M80 close in on Liquid in Dust2.us’ May 2024 Power Rankings

April was a great month for multiple teams in North America, particularly for those attending ESL Pro League Season 19. Complexity, Liquid, M80, and BOSS all earned kudos for posting performances at or above the expectations for their respective teams. With that event in mind, along with IEM Chengdu 2024 and ESL Challenger Melbourne, Dust2.us is back with our Power Ranking for April. The big story this month is the ascendance of M80, who earned multiple points from our panelists after a strong showing for the squad shortly after adding their new IGL into the mix.

As always, we assembled a panel of players, coaches, analysts, journalists, and talent to give their opinion on the state of the scene, with 21 responding to our call to arms. Let's see what they think below.

Here's a reminder on how our power ranking functions:

Our team rankings are determined based on a series of measurements where each team is allocated points, which are dependent on where they rank compared to their peers. This measurement is determined by the opinion of our panel, teams' relative HLTV ranking compared to other NA teams, and teams' tier of play. A team garners a higher tier depending on how frequently they compete internationally and in what division they play in during domestic competitions (ECL, Advanced, etc.). For the sake of our power ranking, we consider a team to be NA if they either have 3+ NA players or they spend a significant amount of their time competing in North America.

#1 Complexity (JT, floppy, Grim, hallzerk, EliGE | Coach: T.c, JamezIRL) (—) 938 pts

Complexity lost a few points this month, seemingly due to general excitement about Liquid and M80's recent results. However, make no mistake as Complexity are still considered the best team in North America by a wide margin, with 18 out of 21 panelists ranking them as the best team in the region. The team made EPL Season 19 playoffs with two clean wins over PERA and HEROIC, and while we did not get to see Complexity play a whole lot in April, what they did play was super promising after a month off following the PGL Copenhagen Major.

Additionally, while it came after our panel submitted their results, their win over NAVI, which just happened at the time of publication, is the cherry on top of their continued great results in April.

April Events: ESL Pro League Season 19

#2 Liquid (NAF, YEKINDAR, skullz, cadiaN, Twistzz | Coach: zews) (—) 883 pts

April was overall a fantastic month for Liquid as they made playoffs at both IEM Chengdu 2024 and ESL Pro League Season 19, with Chengdu in particular being a triumph as they bested HEROIC and G2. The team still has some way to go before seriously challenging Complexity for the top dog spot in NA, however, with this sentiment likely coming down to how scrappy their matches at EPL were, with close wins being required over both Monte and FURIA. The team still has a tendency to make mind-boggling errors on occasion and have off games, but they continue to make steps in the right direction.

With the hunt for 1st growing closer and closer between Complexity, Liquid, and M80, some downward and upward pressure may be good for the team although Liquid arguably don't contextualize themselves as an NA team.

April Events: IEM Chengdu 2024, ESL Pro League Season 19

#3 M80 (Swisher, reck, malbsMd, slaxz-, s1n | Coach: dephh) (—) 862 pts

Speaking of fantastic months, everyone was ranting and raving about M80 this month, and for good reason. While the team failed to make playoffs at EPL S19 they came closer than a non-Louvre Agreement team from NA has ever come. With a win over G2 at EPL and an online win against Liquid in the Esports World Cup qualifier, Elias "s1n" Stein's leadership of the team has taken M80 to the next level. This fact explains why M80 are within 21 points of Liquid this month and are hot on their tail with the team set to play two big LAN events in the next two months — IEM Dallas 2024 and the Esports World Cup.

April Events: ESL Pro League Season 19, ESL Challenger League Season 47

#4 Nouns (nosraC, cJ, junior, Jeorge, CLASIA | Coach: adreN) (—) 442 pts

Nouns held onto their fourth-place position this month despite it being a quiet month for the squad. While multiple NA teams were abroad playing LAN events, Nouns was stuck at home playing ESL Challenger League and the EWC qualifier. Overall, they played as well as can be expected in these events with Anthony "CLASIA" Kearney bedding into the roster. With this core being quite old at this point, it is unlikely that they will surpass M80 anytime soon unless the final form of the roster with CLASIA is a massive improvement over what we have seen already this year.

April Events: ESL Challenger League Season 47

#5 Party Astronauts (ben1337, chop, cxzi, WolfY, RUSH | Coach: Viathan) (+2) 400 pts

Party Astronauts played their first LAN in some time at ESL Challenger Melbourne, and while it was largely a wash, the panel rewarded them with a return to the top five in North America. Overall, the squad does seem to be in generally good form, although we need to see more of them on LAN at ESL Challenger Jönköping to see if this roster can perform internationally to a level that can justify a permanent place in the top five.

April Events: ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024, ESL Challenger League Season 47

#6 BOSS (Cryptic, freshie, d4rty, PwnAlone, FaNg | Coach: Axed) (+3) 363 pts

The orgless BOSS squad was also abroad this month, with a showing at ESL Pro League Season 19. The squad failed to win any series, but are still deserving of some kudos as they legitimately gave the likes of BIG, FlyQuest, and NIP trouble on at least one map in each series. While some of the players like Matthew "d4rty" Paplawskas really underperformed at this event, it is easy to chalk it up to a lack of international experience which is something that can be fixed with time, a legitimately exciting prospect for the future of this team.

April Events: ESL Pro League Season 19, ESL Challenger League Season 47

#7 Wildcard (stanislaw, JBa, SLIGHT, Sonic, C4LLM3SU3 | Coach: horvy) (-2) 361 pts

Wildcard's month was legitimately depressing as it had potential to be really exciting with the team attending their first international LAN. However, due to having to play with Ian "motm" Hardy and especially João "horvy" Horvath, the squad were essentially DOA in China and were quickly eliminated. While it may be somewhat unfair to have their ranking fall due to situations beyond their control, the panel was seemingly more animated by other teams this month, leading Wildcard to tumble two positions.

April Events: IEM Chengdu 2024, ESL Challenger League Season 47

#8 Legacy (latto, dumau, NEKIZ, b4rtiN, Stewie2K | Coach: chucky) (NEW) 330 pts

Legacy have finally landed in North America and officially become the holy terrors of ESEA Advanced Season 49. Outside of that, they really did nothing of note this month, with their ranking at this point being a likely echo of their showing at the PGL Copenhagen Major. Being in the top ten is probably the right spot for Legacy, but there is very little to prove it at this point. With Jake "Stewie2K" Yip reportedly out of the team in due course to be replaced by Guilherme "saadzin" Pacheco maybe we'll have more to talk about with this team soon.

April Event: None

#9 NRG (oSee, Brehze, HexT, autimatic, Walco | Coach: daps) (-1) 264 pts

NRG have dropped down to ninth place this month as they continue to trundle along in ECL. While few would say they're a bad squad and their results this month were adequate, they're something of an NA also-ran at the moment. Despite the relatively high pedigree of their players, a lack of LAN appearances outside of their poor showing at the RMR along with losses to similarly ranked ECL teams means there isn't a whole ton for the excited about at the moment. NRG will likely have to wait until ECL playoffs and make a deep run there if they want to get back on people's minds.

April Event: ESL Challenger League Season 47

#10 Elevate (snav, dare, shane, Peeping, dea | Coach: m1cks) (-4) 195 pts

Elevate's slow decline continues due to much the same reason as NRG, they're not on the tip of anyone's tongue this month. With fairly middle of the road results online, Wyatt "snav" Phillippi's roster is still a strong NA contender, however much of the excitement from the RMR qualifiers seems to have worn off by this point, requiring Elevate to prove themselves again.

April Event: ESL Challenger League Season 47