The final Major for CS:GO has come and gone. With the conclusion of the BLAST Paris Major on May 21, outside of a few tier-one tournaments in the coming months, all eyes now turn to the launch of Counter-Strike 2—slated for later this summer.
But before we close the chapter on the Paris Major entirely, we must look back at the players who stood head and shoulders above all others. Regular favorites made way for a new crop of stars who led underdog teams like Monte, GamerLegion, and Into The Breach all the way through the Challengers and Legends Stages.
Related: Winners and losers of the BLAST Paris CS:GO Major
At the same time, we saw plenty of veterans take to the server with fury over the course of the French tournament, all of whom played their part in their teams’ successes at the Accor Arena.
Whether their performances netted their team a win or two in the Swiss stage—or the Major trophy itself—here are your top players from the BLAST Paris Major.
Team Vitality’s ZywOo
It is only fitting our list begins with the undisputed and undeniable tournament MVP in Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut. The French superstar has ascended to godlike status with his form over the course of 2023, but one accomplishment had eluded the maestro—a Major title.
Finally, he achieved his lifelong goal, and at a home Major no less in Paris. ZywOo was nigh unstoppable on his way to the win, leading Team Vitality with a 1.39 HLTV rating over 10 maps. The 22-year-old led six major HLTV statistics, including kill differential and KAST.
With his performance in Paris, ZywOo has become the highest-rated player at Majors, overtaking greats s1mple and coldzera. Much discourse has been heard over Vitality’s run to the trophy, but one thing’s for sure: No one was stopping ZywOo this time.
GamerLegion’s iM
It was quite the coming of age for Romanian prodigy Mihai “iM” Ivan. From Copenhagen’s RMR to the Paris Major itself, the relatively unknown 23-year-old utterly eviscerated opposition, leaving some of the world’s best squads in his wake.
Posting a ridiculous 1.35 rating in just his second Major, iM put the community on notice over the course of the tournament. He led the charts for damage dealt per round (95.2 ADR) and scored a full five more opening kills than ZywOo himself.
There were even rumors that should GamerLegion lose a close grand final, the Romanian would be a shout for the tournament MVP. It wasn’t his turn in Paris, evidently, but all eyes will be on iM and the squad as the season resumes.
Team Liquid’s NAF
Keith “NAF” Markovic was back to his best in Paris after what has undoubtedly been a shaky year for the North American squad.
After the team just scraped qualification for the Major itself, many fans were passing on Liquid, unable to believe the squad had the potential for a deep run in Paris. By the time they dropped their opening two best-of-ones in the Challenger Stage, hopes were all but dashed.
But leave it to the ever-consistent Canadian rifler, who saw the team through a reverse sweep in the Challengers Stage, then a remarkable 3-1 Legends Stage run with wins over 9INE, NAVI, and Into The Breach. Even in their best-of-three loss to Heroic at 2-0, and their ultimate elimination against Apeks, NAF was still shining brightly.
The 25-year-old ended the event with a 1.25 rating, head and shoulders above all other North American reps at the Major.
Team Vitality’s Spinx
Two Vitality players in one list? Surely not, but Israeli Major champion Lotan “Spinx” Giladi cannot be forgotten with a brilliant 1.24 rating (third overall) over 10 maps played at the French tournament.
Second only to ZywOo in KAST rating, third in multi-kill rounds, and a +50 kill differential capped off an all-round outstanding performance for the first Middle Eastern Major champion and a welcome return to the form which saw him join the squad from ENCE in 2021.
Add in his contributions outside of the server, and one could say Spinx brought the complete package to Paris.
FaZe Clan’s broky
The Latvian sniper might have left Paris disappointed after FaZe’s quarterfinal exit to Heroic, but Helvijs “broky” Saukants stamped his mark with authority upon the CS:GO community.
He led the tournament for total kills (275) and multi-kill rounds (54.6 percent) and was ahead of GamerLegion’s acoR for AWP kills despite playing one fewer map over the Legends and Champions Stage.
Broky’s form in 2022, which saw him finish sixth in HLTV’s top 20, has held strong so far, and with plenty of opportunities for FaZe to close out their CS:GO stint with a bang, he’s well on track to repeat this effort in 2023.
Monte’s BOROS
The CS:GO community is transfixed upon the mighty form of GamerLegion and iM, and rightfully so, but had Monte defeated the squad in the quarterfinals in Paris, it would be Mohammad “BOROS” Malhas receiving all the attention.
The 19-year-old Jordanian finished the tournament with a 1.15 rating and dazzled opponents throughout the squad’s underdog run to the Accor Arena stage. It was by no means an easy run for Monte either, with BOROS decimating the likes of FURIA, Fnatic, and NAVI before coming up short against GamerLegion.
In the opening quarterfinal against the eventual runner-ups, BOROS was in supreme form; he finished Mirage with a sublime 27 kills in the 10-16 loss, and would most certainly have cracked the top 10 had Monte not crumbled 3-16 on Overpass.
Published: May 23, 2023 03:15 am