FURIA continues to reign in Dust2 Rankings for July

Tier one teams didn't see much action compared to their lesser experienced counterparts in the Challenger and Advanced echelons of CS. Both ladders started playoffs last month, with ECL reaching its conclusion last week. Despite the lack of activity, there was still a noticeable shift amongst the Brazilian teams in the rankings.

To provide a transparent summary of the ranking process, here is a breakdown of the Dust2 Ranking process:

Our team rankings are chosen based on a series of measurements where each team is allocated points dependent on where they rank compared to their peers. This point-based system puts all domestic and international results, HLTV ranking, the tier of play, and coaches polling into consideration. While we include the HLTV rankings to some degree, there is more weight that is given to the select number of coaches within the scene that are ranking the teams due to their accurate ability in judging play outside of the regional matches.

#1 FURIA (arT, yuurih, KSCERATO, saffee, drop) (-)

The Brazilians go three straight in the rankings as the best team on the continent despite the lack of action during the month. FURIA had a strong showing at IEM Dallas to start June, besting G2 in three maps before falling to ENCE in the semi-final.

That was the only time FURIA was seen at LAN in the month, but they did make a brief appearance in the Roobet Cup at the end of the month. They took a 2-0 win over the new-look Outsiders, but couldn't get through 9z in online play, losing to them on two separate BO3s to place 9-12th.

July Events: IEM Cologne

#2 Liquid (EliGE, NAF, oSee, nitr0, YEKINDAR) (-)

The Liquid-shox partnership came to an end in June, as the team and the talent were unable to find any sense of chemistry with one another. The last straw was IEM Dallas, where the team was able to best MIBR 2-0 but was unable to mount anything against Cloud9 in the lower bracket before being eliminated by the eventual event winners.

Liquid successfully won the Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis sweepstakes, for now, earning the Latvian star's services for IEM Cologne. Plugging in an entry fragging machine into Liquid could be the major catalyst for the struggling lineup. Time will tell if his addition will be enough to get Liquid back in the win column, but surely his temporary acquisition should have fans excited about the short-term prospects.

July Events: IEM Cologne

#3 Complexity (JT, floppy, FaNg, Grim, junior) (+1)

The young lineup continues to struggle amongst the top tiers of CS, losing in BO3s against OG, Cloud9, and Astralis on the month. Their only map victories in the three series were two 16-11 wins on Overpass, giving the team something to potentially take away as a positive. Other than that, it's hard not to be concerned at a bare minimum for the team.

Complexity has been unable to mount success against opponents for some time and as of late, the stars appear to be fading in-server. The lineup will have another opportunity to find form at the Cologne play-ins, but one has to wonder how many times the lineup can flounder at big events before a change is made.

July Events: IEM Cologne Play-In

#4 MIBR (chelo, exit, tuurtle, JOTA, brnz4n) (+1)

MIBR bounced back from their loss to Liquid at Dallas by continuing their ECL dominance before eventually pulling out of the ladder. Following the quick exit at Pinnacle Cup, the Brazilians turned up at the ESL Pro League Conference. Victories over cowana and TYLOO earned them a place in the next season of EPL.

The efforts of MIBR only continue to breed positive results, with the latest coming in the form of a Pro League seat. With a chance to make their way to Cologne via the play-ins, the surging Brazilian squad looks ready to conquer another challenge in pursuit of becoming another top-tier team in the region.

July Events: IEM Cologne Play-In

#5 Imperial (FalleN, fnx, fer, boltz, VINI) (-2)

After a solid showing at the Major, the veteran Imperial lineup looked like a completely different team, mounting a single BO1 victory on the month but losing in all six BO3s. The team looked weak across three separate events in June, and there was not much to take away as positives from the attempts. As a result, Imperial dropped two spots and was overlapped by MIBR in the rankings. The struggling lineup will have an opportunity to reclaim their form against Outsiders at the Cologne play-ins.

July Events: IEM Cologne Play-In

#6 paiN (PKL, NEKIZ, hardzao, biguzera, nython) (+1)

paiN was unable to mount wins against top-tier competition at BLAST, but asserted its dominance against peers in the ECL playoffs. The team tore through every team standing in their way, not dropping a single map in pursuit of first place and an invite to the ECL Conference later this year.

As it stands, paiN only has the Cologne play-ins scheduled for the near future. With this the only anticipated event for some time, there is some higher expectation to perform well. To get into the big event, they will have to get through MOUZ, something that is certainly doable for the paiN squad.

July Events: IEM Cologne Play-In

#7 9z (max, dgt, Luken, rox, dav1d) (+1)

9z's sole appearance in the online Roobet Cup carried some positives despite falling short in the quarter-finals. Before seeing an exit in the event, they successfully bested NA's titans FURIA on two separate occasions. Beating the best in the region on four different maps gives the growing team something to build off.

For now, it will be some time before we see 9z in action against other notable teams, as they have domestic events slated for the near future. The experience serves as an opportunity for the team to garner more experience together and possibly bring better results the next time we see them against top teams.

July Events: Flow FiReLEAGUE

#8 EG (Brehze, CeRq, Stewie2k, autimatic, RUSH) (+1)

A month of no action in the server allowed for a slate of drama to plague the Evil Geniuses team. The ghost of coaches past came back to haunt in-game leader Jake "Stewie2k" Yip and it came to a head, resulting in a longwinded tell-all stream by the former Major winner.

It is never good when out-of-server drama overshadows the successes inside the server. Whether any more dominos will fall in the lineup is yet to be seen, but they don't have any scheduled games on the month, giving them a window of opportunity to take more action in the team should the organization decide to go that route.

July Events: None

#9 GODSENT (b4rtiN, HEN1) (-3)

GODSENT was doing well inside of ECL ahead of the playoffs before the organization opted to pull the plug on the lineup. With the bulk of the talent now at 00Nation, it is unknown what the future of the GODSENT brand inside of Counter-Strike looks like. For now, they still have two players on their lineup and no scheduled events.

July Events: None

#10 ATK MisteM, Fadey, motm, b0denmaster, Swisher (NEW)

ATK with star rifler Michael "Swisher" Schmid appears to be a match made in heaven. The chemistry continues to grow between the two parties and the results have shown. The team closed June as the highest rated in the world (min 15 maps) as well as an impressive 16-5 map record.

Although they fell short in the ECL finals against paiN, ATK made bigger strides than just about any team in CS last month. Consistent growth at this level can only mean great things for the team.

July Events: None