CS:GO team ranking: HLTV ranking system against ESL and Valve
Elen StelmakhIn the current realities, there are separate ranking systems for professional CS:GO teams, with the help of which many tournament operators issue invitations to their championships. Moreover, the rating reflects the current form of the participants and serves as a kind of support for determining the coefficients.
In other words, ratings allow you to systematize the position of teams on the stage, forming a single structure. With the help of ratings, the seeding of teams in some tournaments is also determined, while reaching the first line is the No. 1 goal for many representatives of the scene.
At the moment, two rating systems are successfully functioning, which are focused on the performance of participants. These systems are team ratings from HLTV and ESL. With their help, the results of the teams are evaluated, and also, in the case of the ranking system from ESL, invitations to the championships are issued.
In addition, a separate rating system from Valve has recently appeared, the main task of which is to award the best teams with direct tickets to the closed qualifiers for the RMR tournament.
Thus, given the number of existing systems, it is worth talking about each separately, as well as highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each of them.
World ranking of the best teams from HLTV
The weekly rating from the HLTV portal allows you to evaluate the status of teams based on a number of parameters that directly affect the final ranking:
- The last results of the teams for two months.
- Performance statistics at the last 10 LAN events.
- Team changes. To save points, the team must keep its core in the amount of 3 people.
- The number of tournaments won in the last year.
The HLTV World Rankings ranks the best teams in the competitive scene. The rankings are updated weekly and teams move up or down based on their latest performance over the past two months.
The system is based on the team's achievements over the past year (taking into account the decrease in points as they move further), the last form in two months and success in the last ten LAN tournaments.
A notable disadvantage of the rankings is a strong dependence on long-term factors, such as performance in the last ten LAN CSGO tournaments and achievements over the past year.
A very recent example of HLTV's team ranking bias is the position of the Spanish team Movistar Riders. Having shown an excellent game at IEM Cologne 2022, the team soared in the rankings and climbed to the fifth position by September. However, by that time the organization had made changes in the composition, which led to a noticeable decline in performance. Against this background, Movistar Riders ceased to be a contender for great success, but over the next months the team remained in the TOP-30, losing all the matches in a row along the way. And only in February, six months after the success in Cologne, the Spanish team left the top thirty, although objectively it was noticeably weaker than many representatives of the scene.
However, the position in the rankings is also affected by recent results, which is why many teams have a good chance of moving up in a matter of matches. Perhaps here we are talking about the other side of the experience of Movistar Riders, which after one championship was able to climb to fifth place. Nevertheless, if after taking off the team manages to stay in place and build on its success, in this case the rating from HLTV fully justifies itself.
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Team rating from ESL
In contrast to the ranking system from HLTV, there is a rating of teams from the tournament operator ESL. The obvious advantage of this system is the direct correlation of the results of the teams and their further invitation to the championships sanctioned by the ESL.
The main purpose of this ranking is to measure the strength of professional teams. At the same time, ESL offers a completely reasonable formula for evaluating teams and their subsequent ranking:
- Accounting for absolutely all championships following the rules established in accordance with the main agreed requirements of competitive CS:GO.
- Each tournament is evaluated in two criteria: Size (XXL - 22+ teams; XL - 14+ teams; L - 10+ teams; M - 6+ teams; S - 4+ teams); Level (AAA, AA, A, B, C, D).
The size determines how many points will be played in the tournament, and their distribution depending on the final place. The level acts as a multiplier, where only the AAA tournaments give a full set of points, and all other categories give much less points.
ESL also determines 20% of the team's points for each individual player, which promises a decrease in points after each change in the composition. Moreover, over time, points become less and less. During the first six weeks after the championship, points retain 100% of their value. After that, they lose 5% of their value each week until they reach 0% after 25 weeks. This means that the rating should be considered as an indication of six months of form.
The main drawback of the ESL rating is that it is not mandatory on the scale of the entire competitive scene. While HLTV's ranking system is quoted by everyone, ESL uses its system exclusively to allocate slots to its championships.
Team rating from Valve
One of the latest additions in the context of measuring team performance is Valve's Team Rankings. In response to the latest changes in the criteria for selecting participants for majors, the developers decided to present their system. The main purpose of the new rating is to select teams for the closed qualifiers for the RMR tournament. Thus, Valve has created a separate ranking system that operates in a closed space and has only one goal.
The new rating functions according to some rules:
- Team composition (changes and other permutations)
- Opponents beaten (including the number of prize money earned and teams that were beaten by opponents)
- Results (number of prize money earned and level of opponents defeated)
In addition, Valve updates its rating every two weeks until the start of the RMR cycle - open regional qualifiers.
Since the system appeared quite recently, changes will surely follow in the future. In addition, Valve has not identified specific formulas that it adheres to when awarding points.
However, the rating already boasts strong volatility today based on recent results. For example, during January-February, the teams Heroic and G2 Esports fought steadily for the first place, which replaced each other depending on the number of victories.
Thus, none of the proposed ranking systems can be considered the ultimate truth. Each rating has its own advantages and disadvantages, and also pursues separate goals. Today, however, the HLTV system is of particular importance for the competitive scene, which for many years has been the main unit of measure for the form of teams from around the world.
Elen Stelmakh is a creative individual dedicated to advancing gaming culture through articles and visual design. As a full-time EGamersWorld author and designer for a gaming website, Elen not only creates content but also infuses it with energy and creativity.