April signifies the dawn of the post-PGL Copenhagen Major era. This period typically sees a lot of roster movements, with teams either failing to meet expectations at the Major, missing it altogether, or waiting for market shifts to make their moves.
In that regard, this year’s April was rather quiet. Speculations of major transfers in the community seemed to have subsided, with many teams seemingly holding off until the summer break from June 17 to July 14 to make their moves.
In the meantime, the IEM Chengdu and EPL S19 took up most of the month’s schedule. The latter started just one week after the Major concluded on April 14 and was swiftly followed by the EPL, which locked its participant list hastily on April 23.
Some teams still managed to seize fleeting opportunities for roster changes, like Virtus.pro signing Denis Sharipov | electroNic and FURIA parting ways with Andrei Piovezan | arT. However, the majority of top-tier rosters remained unchanged.
There were also several online events in April, including the Skyesports Masters and numerous online qualifiers that determined entries for future events like the Esports World Cup, BB Villa Cup, and ECL Jönköping.
For new readers, here’s a brief rundown of the HLTV world ranking system: It is based on a team’s results over the past year (with monthly point decay), recent two-month performance, and their showings in events within the last three months.
To maintain points, a team needs to retain at least three core players. Additionally, due to the pandemic, the weightage of online events under the “Achievements” and “Recent Events” categories has increased.
frozen’s debut title lifts FaZe to the top
After acquiring David Čerňanský | frozen, FaZe reached four consecutive grand finals. They finally clinched a trophy in Chengdu, bouncing back impressively from their Major final loss in Copenhagen.
In Group B, FaZe initially lost to Astralis, forcing them to overcome Cloud9 and FlyQuest to advance to the playoffs. Nonetheless, classic FaZe style kicked in during the elimination stages, as they dominated when it mattered.
After a thrilling win against Liquid, FaZe had a revenge match against Astralis in the semis. Helvijs Saukants | broky led his team into the final, where he continued his outstanding form against MOUZ in a best-of-three series. Ultimately, FaZe triumphed.
Now regular finalists across CSGO and its new version, FaZe solidified their number one world ranking. With Natus Vincere and Spirit not participating in IEM Chengdu and Spirit also absent from EPL S19, FaZe capitalized on these opportunities, securing full points in all categories, outscoring NaVi by 285 points.
Astralis returns to the Top 10
Following the initial struggles with Martin Lund | stavn and Jakob Nygaard | jabbi, and ultimately missing the Copenhagen Major, Astralis suffered significant losses in the rankings over the past few months.
After parting ways with Benjamin Bremer | blameF, Astralis dropped out of the top 10 and hit their historical lowest position of 26th in December. With Alexander Bro | br0 completing the roster, the Danish team got a chance to redeem themselves at IEM Chengdu.
In China, Astralis showcased remarkable form, defeating Steel Helmet, FaZe, and Virtus.pro en route to the semifinals. However, they couldn’t replicate their victory against FaZe in the semis, ending their run in fourth place.
In Malta, Astralis exacted revenge, sweeping Eternal Fire, FaZe, and 3DMAX to top their group. With a 17-place jump in the rankings from March, Astralis advanced to the quarterfinals of EPL S19. A further progression would likely push them up even more.
MIBR and four EPL teams surge in rankings
Despite missing the Major, MIBR dominated most of their time in South American events throughout March and April. Despite losing to eventual GET Rio champions paiN, they claimed victory over Apeks and Aurora at ECL Melbourne, earning them a return to the Top 20.
Liquid and FlyQuest also achieved this feat, reaching the playoffs at IEM Chengdu and EPL, respectively. 3DMAX entered the Top 30 thanks to their EPL performance. M80, influenced by their qualification for EWC and their upset over G2 in Malta, climbed 14 spots compared to the previous month.
Cloud9 falls off the rankings without core players
Cloud9, now with only two players, is currently unranked. The team is still working through a challenging rebuild around Sergey Rykhtorov | Ax1Le and Kirill Mikhailov | Boombl4.