Dust2.us Top 10: Liquid remain on top, Cloud9 sink as NRG gain

This power ranking takes a look at true North American teams, not just ones residing in the region, so SK, Renegades, and OpTic don't get rated.

This month's ranking panel consisted of:

• 3 Dust2.us Staff
• 3 EPL Coaches
• 3 Personalities
• 1 EPL Player

After a very busy March, including the full results for IEM Katowice, WESG 2017 Finals, Copenhagen Games 2018, EGLX 2018, and Mad City Chicago. The online events ESL Pro League Season 7, iBUYPOWER Invitational, MDL Season 27, and our Dust2.us Masters #2 by CSGOPositive.com also took place.

The full ranking can always be found at the Top 10 page on the site tool bar or at this link.

1. Liquid - 950 points (-5) / HLTV #4

After the posting of last month's ranking, Liquid made another top four at a big event, losing to Fnatic in the semifinal of IEM Katowice. They haven't attended another LAN yet, but placed 2nd in the iBUYPOWER Invitational Spring and 3rd-4th in the IEM Sydney North America Closed Qualifier, losing to NRG both times.

In the online leagues, Liquid are overall playing well. In ECS they have a 3-3 record, featuring a notable 0-2 loss to NRG, but wins over compLexity and OpTic. In EPL they are 11-1, with their single loss coming from Luminosity and a huge performance by Gustavo "SHOOWTiME" Gonçalves.

Here is Liquid's roster:

• Nick "nitr0" Cannella
• Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski
• Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken
• Lucas "steel" Lopes
• Keith "NAF" Markovic
• Wilton "zews" Prado (Coach)

2. Cloud9 - 870 points (-76) / HLTV #8

The Cloud9 boys have had a quite busy March, and to begin it off they placed 5th-6th at IEM Katowice, losing to FaZe in an extremely close series. Things took a turn for the worst however at WESG 2017 Finals, as in the quarters, the American team fell to the Brazilian team oNe in three maps. Combining this with a sub-par record in EPL so far, losing to SK, Ghost, and compLexity, C9 was in a bad place.

This led to Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham stepping down from the roster and Jake "Stewie2K" Yip joining SK. One replacement has been found so far, with compLexity player Pujan "FNS" Mehta rejoining Tarik "tarik" Celik and taking over the in-game leading duties. The other player has not been announced yet, but is rumored to be former Liquid player Josh "jdm64" Marzano.

Here is Cloud9's current roster:

• Timothy "autimatic" Ta
• Tarik "tarik" Celik
• Will "RUSH" Wierzba
• Pujan "FNS" Mehta
• Soham "valens" Chowdhury (Coach)

3. NRG - 792 points (+105) / HLTV #20

NRG have only competed in online leagues and qualifiers during March, but have been extremely successful in them. They won the iBUYPOWER Invitational Spring over Liquid, and made the semifinals of the DreamHack Masters Marseille North America Closed Qualifier, but fell to OpTic in two maps. They once again took down NA kings Liquid in the IEM Sydney closed qualifier, and secured their spot at the event in Australia.

In the online leagues they have immaculate records: 10-0 in ECS and 11-1 in EPL. Understandably, their single loss so far comes to Cloud9. However, in their run of form, they took down Liquid, Renegades, and even SK on multiple maps. The trio of Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte, Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov, and Ethan "nahtE" Arnold have been putting in massive work for the NRG side.

Here is NRG's lineup going into April:

• Jacob "FugLy" Medina
• Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte
• Cvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov
• Damian "daps" Steele
• Ethan "nahtE" Arnold
• Ian "Immi" Harding (Coach)

4. compLexity - 480 points (+16) / HLTV #52

compLexity kicked off March by qualifying for ECS Season 5 via the Challenger Cup, where they beat Bravado and Rise Nation for a spot in the league. They flopped in the iBUYPOWER Invitational by losing to Torqued, and fell to OpTic in the DH Masters Marseille NA Closed Qualifier. They got revenge on OpTic in the IEM Sydney NA Qualifier, but eventually fell to NRG in the final.

Their status in the online leagues has been pretty poor so far. In ECS they hold a 1-7 record, only managing to take a map off Reneagdes. In EPL they have a 5-7 record, with wins against Cloud9 and Luminosity, but losses to Splyce and Rogue. The loss of FNS puts big question marks on this squad's future.

Here is compLexity's depleted roster:

• Rory "dephh" Jackson
• Bradley "androidx23" Fodor
• Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker
• Peter "ptr" Gurney
• Ronald "Rambo" Kim (Coach)

5. Rogue - 435 points (+108) / HLTV #39

Another squad with a large surge in points is Rogue, who have seen a rise in form online as well as some LAN action during the month. They qualified for ECS S5 taking down Ghost and Splyce and beat Luminosity in the iBP Invitational. They attended the Copenhagen Games in Denmark, and despite losing to Tricked in the round of 16 they came back and won the B Tournament over Vexed.uk.

In ECS, they've only played two maps which were victories over compLexity. They have a much better record in EPL than last season with a 7-9 record so far. In this, they boast map wins over SK, OpTic, and Luminosity. The addition of Anthony "gMd" Guimond seems to have allowed the whole team to rise in their level.

Here is Rogue's current roster:

• Daniel "vice" Kim
• Spencer "Hiko" Martin
• Casper "cadiaN" Møller
• Hunter "SicK" Mims
• Anthony "gMd" Guimond

6. Ghost - 263 points (+79) / HLTV #63

Ghost have had a mixed time to the start of the year, but after adding Andy "vSa" Xu to the roster in the middle of March their performances have seen a noted uptick. Slowly driving themselves off the bottom of the ESL Pro League, their performances in other online competitions has been mixed.

The month began with failure to secure a spot in ECS Season 5, before two open qualifier successes were put to an end in the following closed qualifiers. With a poor performance at the Dust2.us Masters #2 this weekend, albeit against eventual winners Gorilla Gang, they'll be looking for a vastly improved April.

Ghost's current roster is: 

• Sebastian "seb" Bucki
• Matthew "Wardell" Bowman
• Yassine "Subroza" Taoufik
• Tramaine "stan1ey" Stanley
• Andy "vSa" Xu
• Michael "MAiNLiNE" Jaber (Coach)

7. Splyce - 255 points (-161) / HLTV #95

Splyce's March has been a notable downtick from the start of the year. From a good start in the ESL Pro League their performances have started to decline this month. Failure to secure a spot in ECS Season 5 to being knocked out in the first round of the iBUYPOWER Invitational hasn't helped them this month.

With the team only winning one game in the ESL Pro League this month, their ranking has taken a noticeable hit especially with Daniel "roca" Gustaferri leaving the team when his contract came to an end. If Stephen "reltuC" Cutler can be the man to help turn their fortunes around is still to be seen.

Here is Splyce's current roster:

•  Taylor "Drone" Johnson
• Kory "SEMPHIS" Friesen
• David "DAVEY" Stafford
• Zack "XotiC" Elshani
• Stephen "reltuC" Cutler
•  Zachary "Eley" Stauffer (Coach)
• Taylor "Tailored" Broomall (Analyst)

8.  eUnited - 225 points (+102) / HLTV #49

The highest ranked ESEA MDL side, eUnited have had a good showing as of late. Getting acquired by the organization at the start of the month just after securing the third spot in ECS Season 5 has seen the team continue their upward trajectory, just after securing a top-two finish in ESEA MDL S27 just before the Global Challenge.

With the team being a key favorite to take the next ESL Pro League spot, and a not-terrible start to the ECS Season, their rise in fortunes sees them overtake previous season rivals in the rankings.

Here is eUnited's current lineup:

• Brandon "Ace" Winn
• Kaleb "moose" Jayne
• Will "dazzLe" Loafman
• Michael "dapr" Gulino
• Skyler "Relyks" Weaver
• Jared "osorandom" Hartman (Coach)

9.  Torqued - 195 points (-16) / HLTV #31

Torqued's March hasn't been too bad in all retrospect. Their qualifier performances for DreamHack Marseille and IEM Sydney saw them head out to the same team in the same scoreline, but their other online performances were fairly impressive. A 3rd/4th finish at the iBUYPOWER Invitational was recently followed up by a third place finish in ESEA MDL S27, securing them a spot in the upcoming Global Challenge, and Pro League Relegation.

Whether or not their form can continue is in the air, but the core of the roster has been pretty consistent. A position drop isn't necessarily to say their performances have gone down, just that eUnited have had a slightly better March.

Most concerningly, the team has lost two series to Swole Patrol in not so close fashion. Should the two run into each other in EPL Relegation, Josh "steel" Nissan will need to do some quick thinking.

Here is Torqued's lineup:

• Keven "AZK" Lariviere
• Braxton "swag" Pierce
• Matt "Pollo" Wilson
• Joshua "steel" Nissan
• Kenneth "koosta" Suen
• James "JamezIRL" Macaulay (Coach)

10.  Dignitas - 135 points (-124) / HLTV #102

Dignitas are currently in a downward spiral, and need a lot of help to get out of it. Being knocked out in the first round of the iBUYPOWER Invitational did not start their month off well, and a failure to get through the open qualifier for DreamHack Marseille did not show too many signs of improvement. Coupled with a winless record, rock bottom in the ESL Pro League and they're in dire need of a pick-me-up.

Thankfully, they might just have that. With Daniel "roca" Gustaferri and Armeen "a2z" Toussi joining, with the latter taking over IGL duties, they could finally start to turn their woes around. A moderately strong performance in the Dust2.us Masters #2 this weekend with a2z shows a potential improvement in the long term.

Dignitas's current roster is:

•  Logan "Voltage" Long
•  Michael "Grim" Wince
•  Mitch "mitch" Semago
•  Daniel "roca" Gustaferri
•  Armeen "a2z" Toussi
•  Josh "shinobi" Abastado (Coach)

All teams have remained this month, although Swole Patrol are starting to knock at the door of Dignitas. Mythic also received points this month too, but both teams are still firmly outside of the Top 10, for now.

The upcoming month of April sees the two online leagues of ESL Pro League Season 7 and ECS Season 5 continue. Offline, North American teams are set to be in action at DreamHack Marseille.

In terms of qualifiers, DreamHack Open Tours, Austin and Summer are set to be happening on weekends, with the ZOTAC Masters having one in between them all. PreGame are also set to be having an Open and Masters online tournament this month.