CS:GO's Finest: Top 10 Players in the Game's History

Professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) players take the game to a whole new level. They spend hours practicing, developing strategies, and studying their opponents. The best CS:GO players are not only skilled at the game, but they are also excellent communicators, team players, and leaders. From the rush of clutching a round to the excitement of watching the best players in the world compete, there is nothing quite like the thrill of CS:GO. Here’s a dive into the top 10 CS:GO players of all time

Before we continue, it's important to acknowledge some of the players who narrowly missed the cut. These players are still legends in their own right and deserve recognition for their incredible skills and achievements. Here are some of the honorable mentions:

• Robin ‘flusha’ Rönnquist

• Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander

• Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo

• Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut

• Richard ‘shox’ Papillon

While these players didn't make our top 10 list, they are still some of the best CS:GO players of all time and have contributed greatly to the game.

ㅤ#10. ㅤ Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen

dupreeh has cemented his place among the greats of CS:GO through his unwavering consistency and impressive major achievements and is known for his exhilarating run with Astralis during which he won 4 Major titles. Notably, he has attended every single Major in the game's history, an impressive feat in and of itself.

dupreeh has time and time again proven that he is a versatile and adaptable player, able to quickly adjust to conditions and outplay his opponents. He would seamlessly switch between lurking, entry fragging and AWPing as and when his team needed him to. 2018 was dupreeh’s best year in CS:GO, winning 8 S-tier tournaments including his 2nd Major and achieved his career best HLTV ranking of #5. His ability to remain calm under pressure and make smart decisions has made him a valuable asset to any team he plays for. In the January of 2022, dupreeh hung up his Astralis jersey when he was picked up by Vitality, where he looks to take home his 5th Major title, making it the highest for any player in the history of the game.

ㅤ#9.ㅤ Ladislav ‘GuardiaN’ Kovács

GuardiaN has played for a variety of teams throughout his career, showcasing his incredible AWPing skills, but it was his time with Natus Vincere that really put him on the map. GuardiaN is known for his incredible precision with the AWP, methodical positioning, and his unmatched ability to find the perfect angle for most scenarios. GuardiaN had a consistent presence in HLTV.org's Top 20 player of the year list from 2013 to 2018. In 2014, he even climbed as high as second place in the ranking.

He won eight MVP medals and numerous trophies while playing for his first team, NAVI, and later on for FaZe. However, he was never able to secure a Major crown during his career despite making it to three Major finals: DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015, MLG Columbus 2016, and ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018. He is probably one of the best players to never win a Major, as he walked away from the game in December 2022.

ㅤ#8.ㅤ Christopher ‘GeT_RiGhT’ Alesund

Known for his incredible consistency, game sense and meticulously tactical lurking, the loyal Swede has represented Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) in 12 Majors, winning one of them and securing a 2nd place finish in 4 of them. GeT_RiGhT was already one of the top players in the world of CS even before the release of CS:GO. He was able to continue his dominant playstyle into CS:GO and played a vital role in NiP's success

GeT_RiGhT’s ability to read opponents and anticipate their moves makes him one of the most dangerous players in the history of CS:GO. He is also a great team player, and his leadership has helped Ninjas in Pyjamas win many crucial matches. Get_RiGhT had secured 10 MVP medals just 2 years into the release of CS:GO (2012-2014) and was a part of NiP’s incredible 87-0 win streak which remains unbroken to this day. After a short reunion with his NiP teammates in 2020 as part of the Dignitas project, GeT_RiGhT called it a day.

ㅤ#7.ㅤ Marcelo "coldzera" David

Hailing from Brazil, coldzera is known for his incredible aim and consistency. He has played for a variety of teams throughout his career like Luminosity, FaZe, Complexity, etc, but it was with SK Gaming that coldzera brought home a heap of trophies. In 2016 coldzera won 2 Majors with 2 different teams (Luminosity and SK) and was awarded the MVP for both Majors.

Coldzera is known for his calm demeanor and his ability to perform under pressure. He is a versatile player who is comfortable in a variety of roles, making him one of the best hybrid players to touch the game. He is capable of producing sublime moments such as the jumping AWP no-scope at MLG Columbus, which has been immortalized in-game in the B-site of de_mirage. Coldzera is currently on a new venture, leading budding talent as a part of the 00NATION roster.

ㅤ#6.ㅤ Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer

In 2014 when the competition was at its fiercest, olofmeister played a huge role in Fnatic’s success, making them one of the most feared teams at that time. He was a combination of mechanical talent and breathtaking creativity, using which he would come up with strategies and plays to bust Fnatic out of rough situations. olofmeister did not stop at Fnatic and carried over his form to FaZe.

His spine chilling defuse on the CT side of overpass against Dignitas at ESL One Cologne 2014 in a 14-14 round while burning in the flames of a molotov has been immortalized in-game with a graffiti on the B-site of de_overpass. Comfortable in any role, olofmeister solidified himself as one of the most versatile players in the game. The 2-times consecutive Major winner, is currently a part of the FaZe roster, being inactive on the bench.

ㅤ#5.ㅤ Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač

NiKo is one of the greatest raw aimers in CS:GO and his accuracy is a big threat to any team on the other side. Over the years, NiKo has been a consistent performer, delivering impressive performances even when his teams have faltered. Despite being a skilled rifler in a world dominated by AWPers, NiKo is also proficient with the 'Big Green' and has taken on in-game leadership responsibilities in the past. However, NiKo's contributions have often gone unnoticed, as his record doesn’t quite stand up to that of s1mple and dev1ce.

Furthermore, NiKo has faced criticism for his alleged attempts to overthrow in-game leaders and run his teams. His reputation has been tarnished by this perception, making it difficult for him to get the recognition he deserves. Despite this, NiKo remains determined and shows no signs of slowing down. One major obstacle that has hindered NiKo's success is the lack of a Major title, with his Boston Major heartbreak still haunting him. NiKo is currently a part of the G2 roster heading into the last CS:GO major.

ㅤ#4.ㅤ Kenny ‘kennyS’ Shrub

Imagine someone being so dangerously good at a game that the developers step in and nerf their main tool- that’s all one needs to know about kennyS. His prime with the AWP remains unparalleled to this day and probably hit the highest skill ceiling, displaying an impossible level of excellence. kennyS holds the record for the highest number of AWP kills in the professional scene with a whopping 11924 kills, a record that will remain untouched as CS:GO walks into its final Major. Despite the AWP nerf hitting kennyS the hardest, he continued to put up explosive, fearless, aggressive and flashy performances time and time again.

kennyS's rise to global fame began during his time with Titan, where he established himself as one of the best players in the game. Unfortunately, the team's run was cut short in 2015 when one of his teammates was implicated in a large-scale cheating scandal. Despite this setback, kennyS continued to impress and soon landed a spot on Team Envy alongside two of his former Titan teammates enjoying great success between 2015 and 2017. After leaving Team Envy, kennyS joined G2 Esports in 2017, with whom he was till 2022. Today, kennyS is a member of the Falcons roster. Regardless of where he plays, kennyS's talent and dedication to the game have made him a true superstar in the world of Counter-Strike.

ㅤ#3.ㅤ Patrik ‘f0rest’ Lindberg

f0rest is one of the most legendary names in not only Counter-Strike but across all esports titles. Whether it was his ability to handle the pressure, perform without practicing, or simply keep a smile on his teammate’s faces, f0rest seemed to be able to deliver on all fronts. Although f0rest’s career dates all the way back to 2003, it was after the release of CS:GO that f0rest cemented himself as one of the legends of the game. While there were mixed opinions on CS:GO at the time, f0rest sat down and fragged his way to an 87-0 win streak with NiP. Alongside GeT_RiGhT, f0rest has appeared in 12 majors representing NiP.

f0rest has one Major title under his belt with four 2nd place finishes. As often quoted by the community “One of the nicest guys in CS”, f0rest called it a day in 2022 and is currently inactive. He will forever be a huge part of CS:GO’s lore.

ㅤ#2.ㅤ Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz

One look at dev1ce and one might think “What’s Tom Cruise doing on the Astralis roster?”. By far the most consistent performer CS:GO has ever seen, dev1ce is definitely the Tom Cruise of CS:GO. The star AWPer has never topped the HLTV rankings but over the course of the 11 years that CS:GO has been in existence, dev1ce has spent 8 of them in the HLTV top 20 rankings. What’s more, he managed to maintain a position within the top 5 of the HLTV rankings for a remarkable 6 years in a row, between 2015 and 2020.

dev1ce had been in and out of teams in his early days like CPH Wolves, Dignitas and TSM but the future had something special in store for dev1ce with Astralis coming into existence in early 2016. With Astralis, dev1ce went on to win an astounding 4 majors out of which 3 were back-to-back, which no team in the history of CS:GO has ever done. Dev1ce stands tall right next to s1mple with a staggering 19 MVP medals and 2 Major MVPs. When the online era began in 2020, Astralis lost their footing and come early 2021, dev1ce was signed by Ninjas in Pyjamas thus ending one of the most iconic runs of CS:GO. A year later, dev1ce returned to Astralis but is yet to reach heights that were previously scaled. Although a part of the community may consider him to be mechanically inferior to some of the players on the list, dev1ce has proved himself time after time on the biggest stages that CS:GO had to offer.

ㅤ#1.ㅤ Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev

Around 2014-2015, with the age of legends slowly slowly coming to a halt, a new era of prodigies arose in the professional Counter-Strike scene and s1mple was among the first players of the new generation to get noticed far and wide because of inhuman mechanical skills and game sense. In 2016, the young talent even left his home country of Ukraine to try his luck in North America, in the hopes of securing a Major title. However, he soon began to feel homesick and returned to his roots.It was after this that s1mple started finding his ground as he joined Natus Vincere (NaVi). Despite early setbacks, s1mple continued to work tirelessly to improve his game, and his efforts paid off, taking NaVi to numerous title wins and not to mention s1mple’s maiden Major win in 2021.

What sets s1mple apart is the plays that he goes for, the sheer aggression and the way he executes them with a high degree of success. He goes for plays that most others in his shoes wouldn’t. One of them for instance, is that double no-scope on cache against Fnatic! Where does one find the bravery to free fall into a crouching enemy rifler, no-scope the guy mid air and no-scope another rifler all the way across to the other side of the site? Absolutely no one! At least, not at a Major. s1mple has been in the HLTV top 20 since 2016 and has secured #1 ranking thrice, with 2 of them being consecutively in 2021 and 2022.He currently holds the record for the most MVP medals at 21. Going into the last CS:GO Major, he looks to further his dominance.