Team ranking: March 2020

We have updated our Global team ranking - powered by EGB.com - for March 2020, an unprecedented month for CS:GO.

March 2020 will go down in CS:GO history as one of the most tumultuous in the history of the game as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic began to impact events and team routines all over the world. Tournament organizers across the board were forced to pivot to an online setting, although talent has been allowed to work out of studios in the cases of ESL Pro League Season 11 and Flashpoint 1. Both tournaments kicked off in March and continue to be the highlight events well into April.

NAVI's ambition of reaching the No.1 rank has finally been fulfilled

To reflect the new reality of competitive CS:GO as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, we will be updating in the future the formula used in our rankings. Online tournaments with top teams, such as ESL Pro League and Flashpoint, will now be included in the Achievements and Recent Events categories. We will continue to assess how the competitive landscape evolves and will make further adjustments when necessary.

Here's a summary of our ranking for new readers:

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 and online results are included but have minimal effect (only affecting 'Form') at the top of the table and mainly serve to put new teams on the map.

Below is the current top 30 table as of April 6, 2020, 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.

Counter-Strike World ranking on April 6th, 2020

RANK

TEAM

ACHV

FORM

LAN

TOTAL
POINTS

+/-

1.

Natus Vincere

371

189

300

860

+1

2.

Astralis

500

108

134

742

-1

3.

G2

254

200

219

673

+2

4.

MOUZ

357

90

191

638

-1

5.

fnatic

291

134

201

626

-1

6.

Liquid

318

73

110

501

-

7.

Evil Geniuses

259

54

67

380

-

8.

100 Thieves

176

77

102

355

+2

9.

FaZe

154

87

82

323

-1

10.

Vitality

140

48

123

311

-1

11.

FURIA

77

71

42

190

+2

12.

Ninjas in Pyjamas

92

71

23

186

-

13.

MAD Lions

63

65

54

182

-2

14.

OG

32

104

36

172

+2

15.

Gen.G

28

61

60

149

+2

16.

GODSENT

47

37

54

138

+2

17.

BIG

25

70

39

134

+4

18.

Virtus.pro

82

30

19

131

+1

19.

MIBR

61

57

6

124

+3

20.

Complexity

26

53

39

118

-5

21.

FORZE

52

32

34

118

+4

22.

ENCE

78

19

17

114

-2

23.

North

34

44

36

114

+3

24.

Spirit

14

62

30

106

+4

25.

Heroic

37

12

51

100

-11

26.

Renegades

31

30

29

90

-2

27.

c0ntact

35

17

36

88

-

28.

HAVU

3

64

9

76

+2

29.

Cloud9

22

41

9

72

-6

30.

TYLOO

27

21

9

57

-1

Please note that the +/- gain on this table differs from our weekly rankings page, and it is related to the ranking update of March 3.

Below are the five key takeaways from March's ranking update:

NAVI claim the crown

Natus Vincere proved all doubters wrong with their title-winning campaign at IEM Katowice, ending a year-long trophyless period in convincing fashion after beating teams like Liquid, Astralis and G2 en route to the title. Having moved up to second in the aftermath of their Katowice success, the CIS giants dethroned Astralis in March and placed NAVI's name at the top of the pile for the second time in the history of the game.

Due to the changes in the competitive landscape, the CIS-based team was forced to play online official matches for the first time in two years. At first, March was looking bleak for Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov's side, who endured a 0-2 start in the ESL Pro League after losing to BIG and North. It was at this pivotal point that the team managed to reverse their predicament, assuming the top seed in their group after picking up three consecutive victories. NAVI went on to beat Astralis in the second phase to take their series record against the Danes in 2020 to 3-0.

NAVI have summited the world rankings

Despite the volatility of current times, Natus Vincere have finally achieved a goal that has been at the forefront of their minds for a very long time. In numerous interviews, the team's star players, Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov, had expressed that individual rankings were irrelevant and that the main goal was always to achieve the coveted spot at the top as a unit. The CIS mix has now achieved that, but as many at the top have learned, retaining the No.1 status is a whole different ball game. The task for s1mple and company is now focused on retention, and only time will tell whether the crown will stay with them or change hands.

MIBR re-enter top 20

At the start of March, MIBR were ranked 22nd in the world, the lowest this core of players had been since the introduction of the world ranking in November 2015. After a rough start to Flashpoint 1, where they suffered a 2-0 loss to Chaos, MIBR hit an all-time low of No.26, but managed to turn the ship around before the start of April — despite the departure of their coach, Wilton "⁠zews⁠" Prado.

Since that loss, however, MIBR have been dominant in Flashpoint 1, winning all of their series and topping both groups to take the second seed going into the playoffs. Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and co. were also handed an unexpected invite to ESL Pro League S11, in which they managed to make it out of the groups following a three-way tie with Swole Patrol and 100 Thieves. The trio of Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga, FalleN and Vito "⁠kNgV-⁠" Giuseppe stood out in those victories as MIBR showed some sign of life in the second part of the month and moved up to 19th in the rankings.

MIBR have a crucial opening that allows for a ranking hop

MIBR have been on a downward trend since ending their North American experiment at the end of 2018, dropping almost 20 places in little over a year. This lineup is still nowhere near elite status but with spots in the playoffs of both Flashpoint 1 and ESL Pro League S11 North America, they have a chance to edge back into the top 15 if they continue this trend.

OG continue their climb

The OG squad has had a rocky ride so far, alternating between impressive showings, such as top-four in their debut event at cs_summit 5 and top-two in the BLAST Premier Spring Series group stage, and disappointing ones, like a 5-6th at ICE Challenge and an IEM Katowice Open qualifier elimination. That trend continued in March.

Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen's men started the month as the 16th best team in the world and a massive favorite to make it through to the Minor, but finished 9-12th in the closed qualifier after defeats to Heretics and GODSENT. The international squad managed to recover in the second half of the month, however, picking up best-of-three wins in the ESL Pro League group stage against TYLOO, G2 and MOUZ before taking down Vitality in the play-in stage.

With consistency improvements, OG stand to continue their upward trajectory

Interestingly, it is Mateusz "⁠mantuu⁠" Wilczewski, the inexperienced AWPer, who continues to be the best performer for the side as they reach the 14th spot in the rankings, their peak so far. However, OG need to find more consistency in their play and avoid losses to the likes of Virtus.pro if they hope to break into the top 10 in the coming months.

G2 inch closer to all-time high

2020 has been a fantastic year so far for G2, who find themselves at No.3 in the world rankings, just one place short of the organisation's all-time peak, which was achieved in the Summer of 2016 and in the Fall of 2017. A shaky performance in the first stage of ESL Pro League should not detract the team from their path, which includes a group stage victory at the BLAST Premier Spring Series and a final appearance at IEM Katowice.

G2 are one rank away from matching the organization's all-time peak

Criticized amply for experimenting with the decision to sign an international roster at the time, G2 are now reaping the rewards reserved only for those who dare. The talent-laden roster led by Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković has developed since its earlier showings and is now able to measure up with some of the world's finest, and if the trend of constant improvement is maintained, there is no telling where its ceiling is.

Heroic sink after roster adjustments

Heroic find themselves in tatters after a string of unfortunate circumstances. Firstly, the team's move to FunPlus Phoenix fell through after having already played a match for the Chinese organisation due to Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen agreeing to join Astralis. Later on, the team were sent home - replaced by the Bad News Bears roster in Flashpoint -, and took that opportunity to overhaul the lineup. As es3tag and Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer were moved to the bench, Heroic fell a substantial 11 places and are now only the fourth-highest ranked squad in Denmark.

Heroic have a long road ahead of them

Another long road is ahead of the team, starting with the reconstruction of the roster. The process is bitterly familiar at this point, but with an existing proof of concept, the Danish organization will aim to once more climb through the ranks in a bid to surpass what has already been achieved.