The Blix team invites all players to look back at the game’s history and its best players. Legends have written their names into this history since the game’s release in 2012, but what separates them is whether they did it with a rifle in their hands or with an AWP.
This time around, we take a look at those who have shot with a rifle. Meet the TOP players who have left their mark on CS2 history.
Contents [show]
Highlights
- Information on the best riflers in Counter-Strike history since 2012
- Interesting facts about awards, biographies, and ranking of cyber athletes
- An expanded version of the TOP best riflers in history
The List of Best Riflers in CS2 History
Discover the best riflers in CS2 history who have dominated the game with exceptional aim, precision, and game sense. From legendary clutch moments to unmatched consistency, these players have set the gold standard in competitive play:
- Danil ‘donk‘ Kryshkovets
- Nikola ‘NiKo‘ Kovač
- Robin ‘ropz‘ Kool
- Jonathan ‘EliGe‘ Jablonowski
- Valeriy ‘b1t‘ Vakhovskiy
- Justinas ‘jL‘ Lekavicius
- Peter ‘dupreeh‘ Rasmussen
- Ismailcan ‘XANTARES‘ Dörtkardeş
- Shahar ‘flameZ‘ Shushan
- David ‘frozen‘ Čerňanský
- Mario ‘malbsMd‘ Samayoa
- Lotan ‘Spinx‘ Giladi
- Mihai ‘iM‘ Ivan
- Denis ‘electroNic‘ Sharipov
- Dorian ‘xertioN‘ Berman
- Olof ‘olofmeister‘ Kajbjer
- Christopher ‘GeT_RiGhT‘ Alesund
- Patrik ‘f0rest‘ Lindberg
- Marcelo ‘coldzera‘ David
The List of Best Riflers in CS2 History
Discover the best riflers in CS2 history who have dominated the game with exceptional aim, precision, and game sense. From legendary clutch moments to unmatched consistency, these players have set the gold standard in competitive play:
donk
- Name: Danil Kryshkovets
- Age: 18 years
- Country: Russia
- Current team: Spirit
- Previous teams: Spirit Academy
Currently the best player in the world. Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets is considered one of the most outstanding rookies in the history of CS. During his inaugural full year as a top-tier professional, he received the title of the best player of the year, surpassing competitors such as ‘m0NESY’, ‘ZywOo’, and ‘NiKo’.
His first team was Spirit Academy, which he was invited to when he was just 14 years old in 2021. It took him one year in an Academy team to find his game and to start to show his real level, and in 2023, he was promoted to the main team Spirit.
At the start of 2024, he attended one of the biggest tournaments in CS2 IEM Katowice with his new team. His outstanding performance brought them victory, and they lost only one map throughout the tournament. Not only that, but he broke all the previous individual performance records by achieving a rating of 1.70 in a tier-one tournament and earning himself the MVP title.
In his first year on a tier-one level, he earned 5 MVP titles and 3 EVP titles, and everyone knows there will be more as he continues playing and writing his name deeper into history.
NiKo
- Name: Nikola Kovač
- Age: 27 years
- Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Current team: Falcons
- Previous teams: e-Sports.rs, iNation, Refuse, GamePub, aimface, iNation, MOUZ, FaZe, G2
Without a doubt, ‘NiKo’ is the most mechanically gifted rifler ever to touch the game. He’s also the most stable rifler in the game’s history. He’s been in the TOP-20 for seven years, and no one can drop him there.
With some of the crispest, snappiest aim in the world and a phenomenal ability with the Desert Eagle (except for one round we won’t mention further), NiKo’s ability speaks for itself, and considering he was just behind Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyljev and Nicolai ‘device’ Reedtz, his has arguable the highest rifle peak of any player ever.
Unfortunately for ‘NiKo’, at the BLAST.tv Paris Major earned himself the title of the most outstanding player to never win a Major.
‘NiKo’ finished 2024 as a Top-4 player, according to the HLTV list.
ropz
- Name: Robin Kool
- Age: 25 years
- Country: Estonia
- Current team: Vitality
- Previous teams: MOUZ, FaZe
As the first player to truly make it big through FACEIT’s ladder system, the young Estonian faced allegations of cheating from the wider pro community. To dispel the cheating rumors surrounding him, ‘ropz’ was invited to FACEIT headquarters in London in March 2017 to play FPL under supervision, putting to rest any suspicions regarding his immense talent.
In 2020, ‘ropz’ was ranked seventh on HLTV’s list of the best players in the world, and in 2023, he was ranked 3rd. In 2024, he took 17th place among the Top-20 CS2 players as a part of the FaZe team. In January 2025, ‘ropz’ joined Team Vitality, marking a new chapter in his professional career.
The Estonian star put on one of the best performances of the year out of anyone at the Perfect World Shanghai Major to earn the top Exceptionally Valuable Player mention there.
EliGe
- Name: Jonathan Jablonowski
- Age: 27 years
- Country: USA
- Current team: FaZe
- Previous teams: Justus Pro, Elevate, Liquid, Complexity
One of the greatest players to ever come out of the North American region, he was part of the Liquid team that became one of the greatest of all time as they won an Intel Grand Slam in 63 days. One of the best players to never win a Major, ‘EliGE’ came painfully close twice in 2016. He easily could have made the final five, but the lack of Major and tournament victories outside of 2019 prohibits him.
However, the player was the runner-up in the second season of the Intel Grand Slam – and that’s a little short of the prestige of winning the Majors. He was a professional StarCraft player in his earlier years and has since achieved notable results in CS2.
EliGE’s showing in Malta (ESL Pro League S19) earned him his only EVP award of the year and coincided with one of Complexity’s rare playoff appearances that gave the team a more optimistic outlook on the future.
b1t
- Name: Valeriy Vakhovskiy
- Age: 22 years
- Country: Ukraine
- Current team: Natus Vincere
- Previous teams: Natus Vincere Junior
Rookie of the Year of 2021. 9th best player in 2021, 16th best player in 2022, and 9th best player again in 2024, all according to the HLTV yearly award of the top 20 players of the world. He is the record holder for being the youngest Intel Grand Slam winner at Season 3.
His career started in the Natus Vincere Junior project, where he was a substitute player for the main roster. After some matches as a substitute, it was decided to promote him to the main roster, and this is where it all began for him.
He played a key role in Natus Vincere winning both Intel Grand Slam and PGL Major Stockholm in 2021, the same year they won five out of five LAN events they attended. He is still one of the main players Natus Vincere can rely on.
jL
- Name: Justinas Lekavicius
- Age: 25 years
- Country: Lithuania
- Current team: Natus Vincere
- Previous teams: selectah, MAD Lions, Apeks
‘jL’ as ‘jLegend’. That’s how some people call him. In 2024, he was ranked as the 5th best player in the world on the HLTV list, making him the first Lithuanian in CS History to make it to the top 20. His first big appearance was in Apeks when they, against all the odds, reached the semi-final stage of BLAST.tv Paris Major, and that’s when he caught the attention of Natus Vincere coach ‘B1ad3’ and joined them in 2023, where he got the chance to play alongside legendary player ‘s1mple’.
At first, he was supposed to be a support player, but later, when it came to PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, he was shining like a star and played one of the key roles in Natus Vincere’s success, ‘jL’ ended up earning himself his first MVP title with a rating of 1.22.
After that, the same year, Natus Vincere attended six grand finals in a row, and ‘jL’ earned five out of six individual awards. By the end of 2024, ‘jL’ had 2 MVPs and 4 EVP awards.
dupreeh
- Name: Peter Rasmussen
- Age: 31 years
- Country: Denmark
- Current team: Falcons (benched)
- Previous teams: 3DMAX, CPH Wolves, über G33KZ, Dignitas, TSM, ?, Astralis, Vitality, HEROIC, Preasy
Just like with ‘NiKo’, we expect the placing of ‘dupreeh’ to ruffle some feathers.
The only player in CS:GO history to attend every Major and win five Majors, ‘dupreeh’ lifted himself above his former Astralis teammates with Vitality’s win at the BLAST.tv Paris Major.
It’s his time with Astralis we’d like to focus on more, however, as it’s there that he featured on the most incredible team of all time. After finally winning his first Major with the Danish squad at ELEAGUE Atlanta 2017, it wasn’t until the departure of Markus ‘Kjaerbye’ Kjaerbye and the arrival of Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif that Astralis indeed became the best team.
From there, Astralis would win three consecutive Majors, a feat never seen, and an Intel Grand Slam. ‘dupreeh’ would play a major role in those successes, with his Entry Fragging carving open for Astralis’ meta-redefining T sides.
Magisk
- Name: Emil Hoffmann Reif
- Age: 26 years
- Country: Denmark
- Current team: Falcons
- Previous teams: stfuNerd, team123, stfuNerd, mTw, SK Gaming, Dignitas, North, OpTiC, Astralis, Vitality
The 14th best player in the world in 2016, 7th in 2018, 5th in 2019, 11th in 2020, and 17th in 2023, all according to HLTV’s top list.
He was part of the Astralis era alongside ‘dupreeh’, who is also on our list. These two played key roles in Astralis success. With Astralis he won three majors in a row and is the second record holder after ‘dupreeh’, with the most majors, with a total of four. He was named an MVP twice, one being the IEM Katowice Major 2019.
After the Astralis era, together with ‘dupreeh’ and their coach ‘zonic’ they joined Vitality, in which ‘Magisk’ was also one of the star players, and with a new team, he won his 4th major BLAST.tv Paris Major.
XANTARES
- Name: Ismailcan Dörtkardeş
- Age: 29 years
- Country: Turkey
- Current team: Eternal Fire
- Previous teams: Space Soldiers, ex-Space Soldiers, BIG
XANTARES is renowned for his role as an entry-fragger, utilizing his exceptional aim and quick reflexes to secure early advantages for his team. In recent tournaments, XANTARES has continued to display his exceptional skills, contributing significantly to Eternal Fire’s performances. His gameplay remains a key factor in the team’s strategies and successes.
He received two EVP nods during Eternal Fire’s matches at PGL Major Copenhagen and ESL Pro League Season 20. For those who don’t know, read about XANTARESPEEK.
12 minutes of XANTARES CS2 DOMINATION!
flameZ
- Name: Shahar Shushan
- Age: 21 years
- Country: Israel
- Current team: Vitality
- Previous teams: exDT, cOREA, Team Finest, Adaptation, Endpoint, OG
The 7th best player in the world in 2024 according to the HLTV list. At some point he stepped back from Finest to grind FACEIT and make himself a name, following the path of another Israel player from our list ‘Spinx’. One month after he successfully qualified for FPL he was invited to Endpoint where he started to show what he is capable of.
In 2021, he joined OG and spent two years there without achieving much, but he was trying his best. In 2023, when his contract was running out, many organizations were ready to take him, and it was Vitality who had just won BLAST.tv Paris Major, who decided to give this guy a chance.
Success didn’t take long, and a few tournaments passed after he joined Vitality. He finally lifted up the Gamers8 trophy and earned himself his first EVP award.
As of now, he is one of the most consistent entry fraggers and a player that a team can rely on in any match.
frozen
- Name: David Čerňanský
- Age: 22 years
- Country: Slovakia
- Current team: FaZe Clan
- Previous teams: Cyborg Factory, nEophyte, eXtatus, warmup, Majestic Lions, GUNRUNNERS, NoChance, mousesports, MOUZ
Three years in a row, ’frozen’ was ranked among the top 20 players in the world. It was 17th in 2022, 12th in 2023, and 10th in 2024, according to the HLTV top list.
He won his first tournament, which was the largest local tournament at the time in the Czech Republic when he was 13 years old, and he then got his first professional contract.
His first big team was Mousesports, which he joined in 2019 and had a chance to play alongside legendary in-game leader ‘karrigan’ and another player from our list, ‘ropz’.
He won his first MVP award in 2021 with MOUZ at Flashpoint Season 3.
After spending five years under MOUZ, he went to reunite with his former in-game leader ‘karrigan’ in FaZe Clan.
malbsMd
- Name: Mario Samayoa
- Age: 22 years
- Country: Guatemala
- Current team: G2
- Previous teams: FULL SEND, Infinity, TeamOne, 00NATION, M80
Mario ‘malbsMd’ Samayoa is a professional CS2 player currently playing as a rifler for G2 Esports. He began his esports career in 2015, participating in various teams before joining G2 Esports on June 28, 2024.
He is known for his sharp aim and ability to create high-impact plays in crucial rounds.
He received two EVP nods during G2’s victories at the BLAST Premier Fall Final and the BLAST Premier World Final, both of which are Elite-level events. He also showcased remarkable talent at various tournaments, coming close to earning accolades at ESL Pro League Season 19, the Esports World Cup, IEM Cologne, and ESL Pro League Season 20.
Spinx
- Name: Lotan Giladi
- Age: 24 years
- Country: Israel
- Current team: MOUZ
- Previous teams: Uniquestars, Tikitakan, c0ntact, ENCE, Vitality
Lotan ‘Spinx‘ Giladi is renowned for his role as a rifler, particularly excelling in the lurker position. Throughout his career, ‘Spinx‘ has accumulated approximately $700,000+ in total winnings. His consistent performance and strategic gameplay have earned him recognition as one of the top players in the CS2 scene.
‘Spinx‘ received two EVP nods during Team Vitality’s victories at IEM Rio and IEM Cologne, both of which are Elite-level events.
In early 2025, reports emerged about internal conflicts within Team Vitality, leading to Spinx’s departure from the team. Subsequently, he joined MOUZ, aiming to bring his experience and skills to bolster their roster.
iM
- Name: Mihai Ivan
- Age: 25 years
- Country: Romania
- Current team: Natus Vincere
- Previous teams: Nexus, GamerLegion
From April 2021 to June 2023, he was part of GamerLegion, where he gained significant experience and recognition. In June 2023, ‘iM‘ signed with NAVI, marking a significant step in his career.
‘iM‘ received two EVP nods during Natus Vincere’s strong performances at IEM Rio 2024 and IEM Cologne 2024, and ESL Pro League S20.
electroNic
- Name: Denis Sharipov
- Age: 26 years
- Country: Russia
- Current team: Virtus.pro
- Previous teams: ACES, Evolution, Evolution.Light, Rebels, Empire, NokSuKao, FlipSid3, Natus Vincere, Cloud9
He is the 4th best player of the world in 2018, 6th best player in 2019, 5th best player in 2020 and 7th best player in 2021, all according to HLTV top list.
His success started when he played with legendary current Natus Vincere coach ‘Blad3‘ under the Flipsid3 team, and ‘electroNic‘ showed star rifler potential. One year later, he was invited to play for Natus Vincere, and it was a game-changer for both sides.
In his first year at Natus Vincere, they won four titles, and he himself earned the title of fourth-best player in the world. Together with ‘s1mple’, they were one of the deadliest duos.
xertioN
- Name: Dorian Berman
- Age: 20 years
- Country: Israel
- Current team: MOUZ
- Previous teams: KPI, OL, MOUZ NXT
‘xertioN’ began his professional journey in the Israeli esports scene, quickly gaining recognition for his sharp reflexes and strategic gameplay. His talent led to his recruitment by MOUZ NXT, the academy team of MOUZ, where he honed his skills and showcased his potential.
In 2022, following impressive performances with MOUZ NXT, ‘xertioN’ was promoted to the main roster of MOUZ, marking his entry into top-tier competitive play.
He received EVP nods during MOUZ’s victories at the ESL Pro League Season 19 and the IEM Chengdu, BB Dacha Belgrade S1, all of which are Elite-level events.
Olofmeister
- Name: Olof Kajbjer
- Age: 33 years
- Country: Sweden
- Current team: FaZe (benched)
- Previous teams: H2k, Absolute Legends, LGB, TEAMGLOBAL, fnatic
The best player in the world in 2015, ‘olofmeister’ was part of a legendary fnatic team that won two of the three Majors that year. A player with an exceedingly high peak level, ‘olofmeister’ is one of the best players ever to touch the game.
Capable of single-handedly carving a round open like an elite Entry Fragger while lurking, olofmeister’s performances were vital to many of fanatics’ early successes in CS:GO.
Later, becoming part of the FaZe superteam, ‘olofmeister’ wouldn’t be able to reach his peak performances with the organization. However, his decision to leave the Swedish scene would lead him to more consistent glory than any of his compatriots.
GeT_RiGhT
- Name: Christopher Alesund
- Age: 34 years
- Country: Sweden
- Current team: (Retired)
- Previous teams: Begrip, SK Gaming, Meet Your Makers, Giants, Fnatic, NiP, Dignitas
A Swedish legend since CS 1.6, he was the second-best player in 2010 and 2011 before CS:GO, and he became the best player in the world two years in a row in 2013 and 2014 in a new game. He was the 11th-best player in 2015 and 18th in 2016, all according to the HLTV top list. In January 2025, he was inducted into the HLTV Hall of Fame alongside his longtime teammate and another Swedish legend, ‘f0rest’.
’GeT_RiGhT’ is in the top five on the list of the most MVPs earned, with a total of 10 MVPs to his name.
’GeT_RiGhT’ is one of three players, along with ‘f0rest’, who have been permanent members of all three historical Swedish teams: NiP, SK, and Fnatic.
f0rest
- Name: Patrik Lindberg
- Age: 36 years
- Country: Sweden
- Current team: NiP (Content Creator)
- Previous teams: Begrip, Fnatic, SK, Dignitas
Similar to ‘GeT_RiGhT’, ‘f0rest’ is the Swedish legend who was inducted into the HLTV Hall of Fame in January 2025. He was the 6th best player of 2010, 5th in 2011, 2nd in 2013, 7th in 2014, 16th in 2015, 7th again in 2016.
He is in the top seven on the list of MVPs earned, with a total of 8 MVPs.
With ‘GeT_RiGhT’, ‘f0rest’ was one of three players who has been a permanent member of all three historical Swedish teams.
When he was still playing, he was one of the most consistent players.
Coldzera
- Name: Marcelo David
- Age: 30 years
- Country: Brazil
- Current team: RED Canids
- Previous teams: Luminosity, SK, MIBR, FaZe, Complexity, 00NATION, Fake Natty, Legacy
Placing ‘coldzera’ on this list was one of our most complex decisions. His time on Luminosity and SK in 2016 and 2017 is the stuff of legend.
Also credited with one of, if not the most, iconic AWP clip of all time, ‘coldzera’ was an exceptional Lurker whose part in that legendary Brazilian lineup that won both Majors in 2016 was the X factor in their success.
He was great in the clutch and superb on the CT side, too, ‘coldzera‘ consistently bailed LG/SK out of difficult situations and won them rounds they had no business winning thanks to his ability to bait Epitacio ‘TACO‘ de Melo better than anyone else could ever have dreamed of doing.
He could have easily been in first place, but he could have easily been placed lower. A drastic drop off in performances from 2018 onwards and even after a high-profile move to FaZe Clan, overshadowed his earlier peaks and soured his legacy, so for that reason, he has been placed second.
Summary
There were many other great, individually skilled riflers. However, we tried to make the list of still active players together, mixed with some absolute legends with some of the best results and achievements in CS history.
