Photo via BLAST
The CS:GO rosters for Team Liquid, G2 Esports, and OG have all earned sizeable rank increases in the HLTV global ranking system, moving into or further up the top 10 after successfully reaching the BLAST Fall Finals via the group stage.
Liquid have shown the most steady improvement over the past two weeks, moving up four spots in back-to-back ranking updates. After best-of-one wins over G2 and Complexity, they silenced doubters with two straight 2-0 wins over NiP and Heroic. Their win over Heroic was particularly impressive: 16-6 on Vertigo and 16-8 on Overpass, fueled by extended stand-in YEKINDAR’s best overall Liquid performance yet. YEKINDAR posted the second highest overall HLTV player rating of the group stage and Liquid as a whole averaged the second highest team rating just behind NAVI.
G2 still have a long way to go regarding getting acclimated with new additions jks and HooXi, but they did enough to qualify for the BLAST Fall Finals while sneaking back into the top 10 of the HLTV rankings. Superstar NiKo had a fine overall performance, but the star of the show and the MVP of the stage was 16-year-old prodigy m0NESY, who was the driving force with the AWP in crucial G2 victories against BIG and Vitality.
G2’s winning moment qualifying for BLAST Fall Finals in Royal Arena taking down Vitality! #BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/RHwVKbMBJY
— Jacob “Pimp” Winneche 🔥 (@Pimp_CSGO) August 28, 2022
OG received the largest individual boost of any top 15 team, jumping seven spots up to the No. 8 position. This huge increase was well deserved, though. With their backs against the wall after opening losses to Vitality and Astralis, they won three straight elimination series against Complexity, FaZe, and Astralis. Those wins over FaZe and Astralis, two top-three ranked teams, have propelled this OG core to its highest HLTV ranking yet. Degster posted a K/D differential of +50, the third highest of any player and among legendary names like ZywOo, NiKo, and Twistzz.
The performances of all three teams weren’t just enough for a global rank improvement. All three are now qualified for the Fall Finals in November alongside NAVI, FaZe, and NiP. For Liquid, this is their first time back in the top five on HLTV since 2021 when Stewie and FalleN were on the roster.