over.gg World Rankings: 3rd March - 6th June, 2017

The task of ranking the top teams across worldwide competition is a tough and subjective one, especially in a relatively young esport, but is imperative in understanding the flow of the scene. Storylines crafted by wins and losses can often get lost in a sea of results, and a history of rankings helps map out teams’ journeys through peaks and troughs.

This series of our rankings uses data from March to the present, running from the end of APEX Season 2 groups to just after TaKeOver and APEX Season 3 groups. This time period not only allows for a solid assessment of the Koreans but also includes a large number of online tournaments from the West and the biggest Western LAN in many months.

Four Korean teams appear to dominate the globe, though one has had blood drawn twice in groups. The second tier of Korean talent appears to have dropped off somewhat though, with top teams from Europe and North America looking roughly on par. There is still large work to be done in the West, and Rogue and EnVy continue to lead the way, but the Korean scene as a whole is not far ahead.

The format of our rankings looks back at the evidence to analyse tournament finishes, teams beaten, and the context of the matches. There is a large emphasis on recent games and teams beaten, while offline matches and larger tournaments carry more weight - though in regions where those opportunities don’t exist, reasonable comparisons must be made.

This is not a ranking of the best teams over the last two months, nor is it a list of those on a current hot streak. The over.gg World Rankings aims to use the evidence from the last two months to determine who can reliably be called the current best teams in the world.

1st: Lunatic-Hai [-]

EscA, Miro, Ryujehong, Tobi, Zunba, WhoRU, Gido (not pictured). Image credit: OGN

3-0 in APEX Season 3

1st APEX Season 2

Overall record: 7W - 1L (Map record: 24W - 11L)

The top team in both Korea and the world, in pole position since March, continues their reign. Lunatic-Hai blitzed Rogue to complete their second “group of death” win in two consecutive seasons. With EscA stepping up, an almost unassailable backline, and the best Genji in the world, Lunatic-Hai will take some toppling.

The playoff bracket last season saw them fall to RunAway before making a return late in the Grand Finals. The plucky pink-sweatered upstarts have not made playoffs this season, but four other teams exist with potential for upsets. It’s a minefield in APEX Season 3 - and an early game against Kongdoo Panthera doesn’t help - but Lunatic-Hai have proven their ability to stay on top of Korea.

Lunatic-Hai have also solved their most obvious weakness - their predictability. With an ability to bring in Gido, flex WhoRU onto Tracer, run triple support, and throw in a variety of strategic tweaks, it is now far more difficult to prepare against them. Any team aiming to best them must be playing incredible Overwatch on an individual and team level to win.

If Lunatic-Hai win APEX Season 3, they will have truly begun an era in Overwatch. Long live the kings of dive.

2nd: Luxury Watch Blue [-]

Saebyeolbe, Luna, janus, MekO, Pine, Gambler, Fl0w3r, Sylph. Image credit: OGN

3-0 in APEX Season 3

3rd APEX Season 2

Overall record: 6W - 2L (Map record: 22W - 12L)

Luxury Watch Blue have bolstered their roster this season with Pine, and their easy group gave him a steady entrance into elite play. They remain the most flexible top Korean team with a variety of strengths, pioneering Widowmaker-centric compositions on Gibraltar and Route 66 and regularly running triple support.

They can field Pharah/Mercy compositions, dive, triple support, tanks, and more in their matches. LW Blue strategically have a good idea of when to bring these out and are well-practised with high individual skill on the roster; they have not yet fallen into the trap of “versatility to a fault”.

Though they play dive at a high level, LW Blue are less prone to throwing their defenses and powering through attacks. Their calm, structured approach to fights gives them the advantage over many opponents but has yet to prevail over other truly incredible dive teams.

When the pressure is on and it’s time for LW Blue to deliver, what will they give?

3rd: Afreeca Freecs Blue [+4]

Lucid, iDK, DongHyuN, Mano, ArHaN, recry. Image credit: OGN

3-0 in APEX Season 3

7th/8th APEX Season 2

Overall record: 3W - 2L (Map record: 12W - 6L)

Afreeca Freecs Blue have gained a poor reputation since the playoffs of APEX Season 1, and perhaps rightfully so. Their team looked poorly designed around a carry Genji and was squandering recry’s talents, failing to look competitive in APEX S1 finals and APEX S2.

This season they are no joke. Underestimate AF.Blue at your peril. Lord ArHaN is back for his throne.

This time AF.Blue have more than the desire to give him resources: they have the talent around him and both a system and meta that fits. Mano’s move to Winston has been an inspired one, as he has proven an incredible natural aptitude for the hero and great synergy with Lucid and the divers. This core of their dive has been an enormous upgrade for the team and DongHyuN backs them up on D.Va.

recry continues to thrive in his new role of primary hitscan DPS. AF.Blue play around him on Soldier: 76, an odd choice compositionally that fits his strengths well. ArHaN rotates around Tracer and Genji, giving recry space to get value out of Soldier: 76 when many teams would falter.

AF.Blue made mincemeat of their group, not losing a single map. Their opposition in RunAway and Uncia had been hamstrung by roster cuts but were completely dismissed alongside X6 as AF.Blue set their sights firmly on another finals appearance.

4th: Kongdoo Panthera [-]

Luffy, Birdring, Rascal, Wakawaka, Fissure, Void. Image credit: OGN

1-2 in APEX Season 3

5th APEX Season 2

Overall record: 2W - 4L (Map record: 11W - 15L)

Panthera have been an odd team since getting their phenomenal DPS pairing together. On attack the team looks well-coordinated and brutal. Their savage DPS duo pairs with Fissure, who has looked better the more the season goes on, to tear teams apart. On defense however they are intensely frustrating to watch with their passive positioning and frequently fall to pieces.

The addition of birdring came at the expense of putting wakawaka in the backline on Lucio; he has looked shaky in many of their games, dropping questionable Sound Barriers that miss a key player and lose two pushes, then mis-positioning in another fight to open the door. When Panthera play high-tempo this is not as exploitable.

When they sit on defense and invite the attackers in without any engagement or pressure - or even run Torbjorn and Orisa strategies - they look far weaker. It’s not that the strategies are always badly thought-out, but they invite aggression from dive teams and Panthera play far worse on the back foot.

After two close games against Lunatic-Hai and Rogue, one loss and one win, Kongdoo Panthera played Mighty AOD to decide their playoff spot. Panthera needed only a single map win and it came quickly, despite an early loss on Lijiang, but then lost the series 2-3 overall.

Of all the tier-one teams in Korea, Panthera have the largest upset potential if they continue to play their former defensive style into dive teams. Give them an inch on attack, though, and they will rip your head off and mount it on a ceremonial sword.

5th: Rogue [-]

NiCO, KnOxXx, winz, aKm, uNKOE, SoOn. Image credit: OGN

1st TaKeOver 2

9th/12th in APEX Season 3

1st Rivalcade Rumble

1st Overwatch Monthly Melee April

1st PIT Championship NA

1st Overwatch Monthly Melee March

Overall record: 35W - 2L (Map record: 83W - 22L)

Rogue maintain their position among the top teams and even above EnVyUs despite going out in groups. It must be said that Group A was the most ridiculous seeding we’ve ever seen in APEX and it played a big part in their early exit; any other group would have seen them progress.

Rogue also played in TaKeOver 2 during this time, securing a win at the largest Western LAN in half a year whilst only dropping three maps. They are clearly in a league of their own in the West, with the exception of EnVyus, and even looked better when performing on home soil. The level of coordination and precision demonstrated at TaKeOver was breathtaking.

Rogue proved in their games against Panthera and to a lesser degree against Lunatic-Hai that they are on the same rough level as the top Koreans, but were found lacking on the day and in APEX overall. There can be no disagreement that the four Korean teams above them are the best in the world, or that Rogue simply got unlucky, but it is equally false to claim they are nowhere near the Korean elite.

Rogue missed out on any chance to develop over the course of APEX and attempt to peak in the playoffs due to their group draw and performance. Having spoken to the players, however, it seems they were likely to fall ever downward away from home.

Now that they are home from Korea, who can stop them? More importantly, will anyone challenge them and drive them onwards?

6th: EnVyUs [+2]

cocco, chipshajen, Lui & EFFECT (INTERNETHULK pictured), Taimou, HarryHook, Mickie. Image credit: OGN

3-0 in APEX Season 3

2nd Rivalcade Rumble

7th/8th APEX Season 2

Overall record: 9W - 4L (Map record: 25W - 15L)

The one team which definitely could give Rogue a run for their money in the West, and potentially beat them, is EnVyUs. Yes, they were underperforming hugely in APEX Season 2. Yes, EnVy lost twice to Rogue in series online in North America.

But that was before EFFECT. The addition of the Korean Tracer superstar to their team has opened up EnVy to focus on the teamwork and strategy that made them kings of Overwatch in earlier times. His play, right from the first series, accelerated EnVyUs to become a team that has real power to upset the Korean elite.

It speaks volumes about EnVyUs’ understanding of the game and incredible system that the addition of a single player and a small role switch can unlock such massive results every time. EnVyUs came top of their group, overcoming Meta Athena in a close game as well as BK Stars and RG Wings. They go into playoffs with the first choice of opponent and a strong chance of making it through to the second stage.

EnVyUs have continued to improve the more matches they play in Korea. They’ve had time to work on Sombra compositions and set plays, try out single support with Harry back on Soldier: 76, strengthen both their backline and Mickie on D.Va - this is a team ready to crack some skulls.

7th: Meta Athena [-1]

NUS, Sayaplayer, ChangSik, Kris, Libero, Hoon, Alpha. Image credit: OGN

2-1 in APEX Season 3

4th/8th Overwatch Monthly Melee April

4th APEX Season 2

Overall record: 5W - 6L (Map record: 20W - 17L)

Meta Athena started hot against EnVyUs but fell to the reverse sweep and had to be content with second in their group. They are a strong team but appear to be struggling in this dive-centric meta, and don’t belong in the top tier of Korean teams currently.

Meta Athena appeared most comfortable when playing into tank defenses that they knew were static and could be exploited by clever strategy or positioning. Instead, opponents now initiate onto Athena and amp up the tempo, while Meta Athena struggle to get that much cohesion in their aggressive dive.

Despite all their flaws, Meta Athena still had a powerful beginning to the series against EnVy and beat the other two teams in the group easily. With some fine-tuning or new strategies to lean on, Meta Athena have a chance of upsetting EnVy again in groups.

8th: eUnited [NEW]

Morte, Boombox, Kruise, sharyk, vallutaja, uNFixed. Image credit: TaKeTV

2nd TaKeOver 2

2nd PIT Championship EU

Overall record: 11W - 6L (32W - 18L)

eUnited are the best that domestic Europe has to offer, and they proved that at TaKeOver 2. Despite losing out in the Championship PIT to Movistar Riders, eUnited turned up on LAN and wrecked the competition, styling on tanky or D.Va teams to make the finals.

Only Rogue took maps from them over TaKeOver 2, but they were beaten across three series by the French team; though the final felt far closer than either of the previous two, it’s clear that a substantial gap exists between Rogue and the rest of Europe.

eUnited are a team which could perform on the world stage but still has a lot of development to do to reach the heights of Rogue’s triple DPS or the Korean D.Va dive. The European Zenyatta and Tracer play has been excellent, as well as teams demonstrating a great understanding of the meta, but their flex and Genji play has been substantially lacking compared to the top.at APEX.

eUnited are a mini-Rogue in that they lack flexibility and have aimed for elite execution. The team sticks relatively rigidly to triple DPS, rarely moving to D.Va and almost never using non-dive compositions. Improving the D.Va in uNFixed and Kruise’s pools would be a strong start for this team to continue growing, as well as working on maintaining consistency.

9th: Selfless [-]

Michael3D, Sinatraa, dhaK, LegitRC (coach), emongg, Kresnik, (Manager), dafran. Image credit: Kresnik

5th/8th Contenders Season Zero NA Qualifier

1st Rivalcade Memorial Day Rumble

2nd Overwatch Monthly Melee May

3rd Rivalcade Rumble

2nd Overwatch Monthly Melee April

3rd PIT Championship

2nd Overwatch Monthly Melee March

1st PIT Championship NA Qualifier

Overall record: 44W - 12L (Map record: 102W - 39L)

Selfless are now the Great White shark in North America and of particular danger to all divers, but failed to make full use of Rogue’s absence from the NA waters. Their trophy cabinet remains sparse, with only a single gold from the Rivalcade Memorial Day Rumble gathered in the last three months.

Overall, however, Selfless has been the most consistent and high-performing team in North America. Small adaptations to their overall style, potentially fuelled by a frustration with Pharah/Mercy comps dominating the NA meta, have seen them keep abreast of most teams and outpace the newcomers.

Selfless play a style that is still unique in Overwatch, powered by high levels of individual skill on Dafran and Sinatraa with Emongg as a huge threat to diving teams. They have yet to show their ability to perform at a LAN, but it’s not like they’re drowning in invites either. There have simply been no opportunities for Selfless to prove themselves on the big stage.

Contenders will be a great test of their strength and consistency without any surprise factor. If they can make it through to Season One, the promised land of LAN awaits them. Hopefully this team gets a shot before then.

10th: Movistar Riders [-]

Logix, Kolsti, neptuNo, CWoosH, Finnsi, Dante. Image credit: Movistar Riders.

4th TaKeOver 2

1st TaKeOver 2 Qualifier #2

2-0 in GAME Stadium

3rd/4th TaKeOver 2 Qualifier #1

1st HND Invitational

1st PIT Championship EU

2nd Go4Overwatch EU Monthly Final February

1st Go4Overwatch EU Weekly #41

5th/8th StriveWire Monthly Brawl March

Overall record: 35W - 7L - 1D (Map record: 80W - 27L)

Our final team in the World Rankings top ten for this month is Movistar Riders, though they were very close to Cloud9 and some struggling Korean teams. Movistar Riders had the best resume coming into TaKeOver but failed to translate that somewhat into results at LAN; the team finished fourth, behind Cloud9, eUnited, and Rogue.

Their online performance was very strong prior to the tournament, and during the group stage Movistar Riders took first seed after trading maps 2-2 with Cloud9. They couldn’t stand up to the heat of eUnited on LAN however and fell eventually to C9 in an incredibly close 2-3 game.

Movistar Riders had previously prioritised triple DPS almost exclusively online but showed strong, honed Sombra strategies along with some D.Va play to put their opponents on the back foot. Movistar Riders has potential, talent, and strong results.

With the move back to online play for Contenders, Logix and his team can come out in full force while using the time to craft further improvements for the side.

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Cloud9 are, of course, our special mention this month with their excellent showing at TaKeOver 2. The team looks to have improved largely from their online performances since adding Kaiser and the Xepher D.Va gives them a big advantage over many teams in the West who struggle to do the same. If they can carry that performance over to North America they should be a powerhouse team looking to get on top.

They missed out marginally due to only having a single tournament result with the new roster and inconsistency with their prior players. Contenders is a great chance for them to prove it was no fluke.

Another edition of the over.gg World Rankings will be posted after APEX Season 3 and Contenders.

During this period the new results were from:

APEX Season 3

Overwatch Monthly Melee May

Overwatch Contenders Season Zero North American Qualifiers

TaKeOver 2

GAME Stadium

Rivalcade Memorial Day Rumble

Special thanks to urns for creating our series banner!