In any esport, the question of who the top players are at any period of time is always one open to a large portion of debate. Many factors go into determining the value of a player and how to rank said player in comparison to their peers. This article is an attempt to formulate a top ten ranking for Counter Strike professionals based on form over the last three months.

Methodology

In order to formulate my rankings, I took a look at the gameplay for players over the last three months at events which I deemed to have a sufficiently high level of competition to warrant consideration.

The most important factors for the players in this ranking was level of individual play, their place within the team, the strength of competition at the LANs they shined brightest in, and whether the player in question was a group stage warrior or was a monster that came alive in the high pressure situations of the bracket stage.

In order to formulate these rankings. I solely took a look at individual play and completely ignored the impact that an individual had in terms of developing his team’s strategies.

LAN’s Utilized in Rankings in Order of Importance:

1.ESL Cologne 2016

2.ELeague

3.ECS Season 1 Finals

4.ESL Pro League Season 3 Finals

5.SL I-League Invitational #1

6.ESL Cologne 2016 Qualifiers

7.Dreamhack Open Summer

Coldzera

The question of who is the king of the hill has been a hotly debated topic over the last three months. In my eyes, upon taking a look at the total body of work that each player has produced over the last three months, the throne can belong only to the Brazilian phenom Coldzera himself.

Over the last three months Coldzera has led his team to three LAN titles and a top two finish at ECS finals. More impressive is the fact that over the past three months Coldzera has led his team to victories in best of three sets over some of the best teams in the world, including but not limited to Virtus Pro Astralis and G2. As if all these accomplishments weren’t enough, Coldzera also finished ESL Cologne 2016, the most prestigious Counter Strike tournament to date, with a mind boggling 1.36 rating.

Summing all these accomplishments up ends up leading to a clear conclusion -- no matter how many false bloodlines rise up and stake their claim to the throne, it is clear that the seat at the highest point in the world is one that rests comfortably in the domain of Coldzera.

Device

As an individual player, Device is one of the most talented players to ever touch the game. Possessing one of the most versatile skillsets in the game, Device can seemingly do it all. Be that as it may, the past three months have had a bittersweet taste for all of the Device fans out there. On the bright side of things, the past three months was a good experience as Device was able to once again overcome the choking issues that used to plague him in big time elimination games.

That experience also came packaged with the sad fact that as a team, Astralis, and consequently Device himself, did not have much tournament success. Over these past three months, Device only found himself finishing in the top four at one event, which was Dreamhack Summer. Despite this lack of team success, Device has still been absolutely stellar individually over the past three months at every LAN he has attended; as such, he finds himself ranked as the second best player in the world.

Shox

Over the last three months, the French maestro has once again risen from the ashes and devastated the scene by utilizing his blistering form. Generating highlight clips, the likes of which only a few players have done in history, Shox has once again battled his way through the ranks of the scene to not only a championship win at ECS finals, but also a top two finish at ESL Pro League finals. In terms of peak performance there is an argument to be made that Shox has been the most dangerous player over the last three months.

However, the reason that he only finds himself third on this list is due to the fact that he had a poor ESL Cologne in comparison to the other contenders for the top spot.  Moving forward, do not let your eyes waver from the French magician as he looks to once again grasp at the top spot in the rankings.

Niko

Niko is one of the most phenomenal talents to ever touch the game. His skill set is extremely similar to some of the all time greats of the game, and if he keeps up his current trajectory he will be sure to line up alongside them in the record books at the end of his road.

Niko has been one of the best players in the world, not only over these last three months, but for the totality of 2016. Some people have Niko in contention for the top spot in their own player rankings, but the reason that Niko only finds himself fourth on this list is due to the fact that he has only attended three events over these past three months and performed relatively poorly at the most prestigious one of them all.

Make no mistake however; not only does Niko possess the requisite skill set to climb up the rankings, but there also remains enough time in 2016 for exactly that to happen.

Scream

While Shox’s reclamation of his prime could be described as something that was always in the cards due to his previous history of cyclical form, Scream’s sudden surge can not be described as anything other than surprising. Scream has seemingly come out of nowhere and hit a level that he had never previously hit within Counter Strike Global Offensive.

Finishing with an MVP trophy at ECS finals and ESL Pro League finals has allowed the Belgian superstar to claim a top five spot within the rankings. The most impressive part about Scream’s run over the last three months has been the fact that he has played alongside Shox in his reclaimed prime, and yet there is a legitimate argument to be made that Scream has been the best player within the team in that time period.

Snax

The year of 2016 did not start off particularly well for the Polish superstar, as he found himself continuing on the same downwards trajectory that he had finished 2015 with. In spite of all that, Snax slowly began to pick up his game in 2016 ever since the Counterpit Finals in March. Over the last three months, Snax has seemingly reclaimed the superstar level that in the past led people to peg him as one of the greatest players of all time.

This reclamation of his old form has also allowed Virtus Pro to find a second wind and once again make a run at the top of the scene. Things look bright for Snax moving forward; if he manages to maintain this form moving forwards, then he would only accentuate the already impressive resume he has built up in Counter Strike Global Offensive.

Fallen

Fallen on SK plays the double role of not only in-game and spiritual leader, but also functions as the Bonnie to Coldzera’s Clyde. While Coldzera’s impressive MVP level of play is one of the biggest reasons that SK has achieved the success that they have, it is clear that Fallen’s world class AWP plays no small part in said success either.   World class awping notwithstanding, Coldzera’s presence on the team also doubles as the largest reason that Fallen does not find himself higher on the list. Unlike the G2 duo, the duo within SK have a clear hierarchy in terms of in-game play. Coldzera is the true carry of SK game in and out. Due to the fact that Fallen plays a clear second fiddle to Coldzera in terms of individual impact on the server, Fallen finds himself unable to supplant some of the other star carries higher up on this list. In order for Fallen to climb up this list, it would require him to break out individually even more than he already has. It would require him to play the primary star carry on SK at a higher rate than he does currently.

Flusha

Over the past three months, Flusha has been the best individual player within Fnatic. While Olofmeister may have fallen off in terms of his individual level over these last three months, Flusha himself did not skip a heartbeat and simply kept trudging along at his normal pace. With excellent performances at Eleague and the ESL Pro League finals, Flusha managed to secure himself the eighth spot on this list.

The only reason that Flusha did not manage to place even higher on the list is due to his less than stellar performance at the ECS Lan Finals, as he ended up finishing with a .99 rating. Overall, if Flusha can keep up the pace he has currently set over the rest of the year, then there is no doubt that he could find himself climbing up the ranks of this list.

Edward

In Counter Strike 1.6, Edward was regarded as one of the deadliest players in the world. this year, he has regained that type of form that made him so deadly in the past. Over these past three months, Edward has functioned as the primary star of Natus Vincere and the rock that they rely on to generate frags against tier one competition.

Despite the struggles of Natus Vincere, Edward has been nothing but lights out in terms of his own play. The type of play that Edward has put out on the server on a struggling Natus Vincere over these past three months only generates excitement for Natus Vincere fans moving forward, as they place their hopes and dreams on the new look Natus Vincere.

Olofmeister

Oh, how the mighty have fallen… Just four months ago, Olofmeister and Fnatic were on top of the world, and it seemed like nothing could go wrong. Olofmeister was designated as the de facto best player in the world and Fnatic the best team in the world. Be that as it may, as esports has shown time and time again, the landscape can change at the drop of a hat. For Olofmeister, his wrist injury came as a rude awakening as he fell from his perch as the best player in the world to barely squeaking into the top ten list. Despite his fall off, Olofmeister still remains one of the deadliest players in the world as evidenced by the monstrous performance he had at ELeague.

In order for Olofmeister to climb up this list, it would require him to make headway upon regaining his form of old. If he were to regain his former composure, then what player could possibly stop him from regaining his spot at the top?

Follow the author at @Jwong2903.

Images courtesy of HLTV