Evil Geniuses jumps up Dota 2 team rankings, OG hangs on

The 2021 Dota Pro Circuit winter season is largely finished, with every region except for China now in a holding pattern until the ONE Esports Singapore Major. That makes this a good time to check in on how teams currently rank on a global scale.

A combination of roster stability over the last 18 months and a lower volume of games due to the rollout of the Dota Pro Circuit has allowed established western teams to really take over the top 10. That’s likely to change with China back in action after a break and most of that region’s best also set to compete in FDC Season 3, but for now it makes for an interesting lineup of names.

Catch up on the Dota 2 rankings:

• How the rankings work
• Rankings as of January 21

Evil Geniuses rockets into top five alongside Quincy Crew

In the last installment of the rankings, Evil Geniuses was still on the outside of the top 10 due to decay stemming from an extended break after Omega League. Flash forward six weeks and Evil Geniuses is right back in the thick of things, standing at third in the rankings.

This isn’t particularly out of line with expectations. Evil Geniuses was ranked as high as second in some of the early installments of the rankings and the team has looked very strong since returning to action in the Dota Pro Circuit. Evil Geniuses went 6-1 during the season, with its lone loss coming to Quincy Crew.

Speaking of Quincy Crew, the North American squad also jumps right back into the thick of the top five. They’re just a bit behind Evil Geniuses and likely would have gotten that third-place spot if not for the NA DPC League tiebreaker, which Evil Geniuses got the better of.

The odd team out is Undying, which also notched a 6-1 record in the NA DPC League but won’t be attending the ONE Esports Singapore Major and sits all the way down at 19th in the rankings. Though they won’t be competing, their standing will likely shift based on how well Evil Geniuses and Quincy Crew perform at the major.

OG is Europe’s second best despite missing ONE Esports Singapore Major

One of the more intriguing movements, or lack thereof, is the fact that OG hung tight in the top 10 and stands as the second-ranked European team behind only Team Secret. This comes after OG missed out on the ONE Esports Singapore Major by posting a 3-4 record in DreamLeague Season 14 and losing the tiebreaker to Team Liquid.

The European region has a load of representation in the top 10 as well, with five teams in total making the cut. OG’s strong body of work and individual excellence was enough to tide them over during this relative rough patch.