The Top 3 CS:GO Players of 2021
We’ve entered a new season of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and the next big event is scheduled to take place in February. But before you start watching the 2022 season, let’s take a moment to review the top 3 CS:GO players of 2021.
3rd place: NiKo
In 2021, G2 Esports oscillated between 2nd and 9th. Throughout most of the season, the French squad looked unbeatable by anyone other than Natus Vincere. Among its most important results were the following: 2nd place at IEM Cologne, 3rd place at BLAST Premier: Spring Finals, and 2nd place at PGL Major Stockholm. Despite the inconsistent performance, when it mattered most, G2 delivered. The only real disappointment is that it didn’t win a single important trophy. But if we talk about top 4 results, G2 had an excellent season.
As his team’s leader, NiKo was instrumental in G2’s success. His overall stats for 2021 speak on their own:
- Rating: 1.21
- KPR: 0.78
- ADR: 86.6
It was rather unfortunate that he missed his Deagle shots at PGL Major, in the Grand Final against Natus Vincere. That moment will probably remain in his memory for a long time. NiKo is known to be one of the best one-tap players in the world with this pistol, and a single shot would have won his team the map and possibly the game.
2nd place: ZywOo
ZywOo was the winner of the 2019 and 2020 editions of CS:GO’s best player of the season. So to see him again in the top 3 is not a surprise at all. In 2021, his excellent performances led Team Vitality to one trophy (IEM Winter) and a lot of other top 4 results at prestigious tournaments such as ESL Pro League, BLAST Fall Final, BLAST Global Final, IEM Summer, IEM Fall EU, and BLAST World Final. All of these events were watched around the globe and provided numerous CS:GO betting opportunities that were available on online platforms like Rivalry.
It’s hard to say what G2 would have achieved if ZywOo had better teammates. In 2022 we’ll have the opportunity to see him compete in a changed roster, alongside former Astralis legends like Magisk and dupreeh.
ZywOo’s stats provide all the required arguments to justify his position in the top 3:
- Rating: 1.29
- KPR: 0.81
- ADR: 84.4
This player is also highly survivable. In his 2021 matches, he was alive at the end of the round in 40% of cases. This practically means that he survived 2 rounds out of 5, which is an excellent percentage in CS:GO. To achieve this percentage, ZywOo had to be a great clutcher and one of the players who was consistently one of the last men standing on his team.
1st place: s1mple
Finally, after 2 years in which he lost the crown to ZywOo, s1mple is crowned again as the best player of the year in CS:GO. His stats and performances for 2021 were monstrous. Just look at these numbers:
- Rating: 1.35
- KPR: 0.88
- ADR: 88.2
In almost every single stat category, s1mple is ranked 1st. His impact resulted in 8 big trophies for Na’Vi in 2021 and 2 other Grand Finals. This level of consistency is very hard to achieve in CS:GO because there are so many other great competitors that you need to be capable of beating in a systematic way.
2021 marked s1mple’s first Major trophy of his career. After more than 10 years of competing, he has finally achieved his dream. And the way in which he did it was truly spectacular. Na’Vi finished the race at PGL Major Stockholm without losing a single map. This is a level of dominance that we rarely get to witness.
Apart from its standard tournament wins, Natus Vincere also won the Intel Grand Slam Season 3 award.
Some people argue that s1mple achieved so much in 2021 largely thanks to his team. And that is true. But then again, every other great player in CS:GO relies on his teammates to help him win. And let’s not forget that as a member of Na’Vi s1mple was directly involved in selecting the new roster members and integrating them into the team.
It will be interesting to see if Na’Vi can sustain its current level in 2022. Usually, teams dominate a season or two and then decline, because players aren’t as motivated as before. Success decreases the appetite for future success, especially when there’s a high price to pay.
