M80 leapfrog Nouns in Dust2.us’ December 2023 rankings

Dust2.us is back with our top 10 ranking for the month of November! For this iteration, 20 panelists including players, coaches, journalists, and talent provided their input into the state of the NA scene as we approach the end of 2023. While Complexity has maintained their position as the undisputed gods of the NA scene, there have been some notable changes in the ranking, all seeing precipitated by EG's impending demise and loss of Jadan "HexT" Postma. Speaking of that, note that this month's poll did not feature NRG as an option as the team were yet to play their first match until December 2nd. With that in mind, let's get into it.

With that, here are the ground rules for how our power ranking will function for transparency:

Our team rankings are determined based on a series of measurements where each team is allocated points dependent on where they rank compared to their peers. This measurement is determined by the opinion of our panel, teams' relative HLTV ranking compared to other NA teams, and teams' tier of play. A team garners a higher tier depending on how frequently they compete internationally and in what division they play in during domestic competitions (ECL, Advanced, etc.). For the sake of our power ranking, we consider a team to be NA if they either have 3+ NA players and/or they spend a significant amount of their time competing in North America.

#1 Complexity (JT, floppy, Grim, hallzerk, EliGE, Coach: T.c) (—)

There's not much new we can say about Complexity as they are the complete and undisputed kings of the NA scene, with every panelist unanimously agreeing on that assessment. Until Liquid and NRG come online with their NA rosters we do not see this changing, even though Complexity showed a rare moment of weakness this month at the Elisa Masters Espoo 2023 with losses to FURIA and MOUZ. However, their strong performance at the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2023 was more than enough to keep Complexity miles ahead of Nouns and M80.

November Events: BLAST Premier Fall Final 2023, Elisa Masters Espoo 2023

#2 M80 (Swisher, reck, malbsMd, maNkz, slaxz-, Coach: dephh) (+1)

The addition of Fritz "slaxz-" Dietrich on November 13th has paid off in dividends for M80 this month as they have hit an excellent run of form, only dropping two maps to Party Astronauts while otherwise dominating the competition. The team's renewed form along with their star German AWPer seems to have been enough for the squad to surpass M80 and we don't expect it to change any time soon as the team are in a prime position to win ESL Challenger League Season 46 and will hopefully do some damage at ESL Challenger Atlanta.

November Events: ESL Challenger League S46

#3 Nouns (Bwills, nosraC, cJ, MarKE, cynic, Coach: SEMPHIS) (-1)

This month Nouns were surpassed by M80 on the thinnest of margins, however it goes without saying that they are still one of the region's best teams. The gamble on Carson "nosraC" O'Reilly as IGL has largely paid off and Nouns are looking keen to clinch a spot in ESL Pro League Season 19 this month by way of ESL Challenger League Season 46. If one had to speculate why they fell behind M80 this month, it likely comes down to an underwhelming performance at ESL Challenger Jönköping along with some awkward losses in ECL while playing with EU ping. Depending on how ECL S46 shakes out, we could definitely see this trend reversed in December.

November Events: ESL Challenger League S46, ESL Challenger Jönköping 2023

#4 BOSS (Cryptic, freshie, brett, d4rty, WolfY) (+2)

Despite losing their organization and Keller "SLIGHT" Nilan, BOSS (ex-Wildcard) actually rose in the rankings this month. This upward trend can largely be attributed to the team adding Adam "Wolfy" Andersson, who has proven to be a more than adequate replacement for SLIGHT. Additionally, with BOSS ending the ECL S46 regular season with an impressive 12-2 record, there's still a ton to like from this team. While Fragicago 2023 did not explicitly factor into our ranking, their anachronistic performance there likely helped as well.

November Events: ESL Challenger League S46

#5 Party Astronauts (PwnAlone, ben1337, chop, viz, cxzi, Coach: Viathan) (+2)

Party Astronauts' decision to bring back Danny "cxzi" Strzelczyk and Wesley "viz" Harris has seemingly paid off in the eyes of the panel, as the orgless team jumped up two positions this month. While it is still early days, the team's form already looks better, with PA being one of two teams to best BOSS in the ECL S46 playoffs. Likewise, with their sole losses this month coming against EG and M80, Party Astronauts seem to be in a strong spot to reassert themselves in NA heading into 2024.

November Events: ESL Challenger League S46

#6 Wildcard (stanislaw, Infinite, JBa, SLIGHT, Sonic Coach: horvy) (-2)

Wildcard's minor tumble in the rankings when compared to their time as Forsaken looks bad but it really isn't. Considering this new squad only played a handful of series this month including losses to M80 and EG, there's clearly not enough data for the panelist to pore over. When this team really gets going in 2024, then we'll be able to tell if Wildcard's gamble in replacing four players was worth it.

November Events: None

#7 Evil Geniuses (autimatic, Walco, Jeorge, junior, wiz, Coach: Axed) (-3)

Evil Geniuses falling all the way down to seventh on Dust2.us' ranking likely has more to do with the team being moribund than anything else. Consider that the team only lost to M80 and BOSS this month, their placing should by all means be higher. But, in the sense this is a team that know they are dead men walking and at times play like it, the panel did not have many kudos to give.

November Events: ESL Challenger League S46

#8 Unjustified (Cyrix, Seb, Lake, Wolffe, arcade) (—)

Unjustified have managed to hold onto their position thanks to a continued strong performance in ECL S46. Unfortunately, with the breaking news of John "arcade" Rogel's retirement, their position in the rankings may not be upheld in December, however for now the team can hold their heads high that they made impressive gains in a relatively short period of time between S45 and S46 of ECL.

November Events: ESL Challenger League S46

#9 Badass (snav, Fr3nk1e, dare, shane, consti) (—)

Badass likewise did not make any moves up or down in the rankings this month. This likely comes down to them being a known quantity in NA. They frag, they play to their opponent's level, and they overall look good when not getting into hijinks. Underestimate them at your own peril.

November Events: ESL Challenger League S46

#10 FLUFFY AIMERS (Peeping, sacrifice, LEARSI, Jason, dea) (—)

Finally, we have FLUFFY AIMERS, who round out the list of reliable winners in NA. Like Badass and Unjustified, this team is usually a safe mark to make playoffs and they play well against the lower tiers of NA opposition. One must wonder if a roster change will come after this season but for now they're quite a good, albeit fairly blasé team.