ESL One Rio Major is approaching. Following the fierce and surprising RMRs, CS:GO teams are now charged and preparing for Brazil. This tournament will provide answers to many questions, including almost finalising the list of the best players of 2022. Only BLAST World Finals is left before the end of the year if there will be a need to determine POTY.
At the moment, in terms of summarised statistics and team success, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostylev stands out as the year’s best player. NAVI’s sniper not only leads the HLTV top in KDA and the overall rating but also took second place at the Antwerp Major and IEM Cologne, losing to FaZe in both cases.
But it’s not over yet. CS.MONEY Blog names four players who can compete with s1mple for the 2022 POTY title and tells what they need to do to beat s1mple in this race. And we’ve also hidden a promo code for GameChanger Hub in this article!
Sasha. Simple.
First, briefly about s1mple and his success in 2022 in big tournaments:
- PGL Antwerp Major, 2nd place
- IEM Cologne, 2nd place
- IEM Katowice, 3rd-4th place
- 73 maps, 1931 rounds, KD 1.38, HLTV Rating 1.27
“Best Player In The World” ©
That’s exactly what Danny “Zonic” Sorensen said about one of his players. S1mple’s old rival. Messi for Ronaldo
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut gets really close to s1mple’s indicators. In terms of individual play, ZywOo is currently showing an ideal performance and has undoubtedly gained a strong form for the upcoming Major. Statistically, he is decimal-ish behind s1mple: kill participation, KDA, HS accuracy percentage, average damage, teammate saves, and so on. And Mathieu played ~700 rounds (20 maps) more for the current year.
ZywOo’s 2022 Stats:
- 71 maps, 1943 rounds, KD 1.33, HLTV Rating 1.24
- ESL Pro League 15 WINNER
Titles have always been deciding between these two. Team Vitality’s results are quite sad this year: one podium in a whole year (albeit a victory), while other performances were disappointing. Fortunately, the team is in shape, and Mathieu has real chances to compete with Sasha.
How can ZywOo become POTY? Win Rio’s gold. In his case, a simple “perform better than NAVI” won’t be enough, while Sasha can just keep doing what he does best to remain #1. In the confrontation between s1mple and ZywOo, winning a Valve-tier tournament will be the decisive factor, and no BLAST World Finals will help. The first part of the promo code: C19.
Worthy contender…
Those who have been following CS:GO briefly for the last couple of years know that ex-Gambit are distinguished by very high skill and success in online tournaments. C9, like FaZe Clan, is a well-balanced team with no prominent star players. Each athlete on the roster can equally win maps or rounds if the situation calls for it. And this is where the club’s real problem arises: how to determine best if all your players share the skill level?
This list’s third sniper is Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov. A fantastic player, a great AWPer, and an example of self-improvement. However, his statistics are inferior to s1mple and ZywOo: despite the higher KD, other indicators are much lower.
Sh1ro’s 2022 Stats:
- 67 maps, 1773 rounds, KD 1.44, HLTV Rating 1.24
- IEM Dallas WINNER
… And an absolute talent
Sergey “Ax1le” Rykhtorov is the best non-sniper in the world. His deep game understanding and individual skill attract attention. He produces tons of highlights and is even better than sh1ro in terms of performance. But what is the problem? Same as sh1ro’s.
Ax1le’s 2022 Stats:
- 67 maps, 1773 rounds, KD 1.23, HLTV Rating 1.24
- IEM Dallas WINNER
Fun fact: Ax1le performs much better against HLTV’s top-5 teams than against the weaker clubs: 1.29 vs 1.24.
The humble stars of their team, Ax1le and sh1ro, won absolutely nothing serious in 2022. Indeed, the year turned out to be tough to say the least. And now both of them need to prove to everyone that their flames are still lighting up the way afore. Pretty dramatic story: a sniper and a rifler, two different but crucial roles, will unlikely compete with each other for kills and statistics to become a POTY. They have been playing together for too long and the bonds of friendship are firmly tied in this team. However, the upcoming tournaments will help determine their possible individual triumphs.
How can Ax1le or sh1ro become POTY? Win the Major and expect teammate’s failure. Everything’s clear for Major’s gold, while the second can be a rather high price for personal success. Cloud9 is not a BLAST partner and therefore they only have one chance!
Unlucky Chap
Nikola “NiKo” Kovac is already a CS:GO legend. He is a great player, a decent entry-fragger, impacts severely, and plays his part well.
But this is where the team factor comes into play. G2 limps behind the best teams. Even despite being HLTV’s #5. After signing m0NESY, the roster seemed to roll back on track, but the results are all the same: rare podiums in tourneys and sad results otherwise. The second part of the promo code: EDR.
NiKo’s 2022 Stats:
- 73 maps, 2043 rounds, KD 1.12, HLTV Rating 1.18
- IEM Katowice, 2nd place
How can NiKo become POTY? By a miracle. There are too many factors that are unlikely to happen, yet there is still a tiny little chance. First, NiKo has to produce a perfect individual performance in the remaining tournaments of 2022. Second, all other POTY contenders have to flop greatly. Third, G2 have to win at least something. Fourth, m0NESY’s minimal decline is obligatory, so all the attention is focused only on the Bosnian.
Who Else?
The first people to be mentioned are obviously FaZe Clan’s squad. But of all their roster, no player is even close to fight s1mple in terms of statistics. Ropz, Twistzz, rain and broky are too… equal and balanced. Due to this, their personal successes fade. Where one fails, the others cover. See yourself: all of them share almost the same HLTV rating: 1.11 and 1.10. Will the limit set by such a balance be enough for FaZe to perform sustainably, or was the Major in Antwerp an isolated case of the team’s impeccable form?
NAVI.electronic and G2.m0NESY might try. The first had already shown that he can carry the team this year when s1mple was in lousy shape or didn’t play. m0NESY also seemingly improved in 2022, but he is still not in the top 5 yet. In addition, they both have a “team’s second best” stamp: with the success of the squad, people will start praising the more eminent player likely.
KSCERATO and yuurih from Furia? They are closer to the ZywOo situation: titles should also support good performance. Moreover, they are behind in numbers, so becoming a title contender is not enough for POTY—only winning gold in Rio will serve. Same stuff for YEKINDAR.
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