THESPIKE.GG Rankings Update: November 17th, 2020

First Strike rumbles on around the globe, with thrills, spills, controversy and upsets it’s time to look at how the regional rankings look. We have made some changes to our formula, as well as adjusting the range of relevant results, so while there might be some changes, we believe these to be the best rankings we’ve created yet. Here are THESPIKE.GG Regional Rankings for November 17, 2020.

##North America

North America starts with Sentinels, as it has since the start of the rankings companion articles, and that looks likely to continue as Sentinels stay on top in North America. Moving up to second place is Envy, after an impressive win in First Strike North America - NSG Tournament - Closed Qualifier, Envy are quickly becoming the team to watch in North America. TSM and Cloud9 are up next, with next to nothing separating them, these two have flipped back and forth multiple times, and appear to be very evenly matched. Cloud9 Blue are in a strong position to move up the rankings though, as TSM could soon see multiple events fall out of relevance. Gen.G Esports round out the top five, and have looked good in recent weeks, with the addition of Shawn "Shawn" O'Riley looking like a master stroke. Renegades are the biggest movers of the week, with a 3rd-4th in First Strike NA - NSG Closed Qualifier, as well as impressive head-to-head results rocketing them up the rankings. Close on their heels are 100 Thieves, who did one better and took home the silver medal in the NA NSG Closed Qualifier. The only thing keeping 100 Thieves out of the rankings was a lack of data, with that sorted they took their place among North America’s best.

##Europe

Europe finally features some changes after what had been an extremely stable run, at least for the top four. With First Strike Europe: Qualifier #1 Playoff/Play-In in the books G2 Esports stay at the top of the rankings and FunPlus Phoenix right behind them, but beyond that Team Liquid move up to the final podium position, especially after a 2-0 sweep of Orgless and qualification for the First Strike Main Event. The final entry in the top four is a new one, Fnatic who also qualified for the First Strike Main Event, and have been consistently working their way up the rankings. The big news of Ninjas in Pyjamas falling out of the top four comes after a failure to qualify for the First Strike European Finals, even if that defeat came against G2 Esports. Ninjas in Pyjamas didn’t look that good in the playoffs in general, going to overtime and winning 13-11 in their two matches before the defeat to G2 Esports. GIANTX moved up four spots to sixth on the rankings, though they just missed out on First Strike Main Event qualification, impressive wins, such as a 2-0 of Movistar Riders, see Vodafone Giants move up the rankings once more. Team BDS joined the rankings after losing just one match in their last 10, a 2-0 defeat to FunPlus Phoenix, as well as winning NGL Open Cup and coming top 8 in the First Strike Europe: Qualifier #1 Playoff/Play-In. The French team edges just barely ahead of Guild Esports, eXiLe eSports and Prodigy.

##Asia

Asia is our first return to consistency in these rankings, as the big two in Asia continue to dominate the scene - DRX and ZETA DIVISION are the gold standard, and continue to hold the top of the rankings. Third and fourth have flipped, as REJECT moves past T1 Korea by the smallest of margins. The next three stay the same as well, Cloud9 Korea, Araikordai and DetonatioN FocusMe maintain their positions, though the first two are separated by a mere five points. The bottom three of the top 10 are all within 20 points of each other, as SCARZ join the top 10 alongside FAV gaming. All-in-all the Asian rankings have stayed relatively consistent, though the minute margins lend themselves to volatile changes and some relatively large shifts.

Click here to see a full list of all teams in the Regional Rankings!