As the world of Professional CS:GO finds itself in a break currently, now makes for a great time to recap the World Rankings courtesy of HLTV.org. Many recent tournaments have been a toss-up, with competition being fierce and providing no solid basis of prediction for a clear winner. This makes for some of the most exciting Counter-Strike in recent times, as for once, there is no dominant team currently. During the player break, many teams have made changes to their lineups and coaching staff in order to provide a response to the explosion of competition at the top level. For now, these are the rankings for the Top 5 Teams in the world through HLTV.org.

FaZe Clan stand at the top of the pecking order, showing off their recent discovery of form with top place finishes at recent top-tier tournaments. Natus Vincere still maintain their trailing position of second, despite not making the final of the past couple top-tier tournaments. After their recent acquisition of the former-Gambit lineup, Cloud9 have found themselves in third, consistently placing behind the likes of Natus Vincere and FaZe Clan as well as G2 Esports. In fourth, Heroic stand strong, riding their wave of long-lasting form ever since late last year. Finally, ENCE placed fifth in HLTV.org’s ranking system, finding long strides of success similar to that of Cloud9’s.

Throughout the player break, many teams have been changing their lineups and coaching staff in order to compete more closely for upcoming tournaments. BIG have reinstated Fatih “gob b” Dayik into their coaching staff, stating that he has had “an immediate effect” upon the team. Other teams such as Evil Geniuses are taking less-conventional methods towards gearing up for future competition by seeking the fielding of two more lineups for academy teams. Time will ultimately tell in terms of the progression of these talks, with some concern over the ruling of fielding of so many players taking hold. Regardless, the team rankings have great potential to shift once the commencement of the upcoming tournaments comes around.