This article discusses the reasons why three separate teams have each taken their turn at the top of the CSGO world rankings over the last few weeks.
In my opinion, the primary reasons contributing to these fluctuating world rankings are the various factors introduced due to playing online, as well as the Krieg nerf. This has resulted in teams finding it difficult to maintain their consistency as the number one ranked team. I believe this state of affairs will continue for the next few months, as the top four teams will continue to cycle through the CSGO world rankings, unable to establish their dominance for long periods.
Looking back over the last few months, Navi were able to retain their position as the #1 HLTV ranked team for a period of 7 weeks, spanning from 9th March – April 27th. Fnatic were then able to claim the spot for one week only to have it taken from them by Astralis on the 4th of May.
Table of Contents
How Online Play has Affected the CSGO World Rankings
Competing online is a completely different experience from a psychological point of view. The pressure and stress involved in being at a physical event are absent. While there still is pressure to perform, it’s not to the same degree. This impacts the top teams negatively, as they have the ability to perform under these harder conditions. Less experienced teams and players are now competing on a more even playing field, as everyone is in the comfort of their own home. This results in lower-tier teams being more able to cause upsets versus the top four teams.
Another factor introduced with online play is something we are all familiar with – latency advantages/disadvantages. All the players are not competing with the same ping, as the servers are not at their location. This might result in some teams getting a slight advantage, as servers may be closer or further away from either team. Higher ping also introduces a certain feel to the game when compared to playing on LAN. Again, this is a factor that lower-ranked teams are going to be more familiar with and the highest-ranked teams, less familiar.
Thirdly, coaches are now able to communicate freely during the entirety of the match. This impacts every one of course, but it is still a factor that has changed. Some teams might benefit more or less, depending on their situation, skill sets, and how quickly they have adapted. However, one could probably argue that the higher-ranked teams would benefit more from this particular change, as their coaching staff is of a higher caliber.
The Krieg Nerf
On the 11th of April, Valve nerfed the SG553 (Krieg), reducing its viability significantly – to the point where it’s no longer used at the highest level. It’s hard to quantify the exact long-term effect this will have on each team, as players adjust to the change in the weeks to come.
My intuition would lead me to believe that younger players will be hit hardest by this change. For them, a higher percentage of their total time played at the highest level has been played under the ‘Krieg meta’ when compared to older players.
In theory, players like ‘Brollan’, ‘frozen’, ‘Boombl4’, and ‘Perfecto’ would fall under this category, however, each case seems to be different. It appears that this change has not hindered ‘Brollan’ at all, and he would certainly have been considered one of the absolute best Krieg players, pre-nerf. I think each player will, in practice, react differently to changes like this, and it’s not possible to paint broad strokes.
Out of the top four teams at the moment, one could argue that Astralis might have benefited the most from the Krieg nerf, as they were incredibly dominant during the period leading up to it. This could be one of the factors contributing to them re-claiming the #1 spot on HLTV.
Conclusion
Fortunately, the CSGO ecosystem can continue to operate during these times, but the way the landscape has changed must be considered. All of these changing variables that have been introduced will continue to disrupt the established order of the CSGO world rankings, and I believe this state of affairs will persist until we return to normal. Some teams will adapt quickly and take advantage while some others might not.