With 2020 truly alive and kicking, it's time to stir the pot of Australasian Counter Strike once again, and what better way than presenting our latest edition of power rankings! Check out the list below to see how we placed the squads that have seen competition so far this year with some added comments from our talented group of commentators.
Our Counter-Strike: Global Offensive panellists are:
1. Renegades
“The boys have certainly hit the ground running in 2020. They can clearly be seen as the top of AU right now with an immaculate performance throughout the Katowice quals, only dropping a single map to Team ‘team’ in the grand finals. Of course it needs to be mentioned that their first international campaign of the year was a great success as well, making the grand final against BIG, and individually Dexter was drawing a few eyes around the world as well. I can't wait to see what they're able to do as Hatz develops more chemistry alongside the team.”
- Geordie “Mac” McAleer
Recent Results:
Active Roster: dexter, sico, INS, malta and Hatz
2. ORDER
“Left in a rough place after losing Hatz to Renegades, ORDER are still looking for their permanent 5th while trialling/filling the spot with Rickeh for the time being. They placed 3rd in the Katowice qualifiers after Team ‘team’ had another great performance but haven't lost in their MDL campaign just yet and are hunting for the Global Challenge yet again. I'm interested to see what happens with the team and who will round out the roster that was starting to show a lot of promise at the end of 2019.”
- Geordie “Mac” McAleer
Recent Results:
Active Roster: emagine, aliStair, Rickeh, USTILO and Valiance
3. team
“Despite disappointing results overseas at the NVIDIA Geforce Cup, Team have continued their solid domestic run and continue to push the issue against the top teams within Australia and New Zealand. Their performance in the IEM Katowice Closed Qualifier where they beat Order in 2 Bo3’s, Avant in one and took a map off Renegades bodes well for Team. Team’s form is looking good at the moment but they will need similar results either on LAN or internationally to leapfrog either of the top two.”
- Jordan “Elfishguy” Mays
Recent Results:
Active Roster: Jinxx, stat, apocdud, SkulL and Mayker
4. Avant
“Avant continues to be a team that is ‘almost’ there. Things were looking good before their roster changes, but the additions of Ofnu and Blitz are yet to yield results that match those of the previous roster. Avant maintain their rank at 4th based on the strength of the roster on paper, and their reasonable performance in the IEM Katowice Qualifiers, but they will need to ensure the new roster meshes well as there are a few teams hot on their heels.”
- Jordan “Elfishguy” Mays
Recent Results:
Active Roster: BL1TZ, HaZR, ap0c, ofnu and strerl1ng
“After some up and down form at the back end of 2019, paradox have started 2020 with a bang, making an extremely deep run through the IEM Katowice quals, and exceptional performances vs some of the region's best. A dip in form in the early rounds of MDL do put a few question marks on if they can find themselves as true contenders for 2020.”
- Matthew “mattyB” Bowerman
Recent Results:
Active Roster: urbz, ino, ekul, 1ukey, bedonka
“A rising contender at the back end of 2019, Airborne now find themselves with a new 5 in chubster, and a new chance at success. A decent showing in the IEM Katowice quals, with a series you could argue they let slip vs Avant, shows they still have that potential, before a couple of lackluster performances to start the new MDL season. Only time will tell if chubster is the solution to Airbornes aspirations of success.”
- Dion “Komodo” Pirotta
Recent Results:
Active Roster: pz, smooth_crim, JD, Chub and swede
7. MadLikeWizards
“MLW started 2020 with some fresh faces and a decent run of form. You could argue the only real contender they have faced to start off MDL is Paradox, they have still been extremely convincing on the scoreboard. This could be the season we finally see Chelleos breakthrough, and he will be the key to MLWs success throughout 2020.”
- Matthew “mattyB” Bowerman
Recent Results:
Active Roster: chelleos, ju1ces, flaw, DannyG and nettik
8. MC Esports
“With the new season of MDL in play, MC have started off nicely against Incept, which is a good start considering they have brought in the experience of ferg to the roster. It will be very interesting to see how MC will fare against the other teams in the MDL league.”
- Dion “Komodo” Pirotta
Recent Results:
Active Roster: Moey, Noisia, Oliff, tot and ferg
9. Skyfire
“The Skyfire team are an interesting little mix of players. We have seen Mizzy before with his short run in the old Paradox lineup with Keeyto, Llamas, Noobster, Chub, but for the eyes of the rest of the scene, the names of these boys may not be known. I've seen most of these guys play at local events like LANSlide, and if they can replicate their LAN performances in their online matches then I feel these guys can consistently be in our Top 10 Rankings.”
- Dion “Komodo” Pirotta
Recent Results:
Active Roster: affiNity, LikiAU, lato, Mizzy and Gumpton
10. Trident Esports
“I don't know where to put my finger for Trident to be honest. Very sharp players, who were able to get the better of Team 'team' in a best of 1 in MDL S33. It should be noted that they also lost to lower ranked teams than Team 'team'.
Although, I feel that Trident are a team that are yet to fully showcase what they are capable of, if they start to gain a little more consistency in their games I feel their confidence will propel them to greater things.”
- Dion “Komodo” Pirotta
Recent Results:
Active Roster: JP, MDK, nope, QuasarGT and Versa
Note: due to the incomplete rosters of The Chiefs and Ground Zero, they have been removed from this instalment.
Don’t agree with our power rankings? Let us know where you would place the teams.
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