Dust2.us Top 10: Major Champions Cloud9 remain on top; SoaR rise, Rise fall

With the Major passing and we head into a new month, a new top 10 ranking based on North American CS:GO teams is released. As always, you won't find the likes of SK, Renegades, or Luminosity in these rankings as they are not majority North American teams, despite competing in the region.

This months ranking panel is comprised of:

• 2 Dust2.us Staff members
• 2 EPL players
• 2 EPL coaches
• 1 MDL coach
• 2 personalities/talent

It's also worth noting that a few of the rosters in this Top 10 have changed recently, so keeping an eye on the Dust2.us Shuffle Tracker can help to keep on top of the changes.

The full points breakdown can be found on our Top 10 page, and you can always see the most up-to-date ranking at this link.

1.  Cloud9 - 1000 points (No change) / HLTV #3 

Cloud9 maintains their lead position on our monthly North American rankings. After an exceptionally strong month which saw them go from Major Qualifiers to Major Champions, their position on top of North America is looking near-untouchable any time in the future. 

Riding on a high, the squad are set to be taking on WESG North America which begins today, before heading off to LA for the cs_summit 2.

Cloud9's roster consists of:

• Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham
•  Jake "Stewie2K" Yip
•  Timothy "autimatic" Ta
•  Tarik "tarik" Celik
•  Will "RUSH" Wierzba
•  Soham "valens" Chowdhury (Coach)

2.  Liquid - 900 points (No change) / HLTV #14

Liquid return to the second place position on the Dust2.us rankings after a relatively successful January. The team managed to squeak through the Major Qualifier, after securing the spot that was created after 100 Thieves withdrew. In the Major itself, they didn't give a bad display either, securing a map off of BIG before bowing out with a 1-3 record.

Liquid will now be preparing for the upcoming season of ESL Pro League and the StarSeries i-League qualifier, but before that they will be in attendance at cs_summit 2 in a week's time, where they'll return to playing with Lucas "steel" Lopes. Later on in February they'll be jetting off to Poland for IEM Katowice 2018, after securing a spot through the closed qualifier.

Liquid's roster consists of:

•  Nick "nitr0" Cannella
•  Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski
•  Josh "jdm64" Marzano
•  Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken
•  Lucas "steel" Lopes
•  Wilton "zews" Prado (Coach)

3.  NRG - 670 points (+64) / HLTV #25

NRG rise one spot and gain some points from December, although their only appearance in 2018 so far was a loss to Liquid in the IEM Katowice Close Qualifier. They do receive some benefit, however, through the terminal decline of Misfits as their roster continues to rip apart.

NRG have also recently brought in Ethan "nahtE" Arnold, as Dane Allan "AnJ" Jensen returned back to his home country. NRG will next be in action in the StarSeries i-League Season 4 NA Qualifier, before starting the next ESL Pro League season.

NRG's roster currently consists of:

•  Jacob "FugLy" Medina
•  Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte
•  Damian "daps" Steele
•  Cvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov
• Ethan "nahtE" Arnold

4.  Misfits - 530 points (-166) / HLTV #15

Misfits take a drop in points and position in our power rankings after a Major Qualifier appearance that raised little eyebrows which was followed by their roster making moves after their contracts came to an end, with Hunter "SicK" Mims near-immediate move to Rogue.

With the team's position in the ESL Pro League still uncertain, nor any signs of a new organization swooping in soon, the next stop for the Misfits is still under question.

Misfits' roster currently consists of:

•  Sean "seang@res" Gares
•  Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan
•  François "AmaNEk" Delaunay
•  David "devoduvek" Dobrosavljevic

5.  compLexity - 383 points (+28) / HLTV #45

compLexity recieved another bump in points in January, albeit a small one. With additions of Pujan "FNS" Mehta as IGL and Ronald "Rambo" Kim as coach, the panel seem to believe the team are set to improve on their recent form. This was seen near-immediately, as the squad finished second in the first IEM Katowice Open Qualifier, before winning the second. Their road to Poland was ended in three maps by Liquid, but there have already been strong performances from their new team.

As compLexity moves on with their new system, they are set to be preparing for the next season of the ESL Pro League.

compLexity's roster consists of:

•  Rory "dephh" Jackson
•  Bradley "ANDROID-X23" Fodor
•  Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker
•  Peter "ptr" Gurney 
• Pujan "FNS" Mehta
•  Ronald "Rambo" Kim (Coach)

6.  Splyce - 293 (+74) / HLTV #43

Splyce has started to reset the issues they saw in the previous couple months as they bolted out of the gates in the first IEM Katowice Open Qualifier, not dropping a single map on their way to the closed qualifier. Although their path ended in a best-of-three against Renegades, their new addition Zechrie "XotiC" Elshani showed some qualify performances.

The team's strong performances in these qualifiers, and benefitting off of Unemployed For Christmas' demise, they move up to #6. Their next performances will be in the ESL Pro League next month.

Splyce's roster consists of:

•  Kory "SEMPHIS" Friesen
•  Daniel "roca" Gustaferri
•  David "DAVEY" Stafford
•  Taylor "Drone" Johnson
• Zechrie "XotiC" Elshani
•  Zachary "Eley" Stauffer (Coach)

7.  Rogue - 242 points (+130) / HLTV #57

Rogue started 2018 off strongly, retaining their ESL Pro League spot without too much opposition from GX or Rise Nation, although they did fall against Ghost Gaming. However, their roster issues were finally sorted after the tournament, with Josh "shinobi" Abastado and Collin "wrath" McSweegan heading their own way, being replaced by Ronnie "ryx" Bylicki and Hunter "SicK" Mims, after the latter's contract ran out with Misfits.

Their performances in the IEM Katowice qualifiers weren't too good, but the side will be restarting their season with the StarSeries i-League qualifiers before moving to the ESL Pro League when that begins later this month. They see a rise of two places, as Rise Nation fell to the bottom and Unemployed For Christmas left the rankings.

Rogue's roster consists of:

•  Daniel "vice" Kim
•  Spencer "Hiko" Martin
•  Casper "cadiaN" Møller
• Ronnie "ryx" Bylicki
• Hunter "SicK" Mims
•  Garett "Grt" Bambrough (Coach)

8. Ghost - 183 points (New) / HLTV #35

Ghost returned to the Top 10 rankings after a successful defense of their ESL Pro League position, after two straight games against Rise Nation and Rogue. With their roster still in near-flux, with new additions not yet announced, their position doesn't seem to have been harmed too much as performances with Canadian Yassine "Subroza" Taoufik and Brit Tramaine "stan1ey" Stanley have been strong.

With the team being the first out of the ESL Pro League Relegation tournament, partially saved by Immortals' forfeit of all their previous matches, they're set to return later this month in the next ESL Pro League season.

Ghost's roster currently consists of:

•  Sebastian "seb" Bucki
•  Connor "CONNOR93" Glover
•  Matthew "Wardell" Bowman
• Michael "MAiNLiNE" Jaber (Coach)

9. SoaR - 183 points (+82) / HLTV #52

SoaR kept up their strong performances from 2017, taking that form into the NA MDL finals, where they secured a marvellous upset win over rivals Rise Nation, qualifying them to the ESL Pro League. Although they couldn't make it out of groups at the Global Challenge, finishing 5th-6th, their performances were noticed by the panel who gave them a noticeable boost, and they go ahead of Rise.

With SoaR set to compete in the ESL Pro League, they'll be without their wonderkid Ryan "Snakes" Amann who has fallen afoul of the league's age limit. Due to MDL adding it to their requirements, he'll now be competing in ESEA Main with FeelsUnderAgeMan.

SoaR's roster consists of:

• Matthew "mCe" Elmore
• Jack "xCeeD" Holiman
• Logan "Voltage" Long
• Michael "Grim" Wince

10.  Rise Nation - 83 points (-131) / HLTV #48

Rise's eventful end to 2017 came to a crashing halt in 2018. Their failure to qualify for ESL Pro League through either winning MDL or through the Relegation tournament was a real blow to the squad. Following that up with a last place finish at the Global Challenge didn't help either, for which the panel showed with such a drastic points difference.

Not long after these defeats Rise went on to make a number of changes, drafting in Skyler "Relyks" Weaver and Michael "dapr" Gulino, albeit uncontracted. This was after Jonathan "Jonji" Carey and Andy "vSa" Xu were sent to the bench, with the former joining RONIN not too long afterwards. They're currently back in action for Season 27 of ESEA MDL, with an appearance in the StarSeries i-League qualifier shortly beginning.

Rise Nation's roster consists of:

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

Falling out of the top 10 was Unemployed For Christmas, after their roster finally collapsed as the members went to other teams. No other team garnered over 30 ranking points from our panel, but the MDL quintet of GX, RONIN, Ghost Academy and Mythic all picked up points.

The events that will impact February's rankings will be games in the Season Seven of the ESL Pro League, ESEA MDL Season 27, Legend's Cup, StarSeries i-League Season 4 Qualifiers and IEM Katowice 2018.