Dust2.us Top 10: European Cloud9 sees everyone move up

The Dust2.us Top 10 rankings of North American-cored teams returns for the month of November. As usual, the likes of MIBR, Renegades, and most recently, Cloud9 aren't included. This month's panel included:

• 3 Dust2.us staff
• 3 personalities/talent
• 1 Pro coach
• 4 MDL players
• 1 Pro player

The main events that played out this month to influence the rankings include: cs_summit 3, BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen, IEM Chicago, DreamHack Open Atlanta, Toyota Master Bangkok, ECS Season 6 Finals, WESG USA Regional Finals, and SuperNova CS:GO Malta. In addition to the LAN events, the two remaining IEM Katowice Americas Minor open qualifiers, MDL Season 29 playoffs, and the PLG Grand Slam qualifier all played out online.

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

1.  Liquid - 1000 points (-) / HLTV #3

Liquid continue to maintain their position as the best North American team in the world, ending November with a 2nd place finish at IEM Chicago and taking home a trophy after winning SuperNova CS:GO Malta. Their run at ECS Season 6 Finals was unfortunately cut short in the group stage by NRG, who Liquid went on to redeem themselves against twice in Malta, including a 2-0 win in the grand finals.

Liquid's run at IEM Chicago saw them pick up wins over Luminosity, mousesports, LDLC, and FaZe on their road to the final, where they once again fell short 0-3 against their Danish rivals from Astralis. Their win in Malta should give them confidence going into their final event of 2018, ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals, where they'll look to finally lift a premier event trophy and defeat Astralis in series play.

Liquid's current roster is:

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

2.  NRG - 892 points (-8) / HLTV #6

NRG remain in second place after November, having won cs_summit 3 by defeating Ghost, Heroic, BIG, and OpTic in series play. Another series win over MIBR at IEM Chicago added to their list of results, with NRG eliminating the Brazilian-American team from the event after a 2-1 victory. They were unable to hold their good form going into the lower bracket final against LDLC, falling 1-2 after barely edging out a win 19-17 on Nuke to exit the event in 7-8th place.

NRG's run at ECS Season 6 Finals started off shaky as they dropped their opening matchup against NiP 6-16, but they were quick to bounce back as they picked up a 2-0 win against Liquid in the Group B elimination match to send their North American counterparts packing. Once again they struggled to keep up their good form as they secured an 11-4 T side half on Nuke against North in the Group B decider match, but ended up falling 14-16 with Valdemar "valde" Bjørn Vangså completing a 1vs5 ace clutch to shut NRG out of the map.

They managed to take the series to a third map after edging out a 22-19 win on Inferno, but North prevailed on the deciding map of Cache to eliminate NRG from the running. A second place finish at SuperNova CS:GO Malta also added to their list of impressive results at the end of the year, with NRG taking down Kinguin, Virtus.pro, and HellRaisers on their road to the final, where they fell to Liquid 0-2.

NRG's current roster is:

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

3.  Ghost - 563 points (-5) / HLTV #25

Ghost had the opportunity to prove themselves at cs_summit 3 at the start of the month, but lost their opening bout against NRG 1-2 to immediately drop into the lower bracket. Although they managed a 2-0 win over Kinguin, OpTic were quick to shut them down 0-2 in the lower bracket semifinal to eliminate Joshua "steel" Nissan and co. from the running.

Looking to gain more LAN experience before ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals, Ghost headed to DreamHack Open Atlanta, where two best-of-one wins in the group stage over Vitality and Rogue secured them a spot in the semifinals against Luminosity. The two teams took each other's map picks 16-10, taking the series to Inferno where the Brazilians were able to squeeze a 16-14 win past Ghost to advance to the grand finals, and sending Ghost packing as they went home to prepare for EPL Finals.

Ghost's current roster is:

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

4.  compLexity - 506 points (-19) / HLTV #13

As is the trend with our ranking this month, compLexity also hold on to their fourth place slot after middling results in the month. Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz's side were immediately dropped into the lower bracket of cs_summit 3 after being defeated 2-1 by OpTic in their opening matchup, but managed to stay alive until the lower bracket final by taking down G2 and Heroic before a rematch against OpTic sent them packing. 

Finishing in the middle of the board for both online seasons of ECS Season 6 and ESL Pro League Season 8 left compLexity out of contention for either LAN finals, resulting in the team heading to DreamHack Open Atlanta, where they hoped to bounce back. A dominant 16-6 win over Envy and a narrow 22-19 overtime victory against eUnited net compLexity a spot in the semifinals, where they were eliminated 1-2 by the eventual champions, Vitality.

Two weeks later they ended their 2018 LAN run with a 5-6th group stage exit at DreamHack Open Winter, initially winning their opening match against x6tence Galaxy before they fell to Heroic in the winners matchup. A rematch against x6tence Galaxy saw them unable to take a map off the Swedish side, resulting in their elimination from the event.

compLexity's current roster is:

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

5.  eUnited - 332 points (+137) / HLTV #32

eUnited move into fifth place with the removal of Cloud9 from our rankings, resulting in every team below fourth moving up a spot. Although they may have gained a spot in our rankings for free, eUnited still fared alright at IEM Chicago despite heading into the tournament knowing there was a roster move incoming with the addition of Austin "Cooper-" Abadir. 

A suprising 16-6 win in their opening matchup against Na`Vi put eUnited up against fnatic in the upper bracket semifinal, where they narrowly fell 0-2 with 13-16 and 11-16 map losses to the Swedish side. They were unable to keep up their good form as a firm 2-0 win by Luminosity in the lower bracket semifinal put an end to eUnited's run, leaving just DreamHack Open Atlanta on the cards as the team were unable to secure LAN qualifications to either ECS Season 6 Finals or ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals.

The final event for Will "dazzLe" Loafman was DreamHack Open Atlanta, with eUnited winning their opening matchup 16-13 against Luminosity. A narrow 19-22 overtime loss to compLexity sent eUnited down to the group decider, where a best-of-three rematch against Luminosity saw the Brazilian side pick up a 2-0 win to end eUnited's LAN run for the year. The team will look to improve upon their results with the addition of Cooper-, and will need to shape up quickly as the Americas Minor closed qualifier kicks off on December 12th.

eUnited's current roster is:

• Kaleb "moose" Jayne
• Skyler "Relyks" Weaver
• Michael "dapr" Gulino
• Pujan "FNS" Mehta
• Austin "Cooper-" Abadir
• Jared "osorandom" Hartman (Coach)
• Will "dazzLe" Loafman (Inactive)

6.  Rogue - 400 points (+79) / HLTV #38

Rogue managed to hold on to their ECS slot by finishing in 7th place for the season, but weren't so lucky in ESL Pro League as they ended their run in 10th place, just one point below compLexity. Alongside Envy, Rogue will have to fight to hold on to their ESL Pro League spot at EPL Relegation if they hope to remain in the league next season.

Aside from their online placings, Rogue were also in attendance at DreamHack Open Atlanta. There, they managed to defeat Fragsters 16-8 in their opening matchup before falling to Ghost 13-16 in the winners match, forcing them into a best-of-three decider against Vitality. Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen's side were unable to defeat the Frenchmen as they were soundly defeated on Nuke 6-16, mustering a 10-5 CT side on their own pick of Overpass before being unable to put up any T side rounds and being eliminated 2-0. 

Rogue's current roster is:

• Daniel "vice" Kim
• Spencer "Hiko" Martin
• Hunter "SicK" Mims
• Ricardo "Rickeh" Mulholland
•  Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen

7.  Swole Patrol - 188 points (+24) / HLTV #40

Swole Patrol continued their domination in MDL Season 29 by picking up solid wins over Infamous, Excelerate, Mythic, Vision, Singularity, Old Guys Club, VAULT, Bravado, Spacestation, and ETHEREAL in November, although their flawless run was put to an end when they suffered a narrow 14-16 defeat to Test Takers early on in the month. 

After their regular season MDL matches came to an end, Swole Patrol made a trip down to Los Angeles to attend WESG USA Regional Finals, fielding both Cooper- and Leonardo "Laski" Arroyo as stand-ins due to WESG's roster lock rules. There they managed a dominant 2-0 win against Vireo.pro in their semifinal match, but fell 1-2 in the grand finals against Singularity to exit the tournament. 

Once they returned home, Swole Patrol took on Old Guys Club in their first MDL playoff match, soundly defeating his former Cloud9 teammate Sean "seang@res" Gares' squad 2-0 to advance into the semifinals. Now able to play with their proper roster, Swole Patrol managed two comebacks against Singularity on Inferno and Train to edge out a 2-0 win and net themselves a spot in the grand finals, where they will face cantwinalan for a spot in ESL Pro League Season 9.

Swole Patrol's current roster is:

• Ryan "freakazoid" Abadir
• Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro
•  Braxton "swag" Pierce
• Edgar "MarKE" Jimenez
• Brandon "Ace" Winn (Loan)

8. Envy - 162 points (+108) / HLTV #57

In perhaps the biggest twist of the season, Envy managed to dodge auto-relegation for ESL Pro League despite sitting in last place with just a single win for the majority of the season. Having already picked up two map wins against a Cloud9 squad playing from Europe in October, Envy secured themselves an additional two wins over Renegades, who were playing from Australia, to edge themselves out of auto-relegation for EPL and into EPL Relegation, instead sending Luminosity down to MDL.

Shortly after dodging auto-relegation, Envy headed to Atlanta for DreamHack Open, losing their opening match against compLexity 6-16. The Brazilians from Luminosity claimed revenge by defeating Envy 2-0 in the Group A elimination match, sending Envy packing after just two matches played. Envy will still have to fight for their spot in EPL Relegation if they hope to return to Pro League next season.

EnVyUs' current roster is:

• Taylor "Drone" Johnson
• Stephen "reltuC" Cutler
•  Josh "jdm64" Marzano
• Noah "Nifty" Francis
• Matt "Pollo" Wilson (Stand-in)
• Zachary "Eley" Stauffer (Coach)
• Taylor "Tailored" Broomall (Analyst)
• Kory "SEMPHIS" Friesen (Inactive)

9.  Singularity - 108 points (+58) / HLTV #49

Singularity continued their impressive MDL form into November as they soundly defeated Mythic, ETHEREAL, and Test Takers, falling only to Swole Patrol in their last matchup of the season before heading to playoffs. Before they played their quarterfinal match against Spacestation, they faced the team on LAN at WESG USA Regional Finals, picking up a relatively easy 2-0 win on Nuke and Train for a spot in the grand finals.

The grand finals saw Victor "food" Wong step up to the plate for his team, helping to pick up a 2-1 win over Swole Patrol to net themselves a spot at the WESG 2018 Grand Finals in China next year. After heading back home they grabbed themselves another 2-0 win over Spacestation in the quarterfinals of MDL playoffs, but were unable to repeat their LAN result against Swole Patrol and fell in the semifinals. They still managed to net themselves spots at MDL Global Challenge Season 29 and EPL Relegation Season 8 by defeating Vireo.pro in the third place decider matchup, with Vireo.pro fielding their coach Rustun "Rustun" Lusk in place of Donovan "zNf" Froid.

Singularity's current roster is:

• Anthony "Vanity" Malaspina
• Cameron "hydrex" Kern
• Josh "oSee" Ohm
• Ryan "ryann" Welsh
• Victor "food" Wong
• Jared "MAC-1" Schneider (Coach)

10. cantwinalan - 50 points (new) / HLTV #89

cantwinalan impressed towards the end of their MDL Season 29 run after bringing back Mitch "mitch" Semago, ending their regular season run in 6th place by picking up wins over Infamous and Test Takers at the start of the month. Their most surprising results came halfway through the month when MDL playoffs got underway, with their quarterfinal matchup seeing them go up against Bravado.

A 2-0 victory on Overpass and Nuke, with both maps being edged out by cantwinalan in overtime 22-19, saw the team advance to the semifinals, becoming the only underdog to remain in the top four after the first round of matches. The next day, the team continued their good form into their semifinal bout against Vireo.pro, taking another 2-0 victory to net themselves a spot in the MDL Season 29 grand finals and a chance for a spot in ESL Pro League Season 9.

cantwinalan's current roster is:

• Sebastian "seb" Bucki
• Connor "CONNOR93" Glover
• Mitch "mitch" Semago
• Jack "xCeeD" Holiman
• Ryan "GRAMPZ" Baber

Just below cantwinalan sit Spacestation with 29 points, while Vireo.pro bring up the rear with iNTACT close behind.

After an incredibly busy month of events in November, December is slated to wind down with a few professional and semi-professional events, including: ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals, PLG Grand Slam, MDL Season 29 Grand Finals, EPL Relegation, MDL Global Challenge Season 29, and N3rd Street Gamers' Eastern Conference Championship.

Two online qualifiers will also take place to round out the year, with the most notable being the Americas Minor closed qualifier, where sixteen teams will vie for five spots at the Americas Minor at the end of January. The StarSeries i-League Season 7 qualifier will also play out, rewarding a single team with a spot at the $500,000 LAN in Shanghai next year.