The long awaited update to Counter-Strike’s 13 year old Source engine is now just around the corner. This marks a fairly large milestone in Counter-Strike history even if the engine doesn’t make CS:GO a totally different game. It is nonetheless a milestone that separates two phases of the game apart. For this occasion, game changing or not, I have compiled a list of 20 players to be celebrated for their achievements in CS:GO’s Source era.

The criteria for judging these players is visible impact. As such, in-game leadership or any similar criteria will not be taken into account. What will be considered are tournament placings, tournament wins, performance in general, performance in playoffs, and performance in Majors. Performance in games where it counts, i.e. Majors and playoffs, will be weighted higher than group stage performance.

1. Olofmeister

Performance at Majors - Finals: 3  Semis: 2 Quarters: 14  Groups: 0

Even though GeT_RiGhT dominated early CS:GO and was a sizable contributor to the 87-0 that gets thrown around all the time, Olofmeister takes the number one spot in my book. GeT_RiGht did dominate the game, but he didn’t do it for as long or in as competitive of an era as Olof had. Olof has KRiMZ and GeT_RiGhT has f0rest. Just because the majority of GeT_RiGhT’s teammates during his period of dominance have been shown to be much weaker than expected, that doesn’t mean that Olofmeister wasn’t a hard carry in his team either. After Olofmeister’s wrist injury, Fnatic had difficulty in picking up the slack. With time, someone can replace Olofmeister as the best CS:GO player of all time, but in Source 1, Olof is without a doubt the best.

2. GeT_RiGhT

Performance at Majors - Finals: 5 Semis: 1 Quarters: 1 Groups: 2

GeT_RiGhT was the shining star on NiP back in the early days of CS:GO. GeT_RiGhT had innovated the way that Counter-Strike was played with his hard lurk style. However, this innovation that brought his surge of success also brought his downfall. It got to a point where GeT_RiGhT getting spotted meant that the rest of NiP was on the other side of the map. Today, f0rest is typically the one hard-carrying NiP to victories, but because of GeT_RiGhT’s enormous impact on how the game is played and NiP’s success, he gets the second spot on this list.

3. Shox

Performance at Majors: Finals: 1 Semis: 2 Quarters:1 Groups: 5

shox is the archetypal French player. He is good at the game and knows it, not that it’s a bad thing. shox is an artist when it comes to Counter-Strike, and though it doesn’t come through very much now due to his insistence on AWPing, he has been one of the best players to watch in CS:GO. Though he is bringing this hinderance on himself, shox has been a player who has suffered under his in-game leaders when it comes to his role. Despite these roadblocks, shox has managed to wow Counter-Strike aficionados with his incredibly high amount of skill.

4. GuardiaN

Performance at Majors - Finals: 1 Semis: 1 Quarters:5 Groups: 1

Unlike shox, GuardiaN is an amazing player to watch in terms of AWPing. GuardiaN, kennyS, and JW were the inventors of this incredible style of AWPing in CS:GO where the AWPer isn’t just a passive CT holding down the site, but on both sides, these AWPers are aggressive and make plays. GuardiaN is ranked higher than the other AWPers because of how long and consistent he performed at this level. The resources given to GuardiaN in comparison with the other astounding AWPers were taken into account.

5. coldezra

Performance at Majors - Finals: 2 Semis: 1 Quarters:2 Groups: 0

Coming from nowhere—not just unestablished Brazil but from a section of Brazilian Counter-Strike that was even unknown to FalleN—coldzera was a surprise to everyone. While coldzera’s impact was less than Olof’s and for a shorter amount of time, cold is most comparable to Olof, in my eyes. They both could take over games, play a variety of roles, and play at a high level for a long period of time. If given more time, coldzera is one of the players who could overtake Olofmeister.

6. device

Performance at Majors - Finals:1 Semis:4 Quarters:5 Groups: 0

device’s story is easily translatable and admirable to all. He was a troubled star early on in his career, but not in the way that s1mple has been. device was a choker. He would do well up until the big games of the playoffs, and then he would disappear, leaving his team stranded. This has changed in the past several months. Besides having more support around him in terms of players that can take over the game, device has overcome his issues of playing under pressure, enabling him to be one of the greatest CS:GO players to date. His versatility and extraordinary ability make him an easy candidate for this list.

7. kennyS

Performance at Majors - Finals:2 Semis: 0 Quarters:1 Groups: 6

The reason why I rank kennyS lower than GuardiaN is because he had more support around him in his peak than GuardiaN did. Titan was completely built around him. When taken away, he disappeared. While I am not saying that Na’Vi didn’t recognize GuardiaN’s abilities and play accordingly, kennyS is more so a product of the system than GuardiaN is.

8. Snax

Performance at Majors - Finals:2 Semis:4 Quarters:3 Groups: 1

Speaking of being a product of a system, Snax is just that. He is enabled to do the amazing thing he does to the support of his teammates—teammates who have gone to being support players after recognizing what Snax was capable of. Despite the system, Snax is a player who can make things happen that shouldn’t. He is clutch. The numerous plays he makes in a single game are beyond description. St. Augustine said that it was impossible to know God through reason or to capture him in your hand. Like God, Snax escapes understanding in such conventions.

9. s1mple

Performance at Majors - Finals: 1 Semis: 2 Quarters: 1 Groups: 0

If I were to take into account the personalities of NiKo and s1mple, they wouldn’t be so high on this list, but considering them for all the good they have done in-game, NiKo and s1mple are some of the best. They have shown unprecedented levels of versatility. s1mple is a talented AWPer and rifler. He sometimes gets AWP priority on a team with the highest ranked AWPer on this list. The reason why s1mple is rated above NiKo is that s1mple has played about as good as NiKo, but has better results.

10. NiKo

Performance at Majors - Finals: 0 Semis: 0 Quarters: 0 Groups: 4

NiKo is so famed for his versatility that it has gone as far as some people suggesting that he use a Deagle all the time because he is better at it than most players on a rifle. NiKo and s1mple are neck-and-neck. A Major title at the upcoming Major may be enough to put him above s1mple.

11. forest

Performance at Majors - Finals: 5 Semis:1 Quarters: 2 Groups: 1

I mentioned this in my explanation for GeT_RiGhT, but I will reiterate here. f0rest has been basically the sole force behind NiP’s tournament wins for the past year or so. f0rest’s excellent levels that he has hit in the past year are not isolated to 2016, but he has been a good player for a number of years, playing a key role in NiP’s success in early CS:GO.

12. KRiMZ

Performance at Majors  - Finals: 3 Semis:3 Quarters: 4 Groups: 0

When Fnatic had all their success, KRiMZ was the most prominent supporting member. It was KRiMZ and Olof. KRiMZ was the guy that enabled Olof. KRiMZ has been such a phenomenal support player at times that he has been recognized as the best player in the server with carry performances from the support role. The same has been said about NBK and Xyp9x as well, but because of the sheer number of Major titles and the dominance of Fnatic, I give KRiMZ the edge.

13. FalleN

Performance at Majors - Finals: 2 Semis: 1 Quarters: 3 Groups: 0

A fair number of people are probably questioning why FalleN is this low because of him organizing and leading one of the best CS:GO teams ever. However, I remind all questioning this placement of my exclusion of such criteria. I rank FalleN here because of his AWPing ability and capacity to support his team as shown after the departure of fnx. His remarkable performance at Majors is no laughing matter either.

14. NBK

Performance at Majors - Finals: 3 Semis: 2 Quarters: 0 Groups: 5

NBK is not just a support player, just as fer isn’t purely one either. NBK is capable of filling multiple different roles on a team and while he has struggled as an in-game leader, that is not a metric counted on this list. NBK is the glue guy on his teams, and looking at the French scene as a whole, he is also the kingmaker. Every team he has been on has been the best French team, with the last phase of EnVyUS being a possible exception—though, G2 wasn’t particularly prolific either.

15. fer

Performance at Majors - Finals: 2 Semis:1 Quarters: 3 Groups: 0

fer’s silent “decay” into a support player when fnx and TACO joined was disappointing, but the amazing thing to come from it was his ability to come back and carry the team to victory in the recent months. During the breakthrough of Luminosity/Keyd Stars/KaBum, fer was, without a doubt, the main attraction of the team. FalleN’s system could be appreciated by those with a more advanced understanding of the game, but to even a person’s parents who had never seen the game before, they would know that fer was doing something right. And that he did. fer was the Olofmeister, NiKo, kennyS, etc. of his team. In my mind, his transition to and from the support role only adds to my level of awe when it comes to fer.

16. Xpy9x

Performance at Majors - Finals: 1 Semis: 4 Quarters: 5 Groups: 0

Many do not remember or are unaware that Xyp9x was far from a perfect player when TSM was making it to the playoffs of tournaments. Sources say that he was going to get replaced by aizy, a young, rising, star at the time, if he did not improve, and it was at that time he took his game to a higher level. Since then, Xyp9x has continually improved to the point where he has been Astralis’ saving grace in some games. He is clutch and calculated. He doesn’t have the best aim, but he finds a way to contribute nonetheless.

17. JW

Performance at Majors - Finals: 4 Semis:1 Quarters: 4 Groups: 1

JW was one of the best AWPers before CS:GO got to be the big game that we are accustomed to it being today. Before the AWP nerf, JW was doing unbelievable things all of the time, but since then, he has seemed somewhat removed, hindered, and hampered. Although he has found ways to make himself useful as well as innovating the way the game is played, his place on this ranking is earned more so through his achievements of the past than for those now.

18. Hiko

Performance at Majors - Finals: 1 Semis: 2 Quarters: 2 Groups: 3

Despite Hiko having been a weaker and seemingly lost player for the past couple years, like GeT_RiGhT, Hiko no doubt has had a massive impact on the North American scene. While he has been a profound and respected leader, I mean that statement in the sense of his in-game ability. He was a carry on the early CS:GO teams he was on. Besides his in-game contributions, he is the most successful North American at Majors.

19. ScreaM

Performance at Majors - Finals: 0 Semis: 1 Quarters: 1 Groups: 6

ScreaM really is a wildly inconsistent player, but when there are those few months and matches that he is on, he boggles one’s mind. His tapping style has been the life of him as well as the death of him, but for the amount of skill he possesses, I feel compelled to put him on this list.

20. allu

Performance at Majors - Finals: 1 Semis: 1 Quarters: 2 Groups: 0

allu, the opposite of ScreaM, has been one of the most consistent stars in CS:GO. As NiP was cascading, allu was putting in his fair share of kills. He doesn’t take over the game very often, but he is so reliable that he is a powerful force on a team.

Image credit: Fnatictv, ESL, Gfinity, theScore esports, SK Gaming, CS:GO Wallpapers, ThaiCSGO.com, Aftonbladet Esport, Gfinity, ELEAGUE, Elexor, csgo-forecast.com, Monika Urba?czak

Follow the author for more on Twitter at @Bleda412.