Winning Most Valuable Player at a CS:GO/ CS2 major is among the most prestigious awards in competitive Counter-Strike. It is a testament to outstanding play on the professional scene and an opportunity to write your name in CS history.
In this article, the blix.gg team will remember all the most valuable players of all CS:GO majors and also name the first MVP in CS2 history.
Contents
- 1 Highlights
- 2 List of CS:GO Major MVPs
- 3 What is MVP in Counter-Strike?
- 4 What are CS2/CS:GO Majors?
- 5 Jesper ‘JW’ Wecksell
- 6 Jaroslaw ‘pashaBiceps’ Jarzabkowski
- 7 Adam ‘friberg’ Friberg
- 8 Vincent ‘Happy’ Schopenhauer
- 9 Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer
- 10 Robin “flusha” Ronnquist
- 11 Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub
- 12 Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David
- 13 Markus ‘Kjaerbye’ Kjaerbye
- 14 Dauren ‘AdreN’ Kystaubayev
- 15 Tarik “tarik” Celik
- 16 Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz
- 17 Emil “Magisk” Reif
- 18 Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev
- 19 Havard ‘rain’ Nygaard
- 20 Dzhami “Jame” Ali
- 21 Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut
- 22 Justinas ‘jL’ Lekavicius
- 23 Summary
Highlights
- List of all MVPs in Counter-Strike history
- Interesting facts about the players and how they won their awards
List of CS:GO Major MVPs
- Dreamhack Winter 2013: Jesper ‘JW’ Wecksell
- EMS One: Katowice 2014: Jaroslaw ‘pashaBiceps’ Jarzabkowski
- ESL One: Cologne 2014: Adam ‘friberg’ Friberg
- Dreamhack Winter 2014: Vincent ‘Happy’ Schopenhauer
- ESL One: Katowice 2015: Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer
- ESL One: Cologne 2015: Robin ‘flusha’ Ronnquist
- Dreamhack Open: Cluj-Napoca 2015: Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub
- MLG Columbus 2016: Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David
- ESL One: Cologne 2016: Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David
- ELEAGUE Atlanta 2017: Markus ‘Kjaerbye’ Kjaerbye
- PGL Krakow 2017: Dauren ‘AdreN’ Kystaubayev
- ELEAGUE Boston 2018: Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik
- FACEIT London 2018: Nicolai ‘device’ Reedtz
- IEM Katowice 2019: Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif
- StarLadder Berlin 2019: Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz
- PGL Stockholm 2021: Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev
- PGL Antwerp 2022: Havard ‘rain’ Nygaard
- IEM Rio 2022: Dzhami ‘Jame’ Ali
- BLAST.tv Paris 2023: Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut
- PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: Justinas ‘jL’ Lekavicius
What is MVP in Counter-Strike?
MVP Award
In Counter-Strike, MVP (an acronym for “Most Valuable Player”) has a special meaning as an award given to a player who has significantly contributed to a particular round, match, or even an entire tournament. The MVP concept in CS2/CS:GO is designed to recognize outstanding individual achievements that significantly impact the game.
What are CS2/CS:GO Majors?
The CS2/CS:GO Majors are the pinnacle of competitive gaming in eSports.
Officially organized and endorsed by the game’s developer, Valve Corporation, these major competitions showcase the highest level of experience, strategic thinking, and cooperation the CS community offers.
The CS2/CS:GO Majors boast substantial prize pools, prestige, and a chance to write their name in eSports history.
The overall structure of the tournament has changed over time but generally includes the following key stages:
- Regional Minors
- Challengers Stage
- Legends Stage
- Champions Stage
Jesper ‘JW’ Wecksell
Jesper ‘JW’ Wecksell
Tournament: Dreamhack Winter 2013
Team: Fnatic
Country: Sweden
Of course, the first CS:GO major was much different from what we are used to now. It happened during the DreamHack festival in Jönköping, Sweden.
JW was one of the brightest players in the early days of CS:GO eSports, and he showed it. Fnatic beat the seemingly unbeatable NiP. JW was the key to his team’s victory and won the title of the first MVP in CS:GO history. But now he has the lowest ranking ever.
Jaroslaw ‘pashaBiceps’ Jarzabkowski
Jaroslaw “pashaBiceps” Jarzabkowski
Tournament: EMS One: Katowice 2014
Team: Virtus.pro
Country: Poland
At the second major, Virtus.pro won in its native Poland. At that time, the Polish Virtus.pro Five was at the height of its popularity, leaving no one to chance. They lost only one map in the entire tournament.
PashaBiceps was the highest-ranked player, towering above the rest even in his unique team. For this, he received the MVP award.
Adam ‘friberg’ Friberg
Adam ‘friberg’ Friberg
Tournament: ESL One: Cologne 2014
Team: NIP
Country: Sweden
The Ninjas in Pyjamas only managed to win one major, even though they had reached the finals twice before. Friberg was the MVP, beating out legends like Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund and Patrick “f0rest” Lindberg. And Friberg also got a nameplate at Inferno: Via Adamo.
But it must be said that he didn’t even make the top ten at the majors and is the lowest-rated MVP of the majors of all time.
Vincent ‘Happy’ Schopenhauer
Vincent “Happy” Schopenhauer
Tournament: Dreamhack Winter 2014
Team: LDLC
Country: France
Since Titan and Epsilon were banned at that tournament, only six legends were invited, and the rookies could show off in all their glory. Team LDLC took full advantage of this chance.
And it was at this tournament that Olofboost happened. Olofmeister climbed up a sewer pipe in the back of the map and positioned himself so his opponents couldn’t detect him. This boost sparked a fierce debate, and the tournament administration decided to ban the use of Olofboost and remove the round where Fnatic used this tactic.
But even if you don’t dominate, taking the MVP award still takes a lot of skill and composure. And the only player who stood out among the champions was Happy.
Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer
Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer
Tournament: ESL One: Katowice 2015
Team: Fnatic
Country: Sweden
Olofmeister had an incredible 2015, which started at ESL One Katowice 2015. Here, he took revenge for the previous year, and his Fnatic team lost only one map during the tournament!
Olof was nicknamed “techmeister”, as he made 50 frags with tech9 during the whole tournament. Olofmeister finished the game with a high rating of 1.31 and the undisputed title of Most Valuable Player.
Robin “flusha” Ronnquist
Robin “flusha” Ronnquist
Tournament: ESL One: Cologne 2015
Team: Fnatic
Country: Sweden
Fnatic winning three of the first five tournaments was a remarkable achievement. Notably, each of the three wins had three different MVPs.
Robin lost the title several times to his teammates. Robin shot 51 kills, his tournament rating was 1.38, which was the peak of his career.
Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub
Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub
Tournament: Dreamhack Open: Cluj-Napoca 2015
Team: Envy
Country: France
This Major showed us an incredible sniper duel between kennyS and GuardiaN. They were two of the best snipers of the year at their peak, but only one could become the champion. Kenny deservedly got the MVP title and the love of the community! Kenny had a 1.23 rating.
Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David
Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David
Tournament: MLG Columbus 2016, ESL One: Cologne 2016
Team: Luminosity, SK Gaming
Country: Brazil
Brazilian Marcelo David became the first player to become the most valuable player of the two majors. At MLG Columbus 2016, Marcelo was not the team’s full-time sniper but took a rifle to hold off B-plenty. Fraga’s jump shot without a “zoom” brought worldwide fame to the Brazilian. Marcelo earned a 1.32 rating and won the MVP award.
The final opponent at ESL One: Cologne 2016 was Team Liquid. S1mple played one of the worst matches in his career (rating 0.63). And coldzera shot 44 frags, scored a rating of 1.37 at the tournament, and was recognized as the unqualified MVP for the second major in a row.
Markus ‘Kjaerbye’ Kjaerbye
Markus ‘Kjaerbye’ Kjaerbye
Tournament: ELEAGUE Atlanta 2017
Team: Astralis
Country: Denmark
Danish esports player Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjaerbye won the Major MVP award at 18 and finished his career at 22.
Virtus.pro was unlucky in the finals because Kjaerbye played the best match of his career. He was the only one on the team to score a plus on every map and finished the game with a total score of 1.38.
Dauren ‘AdreN’ Kystaubayev
Dauren ‘AdreN’ Kystaubayev
Tournament: PGL Krakow 2017
Team: Gambit
Country: Kazakhstan
The story of Gambit Esports is a real gem in the history of CS:GO majors.
Gambit Esports became the first CIS team to win a major. AdreN, who finished the tournament with a rating of 1.26, became the most valuable player in the competition without any alternative.
Tarik “tarik” Celik
Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik
Tournament: ELEAGUE Boston 2018
Team: Cloud9
Country: USA
ELEAGUE Boston 2018 is considered by many to be the most spectacular tournament among the lineup of majors.
This is precisely the kind of game where the last map decides everything. With the support of his teammates and the home stands, tarik led his team to victory in a later match. Tarik was the most productive member of his team, so he was named MVP Major.
Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz
Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz
Tournament: FACEIT London 2018, StarLadder Berlin 2019
Team: Astralis
Country: Denmark
At FACEIT London 2018, the Dane lifted the title of major winner over his head for the second time. Dev1ce, in turn, was recognized as the most valuable player in the tournament, with a rating of 1.26.
Nikolai came to Berlin as a super-titled player. In 2018 alone, he was recognized as MVP 7 times. Dev1ce had an incredible tournament, finishing with a statistic of 1.26. He was deservedly recognized as the most valuable player of a major for the second time in his career.
Emil “Magisk” Reif
Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif
Tournament: IEM Katowice 2019
Team: Astralis
Country: Denmark
For his brilliant performances in the IEM Katowice 2019 playoffs, the organizers awarded Magisk the title of Most Valuable Player, even though Nikolai dev1ce Reedtz and Andreas Xyp9x Højsleth outperformed Magisk by a rating of 2.0 (1.28).
Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev
Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev
Tournament: PGL Stockholm 2021
Team: NAVI
Country: Ukraine
Natus Vincere was close to conceding the first map in the tournament, but NiKo can’t kick s1mple. The CIS – team turned the tide in overtime to win the match and the entire game.
NaVi made a historic achievement for the first time, not once giving a map to their opponents. S1mple finished the tournament with a rating of 1.47 and became the MVP of the game.
Havard ‘rain’ Nygaard
Havard ‘rain’ Nygaard
Tournament: PGL Antwerp 2022
Team: FaZe
Country: Norway
Surprisingly, the main star of the Belgian Major wasn’t the superstar Twistzz, the mind-blowing Broky, or the awesome Ropz. It was Rain, a CS:GO veteran.
In the tournament, Havard “rain” Nygaard, with a rating of 1.31, is in 2nd place behind Team EnVyus’ French player, Cedric “RpK” Guipouy, with a rating of 1.37.
Dzhami “Jame” Ali
Dzhami ‘Jame’ Ali
Tournament: IEM Rio 2022
Team: Outsiders
Country: Russia
Russian esportsman Jame Jame Ali became the owner of a rare achievement at the end of the IEM Rio Major 2022 in CS:GO. He was the third player in the history of the majors who was recognized as the MVP of the tournament while being the team captain.
Before Jame, only two players had such an achievement: Happy and tarik.
Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut
Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut
Tournament: BLAST.tv Paris 2023
Team: Vitality
Country: France
Who else but Team Vitality was destined to win? ZywOo led his teammates to the top with an impressive tournament rating 1.39. He is one of the best players in CS:GO history, and he deservedly earned the right to lift the trophy and MVP medal above his head.
Justinas ‘jL’ Lekavicius
Justynas ‘jL’ Lekavicius
Tournament: PGL Major Copenhagen 2024
Team: NAVI
Country: Lithuania
At the first Counter-Strike 2 Major in 2024, Justynas “jL” Lekavicius became the HLTV tournament MVP and finished the championship with a 1.22 rating. This is the first MVP medal of his career for the NAVI riffler.
Summary
We also wrote in a short post about who has won the most MVP awards in Counter-Strike history.
Keep following new events in the world of esports in our Tournaments section.
