Some players surprised and others massively under performed...
Best players
Hybrid: Vito “kNg” Giuseppe
Given that this was kNg’s first event with Immortals, he did an exceptional job. Usually a dedicated AWP, however, he played with both the AWP and rifles, achieving the 5th highest kills with the AWP (63), and a respectable 45 kills with the AK.
What made kNg stand out was his sheer impact in games, which was further demonstrated by multiple multi-kill rounds and his presence on the map. His profound 1.6 rating was the second highest on his team after boltz, while his KD-difference rested at a healthy +27.
Rifle: Ricardo “boltz” Prass
There’s no denying boltz’ game-changing deliveries at the tournament. He was the highest rated player at the event, boasting 1.24, and demonstrated finesse and good game control – at times single-handily winning maps for the team.
In fact, immortals have been looking stronger recently. With the help of streel, boltz is able to not only IGL but also deliver on number too – he was the highest ADR performer of the event with 91.5.
Support: Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert
Cloud9’s superb support, n0thing, showed once again just why he is considered one of NA’s best players. He really shone on Mirage – his three matches on the map were his best of the tournament, with a K/D difference of +13 in two of the three. He also had the third most clutches of the event, and won all five of them.
These performances will no doubt shore up n0thing’s reputation for great play and dependability. It’s clear that he’s successfully adapted his game to make room for Autimatic and Stewie to thrive; exactly what you want from a good support.
AWP: Tyler “Skadoodle” Latham,
Skadoodle ended up being Cloud9’s best player with a 1.4 rating and the highest K/D difference in the tournament of +48. He kept a solid presence during the tournament with the least amount of deaths per round at 0.56, and the highest total amount of AWP kills at 109.
He truly helped C9 win the tournament, which was brutally highlighted during their match up against immortals in a 1v5 situation, securing four while defusing the bomb. In fact, he had the second highest 1v1 clutch kills at the event.
IGL: Alec “Slemmy” White
Though compLexity did pretty poorly overall, Slemmy really held his own and stood out. For a player who often lacks fragging power, he showed improvement – on Train against NRG, he racked up 28 kills. He ended up with a positive rating in two of his three matches, even though compLexity lost all three.
Slemmy earned some recognition this tournament. Now he just needs to build on these performances and work on his consistency.
Worst players
Hybrid: Lucas ‘destiny’ Bullo
We were a bit surprised at destiny’s wobbly performance this tournament. The usually solid Luminosity hybrid struggled to make his presence felt, and ended up being his team’s worst performer with a rating of 0.76 and the biggest kill/death deficit of the tournament at -50.
He only managed a positive rating in one match (against Immortals), and had a K/D difference of -16 in one miserable game against Cloud9.
Luminosity might be concerned, but, aside from this tournament, Destiny hasn’t played badly this year. Even in the last three months, he has a much more respectable rating of 0.93. Only time will tell whether this was just a bump in the road.
Rifle: Derek “desi” Branchen
Desi wasn’t just the worst rifler of the tournament; arguably he was also the worst player. His tournament rating of 0.64 was the overall lowest, as was his kill/death ratio of 0.62. He lost all three maps he played, and, in fact, this was the worst tournament of his entire career.
It should be alarming to note that each compLexity player had a negative K/D ratio, with Desi’s by far the worst. That throws up awkward questions about whether the team is working, especially having recently brought Slemmy aboard.
AWP: Kia “Surreal” Man
Surreal had a bewilderingly bad tournament, and was the worst AWP overall. He was also the second worst player from complexity.
His score for the tournament, 0.75, is way below his average 1.04 for this year so far. Against Immortals, compLexity fell victim of a nasty double AWP strategy, and in their two other matches, Surreal didn’t do quite so badly. Though he failed to make any real impact in any, perhaps this was a temporary bad patch.
Support: Pujan “FNS” Mehta
FNS, the stalwart support of CLG, really didn’t bring his A game. He was pretty much carried by his team across CLG’s 10 matches, and frequently gave away entry kills. His poor K/D difference of -36, and overall rating of 0.81 indicate a player who simply isn’t pulling his weight.
Despite being dead weight on maps like Cache, there were still glimmers of great play from FNS, notably on Train against Luminosity. We therefore don’t want to jump to conclusions, but FNS definitely needs to show he can bring something to the team.
IGL: Skyler “Relyks” Weaver
This is definitely a pretty harsh pick; after all, Relyks was standing in as IGL for Misfits due to Seangares’ absence. On top of this, Misfits recently lost their star player, Shahzam, and have two French players.
Being a last minute IGL for a Misfits was always going to be tough. That said, the numbers don’t lie, and Relyks lost all three matches, with ratings of below 0.65 on two of them.
What does this mean for Relyks? Probably not much. It was a tough ask, and a difficult job, so we can probably cut him a little slack. The onus now is on Misfits to get their team in order.
