Team ranking: September 2023
A cataclysmic shift across the top 30 took place as IEM Dallas fell out of the ranking and EPL S18 played out in its entirety.
The focus of September was on ESL Pro League Season 18, which played out in its entirety over the course of the month and was the only tier-one competition that took place.
The Maltese event contributed toward the majority of the immense shift in the top 30 that can be found below, and notably, this month also means that results from IEM Dallas are no longer counted in the "recent events" subranking.
The fall-off is temporarily extended to last an extra four weeks because of the break, so it's 17 weeks instead of 13, which is why BLAST Spring Final is still in and Dallas is out. The ranking will revert to a regular three-month span next week as it will have been three months since the end of the break.
A handful of smaller LANs also took place across different countries and some featured notable names, such as MEO XL Cup, Slovak National Championship, EVNIA Open, Pelaajat Series Fall, and ESL Premiership Autumn. Several online competitions and qualifiers also played out, including a number of CCT events and qualifiers for the BLAST Fall Showdowns.
For new readers or those in need of a refresher, here's a summary of how the HLTV World Ranking by 1xBet works:
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. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, online results, which previously had a minimal effect, now carry more weight as they are also included in the 'Achievements' and 'Recent Events' sub-categories.
Below is the current top 30 table as of Monday, October 2, 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
MOUZ rise into the top five
MOUZ moved up from 11th in the rankings to enter the top five for the first time since December 2022. The European roster made sweeping changes during the off-season when they swapped out Christopher "dexter" Nong and Jon "JDC" de Castro for Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek and Jimi "Jimpphat" Salo, but those changes didn't immediately bear fruit as the team exited IEM Cologne in the group stage.
Some time off to practice and get on the same page did wonders, however, as they completed a transcendent run to the trophy at ESL Pro League Season 18. The team with an average age of 20.0 notched wins over Heroic, G2, FaZe, Natus Vincere, and ENCE en route to securing one of the most legitimate upset runs to a title victory to date in the final big CS:GO LAN to take place before the move to CS2.
It was a breakout tournament for Jimpphat, in particular, with the 17-year-old rifler stepping up in a number of pivotal late-round situations and showcasing why he has been hailed as one of Finland's most promising talents. The team as a whole performed admirably too, with four of their players all in contention for the MVP medal by the end of the event before it was ultimately claimed by Ádám "torzsi" Torzsás.
Former top teams spiral downward
It's been a rough time for a number of former top 10 teams, who have entered a downward spiral and are struggling to course correct. FaZe walk away the most unscathed of the lot, losing just one ranking spot after falling in the second round of playoffs to MOUZ.
Heroic dropped two spots from No. 2 to No. 4 after exiting EPL in the group stage, a disastrous result for the Danish team who have started to truly struggle and are no longer indomitable when facing teams ranked below them.
Things may go from bad to worse for Casper "cadiaN" Møller's men next week, however, as their tournament win at BLAST Spring Final will no longer count toward the recent events subranking, likely setting them up for an even further fall.
Cloud9 are in danger of dropping out of the top ten after they, too, failed to make the playoffs in Malta. The Russian superteam, regarded by many as the victors of the off-season after they added Denis "electroNic" Sharipov and Ilya "Perfecto" Zalutskiy, have yet to stabilize and showcase the form expected of them.
Liquid, FURIA, and Ninjas in Pyjamas also plummeted downward, the two Americas organizations getting the worst of it with No. 18 and No. 21 rankings, respectively, while Ninjas in Pyjamas are barely any better as they reside in No. 17. All three teams floundered in EPL, although FURIA at the very least made the playoffs despite suffering a blowout loss to MOUZ, and talks of potential changes are already emerging out of the Liquid camp.
Eternal Fire, Monte, Movistar Riders, 9z jettison up the rankings
Strong performances in the group stage and playoffs of Pro League resulted in three teams soaring up the standings, and none more than Eternal Fire. The Turkish team gained 17 spots to move up from the very edge of the rankings to No. 13, a deserved increase after they impressed in Malta with 2-0 wins over 9INE, Cloud9, and Liquid, Astralis, and BIG.
Movistar Riders also re-entered the conversation in Malta, their recent roster changes paying off as they took down FURIA, GamerLegion, and 9z across the group stage and playoffs before being eliminated in 5-8th place following a loss to ENCE. The team also won RTP Arena Fall Cup to qualify for BLAST Fall Showdown Europe, with the net of their results moving them up 13 spots to sit just below Eternal Fire.
9z also gained 17 spots after making the playoffs in Malta, recording wins over M80, Apeks, 5yclone, and then defeating Virtus.pro in their opening round of the bracket stage.
Monte also upgraded their level in Malta after beating Heroic during the group stage and adding victories over fnatic, Complexity, and Vitality in the playoffs, gaining five spots in the process.
TYLOO, MIBR re-enter top 30
Two Asia teams made monumental gains to jump into the top 30 after attending EPL, while MIBR gained 21 spots to close in on FURIA's ranking as the best Brazilian team. TYLOO made the top 30 after signing the entirety of 5yclone that has continued to make an impression on the international stage, while Lynn Vision jumped 19 spots after their own Maltese campaign that included a win over 9INE.
Other changes among the top 30 included ENCE moving up to second in the rankings and holding on to that spot despite their IEM Dallas victory falling out of the points, as well as Natus Vincere reaching the cusp of the top five off the back of their runner-up finish at EPL after losing all of ranking points during the off-season due to changing their core.
Keith 'NAF' Markovic
Josh 'oSee' Ohm
Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis
Aleks 'Rainwaker' Petrov
Robert 'Patsi' Isyanov
Tiago 'JUST' Moura
Adam 'adamS' Marian
Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski
Frederik 'acoR' Gyldstrand
Nicolas 'Keoz' Dgus
Isak 'isak' Fahlén
Ashley 'ash' Battye
David 'frozen' Čerňanský
Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás
Jimi 'Jimpphat' Salo
Dorian 'xertioN' Berman
Pavle 'Maden' Bošković
Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou
Håkon 'hallzerk' Fjærli
Justinas 'jL' Lekavicius
Dastan 'dastan' Akbayev
Maximiliano 'max' Gonzalez
David 'dav1deuS' Tapia Maldonado
Santino 'try' Rigal
Aleksandar 'CacaNito' Kjulukoski
Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa
Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
Andrew 'kaze' Khong
Simon 'Sico' Williams
Robin 'ropz' Kool
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