The Best CS:GO Players in 2022

Did you enjoy many CS:GO esports events in 2022? Those excellent matches and breathtaking moments were created by dedicated and super-talented players. They are examples and even role models for millions. They are the best CS:GO players in 2022!

Many professionals just changed their positions in comparison with 2021. But we also have some names missing — EliGE, NAF, electroNic, HObbit, and dev1ce did not make it to the Top 20 this year.

1. Oleksandr “⁠s1mple⁠” Kostyliev

Rating 2.0 — 1.26
Kills per round — 0.83
Deaths per round — 0.61
K/D ratio — 1.35
Total kills — 2585
Total deaths — 1913
Total maps played — 116

s1mple was #1 last year, and he has the chance to keep the same leading position among the best CS:GO players of all time. Arguably the main strength of this guy is the ability to be effective with different weapons — and thus take his team, NaVi, to many substantial successes.

In 2022, s1mple was MVP at BLAST Spring Final (NaVi won that tournament) and IEM Cologne (NaVi came 2nd).

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2. Mathieu “⁠ZywOo⁠” Herbaut

Rating 2.0 — 1.27
Kills per round — 0.80
Deaths per round — 0.59
K/D ratio — 1.37
Total kills — 3421
Total deaths — 2505
Total maps played — 157

You can see ZywOo in most lists of CS:GO best players — and mainly on top. The guy plays the roles of AWPer or Rifler. As part of Team Vitality, ZywOo won ESL Pro League Season 16, and he was MVP at that tournament. His other notable achievement is 2nd place at BLAST Spring Final, where Vitality lost to NaVi in the Grand Final.

3. Dmitry “⁠sh1ro⁠” Sokolov

Rating 2.0 — 1.28
Kills per round — 0.79
Deaths per round — 0.52
K/D ratio — 1.50
Total kills — 2525
Total deaths — 1680
Total maps played — 120

sh1ro is an AWPer at Cloud9 right now, but in 2022 he also played for his previous team Gambit Esports. With Gambit, sh1ro won the A-tier tournament Funspark ULTI and became an MVP. His achievement with Cloud9 is bigger — 1st place at IEM XVII Dallas.

4. Sergey “⁠Ax1Le⁠” Rykhtorov

Rating 2.0 — 1.21
Kills per round — 0.75
Deaths per round — 0.62
K/D ratio — 1.21
Total kills — 2396
Total deaths — 1987
Total maps played — 600

Ax1Le⁠ is a teammate of sh1ro, so his achievements in 2022 are pretty much the same. The obvious difference is that Ax1Le⁠ was an MVP at IEM Dallas. In April 2022, the whole roster of Gambit Esports moved to Cloud9. Not all players managed to keep the pace of the esports success, but Ax1Le⁠ did.

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5. Nikola “⁠NiKo⁠” Kovač

Rating 2.0 — 1.22
Kills per round — 0.77
Deaths per round — 0.65
K/D ratio — 1.18
Total kills — 2790
Total deaths — 2359
Total maps played — 135

⁠NiKo⁠ has been playing for G2 since 2020, and he got his big victory with this team in 2022 — 1st place at BLAST Premier: World Final. The player was awarded EVP at five CS:GO esports tournaments.

It’s so impressive to see that even after 13 years of a pro career, NiKo is still on top; he is one of the CS:GO best players — and surely not only in 2022.

6. Helvijs “broky” Saukants

Rating 2.0 — 1.16
Kills per round — 0.75
Deaths per round — 0.59
K/D ratio — 1.26
Total kills — 3467
Total deaths — 2759
Total maps played — 170

broky is an AWPer at FaZe Clan, and he has significant competitive achievements with the team. 2022 was pretty successful for broky. The player was MVP twice: at IEM Katowice and BLAST Premier: Fall Finals. FaZe Clan won PGL Major Antwerp, IEM Cologne and Katowice, as well as ESL Pro League Season 15. The prize money from these victories alone totals $1,490,000!

7. Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov

Rating 2.0 — 1.17
Kills per round — 0.74
Deaths per round — 0.59
K/D ratio — 1.26
Total kills — 2728
Total deaths — 2158
Total maps played — 136

m0NESY got his essential experience in NaVi Junior and entered the “grown-up” esports arena in 2022, becoming part of G2 Esports. The year was somewhat shaky for the guy, but the team still had some significant successes, such as 2nd place at IEM Katowice and victory at BLAST Premier: World Final, where m0NESY got the MVP title.

It’s m0NESY’s first appearance in our annual list of the best CS:GO players. Perhaps it won’t be the last.

8. Robin “ropz” Kool

Rating 2.0 — 1.14
Kills per round — 0.72
Deaths per round — 0.59
K/D ratio — 1.22
Total kills — 3227
Total deaths — 2645
Total maps played — 163

This player joined FaZe Clan in 2022 as a lurker. The team won quite a lot throughout the year, including PGL Major in Antwerp, IEM Katowice, IEM Cologne, and ESL Pro League Season 15, where ropz was an MVP. Such results feel a lot like an excellent continuation of the guy’s career — during his years at mousesports, ropz earned quite a reputation.

9. Kaike “⁠KSCERATO⁠” Cerato

Rating 2.0 — 1.17
Kills per round — 0.72
Deaths per round — 0.59
K/D ratio — 1.23
Total kills — 2312
Total deaths — 1874
Total maps played — 122

It wasn’t the best year for FURIA Esports as the team won only the American Regional qualifier for PGL Major Antwerp. Another notable result is the 3rd/4th place at IEM Rio Major. Still, ⁠KSCERATO⁠ demonstrated both skill and style — and he was pretty valuable for his team, gaining four EVP rewards. ⁠

KSCERATO⁠ has improved his position in the list of the best CS:GO players in 2022 in comparison with 2021, moving from 15th to 9th place.

10. Martin “⁠stavn⁠” Lund

Rating 2.0 — 1.17
Kills per round — 0.75
Deaths per round — 0.64
K/D ratio — 1.18
Total kills — 2844
Total deaths — 2409
Total maps played — 142

As a rifler and AWPer of the team Heroic, ⁠stavn⁠ significantly helped his team get many top positions at big events. They did not have super brilliant victories but enjoyed 1st places at BLAST Premier: Fall Finals and Pinnacle Cup Championship — ⁠stavn⁠ was an MPV at both these tournaments. Heroic were 2nd at IEM Rio Major and 3rd at IEM Katowice.

11. Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken

Rating 2.0 — 1.12
Kills per round — 0.69
Deaths per round — 0.61
K/D ratio — 1.14
Total kills — 3207
Total deaths — 2811
Total maps played — 170

After a pretty successful career with Team Liquid, Twistzz joined FaZe Clan in 2021. But only the year 2022 brought the guy and the team some really awesome results, including their victory at PGL Major Antwerp. Twistzz was an EVP seven(!) times throughout the year. Every esports event highlights cool weapon skins, so we all want to expand our inventories. One of the ways to do so is using CS:GO trade up contracts — this article on DMarket gives sufficient info on them.

12. Benjamin “⁠blameF⁠” Bremer

Rating 2.0 — 1.24
Kills per round — 0.79
Deaths per round — 0.62
K/D ratio — 1.28
Total kills — 10984
Total deaths — 3176
Total maps played — 187

In late 2021, ⁠blameF⁠ left Complexity Gaming and joined Astralis. Sure, this organization is not as unstoppable as it was a few years ago, but ⁠blameF⁠ helped his new team come 3rd at BLAST Premier: Fall Finals, 2nd at Pinnacle Cup Championship, and 3rd/4th at IEM Cologne. The guy got the EVP title three times in 2022.

13. Håvard “⁠rain⁠” Nygaard

Rating 2.0 — 1.09
Kills per round — 0.69
Deaths per round — 0.68
K/D ratio — 1.02
Total kills — 3017
Total deaths — 2969
Total maps played — 162

For almost his whole pro career, ⁠rain⁠ played for FaZe. He is a rifler, and his contribution to the team’s success in 2022 was super significant. The biggest victory for FaZe was 1st place at PGL Major Antwerp, and rain was an MVP there. In addition he was an EVP at three other tournaments.

Last year, rain wasn’t among the best players.

14. Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač

Rating 2.0 — 1.12
Kills per round — 0.73
Deaths per round — 0.64
K/D ratio — 1.13
Total kills — 2646
Total deaths — 2332
Total maps played — 135

huNter- has been playing for G2 esports for quite a while; he is a lurker. 2022 was quite remarkable for the team, as they got their first S-tier victory since 2020 — at BLAST Premier: World Final. Another notable achievement for G2 is 2nd place at IEM Katowice. And huNter- was an EVP at both of these tournaments.

15. Mareks “⁠YEKINDAR⁠” Gaļinskis

Rating 2.0 — 1.14
Kills per round — 0.74
Deaths per round — 0.69
K/D ratio — 1.07
Total kills — 2701
Total deaths — 2528
Total maps played — 133

⁠YEKINDAR⁠ had a chance to play for three teams in 2022. He won the A-tier event ESL Challenger #48 with Virtus.pro, but the team benched him in March. ⁠YEKINDAR⁠ played a few tournaments for Outsiders, another team by the same Russian organization, created to avoid sanctions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since July, ⁠YEKINDAR⁠ has been playing for Team Liquid. In October, the player paid to exit his contract with Virtus.pro and sign with his new team.

These changes did not stop him from being very good at CS:GO. ⁠YEKINDAR⁠’s biggest achievement in 2022 is 2nd place at BLAST Premier: World Final, where he was an EVP.

16. Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy

Rating 2.0 — 1.10
Kills per round — 0.68
Deaths per round — 0.66
K/D ratio — 1.09
Total kills — 2497
Total deaths — 2299
Total maps played — 136

This year wasn’t as good for NaVi as 2021, but still, the team got some impressive results partially thanks to the skills of b1t, their entry fragger and AWPer. The Ukrainian team was 3rd at IEM Katowice, 2nd at PGL Major Antwerp, and 1st at BLAST Premier: Spring Finals. Twice this year, b1t was a tournament EVP. Still, b1t dropped from his 9th position in 2021 to 16th this year.

17. David “⁠frozen⁠” Čerňanský

Rating 2.0 — 1.17
Kills per round — 0.71
Deaths per round — 0.58
K/D ratio — 1.23
Total kills — 2990
Total deaths — 2429
Total maps played — 159

This guy also was absent from our 2021 list, and to be honest, his team MOUZ did not demonstrate mind-blowing results in 2022. Their achievements are still solid, and ⁠frozen⁠ put in enough effort to make them possible. It’s worth noting MOUZ’s 3rd/4th place at IEM Rio Major. ⁠frozen was an EVP at that tournament and also at ESL Pro League Season 16.

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18. Lotan “Spinx” Giladi

Rating 2.0 — 1.10
Kills per round — 0.72
Deaths per round — 0.64
K/D ratio — 1.12
Total kills — 3506
Total deaths — 3129
Total maps played — 181

In 2022, Spinx changed his team, moving from ENCE to Vitality midseason. Perhaps this step helped the guy make it to this list. Still, his results with ENCE are also remarkable — for example, 3rd/4th place at PGL Major Antwerp and 2nd at ESL Pro League Season 15. With Vitality, Spinx won ESL Pro League Season 16. He was an EVP at these tournaments. We sure can expect even bigger things from him and his teammates in 2023.

19. Yuri “yuurih” Santos

Rating 2.0 — 1.13
Kills per round — 0.71
Deaths per round — 0.62
K/D ratio — 1.14
Total kills — 2271
Total deaths — 1984
Total maps played — 122

yuurih has been playing for Furia since 2017, being with the team for many tournaments. 2022 wasn’t their best for sure, with no S-tier victories. But yuurih was a solid competitor nevertheless. 3rd/4th places at ESL Pro League Season 15, IEM Dallas, and IEM Rio Major are still excellent achievements, and yuurih was an EVP there.

20. Dzhami “Jame” Ali

Rating 2.0 — 1.12
Kills per round — 0.66
Deaths per round — 0.51
K/D ratio — 1.29
Total kills — 2185
Total deaths — 1693
Total maps played — 127

Like other Virtus.pro players, Jame moved to the team Outsiders created by the same organization from Russia — as a method to avoid international anti-war sanctions. The trick worked, so Outsiders participated in quite a few events. They won IEM Rio Major, where Jame was an MVP. Can this victory and title save his reputation (and actually of all Outsiders)?

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