Astralis back on top in HLTV ranking update, next EPC prize awarded

HLTV.org's latest CS:GO ranking update sees Astralis once again wearing the #1 crown as Team Liquid slip into second.

Astralis were not the only Scandinavian lineup finding success in the last week. Fnatic have jumped 19 places following their victory at DreamHack Masters Malmö over Team Vitality, while Heroic have gone up 14 places, bouncing back into the top 30 following the departure of in-game leader Benjamin "blameF" Bremer to Complexity Gaming. The addition of Casper "cadiaN" Møller is not yet confirmed, but it is suspected that Heroic will keep him permanently going forward in his first team since a disappointing stint in North earlier this year.

The second and third spots are taken by North America, with ESL One: New York champions Evil Geniuses under Liquid by less than two hundred points, with the remaining top ten slots uncertain in the wake of surprise results and numerous roster changes. AVANGAR remain in the top ten following their breakout performance at the StarLadder Berlin Major, as does Renegades, while Vitality, ENCE and Na'Vi adapt to their new additions and have some downtime to practice before the LAN group stage of ESL Pro League Season 10 begins.

Previously won by Cloud9 in the inaugural month and DreamEaters last month, this month's winner of the EPC Shooting Stars prize is Polish roster Illuminar. With a rise of +25 over the course of September and a LAN win at Games Clash Masters 2019 over Sprout as the main highlight, Illuminar are eligible to attend a seven-day bootcamp in Warsaw at the Kinguin Esports Performance Center (EPC), a premium esports bootcamp facility.

This bootcamp includes accomodation, meals, gym access as well as various figures such as physiotherapists and sports psychologists many organisations lack and is an initiative launched by a partnership between HLTV and Kinguin.