tampering by the International Cricket Council but will be

True power rankings might be more up-to-date when looked at week-to-week. However, without an active global league, the optimal window in Counter-Strike for power rankings is closer to a month. A month is enough to consider a couple of offline tournaments, as well as some online results. HLTV.org and Duncan Thorin Shieldss world rankings take a longer-term view of usually around three to six months, so these power rankings will focus on a significantly shorter time period.Online play is only taken into account when and where needed, i.e. when there are no offline results or teams are otherwise dead even, and even with such a short time frame the latest results are more important than ones from four weeks ago, to focus on teams forms. With these guidelines in place, let us take a look another round of ESPN Counter-Strike: Global Offensive power rankings. These come just in time for DreamHack Winter and ECS Season 2 Finals, where many of these ten teams will be competing for their share of the prize money.1. [Brazil] SKDespite failing to win an event since Fernando fer Alvarengas return from his surgery, the defending major champions boast the best recent resume in Counter-Strike, with two second places at their latest events and an older semi-final exit at Epicenter: Moscow. They also made the playoffs at ELeague, though admittedly after losing to Astralis. Finally, the squad topped the Esports Championship Series (ECS) Season 2 in North America, qualifying for the Finals in Anaheim with a top seed. Currently the team to beat, but partly thanks to the relative inactivity of Virtus.pro.2. [Sweden] Ninjas in PyjamasPatrik f0rest Lindbergs side won Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Oakland over SK in the grand final, building on the semifinal finish at ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals in Sao Paulo - though the latter was with Mikail Maikelele Bill, before Jacob pyth Mourujarvi returned from his injury. The Swedes also made playoffs at ELeague, where they will face off with Astralis next week for a spot in the final four at yet another event. NiP will not be at DreamHack, but still have a shot at qualifying for ECS Season 2 Finals, and will attend the major qualifier in mid-December. They often perk up after roster moves, so it remains to be seen where this team stabilizes after more events with pyth.3. [Denmark] DignitasThe Daness placing has been hurt by time as their Epicenter: Moscow win is nearly expired now. The team also had a poor showing at ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals, and had to skip IEM Oakland due to scheduling issues with their ELeague group. But inactivity can only hurt you so much in an era where many teams seem all but equal to one-another. Topping its ELeague group helped, even versus easier opponents, but Mathias MSL Lauridsens team needs a good result in at least one of DreamHack Winter and ELeague playoffs to hold onto this ranking going forward.4. [Poland] Virtus.proThe Polish side of Janusz Snax Pogorzelski took down SK at Epicenter: Moscow to place second and topped the ELeague group over NiP, but have not attended tournaments since. The team chose to not attend ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals (EPL) at the last minute, and withdrew from IEM Oakland. Traditionally the Poles have been at their best at the largest events, and with the $1,000,000 ELeague playoffs in the horizon next week, are expected to be nearing the peak of their powers. They could skyrocket to the top of the list by end of next week, but right now they are hurt by their inactivity.5. [Denmark] AstralisLukas gla1ve Rossanders team has only attended two tournaments after he joined, topping group C of ELeague over SK and placing top four at IEM Oakland, losing to the same SK team in a close series. It is still early with gla1ve having joined in late October, but early signs are promising - the new Astralis could finally go back to competing for titles, something superstar Nicolai device Reedtz seems destined for. The Danes will next be tested at ELeague in the quarterfinals against NiP, and are hoping to secure a spot at the ECS Season 2 Finals in Anaheim in the final rounds of online play.6. [USA] Cloud9While the best team from North America went out in groups at IEM Oakland, it had 17-19 and 14-16 losses against FaZe and NiP, respectively, which could have gone either way and catapulted the squad into the playoffs. Worryingly, the iBUYPOWER Masters loss the previous weekend to Immortals shook the ground below them, but none of this is enough to discount the title at EPL Season 4 Finals with series win over SK. Timothy autimatic Tas team needs results at DreamHack Winter and ECS Season 2 Finals to stay afloat though, or we may need to reconsider whether the honeymoon period might be over.7. [Europe] FaZeWhen gla1ve joined Astralis, the Danish side benched Finn karrigan Andersen, who had led them since January 2015. Now karrigan leads FaZe, who also brought back Fabien kioShiMa Fiey in November to replace Norwegian Joakim jkaem Myrbostad. With jkaem the team placed 7th-8th at EPL Season 4 Finals and qualified for ELeague playoffs, and with kioShiMa they qualified for IEM Oakland at iBUYPOWER Masters, and placed top four at the event. The team is trending up, but after withdrawing from DreamHack Winter this week will need results at ELeague, or to qualify for and to do well at ECS Season 2 Finals, to keep up the momentum. Otherwise they are in the danger of slipping out ahead of the major qualifier.8. [Brazil] ImmortalsBrazils number two team took a huge gamble on former SK coach Wilton zews Prado, but after some of weak results, culminating in last place finishes in Sao Paulo at EPL Season 4 Finals and ELeague, chose to replace him with former SK player Lucas steel Lopes. The team proceeded to win iBUYPOWER Masters over Cloud9 - though admittedly in a match with little at stake - and then placed top six at IEM Oakland, with a 4-1 record in the group stage. Immortals is similar to Cloud9 on a smaller scale - honeymoon period producing elevated results, which they now need prove can become the new norm. Its next shot will be at ECS Season 2 Finals.9. [CIS] Natus VincereThe fall of Na`Vi after the ESL One New York championship and the top four placing at Epicenter: Moscow has been odd to watch - and no matter how you cut it, the results have simply not been good. NaVi skipped ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals and failed to qualify for ELeague playoffs, and last weekend went out in 9th-10th place at IEM Oakland. In short, its fair to say they have a lot to work on ahead of the major in January. Na`Vi missed out on ECS Season 2, and will not have meaningful offline tournaments before the major, giving them plenty of time to practice.10.[North America] OpTicThe second North American team, and fourth team residing in the Americas, to be on the list is OpTic, whose roster also features a Spaniard in Oscar mixwell Canellas. OpTic placed 5th-6th in Sao Paulo, won Northern Arena over G2, and qualified for ELeague playoffs by besting EnVyUs. This seems to be a team on the rise, with slowly improving results ever since they first turned heads during ELeagues inaugural season earlier in the year. OpTic is also heading to DreamHack Winter this week, qualified for ECS Season 2 Finals, and will also attend the major qualifier to close out the year. Busy period ahead as they try to scale up their ranking.For more CS:GO analysis and discussion, check out Tomi on Twitter @lurppis_. Cheap Golden State Warriors Jerseys . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. Cheap Warriors Jerseys China . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. Barcelona hosts third-division side Cartagena in the return leg of their round-of-32 tie after winning their first meeting 4-1. http://www.cheapwarriorsjerseysstore.com/?tag=authentic-demarcus-cousins-jersey . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. Wholesale Warriors Jerseys .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. Cheap Swingman Warriors Jerseys . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. ADELAIDE, Australia -- South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has been found guilty and fined for ball tampering by the International Cricket Council but will be allowed to play against Australia this week.Du Plessis escaped a suspension which would have prevented him from playing in the third test against Australia starting Thursday in Adelaide.The ball tampering charge was brought by ICC chief executive Dave Richardson after television replays from the second test in Hobart showed du Plessis applying saliva to the ball while sucking a mint on the fourth day of the match. This would have given the ball an unnatural shine and weight, and allowed it to swing through the air significantly more than under regular conditions.He pleaded not guilty but was found to have altered the condition of the ball and was fined 100 percent of his second test match fee or about $2,500. Du Plessis has indicated he will appeal at the risk of incurring a harsher penalty.South Africa already has a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series.Richardson told Australias Nine television network Wednesday that he charged du Plessis because the ICC wanted to draw a line in the sand on ball tampering.Probably in this case in particular, we drew the line, Richardson said. We said `we need to charge because in our eyes anyway it was pretty obvious that he was using the residue from the sweet directly on the ball.I think the bottom line is if you want to change the condition of the ball by polishing it, in other words improving it, keeping it, retaining its condition, do so, but dont use any artificial substance.ICC match referee Andy Pycroft heard submissions earlier on when the hearing should take place and decided it should be held before the third test in the interests of expediency and in order to protect the integrity of the Adelaide test.The hearing was initially expected to take place after the conclusion of the series because South Africa has indicated it has engaged lawyers on du Plessiss behalf, making the process more complex than usual.Pycroft heard evidence from the umpires, the teams and from John Stephenson, representing the Marylebone Cricket Club -- the guardians of the laws of the game.The decision was based on the evidence given from the umpires, who confirmed that had they seen the incident they would have takenn action immediately, and from Stephenson, who confirmed the MCC view that the television footage showed an artificial substance being transferred to the ball.ddddddddddddSouth Africas anger at the treatment of du Plessis flared on Monday when a team security official manhandled a television reporter who tried to question the captain when the team arrived at Adelaide Airport.Security manager Zunaid Wadee pushed away the reporter who had tried to force his way into the group of players to speak to du Plessis. Reporters had been advised that no interviews would be granted on arrival in Adelaide.In a statement issued later Monday, team manager Mohammed Moosajee defended Wadees actions and criticized the conduct of the reporter.Moosajee said the reporter had disrespected the South Africa team by continuing to harass Faf for comment.The `reporter was also in the unusual position of being in the middle of the players walkway to the bus, he said. He was advised to move three times, and did not adhere to this request. The `reporter, who also had no official accreditation, then proceeded to lunge towards Faf with an unknown object causing a direct breach of security protocol. The reporter also shoved the team manager in the back.Throughout the tour we have respected all our media obligations and treated media with utmost respect. At the same time, we would like to see this respect reciprocated and will not accept such behavior as displayed by the Channel 9 News reporter.Du Plessis was found guilty of ball tampering in 2013, when he breached the ICCs code of conduct by rubbing the ball on the zipper of a trouser pocket to make gouge marks during a test against Pakistan. But under altered rules adopted by the ICC on Sept. 22, the episode against Australia was treated as a first offense.South Africa coach Russell Domingo said the preparation for the Adelaide test was not ideal, but the squad was united.Its been an interesting few days, Domingo said. We have had a wonderful tour here and we have played great cricket. We have had long discussions and our focus now is purely on cricket. Whatever happens with the hearing ... our focus is entirely on the test match that is coming ahead. ' ' '