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Alfajer - representing a sentinel player in the best way possible by being a true anchor and always there when a team needs him
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Less - after finishing last year on a high, he took a huge leap this year overtaking aspas as the best player on the team by the second part of the year
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Leo - basicaly perfect util and mr. clutch, nothing more needs to be said
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Jingggg - our favourite raze main that just doesnt seem to make a bad play, opening the map for his team and constanstly fragging - sadly we wont see him next year :(
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Derke - a very good player that was able to take his game to another level by being covered with the arguably best support players in the history of this game
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Aspas - after almost flawless first half of the year, he took a step down, but proved at Champs that he is still a game changing player
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Demon1 - He came in as an ,,open-tryout" and was given the chance to ,,show his skills as team continue to develop" - safe to say he showed his skills and the team developed
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Chronicle - very good utility and numerous clutches, but a slower end of the year denies him a higher spot
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Something - a player that with his amazing skill and aim proved that the W gaming playstyle is still very much doable
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Ethan - possibly the most important player in this EG machine, his amazing utility and take-over ability proved to be crucial in the success of this project
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Zmjjkk - an amazing talent that with his OPing skills became the cover and opened the door to Chinese community
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D4v4i - with the lack of an IGL, he was able to play more openly and show his amazing skills which very much marked over the lack of a leader in this team
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F0rsaken - a player that was able to help his team in any way it was needed to and continued to deliver numbers
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Cauanzin - a rookie in this team, he displayed an amazingly high level, expecting the similar leap as less for next year
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Mako - always a consistent show in his team, even after a dip in form through the middle part of the year
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SUYGETSU - a player that is always doing the little things and continuously taking over games
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trent - amazing display of utility, pushing his team over the line
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Crashies - with amazing consinstency and with ability showing up when needed most, he showed why he is probably the most important player on his team
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NiSMO - being able to deliver against every opposition, coming just short of the prize
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Buzz - a guy that showed amazing flexibility and ability to remain consinstent and push his team when needed
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sScary - just couldnt find a place for him
Top 20 players of the year + some tier 2 players
you realize before Demon1 came they didn't win a single match right ? he single handly changed this From the worst team to the best even boosted everyones mental/ego to say Ethan is more important is you being biased as hell.
aspas played better then derke all year, sure derke was insane at kick off but after that was that good lmao
once again, chronicle not a top 20 this year
How is there 1 player in the champs finals to make your top 5? I would have Jinggg higher and would even argue for some of the other PRX players in the top 5 too, they got 3rd at tokyo with a sub. I feel like you gotta drop Leo and or Derke down a few spots for demon1 and literally any PRX player other than something (only because he wasn't in tokyo)
KK>something for this year, both were dominant in regionals but kk HAS been more in international, divine>something just much more influential, forsaken over ethan, I mean the dude went from hard jett entry to kj and harbor and still puts up 10/10 day in and day out wtf also why tf is trent and nismo here without s0m who was the best player from nrg during regionals and played exceptional despite being compared to marved and assumed he would fail? Also no Jawgemo? Dude also went from hard raze entry to flex and still puts up great numbers. Monyet from GES should be included if we are also trying to add sScary imooo
I think that KK got read more time that something in terms of plays, which didnt allow him to reach higher placement internationally + if PRX win tomorow the list will definetly change
As of the rest of EG players i think that they werent more or less consinstent that other players on this list Jawgemo, Boostio and C0M were plazing mediocre until playoffs and yes they stepped up, but other than Jawg on raze werent that consinstent
I wanted to include sScary because he really stepped up and while Monyet had an amazing year his team couldnt keep up with him and were in an experimental faze the whole season
I was debating beetwen S0m and Crashies for the list but ultimately went for Crashies for more plays that were needed when no one else could have + i think he was a little bit more consinstent
For the tier 2 players i thought they deserved to be recognised for their amazing seasons so i put them even though some players had seasons that could have earned them a spot in the top 20
important snubs:
s0m = dragged NRG over the line multiple times and arguably NRG's best player this year (crashies has been on and off recently)
zekken = just because his team wasn't performing doesn't mean he wasn't a fabulous flex
keznit = perhaps recency bias but he still was an excellent duelist this year
sayf/nats = even if they bombed out of champs doesn't mean they were not cooking, won the first game against fnatic this year, etc.
m0nyet = global esports was a dumpster fire and this gem was sadly burning in it
cryo = wasn't very consistent + op crutch, but he was helping keep 100T somewhat afloat in big games when the other "stars" weren't
F1tinho = pretty good duelist
Scream = you can clown KC and blame him for their team chemistry dumps etc. he was still good though
Cloud = bright future as initiator
Laz = pretty good
All these players have very solid seasons but its only top 20 for a reason
For S0m i was debating beetwen him and crashies, but went for crashies since he was able to make plays when they were most needed and you could always feel his presence
Zekken is a interesting one, but i would put him in the same as Monyet - while they were excelent, their teams were in an experimental faze, so thez werent able to flourish as well as they could have
Cryo and Laz did pick up their form towards the end of the year but it just wasnt enough, as well as Keznit who just didnt look like he wanted to play with his team until LCQ, but at Champs they just werent good enough
Fitinho was very average for me and Scream was bellow average
Cloud is a reallz good shout but i believe his team pushed him back, more than he pushed them forward - very excited for next year tho
I did consider Nats heavily but ultimately went for Suygetsu as I think he performed better in that role than Nats, even though they won EMEA
In terms of Sayf he really slowed down at Tokyo and Champs so i didnt really consider him
that's fair- I understand you're prioritising team success over individual stats/performance when looking at this kind of stuff, and there's a form of implicit, and fair, recency bias behind the list (the vast majority of the people on your list are either on the top 6 teams at champs or have been long considered good players)
still though, there are some players (Nismo, trent, Buzz) even arguably cauanzin towards the bottom of the list would not be better than some of the other players I've listed if put in the same position and on the same team
for a top 20 list, I'd still argue should look more at individual ability than team success, arguably if a player is doing better on a bad team it should be worth more as it takes more to frag at the same extent when your team just can't hold sites or win duels, putting you in bad positions
It is the case that most of the players are from the best teams but even in Tokyo these teams were good, as well as Lock In
The bottom of the list is for debate, but i believed that tier 2 players deserved to be mentioned even tho they didnt play at the highest level, Buzz is the easiest to erase from the list, but i think his presence is what pushed DRX in most moments, especially in the first half of the season
I think that if they didnt experiment with Foxy9 he would have been higher on this list
For me Cauanzin is a must bc he simply showed amazing quality on Skye, but did lose some of that while on Fade as she is a very dificult agent to get value of most of the time - nevertheless he showed why LOUD picked him up and is proving to be an excellent replacement for Sacy
While some players are playing better that some on this list its the same as in the Nba - good stats on a bad team
They are given the keys since the team isnt able to produce results needed to compete at the highest level
fair enough for most of the points, still I don't feel good putting T2 players in over so many T1 players when they were without a doubt playing against much worse competition, and in NBA terms, were "padding stats"
it's like putting NBA talent in the G-League or college, of course they are going to look better
however, the part where the NBA analogy breaks down, is even if a player is given the "keys to the team" it's harder to get individual stats on a bad team than on a good team, if a team is losing, they're losing- hardly anyone goes above 1.0 KD when they're team is getting boned
You are right about that, but its not like tier 2 is terrible + i put them on the list because they were the best that tier 2 has to offer and considering that Something and Demon1 just came into tier 1 and adapted very quickly i doubt trent or Nismo would have a tough time at the highest level
However every team has at least one player that has a solid game, bc games where everyone has barelly any kills are those games where teams just cant seem to get going and get bodied
Most of the time teams have solid performers - I strongly considered Leaf just for the regular season alone, but when he needed his team the most they couldnt deliver and while he was set up very well in the regular season in the playoffs and LCQ it just colapsed and no one could produce solid results
At internationals he has games where he has over 20 kills and it looks amazing with the clutches, but more than less in pacific he had a slow start a most of his games were okay, but nothing special (Game against EG was stellar tho, but you cant judge it of 1 game)
He is just a good piece of the puzzle, but next year without Jingggg i believe he will be required to do much more thus will show much more
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