Top 5 Players - Mid Year Review

With the year half up, I thought I would lend my thoughts as to who my top 5 players are currently this year. At the time of writing, IEM Summer 2021 is ongoing with OG and Gambit playing in the grand finals today and BLAST Spring Finals is approaching soon, so hopefully this list will help you while viewing those tournments!

1. s1mple

s1mple is still clearly the best player in CSGO. Unlike his fellow top 3’s from 2020 (dev1ce and
ZyWoO), he hasn’t had a major performance drop off since CSGO went online and still is a massive asset for Na’Vi. His roster remains at the top of the HLTV team rankings and are a big contender for any tournaments they enter.

s1mple’s playing style is clear. Amazing technical skills that allow for him to make flashy plays, while equally having a great game sense. While he doesn’t have the big brain’s of other AWPer’s like ZyWoO or Jame, there’s almost no need for it. His skill alone makes up for any positioning errors he might make in a game. This made him excellent when it came to clicking into new teams, like when he joined Team Liquid in 2016 where he excelled, and later like how he has clicked into Na’Vi under 2-3 different rosters.

If I was Na’Vi’s IGL, I’d position s1mple usually along long sight lines, like Dust2’s A-Long, Overpasses A-Long or mid/ticket on Mirage. Anywhere that allows him to scoop up easy picks in the early game and rotate easily in the late game is perfect to utilize his skill set best

2. SH1RO

There isn’t a super long career from SH1RO to talk about. He is CLEARLY one of the top players this year, helping his Gambit squad from not even existing to world #1 in the span of months. His roster already has picked up 2 tier-1 tournaments including a huge upset win at IEM Katowice 2021, and they are easily considered the best squad of 2021 so far.

What makes SH1RO and the rest of his Gambit squad so hard to beat is their shear level of tactics that they employ. For them the clock is irrelevant, just find picks and holes, picks and holes. This is perfect for a player like SH1RO, who’s game sense matches the likes of ZyWoO and who’s game style is passive like dev1ce. Often left to anchor bombsites and to pull off clutches, his IGL sets him up to be the bedrock of his team.

If I was SH1RO’s IGL I would change virtually nothing. I have rarely seen a game where his passive anchoring style has fallen through, except potentially a IEM Summer game against COL, where SH1RO was forced to save the AWP 4-5 rounds in a row. Beyond that one fluke of a game, I think his IGL has placed him in an ideal position.

3. Dev1ce

NiP’s latest addition, dev1ce, is a household name in CSGO. Still one of the best, Mr. Consistent will continue to be just that, consistent and reliable for any roster. His addition onto NiP has already made them a better team as they came second at Flashpoint 3, beating out the likes of Heroic and G2

Part of what makes dev1ce so skilled was how he clicked into Astralis’ roster perfectly, allowing his ultra passive and defensive style to work out perfectly. While he is still playing great with NiP, he’s clearly being forced to play much closer to the action then he’s used to, and it shows as he isn’t the same superstar performer he was before. That’s ok though, as his raw skill still helps him out a ton, and he still is a perfect asset for NiP to have.

If I was NiP’s IGL I would let dev1ce play the passive style he likes and is comfortable with more often, and leave the more forward positioned AWP to REZ instead. If you’re going to have a double AWP set up for quite a few of your strats, it makes more sense to let the AWPer’s play positions they’re good at, rather then banking that your star is great upfront, with a healthy backup if he fails.

4. Electronic

The weird thing about electronic is that there isn’t a ton to say about him. Despite clearly being one of the best players not just in his region, but the world, he is still somehow overshadowed by an even better player, his teammate s1mple. No matter, for it’s clear that electronic has shined as CSGO’s #1 wingman, helping earn Na’Vi a host of tournament wins in 2020 and 2021.

Electronic’s role on Na’Vi is to be a backup star. He has great mechanics, is a stellar anchor and provides a good solid base for his team when s1mple decides to take a gamble. He also doesn’t cause role conflicts with s1 as his clear preference is with AK’s and M4’s, with only 10 AWP kills in the last 12 months. Electronic knows his role and is the best in the world at playing it.

If I was Na’Vi IGL I’d use electronic in two different ways. On T side I’d pair him with s1mple to play as virtually his bodyguard. Let s1 make great kills, then have electronic to scoop up trades and tagged players. On CT side the choice is obvious, let him anchor sites with Boombl4. Why him? Well, Boombl4 is a great player, but is in my opinion the weakest link in a VERY strong chain. Let electronic carry that wherever he’s placed, while Perfecto and b1t cover the other site together.

5. Frozen

Despite his team dropping off largely in 2021, frozen has continued to be an amazing young player with some serious talents. He has been one of the few consistent things in mousesports, with 25/34 maps having over a 1.10 rating, something even his teammate ropz isn’t achieving. Now that mousesports are starting to return to their pre-covid form, it’s exciting to see how much better frozen will get when the rest of his team is firing on all cylinders.

Given that mousesports have been in rebuilding mode ever since IGL karrigan left the team in February 2021, frozen hasn’t had a distinct role so to speak. He often is found holding aim heavy choke points like courtyard in Nuke, banana in Inferno, or mid/toilets on overpass, then falling back to their respective bombsites to anchor them until a rotation comes in. Given his impeccable aim, he often has no issue with this task and is able to hold down the bomb site alone, leading to the such high numbers we’ve been seeing from him.

If I was mousesport’s IGL, I wouldn’t change anything. Looking at frozen performances and the positions he’s playing, something is clearly working. Frozen’s skill lies in his aim, so setting him up so he can pop off is where you’ll get the most mileage out of the young Slovak, and this is exactly what dexter is doing with his new teammate.

Players to lookout for.

TeSeS

While there might be some players who mechanically are better than Denmark’s latest star fragger TeSeS, none have had the same impact for their team as TeSeS has had during their sudden rise lately. Part of the plucky young roster that is Heroic, he has clearly meshed well with Cadian’s tactics. With his amazing multifrag skills and spray control he is one of the best players to look out for in the coming months, especially as Heroic further perfect their game.

Flamez

OG’s latest addition, Israeli flameZ, has proven himself to be an amazing young talent at IEM Summer 2021. Playing as an often aggressive anchor, he has proven to be able to both hold down bombsites when it’s needed and push aggressively to gather info when need be as well. OG’s unexpected run at IEM Summer has been in large part due to their recent roster changes and flameZ is a change they are not regretting.