This time, the Blix team decided to examine the best in-game leaders throughout CS2 history, without whom some of the best snipers and riflers might not have become who they became.
Previously, we compiled a list of history’s greatest riflers and deadliest snipers. This time, we focus on in-game leaders who were behind the success of both. Welcome to the TOP in-game leaders who have significantly impacted CS2 history.
Contents
Highlights
- Information on the best in-game leaders in Counter-Strike history since 2012
- Interesting facts about awards, biographies, and ranking of cyber athletes
- An expanded version of the TOP best in-game leaders in history
The List of Best In-Game Leaders in CS2 History
- Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen
- Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire
- Leonid ‘chopper’ Vishnyakov
- Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander
- Danylo ‘Zeus’ Teslenko
- Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo
- Dzhami ‘Jame’ Ali
- Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen
- Casper ‘cadiaN’ Møller
- Markus ‘pronax’ Wallsten
karrigan
- Name: Finn Andersen
- Age: 34 years
- Country: Denmark
- Current team: FaZe
- Previous teams: Fnatic, mousesports, Playing Ducks, n!faculty, Reason Gaming, Copenhagen Wolves, Dignitas, Team SoloMid, Astralis
He is mostly known for his time in FaZe, where he is currently the in-game leader and keeps his team at the top level. Before that, he was the in-game leader of Team SoloMid, one of the best teams back then. However, it was hard for them to become the best team in the world since it was the same time as Fnatic’s era.
Aside from all of that, he proved himself as one of the best in-game leaders because of his ability to work with younger players. For example, when he was leading mousesports, ‘frozen’ (who is currently playing for FaZe with him) was the young star, and ‘karrigan’, with all his experience, made them one of the best teams in the world.
apEX
- Name: Dan Madesclaire
- Age: 32 years
- Country: France
- Current team: Vitality
- Previous teams: Anexis, Epsilon, eXtensive!, LDLC, Clan-Mystik, Titan, EnVyUs, G2
He became an in-game leader with Vitality in 2020, and since then, they’ve been one of the top teams in the world for more than four years. Before that, he was one of the best French players, and it sure helps him to be one of the best in-game leaders now.
With Vitality, they won BLAST.tv Paris Major on their home soil, and he proved himself once again not only as a top player but also as the best in-game leader because, without someone good for that role, there’s almost no chance you could take such a big tournament trophy.
chopper
- Name: Leonid Vishnyakov
- Age: 28 years
- Country: Russia
- Current team: Spirit
- Previous teams: Enso, Quest, FLuffy Gangsters, Binary Dragons, NokSuKao, ANOX, ALL-IN, Vega Squadron
At some point, ‘Chopper’ wasn’t an in-game leader and was just a good support player. He got his world fame first when he played in Vega Squadron, which crushed NiP with a 16-2 score in a Major tournament. By that, they surprised everyone.
Lately, he has become the in-game leader of Team Spirit, leading the young players. He was one of the main reasons they became one of the top teams at first, and lately, they have become the best team in the world, winning Perfect World Shanghai Major in 2024, where he completely proved himself as one of the best in-game leaders.
gla1ve
- Name: Lukas Rossander
- Age: 29 years
- Country: Denmark
- Current team: ENCE
- Previous teams: Tt.Dragons, Copenhagen Wolves, Anexis, unu.AiN, Western Wolves, n!faculty, 3DMAX, ESC, No Problem!, CPLAY, Reason Gaming, Team X, Heroic, Astralis
He came to team Astralis in a place called ‘karrigan,’ and he was that one piece that they were missing, as it turned out to be. They were one of the best teams in the world before him, but with him, they became one of the most dominant teams in history.
It started with Astralis winning ELEAGUE Major Atlanta 2017, and later, they won three Championships in a row, making it the Astralis era and one of the most dominant eras in Counter-Strike history.
Zeus
- Name: Danylo Teslenko
- Age: 37 years
- Country: Ukraine
- Current team: (Retired)
- Previous teams: Natus Vincere, Gambit
He spent most of his time in Natus Vincere, one of the best teams in the world and a title contender at every single tournament they played. He has been one of the best players since Counter-Strike 1.6 and became one of the greatest in-game leaders in CS:GO.
Even though he couldn’t win a major while he was playing for Natus Vincere, he got kicked and moved to Gambit team, where he built a team with his old friends ‘AdreN’, ‘Dosia’, ‘mou’ and ‘HObbit’. The same year they built this team, they won a PGL Major Krakow 2017, which became the first and the only Major tournament for ‘Zeus’ in his CS:GO career, but that, together with long time being a top team with Natus Vincere, he proved himself as one of the best in-game leaders in history.
FalleN
- Name: Gabriel Toledo
- Age: 33 years
- Country: Brazil
- Current team: FURIA
- Previous teams: playArt, Progaming.TD, KaBuM!, Games Academy, Keyd Stars, Luminosity Gaming, SK Gaming, MIBR, Team Liquid, Imperial Esports
He is known as the “Godfather of Brazilian Counter-Strike.” He has been on the scene since CS 1.6, and in CS:GO, he led Brazilian Counter-Strike to the top. He is also one of the best snipers in CS history; check out our list here.
He is most known for Luminosity and SK Gaming days when they had their dominant era in 2016-2017, and he played the key part of being not only the in-game leader of the team but also a main sniper, which is a hard thing to do at the same time. Under ‘FalleN’ leadership, they won 2 major tournaments, and he proved himself as one of the best in-game leaders in history.
Jame
- Name: Dzhami Ali
- Age: 26 years
- Country: Russia
- Current team: PARIVISION
- Previous teams: AVANGAR, Virtus.pro
He is one of the youngest players on the list. Until now, he has represented only two teams: AVANGAR and Virtus.pro. AVANGAR was his first team, and with all the young players in the team, he managed to make them one of the best teams in the CIS region.
With all his experience, he made Virtus.pro one of the top teams and won a Major tournament, IEM Rio, which proved that he is one of the best in-game leaders by leading a young roster to a Major tournament win.
Aleksib
- Name: Aleksi Virolainen
- Age: 27 years
- Country: Finland
- Current team: Natus Vincere
- Previous teams: Recursive, SkitLite, Findictus, ENCE, ENCORE, HAVU, OG, G2, Ninjas in Pyjamas
He was one of the main reasons for Finland’s players and team success in CS:GO back when he was in-game leading for team ENCE. In 2019, during the Astralis era, he made them one of the best teams in the world. They finished second at the Katowice Major in 2019, losing to Astralis, but then they were able to win against them at the BLAST Pro Series.
Later, he tried himself in OG and NiP, and even though they were the tier 1 team, they couldn’t achieve the same success that his previous team had.
Everything changed for him when he was acquired by Natus Vincere in 2023. In 2024, they became the best team in the world and won a PGL Major Copenhagen. They also proceeded to appear at six consecutive grand finals, winning three of them, which makes Aleksib one of the greatest in-game leaders.
cadiaN
- Name: Casper Møller
- Age: 29 years
- Country: Denmark
- Current team: Astralis
- Previous teams: Xapso, mousesports, tRICKED, Reason Gaming, Copenhagen Wolves, Planetkey Dynamics, SK Gaming, Preparation, Unity, Rogue, North, FunPlus Phoenix, Liquid, HEROIC
He is known for his time with HEROIC, the team that was a top contender for many years, and he was the driving force behind all that.
Unlike everyone else on this list, he didn’t win a Major tournament, but even without that, he is undoubtedly one of a kind as an in-game leader. HEROIC was always on the list of the top teams when he was in charge, and they could beat anyone on a good day.
He is known for his great mentality and ability to hype up the team and spread all the good vibes, which, together with his in-game leading ability and skills as the team’s main sniper, makes him one of the best in-game leaders.
pronax
- Name: Markus Wallsten
- Age: 33 years
- Country: Sweden
- Current team: GODSENT (Manager)
- Previous teams: Team X, Absolute Legends, Publiclir.se, n!faculty, Fnatic, Ancient, GODSENT, Enyoy, Digital Chaos, Chaos Esports Club
He is known for his time in Fnatic and when Fnatic had their era, one of the most dominant eras in CS history. They were the best team in the world for a few years, and back in 2013, as soon as he became the in-game leader of Fnatic they won the first Major in CS:GO.
After Fnatic, he couldn’t achieve anything close to that success, and later, he became a manager of the GODSENT team, retiring as a player. However, his Fnatic days and the era they had with him as an in-game leader make him one of the best in-game leaders in history.
Summary
There are more worthy leaders like ‘Xizt’, who represented one of the best Swedish teams, NiP, or young guys like ‘siuhy’, who, despite being a young player, was able to lead his team full of young players to the semi-final of a Major Tournament. But we tried to balance this list as much as possible, and for players like ‘siuhy’, there is still time to write a history.
