WW is in the top 50, and FaZe is back in the race for the Major—an analysis of the August VRS update by innersh1ne
The August VRS update brought a lot of interesting developments—9z is slowly climbing toward the world No. 1 spot, Team Vitality has dropped out of the top three, and FaZe Clan has returned to the top 20. With less and less time left until the invites for the PGL Singapore Major 2026 are announced, the race is getting fiercer. Let’s take a look at the standings for the coming month.
Read also: How did 100 Thieves knock Team Falcons out of BLAST Bounty Summer 2026? Analysis by innersh1ne
Top 10: Vitality Out of the Top 5
Valve’s top ten teams in the world as of August 2026:
- 1. Team Spirit,
- 2. Team Falcons,
- 3. MOUZ,
- 4. 9z,
- 5. Team Vitality,
- 6. NAVI,
- 7. Legacy,
- 8. FURIA,
- 9. BetBoom,
- 10. Aurora.
Movements within the top 10 don’t mean much at this point—all teams in the top ten are almost guaranteed a spot at the Major in Singapore, and the point gap is too wide to worry about invites to Tier 1 events. However, there are some interesting developments.
- 9z has never been as high in the rankings as it is now. The Argentine organization has a fairly modest but standout roster. It’s worth noting the balance between investment and return on investment. Thanks to its current standing, 9z will receive invites to all events through the end of the season, which means it will secure a solid foundation for next year as well. Now we’re waiting to see how the roster strengthens during the winter off-season.
- Team Vitality has dropped to fifth place—which is concerning, especially given the news that Justinas “jL” Lekavičius will serve as a substitute player in upcoming tournaments. The “Bees” are unlikely to climb the rankings in the foreseeable future, which means they’ll have to prove their championship credentials by the end of the season.
- BetBoom continues to hold its ground in the top 10, even though it hasn’t even started the season yet, if you don’t count its appearance at the XSE Pro League Guangzhou 2026.
Top 30: FaZe Clan’s Rise, HEROIC’s Return
It’s worth noting that the landscape will change significantly in a week’s time, as HLTV will be providing full coverage of the open LAN qualifiers for the Esports World Cup 2026. Teams that perform well there will see a significant boost in the rankings. The qualifiers’ prize pool is $100,000, so this is effectively a Tier 1.5 LAN event.
- 11. G2,
- 12. PARIVISION,
- 13. FaZe Clan,
- 14. FUT Esports,
- 15. The MongolZ,
- 16. MIBR,
- 17. Alliance,
- 18. TYLOO,
- 19. Astralis,
- 20. B8,
- 21. BIG,
- 22. GamerLegion,
- 23. magic,
- 24. Luminosity,
- 25. Inner Circle,
- 26. paiN,
- 27. Ninjas in Pyjamas,
- 28. DENDELE,
- 29. Lynn Vision,
- 30. HEROIC.
What’s noteworthy about the top 30 teams?
- FaZe Clan’s surge into the top 15 and into the invitation zone for major tournaments. Thanks to its recent results, the European team has climbed ten spots and now ranks thirteenth.
- G2 has dropped out of the top 10—August will be a decisive month in terms of the direction the revamped “Samurai” roster, featuring Artem “r1nkle” Moroz, takes.
- magic has dropped out of the top 20 and is slipping further away from invitations to the world’s strongest tournaments. More importantly, the team needs to maintain its current position to qualify for a slot at the PGL Singapore Major 2026.
- HEROIC climbed eight spots and returned to the top 30—step by step, the roster is climbing its way up.
- The MongolZ remains in the top 15, but the question is how competitive the Mongolians’ new roster will be over the long haul.
Top 50: Welcome, WW
- 31. 3DMAX,
- 32. Team Liquid,
- 33. EYEBALLERS,
- 34. Nemesis,
- 35. HOTU,
- 36. M80,
- 37. Virtus.pro,
- 38. Wildcard,
- 39. K27,
- 40. 100 Thieves,
- 41. FlyQuest,
- 42. Echo,
- 43. FOKUS,
- 44. Bulgaria,
- 45. Gentle Mates,
- 46. INFINITE,
- 47. Nuclear TigeRES,
- 48. TDK,
- 49. NRG,
- 50. WW.
What’s happening on the Tier 2 scene?
- Wildcard and M80 have dropped in the rankings—this is a wake-up call, as South American teams are also competing for a spot in the PGL Singapore Major 2026. With the rise of Legacy, DENDELE, and 9z, North America may lose its “comfortable” slots at the Major—competition is heating up.
- The era of Gentle Mates has finally come to an end—the team has used up its last LAN tournament invites, and its fate now lies in the classic Tier 2 grind through the CCT, open-registration LAN events, and closed qualifiers.
- After winning the CIS LAN Championship #6, WW is reaching new heights and now ranks 50th on the leaderboard. Despite this, the team’s status remains the same—qualifiers and online tournaments, unless the guys decide they need to make it to a Major. Individual and team skill might be enough, but what about motivation?
- Nuclear TigeRES failed to succeed at BLAST Bounty Summer 2026 and, combined with their failure in the qualifiers for StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026, dropped fifteen spots.
- Interestingly, the Bulgarian national team can be found in 44th place, although it’s actually Acend. This happened because the core of the roster competed in the qualifiers for the Esports Nations Cup 2026 and played five matches—the VRS system counted this as a team update.
- Virtus.pro climbed eleven spots and is closing in on the top 30—for the first time in a long while, the “Bears” roster looks competitive.
- Meanwhile, 3DMAX is stuck around the top 30, and there’s no sign of improvement in their gameplay. What will the French team do next—reshuffle the roster or switch to an international lineup?
- TDK has secured a sponsorship deal with 1win—now the guys have backing, which means grinding their way to the Major will be easier.
Tier 3 News
Let’s take a look beyond the top 50:
- fnatic is slowly climbing toward the top 50—over the past month, it has moved up nine spots and is now ranked 61st. Given their successful performance at Stake Pulse Beat I, where fnatic reached the semifinals, if the Ukrainian roster doesn’t falter in August, we expect a breakthrough.
- BC.Game is ranked 81st following its victory at the small Finnish tournament Elisa Esports BreakOut Series 1. Ahead lies the open LAN qualifier for EWC 2026 for Alexander “s1mple” Kostylev’s team.
- The top academy team in the August edition of VRS is CYBERSHOKE Prospects, ranked 78th.
- OG is struggling to break out of the bottom tier and sits in 85th place.
- The first women’s team on the leaderboard is MIBR fe, ranked 176th. This may still be enough to secure invites to certain South American qualifiers.
