Dust2.us Top 10: Ghost float into the Top 5

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

• 2 Dust2.us staff
• 1 Pro coaches
• 1 MDL coaches
• 3 Pro players
• 3 Personalites

The main events this past month to influence the ranking were Esports Championship Series Season 5 Finals, ESL One Belo Horizonte, DreamHack Summer and the ZOTAC Masters Cup Americas Finals. There were also some online events, including qualifiers for the Americas Minor, ESL One New York, and DreamHack Masters Stockholm.

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.

1. Liquid - 980 points (-8) / HLTV #4

Liquid retain their top spot, with only two events clocked in for the entire month of June. At the ECS S5 Finals in London, Liquid swept through Fnatic and NRG in the decider series and the semifinals respectively, but were unable to overcome Astralis in the winners match and the grand finals. Despite the hurdle, the ECS finals was an astounding event for Liquid, coming in second after placing second at the EPL S7 Finals in Dallas last month. Down in Belo Horizonte, Liquid easily took down BIG in two encounters, but were halted by mousesports and FaZe, losing to the latter team in the semifinals.

Despite attending only two events and not playing any online matches, mainly due to the EPL offseason and the upcoming Major, Liquid's placements were some of the strongest out of any North American team in our Top 10.

Here is Liquid's current roster:

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

2. NRG - 880 points (-8) / HLTV #7

With Cloud9 still in disarray, NRG have continued to reign over the #2 spot on our list, with the team continuing to push out impressive results. Offline, the team only attended the ECS S5 Finals for the month. The event followed NRG's great performance at StarSeries i-League Season 5, with the team beating both G2 and FaZe in their groups, topping Group B 2-0. However, in the semifinals, Liquid swiftly dealt with NRG, despite the latter beating them in Ukraine. 

While NRG only found a semifinals finish on LAN for the month, the team was undefeated online for the month of June. In the Americas Minor Closed Qualifier, NRG went 3-0 against Freedom 35, Luminosity, and Rogue, qualifying them for another event in London. In the ESL One New York Closed Qualifier, the team continued to be undefeated, winning against Renegades and beating compLexity twice, including a 3-0 series in the grand finals.

NRG has continued to impress and, with a faltering Cloud9, have solidifed themselves as one of the best teams in North America, winning them invites to IEM Shanghai and DreamHack Masters Stockholm. 

Here is NRG's roster:

• Jacob "FugLy" Medina
• Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte
• Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov
• Damian "daps" Steele
• Ethan "nahtE" Arnold
• Chet "ImAPet" Singh (Coach)

3. Cloud9 - 820 points (-5) / HLTV #10

Cloud9, a former top 2 staple on this list, remain in the #3 spot without a permanent fifth and with only one event in the entirety of June. The North American team attended the ECS S5 Finals in London, with FNS standing in, where they were knocked out 0-2 in the group stage. Unluckily meeting Astralis in their opening match and losing to a comeback from Fnatic, Cloud9 were unable to win a single series in the entire month of June.

And with their roster still left without a permanent fifth player, only time will tell if Cloud9 will ever be able to find the form that won them the ELEAGUE Major in Boston.

Here is Cloud9's lineup:

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

4. Rogue - 450 points (-56) / HLTV #31

Despite the addition of Ricardo "Rickeh" Mulholland to the roster, Rogue have had a lackluster month with only decent qualifier placements. In the ZOTAC Cup Masters closed qualifier, Rogue swept through Gorilla Gang and The Pioneers, but were halted by Swole Patrol, who denied them a trip to Santa Ana. An event Rogue were able to qualify for however, was the Americas Minor, with wins over The Entourage, eUnited, and Ghost, with only one loss to NRG in the closed qualifier.

The ESL One New York closed qualifier was more unfortunate for Rogue. Despite a win over Swole Patrol, hard losses to Renegades and Luminosity left the team at the bottom of the standings for the qualifier. Another denial came with the DreamHack Masters Stockholm closed qualifier, where Rogue were able to brush past Luminosity and eUnited, but were knocked out twice by Ghost.

Here is Rogue's current roster:

• Daniel "vice" Kim
• Spencer "Hiko" Martin
• Casper "cadiaN" Møller
• Hunter "SicK" Mims
• Ricardo "Rickeh" Mulholland
• Matthew "mCe" Elmore (Coach)

5. Ghost - 356 points (+168) / HLTV #34

With the addition of the the remaining core of Torqued, Ghost have shot up in the rankings, overcoming compLexity and placing themselves in the top 5. While the team has improved immensely, their initial debut was less than spectacular. At ESL One Belo Horizonte, which Torqued originally qualified for, Ghost were unable to overcome either SK or Faze, going 0-2 and dropping out of the event 7-8th.

The Americas Minor closed qualifier was disappointing for Ghost, as the team was forced to use their coach James "JamezIRL" Macaulay instead of their in-game-leader Joshua "steel" Nissan. Without one of their strongest players, the team went out 2-3, with losses to compLexity, Rogue, and Swole Patrol. The team eventually found their big break, qualifying for DreamHack Masters Stockholm through the open and closed qualifiers, beating eUnited, compLexity, and Rogue. Ghost later won the ZOTAC Cup Masters Americas Finals in Santa Ana after beating Sharks and FURIA in 2-0 fashions, qualifying them for the $300,000 ZOTAC grand finals in Hong Kong.

Ghost's current roster is:

• Matthew "Wardell" Bowman
• Yassine "Subroza" Taofik
• Matt "Pollo" Wilson
• Joshua "steel" Nissan
• Kenneth "koosta" Suen
• James "JamezIRL" Macaulay (Coach)

6. compLexity - 350 points (-33) / HLTV #32

Despite the additions of Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz and Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan, compLexity have fallen in the rankings after being overtaken by Ghost. Nonetheless, June was a jam-packed month for compLexity, with the team taking part in practically every qualifier they could get their hands on, playing nearly 49 maps of CS in the month of June alone.

On LAN, the team has struggled to find amazing results. At DreamHack Summer, despite a win over Renegades, compLexity were pummeled by OpTic and Gambit in the winners final and the decider match respectively. At the ZOTAC Cup Masters Americas Finals, compLexity were wiped out in the quarterfinals to FURIA 2-1, in spite of a great first map.

Online, compLexity have been more fortunate, going 3-0 in the Americas Minor closed qualifier over Mythic, Dignitas, and Ghost. The ESL One New York closed qualifier was good for the team, even if they didn't qualify, winning against the likes of Luminosity and Renegeades, losing only to NRG in the semifinals and grand finals. The DreamHack Masters Stockholm closed qualifier was not as good however, with losses to Ghost and eUnited knocking them out.

Here is compLexity's roster:

• Rory "dephh" Jackson
• Bradley "ANDROID-X23" Fodor
• Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker
• Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan
• Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz
• Ronald "Rambo" Kim (Coach)

7. eUnited - 300 points (-75) / HLTV #44

eUnited have been an impressive team in recent months, but were unable to find their big break in June. Offline, eUnited attended the ZOTAC Cup Masters Americas Finals, which they were invited to with a high seed. Despite the advantage and a standout performance from Michael "dapr" Gulino on the last map, eUnited were knocked out by FURIA, who had just beaten compLexity.

Similar to other teams on this list, eUnited have had better luck online. In the Americas Minor closed qualifier, eUnited went 3-1 over Armada, The Entourage, and Freedom 35. eUnited also found better luck in the DreamHack Masters Stockholm closed qualifier, where they beat compLexity 2-0, before being beaten by Rogue in the losers final.

Here is eUnited's current lineup:

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

8. Swole Patrol - 120 points (+39) / HLTV #49

The highest MDL team in this list, Swole Patrol have been proving their worth in recent qualifiers, even if they have yet to show themselves as one of the top 5 teams in North America. On LAN, the patrol narrowly lost to Sharks 2-0 after 107 arduous rounds over just two maps. 

Online, Swole Patrol have been a strong team in MDL, where they are currently 8-3. In the Americas Minor closed qualifier, the team went 3-2 and qualified for the Minor due to map and round difference advantages. After qualifying for the ESL One New York closed qualifier, fairly close losses to Rogue and compLexity instantly knocked the team out of the bracket. 

Swole Patrol's current roster is:

• Samuel "SileNt" Portillo
• Ryan "freakazoid" Abadir
• Austin "Cooper-" Abadir
• Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro
• Derrick "LILMAN" Boyne

9. Dignitas - 100 points (+25) / HLTV #55

While Dignitas have yet to make an appearance on LAN, Dignitas have become one of the most dangerous teams in MDL where they are currently undefeated. In qualifiers, the team haven't been as invincible after failing to qualify for the ZOTAC Cup Masters Americas Finals after losing to Swole Patrol twice. The Americas Minor closed qualifier was more fruitful however, with the team going 3-1 and qualifying for their first LAN event.

Here is Dignitas' current roster:

• Michael "Grim" Wince
• Mitch "mitch" Semago
• Gage "Infinite" Green
• Ronnie "ryx" Bylicki
• Peter "ptr" Gurney
• Josh "shinobi" Abastado (Coach)

10. boxr - 94 points (-63) / HLTV #68

boxr are the only team in the top 10 (outside of Ghost) who were unable to qualify for the Americas Minor. Despite an initial 2-1 victory over Swole Patrol, further losses eventually led to a 2-3 record, leaving them in 9-11th. 

Earlier results in June failed to impress as well, with a loss to Swole Patrol in the ESL One New York open qualifier and two losses to Freedom 35 in the ZOTAC Cup Masters closed qualifier. 

Here is boxr's lineup:

• Taylor "Drone" Johnson
• Kory "SEMPHIS" Friesen
• David "DAVEY" Stafford
• Stephen "reltuC" Cutler
• Kristjan "fejtZ" Allsaar
• Zachary "Eley" Stauffer (Coach)

In 11th and 12th place sit Vireo.pro and RESOLUTE, who were both recently sponsored by organizations and are competing in the NA MDL.

July's LAN events include the ESL One Cologne, the Americas Minor, and the ELEAGUE Premier. For online, ESEA MDL Season 28 continues on in its regular season.