VexxedPhoenix blazes into the lead.

Jessie Joubert, captain of VxP Blaze.

The rankings for CounterStrike: GO have been published which take into account all the games played in Mind Sports South Africa's Online Provincial Championships which were played on 22 April 2017.

VxP Blaze has shot passed Team PRO to become the number one ranked team in the country. This now makes VxP Blaze the team to beat.

However, it is never easy defending the number 1 spot. One mistake can cause a team to slip and falter, and to drop in the official placings.

The teams Soviet UZ (Midstream College) and WBHS (Westville Boys High School) both deserve special mention. Both teams were unranked at the beginning of the year, and both are now up in the top five ranked teams battling it out with the more  established teams like VxP Blaze and PRO.

The full rankings for CS: GO are:

Pos	Name of Player	year	Club	Points
1	VxP BlaZe	17	VexxedPhoenix	942
2	Soviet UZ	17	Midstream College	577
3	PRO	17	People Really Organised	540.7
4	WBHS	17	Westville Boys	501.6
5	TERA| Qube	16	Anteria	389.1
6	DELTA	17	All Stars	385.4
7	Hoërskool Lichtenburg	17	Hoërskool Lichtenburg	376.6
8	Empangeni: csgo	17	Empangeni High School	353.8
9	VOID	16	St John's College	349.4
10	eSpera	17	DF MALAN	318.9
11	Spartans A	17	SAHETI	315.8
12	QUANTM	17	Curro Klerksdorp	314.3
13	VxP Knights	16	VexxedPhoenix	303.7
14	PORAXYSM	16	ALL STAR	285
15	VIGILANTES	15	TV	270
16	flikadawist	16	DF Malan	260
17	GenX Frostwolf	17	Generation X	256.2
18	MC GO 1	17	Maritzburg College	245.3
19	Cryptid Claws	17	Hoërskool Wonderboom	244.1
20	Limitles	17	Hoërskool Wonderboom	233.6
21	Awoken	17	Hoërskool Wonderboom	203.5
22	Rondebosch Boys High	15	Rondebosch Boys High	200
23	Phantom Troupe l Branden	16	Fairmont High School	197.6
24	Pride	17	Parktown Boys	192.1
25	Cedar House	17	Cedar House	191.1
26	iE.Revival	17	IntenSity E-Sports	183.3
27	PG – 18	15	Parklands College	181.2
28	District_Zero	17	Protea Heights Academy	179.3
29	Delta 2	17	All Stars	172.7
30	Xillir8	16	All Stars	165
31	Wolfpack	17	Knights Mind Sports Club	150
32	GWH CSGO	17	Glenwood House	143.5
33	PRONHS	17	Northcliff High	141.1
34	PFU	16	Fairmont High School	140.1
35	Fairmont High School	15	Fairmont High School	125
36	SPEARR	15	St John's College	120
37	Gents	17	Knights Mind Sports Club	119.7
38	Spartans B	17	SAHETI	114.7
39	PBHS red	15	Pretoria Boys	112.5
40	MC GO 2	17	Maritzburg College	112.5
41	HGH	16	Hoerskool Generaal Hertzog	100
42	All Stars	16	ALL STAR	100
43	Raptors	16	BNKR	90
44	LAGSTEPS	15	BNKR	85
45	PG16	16	Parklands College	84.4
46	VGR146	16	Lofdal	75
47	Northwood CSGO	17	Northwood High School	75
48	The Nerd Herd	17	Glenwood House	75
49	K1lljoy5	16	BNKR	67.5
50	Tesseract	17	Jeppe Boys	63.7
51	PBHS white	15	Pretoria Boys	56.3
52	Maritzburg College	16	Maritzburg College	56.3
53	Winter Wolfes	17	Hoërskool Wonderboom	56.3

Other rankings published by MSSA are:

• Senior Ancients Wargames
• Senior CounterStrike: GO
• Senior DotA 2
• Senior League of Legends
• Senior StarCraft II
• Schools CounterStrike: GO
• Schools DotA 2
• Schools League of Legends

Gauteng's new Provincial Director.

Ian taking the controls of Gauteng gaming.

MSSA has just co-opted Ian Bezuidenhout at the Gauteng Provincial Director.

Such position makes Ian responsible for the events held in Gauteng as well as being the Provincial Team Manager.

But who is Ian?

Ian Bezuidenhout is all of 20 years old and engaged to the most beautiful woman ever.

Although an avid gamer, Ian too has his Private Pilots Licence and has the time, inclination, and talent to have started on his Commercial Pilots Licence.

Ian is more astute than most. Since MSSA does not accept membership of profit making ventures, Ian applied his mind, and with a little 'out-of-the-box' thinking established a non-profit club to run alongside the privately owned Clan.

Thus Ian is the owner of the Clan VexxedPhoenix, and is also the Chairman of the club that is entitled to use the VexxedPhoenix brand. As Ian states, "We are a clan that base our teams and players on being a Family. We are not just a Clan we are a Family. And as a Family VxP is trying to reach the top but also we are trying to get Gaming better name in South Africa". Being competitive, and having an eye for detail, Ian has made it quite clear that his ultimate goal is that both Clan and Club will eventually be the best.

However, knowing that gaming can not be an end in itself, Ian is also exploring ways to create jobs for Gamers, and to have Gaming as a viable career option in the future for South Africans. Together with the other owner of VxP Natasja Bezuidenhout and Ian are in the process of opening up a shop that will allow gamers to get a salary and eventually it will become a full time job for gamers. Ian's goals are no different for MSSA. It is for such reasons that Ian was co-opted by the Management Board. Ian has made it clear that his goal is to have the very best in gaming be put to the highest manner. With the experience that Ian earned in both Club and Clan, Ian has the tools to run Gauteng as the premier province. Much is thus expected of the Gauteng Provincial Teams as they get put to the test against the other provincial teams. Ian too wants MSSA to work together as a family to reach even further heights.