The esports powerhouses are all neck and neck coming into the regional championships.
Disclaimer: The GosuGamers’ team ranking system is based on the averaged rankings of each team’s active players.
It didn’t take long for Natus Vincere to become the leader of the team GosuRankings. The inaugural trio of Frederik “Hoej” Nielsen, Sebastian “Ostkaka” Engwall and Sebastian “Xixo” Bentert, signed not one week ago, put Na`Vi on the Hearthstone map right away. The yellow jackets are tied with Nihilum for having most representatives at the regional championship with Ostkaka and Hoej punching their tickets for Prague this weekend. Although Xixo won’t be joining his team-mates, the long history of tournament success of the German puts him in the top 15 players in the region.
2. 
Cloud 9
Cloud 9 did not have the success they probably expected coming out of the online HWC qualifiers. Out of all their players, Aleksandr “Kolento” Malsh came the closest to securing a seed for Prague, with Cong “StrifeCro” Shu and Jan “Ekop” Palys facing early eliminations.
Nonetheless, the power duo of Kolento and StrifeCro, despite latter’s somewhat waning form, is keeping Cloud 9 near the top of the rankings. The team also scored a major success in ATLC recently, finishing second in the league behind Nihilum and winning the regular season and seeding round before that.
3. 
Nihilum
ThijsNL • Europe #1 • World #1
Lifecoach • Europe #3 • World #7
Lothar • Europe #34 • World #80
Rdu • Europe #55 • World #113
Speaking of Nihilum, the team looks as strong as ever, now $150,000 richer after their ATLC victory. Thijs “ThijsNL” Molendijk recently hit the #1 worldwide ranking after a 77% win-rate so far into September and is very close to beating the 1,300 GosuRanking checkpoint. Right behind him as #3 in Europe and #7 in the world is Adrian “Lifecoach” Koy, who will also be joining ThijsNL in the European regional championship.
The only thing stopping Nihilum from dominating the ranking is the wonky record of Dima “Rdu” Radu, once a prime candidate for 2014 player of the year, and the semi-inactive schedule of team captain Jakub “Lothar” Szygulski. And the difference between Nihilum and the ranking leaders is indeed diminutive: Mere 3 points separate Na`Vi and Nihilum and this is a battle which will culminate in Prague in October as spots for Blizzcon will be on the line.
