every tournament they are in. They are the current kings of the Counter-Strike scene.

A-Tier: Teams that can be expected to easily beat teams in the tiers below, and may even upset an S-Tier team once in a while. Regularly makes the playoffs.

B-Tier: Teams that; Have shown recent potential or Former A-Tier teams with recent and extended periods of poor play.

C-Tier: Teams that; Have had decent showings at recent international LANs or Teams that may have dropped off recently, but have historically decent placements and can potentially make the playoffs.

D-Tier: Teams that have appeared at a few international LANs recently, likely via qualifiers, but have not shown skill consistently on the level of the other tiers. Rarely make playoffs if they ever have.

These rules are not exact, and they are not hard and fast. There are always exceptions. If there were not, it would become impossible to rank teams due to the nature of the game.