After a tight-knit race, HLTV has presented Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbautas as the number one player in the world. This year’s rankings had kept the fans on their toes as stats usually speak loud about the potential winner. However, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and ZywOo’s close fight had tied everyone in knots.
After a close fight, ZywOo has retained his position as the finest player in Counter Strike: Global Offensive. The final announcement of world ranking also reveals Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev as the second-best in the world.
The 20-year old had become a pivotal part of the French team, propelling the team to various victories in 2020. While he effectively played the team-guy, ZywOo ensured that he remained on top of his game individually as well.
Vitality’s ace rifler showed his true potential in the second half of the year where he posted incredible performances in the three Regional Major Ranking tournaments and the BLAST Spring Europe Finals. He edged past s1mple with a slight margin, thanks to his ability to get first kills and clutches. The player stands at an impact rating of 1.38, earning him the title of the best player in the world. To top it all, the young star bagged six MVPs and four EVP awards across different tournaments.
With his incredible AWP plays and laden scoreboard, s1mple is usually the top contender to bag the title. However, the fight for the number one spot on world ranking had gotten a bit dicey in 2020. The top three players of 2019 Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz, s1mple, and ZywOo reappeared as potential winners for the number one spot and ended up replicating the last years rankings. This year, Vitality’s gleaming success was attributed to ZywOo’s AWP skills, gaining him an edge over the rest.
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While s1mple scored most kills per-round for five years in a row, he lagged in impact rating by a minimal number. The Ukrainian player posted a rating of 1.37, the second-highest rating on HLTV. His spellbinding performance at IEM Katowice earned him an MVP followed by another award at ESL Pro League Season 12, but the player’s award shelf seems empty compared with ZywOo’s six titles.
In the past few years, s1mple has easily become the top pick of CSGO fans when it comes to the best player. However, his individual performance isn’t helping him much with a game-winner like ZywOo in competition. The French player helped his team dominate across numerous tournaments in 2020 including IEM Beijing-Haidian and BLAST Fall Finals.
A quick look at stats shows that both the players have had an incredible 2020, driving them far from other competitors. Both the players’ lowest rating was enough to give other players a run for their money. Despite the close competition, there can only be one winner, and ZywOo has successfully seized that title for the second time in a row.
