Dust2.us Top 10: Cloud9 condense above Liquid to regain the lead

The Dust2.us Top 10 rankings of North American-cored teams returns for the end of April. With that, the likes of SK, Renegades and OpTic aren't included. This month's panel included:

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

The relevant tournaments in April for the rankings saw DreamHack Masters Marseille take place. The vast majority of events were online, including the conclusion of the ESL Pro League Season 7 and the continuation of ECS Season 5. The PreGame Masters #1 took place and the qualifiers for various events also took part in this period, including DreamHack Open Tours, Austin and Summer, ESL One Belo Horizonte and StarSeries i-League Season 5. 

The full Top 10 ranking can be found over on the Top 10 page, here, alongside the rankings for both divisions of the Dust2.us Western Pro League. Shall we begin?

1. Cloud9 - 983 points (+113) / HLTV #6

Cloud9 return to the top after a fairly good showing in Marseille, picking up a 5th-8th place finish ahead of the remaining North American sides. Although they weren't too active elsewhere in April a good showing at the end of the ESL Pro League Season 7, dropping only two maps out of eight, saw them clinch fourth place and a spot in Dallas for the finals.

Their strong start in ECS has helped them along as well, with the team having only lost five maps so far this season leaving them in a comfortable second position, narrowly behind league leaders NRG. With Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham having confirmed his return to full service in this month as well, the rebuild looks to be on it's way for Cloud9.

Here is Cloud9's current roster:

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

2. Liquid - 900 points (-50) / HLTV #9

Liquid began the month with Epitacio "TACO" de Melo joining the team replacing his Brazilian compatriot, Lucas "steel" Lopes, who headed off to Luminosity. His first run out with the team, however, wasn't a result to write home about as they left DreamHack Masters Marseille in the group stage, with only a win against Gambit their name. 

Online it's been a slightly different story, with Liquid finishing all but their final ESL Pro League game with steel, including only their second loss to NRG, they secured the top spot heading into Dallas with a 20-2 record. ECS has been a slightly different story, with the team currently sitting out of the top four with a 6-6 record, including a loss to eUnited on the way. With only six more games left for the North American mixture, they're looking for a quick jumpstart to not miss out on a shot in London.

Here is Liquid's roster:

• Nick "nitr0" Cannella
• Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski
• Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken
• Keith "NAF" Markovic
• Epitacio "TACO" de Melo
• Wilton "zews" Prado (Coach)

3. NRG - 817 points (+25) / HLTV #18

NRG's fairly monumental rise has continued on it's way. Once again their offline appearances have been lacking, as is the general theme of last month. However online they have been in good form. Although the month began with a disappointing exit in the ESL One Belo Horizonte qualifier to compLexity, they bounced back fairly quickly.

Securing a spot in the StarSeries i-League tournament after a flawless run through their opponents they rounded out the ESL Pro League season with mixed form, having lost four of their last ten games. This didn't stop them from finishing second, however, and the team also secured their top spot finish in the ECS Season as well. 

Here is NRG's lineup remains:

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

4. Rogue - 475 points (+40) / HLTV #28

Rogue continue to pick up points, even with a mixed online season. Rogue's performance in the ESL Pro League saw them narrowly miss out on a slot in Dallas, falling behind SK by two points with an 11-11 record after losing two of their last six matches. Their performance in ECS is seeing them on a similarly mirrored scoreline, 6-6, with four of those wins coming in the month of April.

If safety appears to be the message from the online leagues, a tale of success and "nearly there" is the state of their online qualifier performances. A poor showing in the DreamHack Open Tours Closed Qualifier was followed up with a third place finish in the ESL One Belo Horizonte qualifier, before a successful run in the DreamHack Open Austin qualifier saw them secure them their next LAN appearance. Although the month was rounded out by missing out on DreamHack Open Summer to compLexity, it's been a good run so far.

Here is Rogue's current roster:

• Daniel "vice" Kim
• Spencer "Hiko" Martin
• Casper "cadiaN" Møller
• Hunter "SicK" Mims
• Anthony "gMd" Guimond
• Matthew "mCe" Elmore (trial coach)

5. compLexity - 417 points (-63) / HLTV #44

compLexity has had a mixed April, a month dedicated to a very high amount of qualifiers for the team. In that respect, the first two they took part in saw them miss out both times at securing a spot at LAN - both times to Torqued in the final. From there, it wasn't worth remembering the DreamHack Open Austin qualifier after a first round exit, and being knocked out by Renegades from the StarSeries i-League Season 5 qualifier didn't help either.

The ESL Pro League ended poorly for compLexity, as their form in April saw them dragged into a battle for the relegation tournament. After only picking up one win in their six games before the final match against Ghost, a split result confirmed their fate in 10th. ECS hasn't been as forgiving either, with the team currently sat in the bottom two with a 3-11 record.

The month ended with two new additions caused by OpTic's split, with the two North Americans of Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan and Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz donning compLexity jerseys for them, replacing Peter "ptr" Gurney and Alec "Slemmy" White respectively. Although their additions can't be used in the upcoming Pro League relegation tournament, they secured a slot at DreamHack Open Summer with the two after a near-flawless run.

Here is compLexity's new roster:

• Rory "dephh" Jackson
• Bradley "androidx23" Fodor
• Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker
•  Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan
•  Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz
• Ronald "Rambo" Kim (Coach)
• Peter "ptr" Gurney (inactive)
• Alec "Slemmy" White (inactive)

6.  eUnited - 292 points (+67) / HLTV #33

eUnited remain the highest ranked non-ESL Pro League side, ahead of two of the teams competing in the division. With the ESEA MDL currently awaiting the final just before the Global Challenge next week, all of their focus has thus far been on the ECS, which has been fairly successful for them. Currently sat in fourth with a 7-7 record, they have secured a number of good results, including a 2-0 over Liquid and splitting maps against Cloud9 and SK.

Their performances in other tournaments have been less appealing, however, with runs in qualifiers not being close to that of the teams higher in the list. This includes first round exits in StarSeries i-League and DreamHack Open Tours qualifiers and semifinal knockouts for DreamHack Open Austin and Summer. Everything else has been green for the side, however, as they currently gear up for a shot at the ESL Pro League in Leicester, UK.

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)

7. Ghost - 219 points (-44) / HLTV #56

Ghost have continued their mixed start to the year with a very mixed month. Their qualifier appearances haven't been much to shout about, with first round and group exits for DreamHack Open Tours and StarSeries i-League qualifiers respectively. A brief glimmer of hope was offered in the ESL Pro League, however, narrowly securing their spot for next season over compLexity in the final day of the season.

The end of the month saw the roster suffer another change, with Tramaine "stan1ey" Stanley returning back to the UK after a torrid time in Canada. They kept on going, with a stand-in, for the DreamHack Open Summer qualifier, where they suffered a semifinal exit. With the team lacking an ECS appearance, they won't need to act as quickly in securing a replacement with no further competition on the horizon.

Ghost's current roster is: 

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

8.  Torqued - 198 points (+3) / HLTV #31

Torqued's rating has suffered due to them not currently competing in any ongoing leagues. However, their performances in online qualifiers is not to be sniffed at. The month began with them securing a spot in France for DreamHack Open Tours after an open qualifier run, followed up with a firm showing in the ESL One Belo Horizonte qualifier to send them to Brazil.

With not much else going on for them, they took to the server in the PreGame Masters #1, where they eventually lost to the new Armada squad in the final. Attentions for the team now turn to Leicester, UK, for the ESEA Global Challenge and the ESL Pro League relegation tournament, where they'll be looking to make it to the top division.

Here is Torqued's lineup:

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

9.  Dignitas - 75 points (-60) / HLTV #97

Dignitas' downward spiral continued right to the end of the ESL Pro League season, with the team taking up the foot of the league, even with the team picking up two wins in the month, their only wins throughout the entire season. Adding Daniel "roca" Gustaferri  and Armeen "a2z" Toussi failed to save their season, meaning two will be spent in MDL before a return can be attempted.

Their performances in qualifiers haven't saved them either. Starting the month with a first round exit in the DreamHack Open Austin qualifier, they followed it up with heading out in groups for the StarSeries i-League qualifier. Although they managed to top the open qualifier for DreamHack Open Summer, they couldn't continue the form with a first round exit in the closed qualifier. A lot of work is required for Dignitas.

Dignitas's current roster is:

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

10. ex-Splyce - 73 points (-182) / HLTV #92

The now former Splyce's April didn't go too well for them, to say the least. Although they secured the services of Stephen "reltuC" Cutler at the start of the month, their ESL Pro Leauge season wasn't easily salvageable. Suffering losses to teams theoretically below them, like Dignitas, they slipped down the table to eleventh, forcing them to head to the relegation tournament next month. 

Qualfier performances weren't too good either, a semifinal exit in the DreamHack Open Tours qualifier looked to be the seeds of regeneration, but a first round and group stage exit in DreamHack Open Austin and StarSeries i-League qualifiers did not cultivate such seeds. Not too much after that, it turned out that Zack "XotiC" Elshani was unable to secure a passport in time for potential international travel, so was set to be replaced by Ricardo "Rickeh" Mulholland for such a case, but this is still subject to league confirmation.

Then a final disaster struck at the end of the month, with the announcement that Splyce were to exit CSGO, the second organization reltuC's been under to do such a thing to him. Whether or not this team will survive past the ESL Pro League relegation tournament is yet to be seen.

Here is ex-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)

Once again all of the teams in the ranking have remained, but Swole Patrol were just ten points away from overtaking ex-Splyce, constantly in threat of overtaking the Pro League side.

May is set to hold a plethora of events. The LAN tournaments will resume with IEM Sydney, before moving onto the ESEA Global Challenge, MDL Finals and ESL Pro League relegation.

The month will then continue with the ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals in Dallas and the StarSeries i-League Season 5 finals in Kiev, as well as DreamHack Open Tours. Online, ECS Season 5 will conclude in the first two weeks of the month.