Notable Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community members have voiced their disappointment with the HLTV ranking system after Cloud9 climb 281 places following BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles.
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The newest iteration of Cloud9 shot up to rank 20 in the world after BLAST Pro Series LA. The American squad rose an astounding 281 places after winning only one match at the event, a best-of-one against rank six FaZe clan.
The controversy began to form around the subject soon after the rankings were first revealed. The main concern seemed to be that many other teams are working hard and consistently playing at mid-tier events, while Cloud9 have only played one event, one that they were invited to.
Esports journalist Kevin Hitt was one of the first to comment, stating: “+281 spots for doing what? For winning one map and beating FaZe. Only to turn around and get beat by Renegades?”
“Absolute joke that because they get invited to Blast events they get free rankings points. Unbelievable disservice to anybody involved in #CSGO.
“Maps – Won: 1 Tied: 2 Loss: 4 sounds like a great argument for jumping 281 spots.” He continued. Teams like GamerLegion, Spirit, and BIG who have been playing at numerous events over the last few months now sit below Cloud9.
Absolute joke that because they get invited to Blast events they get free rankings points. Unbelievable disservice to anybody involved in #CSGO.
Maps – Won: 1 Tied: 2 Loss: 4 sounds like a great argument for jumping 281 spots.
— Kevin Hitt (@Kevin_Hitt) July 15, 2019
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Popular Counter-Strike writer neL later joined in on the discussion with a similar opinion. “Truth. C9 go ahead of teams working their asses off for months just because they have invites. And they only won 1 game. No merit.” He said.
Truth. C9 go ahead of teams working their asses off for months just because they have invites. And they only won 1 game. No merit.
Nothing against C9 but it sucks for those who struggle and have to fight in every single qualifiers. https://t.co/Tj2wIcocLI
— neL (@neLendirekt) July 16, 2019
Daniel ‘fRoD’ Montaner, a legendary American Counter-Strike player, also chimed in on the issue, claiming that Cloud9’s new rank is a “complete joke” and a “Big slap in the face to those working hard”
Yup, complete fkn joke! Blast should be to blame too for not revoking invite. I wish we got handed a boost like that when all you gotta do is win one map. Then again I’d rather earn it than be handed it. Big slap in the face to those working hard.
— Danny Montaner (@OfficialfRoD) July 16, 2019
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OpTic Gaming coach Casper ‘ruggah’ Due weighed in on the matter, suggesting that invite only tournaments with best-of-one formats, like the BLAST Pro Series, should not be awarded as many ranking points as the events that many fans would see as more ‘prestigious’.
“Still don’t think the invite only tournaments such as BLAST should give that much points,” said the Dane. “C9 basically earned a spot in top20 by one win and two draws in a bo1 format. If you get invited enough times there will be a good run every now and then – to keep an inflated invite rank.”
Still don’t think the invite only tournaments such as BLAST should give that much points. C9 basicly earned a spot in top20 by one win and two draws in a bo1 format. If you get invited enough times there will be a good run every now and then – to keep an inflated invite rank
— Casper Due (@casdueh) July 15, 2019
In a separate Twitter post, dating back to Febraury 28, ruggah had commented on the same issue, saying: “I like the format and tournament, but there needs to be some sort of (HLTV) ranking evaluation of the points gathered from these close circuit tournaments (also ICE). Teams live and die of rankings (tournaments, closed qualifiers etc) so it’s only reasonable to open a dialogue.
NRG coach Chet ‘ImAPet’ Singh had responded to that statement, saying: “My issue is a team like C9 last year, who was ranked decently lower compared to their competition, was getting guaranteed opportunities to play top teams and if they win a couple of those games they could rise the rankings. I’m not sure how that is going interpreted in the ranking.”
I like the format and tournament, but there needs to be some sort of (HLTV) ranking evaluation of the points gathered from these close circuit tournaments (also ICE). Teams live and die of rankings (tournaments, closed qualifiers etc) so it’s only reasonable to open a dialogue https://t.co/r3IdJnFp82
— Casper Due (@casdueh) February 27, 2019
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My issue is a team like C9 last year, who was ranked decently lower compared to their competition, was getting guaranteed opportunities to play top teams and if they win a couple of those games they could rise the rankings. I’m not sure how that is going interpreted in the rankin
— Chet Singh (@ImAPet1) February 28, 2019
Overall, the CS:GO community’s reaction to this ranking is rather negative, with various high profile members stating that Cloud9’s rank is undeserved and unfair to other teams who are working incredibly hard to climb up the rankings.
Of course, others have pointed out that the ranking (and any issues with it) should not be a reason for negative opinions about the North American organization or its team – they simply played in the tournament and have no control over how HLTV’s ranking system works.
It should also be noted that many HLTV’s ranking system, while usually referred to as the go-to source of ranks in Counter-Strike, cannot work perfectly in every scenario. Whether the company will be looking to reassess the points awarded to BLAST events, or for one-off wins, is currently uncertain, but it seems unlikely that this one questionable result will have any lasting negative impact on the well established and regarded HLTV rankings.
