These rankings (top 20) are backed up statistics and actual tournament results and not a bunch of 1head takes made by these forums. To avoid bias - I am a TSM fan. Split into Upper Tier 1/Lower Tier 1/Tier 2. Just because FaZe or NRG drops to no-names it doesn't auto make them Tier 2. Consider these ranking post-Viper and Astra meta which means Masters 1 NA results don't hold as much weight:
UPPER TIER 1
1 - Sentinels
2 - Version1
3 - Cloud 9
In rebuttal to the argument that 100T/Envy should be above C9:
Albeit C9 recent ranking is due to their most recent success, it is without a doubt the C9 roster might be the most mechanically gifted roster in all of North America. Especially with the integration of Xeppaa, it's hard to believe their most recent Challengers Finals appearance (placing third ahead of Envy and 100T) is merely a fluke. C9 is also the only team that has not dropped a Map to what would be considered Lower Tier One/Tier Two.
4 - Envy - Up a Head to Head versus 100T + More consistent and with the integration of Marved, that doesn't seem to change
5 - 100T
6 - ANDBOX
7 - XSET
In rebuttal to the argument that XSET should be above ANDBOX:
XSET lacks any definitive win against any of the aforementioned teams while ANDBOX does (most notably Sentinels). While arguments could be made that w/ Zekken, XSET now becomes better than ANDBOX, it's hard to compare that to yay now transitioning to full-time duelist and the addition of jcstani. The argument can be made for either side, however ANDBOX's match results are way more favorable than XSET.
LOWER TIER ONE -
8 - T1
As surprising as this sounds, just think about it and don't let your unconscious bias take over. This roster has secured a win versus a FaZe roster that just came off a second place finish at Masters, and took a map off 100T, Sentinels, and Envy - a feat none of the other teams can manage to replicate. If you think any of the other teams below this team can beat T1 then you haven't seen a recent match played by any of the teams below T1. I am willing to entertain arguments about why maybe another team is deserving of this place, but considering the recent performances (TSM, Immortals, NRG) and T1's performance versus Envy - it is clearly T1 deserving of this ranking. Besides this is a roster that is working with two new pieces - give dawn time and hence why T1's stock will only rise with the next stage.
Now while it is true that NRG and Immortals did both get upset and showed flashes of incompetence:
9 - Immortals - The loss of Kehmicals seems to have done more harm, but same with NRG - give the roster time.
10 - NRG Esports - I think this team became worse losing Daps, however I do think that the roster will come back.
11 - Gen.G
12 - FaZe Clan
13 - TSM
14 - LG - objectively the worst team - benching your best player and picking up two T2 prospects is not doing this team any favors. The only saving grace is YaBoiDre.
TIER 2
T15. Ghost Gaming - The addition of Koalanoob and HUYNH has only made this roster better - especially since we see a HUYNH playing agents that aren't Jett.
T15. DarkZero - Closest team to T1 IMO but don't really know how they stack up to Ghost. Beat FaZe and nearly beat XSET.
- Soniqs - One map off of Sentinels is impressive but this team looks like they can only play Icebox...
- Noble - Very, very strong performances this tournament, beating TSM and scaring 100T fans everywhere
- Rise - Meh team but beat BBG
- BBG - Perhaps complexity should be here but I think this team got better with the addition of Trill.
Rankings will be updated following tomorrow's matches.
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