Dust2.us Top 10: Ghost and Swole Patrol fall

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

• 2 Dust2.us staff
• 2 Pro players
• 2 Pro coaches
• 1 MDL coach

The main events this past month which influenced the ranking were ESL One Cologne, the Americas Minor, Tokyo in Tulsa 2, and the ELEAGUE Premier. In addition to those LANs, two MSI MGA North America open qualifiers, the StarSeries i-League Season 6 North America qualifier, and ESEA MDL Season 28 all took place online.

The full Top 10 ranking can be found over on the Top 10 page, here.

1. Liquid - 1000 points (+20) / HLTV #4

Liquid once again hold the top spot, this time hitting the max points of 1000. They started off the month poorly at ESL One Cologne, where they lost three consecutive maps to BIG and North to exit the event in last place. Once they arrived in Georgia for the ELEAGUE Premier however, they had a complete turn around in form. Liquid defeated the new-look MIBR in two series, as well as ranked two team Natus Vincere 2-0 to reach the final. The grand final wasn't close despite this, as Astralis dismantled them on two maps.

Just like the last month, Liquid only attended two LANs and played no online matches. They still clearly outperformed all other teams from the region during this time and thus receive the deserved placing.

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 - 914 points (+34) / HLTV #9

NRG again hold onto the second spot on this list, even gaining a few points from last month. They began the month at the Americas Minor, where in the group stage they easily took down Swole Patrol and eUnited. However, in the playoffs the pressure got to them, and they fell in close series to both compLexity and eUnited to be eliminated in 4th place.

They also played the StarSeries i-League Season 6 North America qualifier, where they easily took down Bravado, Swole Patrol, and compLexity to win and secure their spot at the event in October.

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 - 814 points (-6) / HLTV #20

Cloud9 seem to have stabilized in the third spot for now, only dropping six points from last month. At ESL One Cologne, they managed to destroy NiP, but proceeded to fall to Astralis and Na`Vi to be eliminated in the group stage. Similarly, at the ELEAGUE Premier, Cloud9 lost to Astralis and MIBR to exit in last place.

They did not play any online matches, and despite their poor results at face value, many of the matches were relatively close, on a level which teams below them would not be capable of, keeping them at this level for the moment.

Here is Cloud9's lineup:

• Timothy "autimatic" Ta
• Will "RUSH" Wierzba
• Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham
• Maikil "Golden" Selim
• Martin "STYKO" Styk  (Loan stand-in)
• Soham "valens" Chowdhury (Coach)

4. Rogue - 482 points (+32) / HLTV #29

Rogue have retained their fourth place in the ranking, even gaining some points since June. Their only event was the Americas Minor, where they started off with a first place seed in the group stage, taking down Dignitas and compLexity. In the playoffs, they beat eUnited in the semifinal and compLexity again in the upper bracket final, but in the grand final, they lost to compLexity to place second overall.

This still grants them a spot at the Major qualifier for FACEIT London as well as stickers and graffiti in game. Since not much has happened during the month in general, for the top teams at least, Rogue stay around the same despite not playing any online matches.

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. compLexity - 429 points (+79) / HLTV #25

compLexity jump up one spot and return to the top five, which they had during May only to fall behind Ghost during June. In the group stage of the Americas Minor, coL beat FURIA and Dignitas, and kicked off the playoffs by taking down the favorites NRG. They faced a loss to Rogue, but after defeating eUnited in the consolidation final, compLexity brought it back and won the Minor over Rogue.

In online play, the reached the final of the StarSeries i-League Season 6 North America qualifier, beating Dignitas and oNe, but fell to NRG in the final match. They also advanced to the MSI MGA North America closed qualifier after beating Guerrilla Tactics in the second open qualifier.

compLexity's current roster is:

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

6. eUnited - 354 points (+54) / HLTV #33

eUnited have moved back up in the ranking, to where they were in May, while gaining 54 points. At the Americas Minor, they improved on their Rise Nation performance by advancing past the group stage, beating NTC on the way. They managed to also take out the favorites NRG in the playoffs, but fell to Rogue and compLexity to place third overall.

Online, eUnited advanced to the MSI MGA North America closed qualifier by defeating Titan in the first open qualifier. In the StarSeries i-League Season 6 North America qualifier however, eUnited suffered an upset loss to oNe with Alencar "trk" Rossato going +24 over three maps.

Here is eUnited's roster:

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

7. Ghost - 313 points (-43) / HLTV #38

Ghost move down two spots to where they were at in May in seventh place. They actually attended no LANs since the last ranking, only playing in two online qualifiers. First, they beat Forty Six and 2 in the first MSI MGA North America open qualifier and moved on to the closed. They also played in the StarSeries i-League Season 6 qualifier, but fell to Swole Patrol fielding a stand-in in the quarterfinal.

Despite these lackluster results, Ghost's past results still hold weight and keep them at this level. We did also report that Ghost are planning to add Kevin "kRYSTAL" Amend, formerly of Imperial, as their replacement for Matt "Pollo" Wilson.

Here is Ghost's current lineup:

• Matthew "Wardell" Bowman
• Yassine "Subroza" Taoufik
• Joshua "steel" Nissan
• Kenneth "koosta" Suen
• James "JamezIRL" Macaulay (Coach)

8. Dignitas - 150 points (+50) / HLTV #41

Dignitas move up a good bit within the rankings for July, gaining 50 points and a whole spot. Their only LAN was the Minor, where they had a group stage exit. They took down FURIA easily, but were unable to overcome Rogue or compLexity, who ended up playing in the final.

Online, they finished out the MDL season, with victories over Vireo.pro, Monstars, and Swole Patrol during the regular season, only losing one map to Gorilla Gang. During the playoffs, they were unfortunately matched against Bravado, and suffered an extremely close 1-2 defeat to the South Africans. In the StarSeries i-League Season 6 qualifier, they passed the group stage by beating Prospects twice. In the playoffs hwoever, Dignitas lost to compLexity in the first round. Finally, in the second open MSI MGA North America qualifier, they beat Andrews Big Toe to move on to the closed qualifier.

During this time however, they dropped Michael "Grim" Wince and Ronnie "ryx" Bylicki due to their result in MDL. They are set to add Canadians Anthony "gMd" Guimond and Tyson "TenZ" Ngo in the near future.

Dignitas's current roster is:

• Mitch "m1tch" Semago
• Gage "Infinite" Green
• Peter "ptr" Gurney
• Josh "shinobi" Abastado (Coach)

9. boxr - 89 points (-5) / HLTV #108

boxr moved up a place in the ranking, despite playing no officials and actually losing points during the month. They also lost their fifth player in Kristjan "fejtZ" Allsaar who is looking elsewhere for opportunities after standing in for both PLINK and HellRaisers in other tournaments.

This team is mostly riding on past success at this point, and will likely need to put up some results soon or else they risk falling out of the top ten completely.

Here is boxr's current roster:

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

10. Swole Patrol - 57 points (-63) / HLTV #43

Swole Patrol fall two spots in the ranking, but stay in the top ten after changing two players and mediocre results overall. Their only LAN was the Minor, finishing in last place after losses to NRG and NTC.

In the StarSeries i-League Season 6 North America qualifier, they passed the group stage by taking down Mythic and BlackOut, and in the playoffs even topped Ghost. They eventually lost to NRG in the semifinals however. In the main season of MDL they actually took down both finalists Bravado and Vision, but in the playoffs were easily bested by Gorilla Gang.

After the MDL playoffs, they made a big roster move, as Derrick "LILMAN" Boyne and Samuel "SileNt" Portillo left the team. They then picked up Braxton "swag" Pierce and Edgar "MarKE" Jimenez from FYB to replace them.

Here is Swole Patrol's lineup:

• Ryan "freakazoid" Abadir
• Austin "Cooper-" Abadir
• Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro
• Braxton "swag" Pierce
• Edgar "MarKE" Jimenez

Just behind the top 10 we saw Vision and Gorilla Gang, two other top placing MDL teams from Season 28.

In August, we have IEM Shanghai, Fragadelphia 12, the ZOTAC Cup Master Grand Finals, and DreamHack Masters Stockholm, as well as the MSI MGA North America closed qualifier, ESEA MDL Season 28 Relegation, and the Cougar CS:GO Open.