my top 10 of 2021:

First off, I am making this ranking with the criteria that performance is the most important, achievements close second, and the "carry factor" is lightly considered. internationals are much more valuable than regionals. As for LAN vs ONLINE, I'm not differentiating them if they're not international.

With that being said:
1 - cNed - Best player in the world, Very high rating, champs winner, masters 1 winner. Hard carried Acend through the year until champs.
2 - nats - Rating looks not so impressive, but he is by far the best sentinel in the world. High impact player, and most team achievements: Masters 1, 3(mvp) and 2nd at champs
3 - TenZ - Became a bit overrated, but still incredible player. Historic rating at Iceland & mvp, good rating in masters 3 despite losing first round, played bad at champs though.
4 - Yay - IMO a better player than TenZ, but played for ABX for a good part of the year, accomplishing nothing. Their ratings diff isn't much either. Definitely will be higher next year
5 - ScreaM - Arguably the best aimer in the world, but 2 downsides. 1 - Plays secondary duelist with reyna, but can't flex onto skye. 2 - When he plays the jett he is a liability in some situations. Still best reyna and top sage, and hope TL can not choke next year.
6 - Chronicle - Best sova in the world, solid flex onto smokes. He doesn't carry the team and his stats aren't the highest, but 2nd best player on the most dominant team.
7 - Derke - Underrated jett, top 5 in the world. However, people wrote him off after choking the GF in Iceland. Played very well at champs and gets a boost for that
8 - ShahZam - One of the top IGL's early on in the game. However, he is often held accountable for SEN's lack of adaptations to the meta. He's still played above expectations after switching off jett, but he's had his woes this year.
9 - keznitdeuS - Made all 3 international events this year, and IMO he was the best secondary duelist at champions. Still you can argue that LATAM isn't the most competitive of all regions, but he's proven himself. (P.S. First game I ever watched of him I thought he might've been cheating. Now I'm just impressed how good his crosshair placement is)
10 - Zeek - Inconsistent throughout the year, but at his highs he is the best in the server. Champions MVP deserves this last spot despite not having anything else.

Imagine not having ethan and having derke who ONLY played well in 1 tourney of the year

Nats is best player in the world, his impact is incomparable and guy literally carry like a duelist

MY TOP 10

1 nAts, pls stop comparing this man to an one trick jett user. His stat and impact is even comparable to a jett user like yay or tenz
2-5 Cned, great player. everyone know. his op, his jett, his sage is insane
2-5 Scream, also a great player, but only to his reyna. his jett suck
2-5 Keznitdeus, great flexibe player. can play with any agent and still has the same impact
2-5 Chronicle
6 Sacy, insane sova player. INSANE
7 Yay
8 Shahzam, the most consistent player in his team
9 Marved, best controller in the world no cap.
10 heat, i still think heat is one of the best jett in the world. has impressive stat both in master 2 berlin & champions

Correction: Keznit was not at Iceland. Kru added him after.

My Top 10 of 2021:

1. Cned : The reason I picked Cned here was because he was consistent throughout the year. An MVP performance in Masters 1 was the beginning and Masters 3 showed that he had the potential to do it on LAN as well. At the end of the year he is the most consistent Jett and his Prism OP is evidence that he is one to be reckoned with.

2. NAts : NAts at no.2 might be a bit controversial but that's not had for a Cypher/Viper main. MVP of masters Berlin and a good performance at Champions is evidence that he deserves to be here at no.2. His champs' performance wasn't on par with his Master's 3 performance but winning Masters 1 and 3 are great achievements for arguably one of the stars of the future.

3. Tenz : Tenz at 3rd needs no justification as well. Best player at Masters 1 NA and Masters 2 and a really good showing at Masters 3 as well. His performance at Champs is what puts him at 3rd and his adaptability on any other agent other than Reyna or Jett is a cause of concern. With a wider agent pool, and better Oping, he could be the best player next year as well.

4. ScreaM : Arguably the best Liquid player since their inception. His Jett, Reyna numbers are insane and he's ready to be a team player at times too. He carried Liquid through the first half of the year and his clutch against G2 at RedBull Home ground could be one of the best this year.

5. Chronicle: Man is the definition of consistent and flexibility. Can play any role in the team and can be a good one at that too. Fantastic performances in Masters 3 and Champs show that he needs to be here at no.5

6. Yay : He brought Envy from a top 4 to top 2 in NA and the world upon his aquisition. He was the best Jett and 2nd best players at Masters 3 but his lack of accomplishments in the form of trophies put him at this place.

7. Derke : You may argue that Derke doesn't deserve to be here, but I can say that after Fnatic acquired him, they became one of the best in the world and came close to the Masters 2 title. He was definitely the best player for Fnatic at Champs and Masters 2.

8. Shahzam : I can say that he is still one of the best IGLs in the world and you might disagree. Adapting on to a role of Sova, Skye and Breach in place of your Jett is a big sacrifice just to accommodate your star player. Consistent ever since the beginning but a few bad performances from the team overall let him down. After all it was just a few rounds away from making it to the SFs in Masters 3 and QFs in Champs.

9. Keznitdeus : One of the best flex players at Champs and his potential was present throughout Berlin. He got a chance to prove it against Sentinels and Fnatic and a top 4 finish is good evidence as to why he is here.

10. Crashies : Stats may say that he was only good at Masters 3 but he has been consistently playing well for the entire year. Part of the reason why Envy succeeded in the first place without Yay and he makes it to the top 10.

Honorable mentions : Zeek, Starxo, Magnum, Heat, Sacy, Munchkin, Stax, Rb, D3ffo.

The rat in top 10
OMEGALUL