Top 20 players of 2021

Note: This list takes into consideration roles and how good their team has done. Also, it is for the entire year, not just recent events, and being good on LAN wasn't a huge factor(i.e. I'm not gonna put keloqz on there just cause he played great at Berlin)

1. cNed: cNed has consistently been one of the top duelists in the world, specifically on Jett, and is undeniably the best awper in the world. However, he's also a good rifler and won Champs, as well as multiple EMEA events, including Masters 1.
2. nAts: nAts is just a freak. The things that he does as a sentinel main is outstanding and unheard of. He is an extremely smart player with great aim and he is a phenomenal lurker and site anchor. To add to his individual skill, he also won Masters Berlin and came 1 map away from winning Champs.
3. TenZ: Despite a bad showing at Champs, TenZ was a top 5 player this year. He dominated the rest of NA throughout the entire year, dominated some of the best teams in the world at Masters Reykjavik and Berlin, and won Masters Reykjavik(alongside pretty much every NA tournament this year).
4. ShahZaM: No other team has consistently found as much success while having an IGL as skilled as ShahZaM anywhere in the world, throughout the year. Sentinels have dominated NA for the large majority of this year, won Masters Reykjavik, and were only 1 of 3 teams to make Masters Reykjavik, Berlin, and Champs. They did all of this without a coach for most of the year. There's no one else to attribute this consistent success to than the IGL who also had to fill the role that a coach normally would. Shahz also has done great despite swapping roles from Jett to Sova/breach.
5. ScreaM: ScreaM is one of the most consistent players in the world and is a top 3 rifler in the world. Not only has he proved his skill against EMEA, but he has also shown it against the rest of the world at Reykjavik and Champs.
6. yay: yay has dominated NA all year and, after he was acquired by Envy, dominated the best teams in the world at Masters Berlin. yay turned an Envy team known for finishing 3rd and 4th in pretty much every NA event into a team that made it to the finals at Masters Berlin. Not only is he one of the best Jett players in the world, but he is also a great rifler and a great awper.
7. Chronicle
8. crashies
9. Sacy
10. heat
11. Redgar
12. stax
13. SicK
14. zeek
15. Asuna
16. nitr0
17. nukkye
18. dapr
19. Derke
20. keznit
    HM: Patiphan, Marved, leaf, Boaster, Laz, mwzera

Edit: Yay #2->#6
2nd Edit: zeek -> #14: The more I've thought about zeek, the more I've realized that I have just overlooked how great he has played, the role he's done it on and the success he has had. When making the list I counted him out because of his time on G2 but the more I've thought about it, zeek just didn't fit into G2 and he still put up good numbers there. He also was one of the best players at both Masters Berlin and Champs while mostly playing Sova and kayo. If this were a list for the best players of the 2nd half of 2021, honestly zeek would probably even be above crashies but because of his time on G2, I'm only going to put him at 14.

I feel like whichever team has like MINIMUM 3 Solid players ( like for sentinels shahz dapr sick ) have a really bright future

ShadowisBAD [#2]

I feel like whichever team has like MINIMUM 3 Solid players ( like for sentinels shahz dapr sick ) have a really bright future

You should be the analyst for Sen no troll

ShadowisBAD [#2]

I feel like whichever team has like MINIMUM 3 Solid players ( like for sentinels shahz dapr sick ) have a really bright future

Liquid has 5 solid players

CreedSama [#4]

Liquid has 5 solid players

no .

CreedSama [#4]

Liquid has 5 solid players

even sen have 5 solid players , othrs will cry and say TENZ SUCKS ZOMBS SUCK whatever

ShadowisBAD [#2]

I feel like whichever team has like MINIMUM 3 Solid players ( like for sentinels shahz dapr sick ) have a really bright future

I mean yeah but also this is for the entirety of 2021 not for right now. Sen has always had the talent and yet they struggled at Berlin and Champs and teams like SMB and NRG also struggle despite being very talented so it's not just about how skilled the players are. I doubt Sen will be able to dominate like they did for the majority of 2021 in 2022 so I would say the future is actually dim compared to what they've already done.

mf put 4 SEN players in top 20 and left Zeek , Leaf , Jamppi , Deffo ,

ShadowisBAD [#6]

even sen have 5 solid players , othrs will cry and say TENZ SUCKS ZOMBS SUCK whatever

COPIUM

CreedSama [#8]

mf put 4 SEN players in top 20 and left Zeek , Leaf , Jamppi , Deffo ,

cuz they deserve it
Simple
haters like u wont understand

Mitch

ShadowisBAD [#10]

cuz they deserve it
Simple
haters like u wont understand

U mean win 1 international tournament and go out at 8th in the 2nd and not make it out in the groups for the 3rd one

By that logic Get RIght is still the best CS player of all time

Derke at 18 lol
No Jamppi or Deffo either?

ShadowisBAD [#6]

even sen have 5 solid players , othrs will cry and say TENZ SUCKS ZOMBS SUCK whatever

True but
Scream > TenZ
Jamppi > shahz
L1nk > zombs
Nivera = dapr
Soulcas < sick

PrTsty [#14]

True but
Scream > TenZ
Jamppi > shahz
L1nk > zombs
Nivera = dapr
Soulcas < sick

nah , it was for 1 half , sen were playinf 4v5 second half with tenz

CreedSama [#12]

U mean win 1 international tournament and go out at 8th in the 2nd and not make it out in the groups for the 3rd one

By that logic Get RIght is still the best CS player of all time

They were insane individually but yeah not having zeek in their is kinda yikes

ShadowisBAD [#15]

nah , it was for 1 half , sen were playinf 4v5 second half with tenz

4.5v5

shrado [#13]

Derke at 18 lol
No Jamppi or Deffo either?

D3ffo is not doing enough as a jett main to be in a top 20, he is a great player and fits gambits playstyle, but his value asa jett is lower

Zeek?

PrTsty [#18]

D3ffo is not doing enough as a jett main to be in a top 20, he is a great player and fits gambits playstyle, but his value asa jett is lower

It's dumb to have him below sick, nitro asuna and nukkye

shrado [#20]

It's dumb to have him below sick, nitro asuna and nukkye

No lmao

ShadowisBAD [#15]

nah , it was for 1 half , sen were playinf 4v5 second half with tenz

Liquid were playing 4v5 the first map

PrTsty [#21]

No lmao

Asuna that high is complete bs tbh

PrTsty [#21]

No lmao

100t flair 😂

crashies above sacy LMAOOOO

CreedSama [#23]

Asuna that high is complete bs tbh

I wouldnt put him that high either but d3ffo is not better than sick, nitr0 or asuna

This list is not that good. You say you didn't base it off their lan performances then put derke there for performing well in champions. The rest of the year he wasn't that great. And there are definitely some players who are too high. Overall not a good list

unknown_trash [#27]

This list is not that good. You say you didn't base it off their lan performances then put derke there for performing well in champions. The rest of the year he wasn't that great. And there are definitely some players who are too high. Overall not a good list

There is way too many player that are close to each other. 90 percent of top 20 lists suck

shrado [#24]

100t flair 😂

Ok?

No zeek? Xd hes been mvp of champions and not even top20?

CreedSama [#8]

mf put 4 SEN players in top 20 and left Zeek , Leaf , Jamppi , Deffo ,

I agree with zeek but those 4 players are deserving

Gorkem [#30]

No zeek? Xd hes been mvp of champions and not even top20?

i think zeek would be 15th if we take the whole year into account

Dont understand how yay is above nats and tenz. Literally didnt win a single event

where mixwell?

Based for putting Nitr0 mans switched and he is still best omen in the game

nitr0 in front of Keznit? Ok.

are u serious scream the number 3 in term of rifling are u fkin joking right now bc i idnt fkin see any other players that have the crosshair placement the aim all that shit better than scream there is no fkin other players that he is better than scream in rifling no one

PrTsty [#14]

True but
Scream > TenZ
Jamppi > shahz
L1nk > zombs
Nivera = dapr
Soulcas < sick

Explain Jamppi > shahz. Im not saying you are wrong just want to hear why, unless you are the type of guy to hate shahz for his personality/CS drama. Both are cracked IGLs.

ShadowisBAD [#10]

cuz they deserve it
Simple
haters like u wont understand

only delusional sen fangirls understand it like u

CreedSama [#8]

mf put 4 SEN players in top 20 and left Zeek , Leaf , Jamppi , Deffo ,

For the entire year of 2021 they were not top 20 players. Zeek, Leaf, and Jamppi are now but not for the entire year. Leaf didn't really start playing like a superstar until the new C9 roster with Vanity and with him being on Jett, even though he was a great player, especially on raze before, he didn't do anything up until August to warrant being in the top 20. Jamppi was terrible at Reykjavik and up until EMEA Last Chance in October, he played well but was nowhere close to being a top 20 player. Again, he's a top 20 player right now but he wasn't a top 20 player for the year of 2021. Zeek is the trickiest one of the 4. Maybe he deserves to be on their, but for half of the year, when he was on G2, he didn't play good enough to warrant being on there but he did play great at Masters Berlin and Champs and he won Champs so he is definitely a tricky one but I kept him off cause he only played like a top 20 player for half of the year and not the whole year. Deffo just isn't a good enough player imo. Sure he's won a lot but I just don't think he deserves a spot over some of the other duelists like Patiphan, keznit and Derke just because he's won a lot.

Fat_Lard [#40]

For the entire year of 2021 they were not top 20 players. Zeek, Leaf, and Jamppi are now but not for the entire year. Leaf didn't really start playing like a superstar until the new C9 roster with Vanity and with him being on Jett, even though he was a great player, especially on raze before, he didn't do anything up until August to warrant being in the top 20. Jamppi was terrible at Reykjavik and up until EMEA Last Chance in October, he played well but was nowhere close to being a top 20 player. Again, he's a top 20 player right now but he wasn't a top 20 player for the year of 2021. Zeek is the trickiest one of the 4. Maybe he deserves to be on their, but for half of the year, when he was on G2, he didn't play good enough to warrant being on there but he did play great at Masters Berlin and Champs and he won Champs so he is definitely a tricky one but I kept him off cause he only played like a top 20 player for half of the year and not the whole year. Deffo just isn't a good enough player imo. Sure he's won a lot but I just don't think he deserves a spot over some of the other duelists like Patiphan, keznit and Derke just because he's won a lot.

NA copium

“ yay has dominated NA all year and, after he was acquired by Envy, dominated the best teams in the world at Masters Berlin.”

the mf joined to envy in august.. they had one lucky run in berlin bcz they only faced against tier 2 teams in the groups and only NA teams in the playoffs, they immediately got 3-0d the first time they faced against a decent team. and beside that one tourney they havent done shit in this year

shrado [#13]

Derke at 18 lol
No Jamppi or Deffo either?

"being good on LAN wasn't a huge factor"
Derke didn't really play like a top 20 player the rest of the year and being good on LAN isn't a huge factor but he does get on the list cause he played fantastic at both Reykjavik and Champs and he played good enough for the rest of the year. Jamppi did nothing to warrant being a top 20 player until October at LCQ and this is for the entire year. Sure, he's a top 20 player right now but wasn't for the entire year. As for Deffo, he didn't play good enough to justify him being put over guys like Patiphan or keznit even though he won a lot.

darksiders212 [#37]

are u serious scream the number 3 in term of rifling are u fkin joking right now bc i idnt fkin see any other players that have the crosshair placement the aim all that shit better than scream there is no fkin other players that he is better than scream in rifling no one

I said top 3, not number 3. I'll tell you now he's definitely not number 3

notAGN [#33]

Dont understand how yay is above nats and tenz. Literally didnt win a single event

I switched it but not because of this. Idk why I put him at 2 for the entire year but he's still up there.

Fat_Lard [#43]

"being good on LAN wasn't a huge factor"
Derke didn't really play like a top 20 player the rest of the year and being good on LAN isn't a huge factor but he does get on the list cause he played fantastic at both Reykjavik and Champs and he played good enough for the rest of the year. Jamppi did nothing to warrant being a top 20 player until October at LCQ and this is for the entire year. Sure, he's a top 20 player right now but wasn't for the entire year. As for Deffo, he didn't play good enough to justify him being put over guys like Patiphan or keznit even though he won a lot.

TIL: Being fantastic on the two lans you competed in over a year doesn't matter.
100t cope

Gorkem [#30]

No zeek? Xd hes been mvp of champions and not even top20?

Zeek is really tough because he didn't really fit in with G2 and for half of the year he certainly wasn't a top 20 player but after joining Acend, Zeek has played great and he obviously played great at Berlin and Champs so I didn't really know what to do with him. He is a top 10 player in the world right now but Idk.

shrado [#46]

TIL: Being fantastic on the two lans you competed in over a year doesn't matter.
100t cope

I mean Derke did absolutely nothing online though to warrant being a top 20 player. Asuna dominated all year long online and he played great at the 1 LAN he played at too. Not as good as Derke played at Champs but still, Asuna played better throughout the entire year.

Fat_Lard [#48]

I mean Derke did absolutely nothing online though to warrant being a top 20 player. Asuna dominated all year long online and he played great at the 1 LAN he played at too. Not as good as Derke played at Champs but still, Asuna played better throughout the entire year.

Online performance doesn't matter at all, the entire competitive scene is built around 3 international lans.

shrado [#49]

Online performance doesn't matter at all, the entire competitive scene is built around 3 international lans.

So in your eyes, Derke and keloqz are top 10 players?

Fat_Lard [#50]

So in your eyes, Derke and keloqz are top 10 players?

Probably around 10 and 20 respectively give or take a couple slots. Imo Asuna would be around Keloqs although I haven't made a list

KyLZi [#38]

Explain Jamppi > shahz. Im not saying you are wrong just want to hear why, unless you are the type of guy to hate shahz for his personality/CS drama. Both are cracked IGLs.

Nah I rate Shahz highly, id put him 2nd/3rd best IGL with redgar.

Honestly keznit > nitro imo but overall great list!!

After finalizing the list with the addition of zeek, here are some stats about the list:
Players by region:
EMEA: 8/20(40%)
NA: 8/20(40%)
SAM: 3/20(15%)
APAC: 1/20(5%)
Players by role:
Main Duelist: 9/20(45%)
Initiator: 5/20(25%)
Sentinel: 2/20(10%)
Smokes: 2/20(10%)
Flex: 2/20(10%)
Teams with the most players:

1. Sentinels: 4/20(20%)
2. Gambit: 3/20(15%)
3. Acend: 2/20(10%)
4. Envy: 2/20(10%)
5. 100 Thieves: 2/20(10%)

PrTsty [#14]

True but
Scream > TenZ
Jamppi > shahz
L1nk > zombs
Nivera = dapr
Soulcas < sick

i would say nivera is alot better than dapr honestly

Fat_Lard [#44]

I said top 3, not number 3. I'll tell you now he's definitely not number 3

top 3 number 3 is the same shit and scream is top 1 and number 1 in rifling no one is better than him thats it

PrTsty [#14]

True but
Scream > TenZ
Jamppi > shahz
L1nk > zombs
Nivera = dapr
Soulcas < sick

I think the ranking is more like

Scream=Tenz
Shaz slightly>Jamppi
L1nk Major > Zombs
Nivera=Dapr (really just depends on agent)
Sick slightly>soulcas (soulcas plays much more supportive)

IMO Zombs is by far the worst player but I also think SEN has 3 of the top 5 so its really pick ur poison. Liquid is def the more complete team and Sliggy being such a good coach helps them a lot

Fat_Lard [#40]

For the entire year of 2021 they were not top 20 players. Zeek, Leaf, and Jamppi are now but not for the entire year. Leaf didn't really start playing like a superstar until the new C9 roster with Vanity and with him being on Jett, even though he was a great player, especially on raze before, he didn't do anything up until August to warrant being in the top 20. Jamppi was terrible at Reykjavik and up until EMEA Last Chance in October, he played well but was nowhere close to being a top 20 player. Again, he's a top 20 player right now but he wasn't a top 20 player for the year of 2021. Zeek is the trickiest one of the 4. Maybe he deserves to be on their, but for half of the year, when he was on G2, he didn't play good enough to warrant being on there but he did play great at Masters Berlin and Champs and he won Champs so he is definitely a tricky one but I kept him off cause he only played like a top 20 player for half of the year and not the whole year. Deffo just isn't a good enough player imo. Sure he's won a lot but I just don't think he deserves a spot over some of the other duelists like Patiphan, keznit and Derke just because he's won a lot.

Did you consider Yay on ABX ?
He also started playing against good teams after Challengers 2 while Zeek was already dominating EU
If only 1 tournament can warrant Yay as #3 player why can't Zeek be in top 20 even though he has shown more results both individually and team based

darksiders212 [#56]

top 3 number 3 is the same shit and scream is top 1 and number 1 in rifling no one is better than him thats it

Leave this sentinel's fan alone

ScreaM is definitely top 3 in the world.

Not a terrible list, but I do gotta say that this list is pretty biased towards Sentinels. Surely if 4/5 of the players on your team are top 20 players, you would at least be able to qualify out of the group stage, right?

Vanity and leaf deserve spots over SicK and Dapr imo, especially since Vanity has taken two separate teams to the international stage.

Traderslife [#59]

Leave this sentinel's fan alone

ScreaM is definitely top 3 in the world.

sentinels fan? the fck are u talking about dont u see im talking about scream being top 1 in rifling and defending him u fkin dumbass

oops

CreedSama [#58]

Did you consider Yay on ABX ?
He also started playing against good teams after Challengers 2 while Zeek was already dominating EU
If only 1 tournament can warrant Yay as #3 player why can't Zeek be in top 20 even though he has shown more results both individually and team based

1st off I changed the list after thinking about it some more and now yay is at 6th and zeek is 14th. Secondly, yay was actually shitting on the rest of NA while on Andbox, even though he wasn't winning and then he joined Envy and took them from a team who couldn't get to the finals of NA events into a team who got to the finals at Berlin. Also saying zeek has shown more results individually is the most braindead thing I've heard. yay completely dominated NA in every tournament he played in, the best teams in the world at Berlin and he still played amazing at Champs even though his team lost and his teammate had covid. Outside of maybe Champs, zeek's individual achievements are puny compared to el diablo's and even in Champs, yay put up better numbers(doesn't mean he played better) and played great.

Fat_Lard [#63]

1st off I changed the list after thinking about it some more and now yay is at 6th and zeek is 14th. Secondly, yay was actually shitting on the rest of NA while on Andbox, even though he wasn't winning and then he joined Envy and took them from a team who couldn't get to the finals of NA events into a team who got to the finals at Berlin. Also saying zeek has shown more results individually is the most braindead thing I've heard. yay completely dominated NA in every tournament he played in, the best teams in the world at Berlin and he still played amazing at Champs even though his team lost and his teammate had covid. Outside of maybe Champs, zeek's individual achievements are puny compared to el diablo's and even in Champs, yay put up better numbers(doesn't mean he played better) and played great.

Yay didnt do anything significant on ABX , they never managed to win against a T1 team , even though he was being held back by his team you cant say he was one of the best in NA if he never achieved anything same with Aleksander ???
While Zeek was dominating EU with Acend and was the best player in the team after Cned
I never said Zeek was better than Yay but if Yay is that high up on the list with only 3 major tournies played , why make an argument that Zeek didnt do much in half the year when yay literally did the same

CreedSama [#64]

Yay didnt do anything significant on ABX , they never managed to win against a T1 team , even though he was being held back by his team you cant say he was one of the best in NA if he never achieved anything same with Aleksander ???
While Zeek was dominating EU with Acend and was the best player in the team after Cned
I never said Zeek was better than Yay but if Yay is that high up on the list with only 3 major tournies played , why make an argument that Zeek didnt do much in half the year when yay literally did the same

No yeah, I realized that which is why I moved yay to 6 and put zeek at 14 earlier cause every time someone would argue for zeek I realized that he should be on the list and also it's hypocritical to put yay at 2 when zeek is off of the list for his time on G2 so I moved yay to 6th cause he still dominated and was an insane player in 2021 and zeek to 14 cause of his accomplishments and individual skill while also being a great sova/kayo player(as well as raze and reyna).

chronicle higher

darksiders212 [#61]

sentinels fan? the fck are u talking about dont u see im talking about scream being top 1 in rifling and defending him u fkin dumbass

are you stupid lol, I'm talking about him not you.

KyLZi [#38]

Explain Jamppi > shahz. Im not saying you are wrong just want to hear why, unless you are the type of guy to hate shahz for his personality/CS drama. Both are cracked IGLs.

Both fantastic players. I think anyone putting jampii over Shaz is looking at his agent depth. That would be my guess

CreedSama [#12]

U mean win 1 international tournament and go out at 8th in the 2nd and not make it out in the groups for the 3rd one

By that logic Get RIght is still the best CS player of all time

They downvoting hard facts

Fat_Lard [#65]

No yeah, I realized that which is why I moved yay to 6 and put zeek at 14 earlier cause every time someone would argue for zeek I realized that he should be on the list and also it's hypocritical to put yay at 2 when zeek is off of the list for his time on G2 so I moved yay to 6th cause he still dominated and was an insane player in 2021 and zeek to 14 cause of his accomplishments and individual skill while also being a great sova/kayo player(as well as raze and reyna).

Good changes

yungbasel [#68]

Both fantastic players. I think anyone putting jampii over Shaz is looking at his agent depth. That would be my guess

This + how fast he is improving, shahz has played since beta, almost a year more than jamppi

Bugged reply. Delete this.

kristof [#42]

“ yay has dominated NA all year and, after he was acquired by Envy, dominated the best teams in the world at Masters Berlin.”

the mf joined to envy in august.. they had one lucky run in berlin bcz they only faced against tier 2 teams in the groups and only NA teams in the playoffs, they immediately got 3-0d the first time they faced against a decent team. and beside that one tourney they havent done shit in this year

Yay is a very good player....but damn, you're not wrong. I never looked at envys run like that.

Homie really snuck crashies in there. 💀

Otherwise I think it's a decent list considering it was made by one person in probably <1 day. I would like to see a more official top 20 from VLR though, it's always a highlight in my year reading all of the CS ones!

if your curious i already made a post about my top 20 some time ago (https://www.vlr.gg/60094/top-20-players-of-2021) I would like to hear more about your reasoning on placing the players in their positions

it's impossible to choose the top 20 players in the world because you just don't consider the huge number of players who haven't played on the world stage yet. Such as leo,cloud,f1tinho,shao and many others and this is only in EMEA.

PrTsty [#71]

This + how fast he is improving, shahz has played since beta, almost a year more than jamppi

True

nAts over cNed and switch Sacy with Stax.