As IEM Cologne comes to a close, the last event of its kind in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive history, BLIX goes over the best players in each department at the German event. Through underdogs and superstars, prospects and returning legends, and international and domestic squads, the event showcased a plethora of talent and saw incredible plays across all teams. These are the key players who made IEM Cologne 2023 worth watching and those we’ll hope will do the same as the scene transitions into Counter-Strike 2.
All stats used in this article were gathered on HLTV.org and refer to the main event of IEM Cologne exclusively.
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Highest-rated player
Taking G2 back to the top step of a tier-one event after months of inconsistency was no easy task, and it took an incredible Nikola ‘NiKo’ KovaÄ performance to secure the team’s first title in six months. The Bosnian superstar recorded a tournament-leading 1.35 HLTV rating across fourteen maps, with a staggering 1.41 on the much harder offensive side. While NiKo’s status as the game’s leading entry player is not the subject of any debate, his ability to reach higher and higher peaks as a rifler has possibly never been seen before in the history of Counter-Strike.
Total kills
Thanks to a deep run that saw Astralis survive three elimination matches and only lose out to G2 in the semi-finals, Danish superstar sniper Nicolai ‘device’ Reedtz takes the crown in the total kills department with 313. The two-time Major MVP returned from his hiatus as good as ever and seemed further rejuvenated by the new Astralis roster, recording the third-highest rating in Cologne and pairing it up with impressive stats in multi-kills and clutching. While the Danish quintet is still far from a true contender, device’s consistency spearheaded an impressive run.
Device’s return to the Cathedral of Counter-Strike became one of his recent best performances (Image Credits: ESL | Adela Sznajder)Kills per round
Taking the crown in the kills per round category, edging out both NiKo and device, is G2’s sniping prodigy Ilya ‘m0nesy’ Osipov. Since joining the team from NaVi’s junior subsidiary, the AWPer has shown to be capable of hanging with the big boys, especially as a consistent performer in his team’s best runs. His performances landed him at the second spot among the event’s best players, and the young Russian also dominated in the fewest deaths department, showcasing his great survivability even when compared to notoriously passive players like Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer.
Multi-kill machine
Cloud9’s run to the playoffs, despite being weakened by Timur ‘buster’ Telepov standing in for Sergey ‘Ax1le’ Rykhtorov, impressed many and was seen as a sign of excellent things to come from the CIS superteam built around Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov’s leadership. The key factor in the run was however, as always, sniper Dmitry ‘Sh1ro’ Sokolov, the 22-year old ending the event as the fifth highest-rated player and recording a multi-kill in an astonishing 55% of rounds.
Despite failing to capture a big title since IEM Dallas 2022, sh1ro’s performances will allow him to fight for a spot among the best players of 2023 (Image Credits: ESL | Adela Sznajder)Best assist-man
Another side that will be pleased by their performance is ENCE, the international lineup reaching back-to-back finals in IEM events but failing to get across their last hurdle, G2, in Cologne. While their best performer was undoubtedly Spanish sniper Alvaro ‘SunPayus Garcia, ENCE relied on individuals stepping up all across their run. The unsung hero was PaweÅ ‘dycha’ Dycha, as the Polish player only truly shone in the team’s opening match and ended the event with an impressive 64 assists, narrowly beating out Vitality’s IGL Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire.
Best all-rounder
While G2’s run was spearheaded by standout performances from NiKo, m0nesy and Nemanja ‘huNter’ KovaÄ, Australian support Justin ‘jks’ Savage has once again highlighted his incredible individual talent in Cologne. The former Renegades star recorded a kill, an assist, survival, or trade in 77.8% of his rounds in Germany, edging out his team’s Bosnian duo thanks to impressive consistency. Furthermore, jks also led the event in support rounds, a clear demonstration of his key role in enabling his team’s superstars. When G2 are firing on all cylinders, the Australian is the team’s much-needed safety net.
jks’s G2 won both IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne in 2023, establishing themselves as one of the best rosters in the modern era of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Image Credits: ESL | Michal Konkol)Headshot machine
One of the most talked about teams in Cologne were TheMongolz, the Mongolian outfit surviving a tough play-in bracket and almost taking down the world’s #1 Heroic despite having recently made two roster changes. While AWPer Usukhbayar ‘910’ Banzragch stood out more, the player taking the crown in the headshot percentage category was the team’s 16-year-old prospect Ayush ‘mzinho’ Batbold. The younger brother of former member Baatarkhuu ‘bart4k’ Batbold, mzinho has shown a high individual level but also composure in clutch situations and a feisty attitude which made him the target of Casper ‘cadiaN’ Møller’s banter.
Clutch master
Taking the first spot in the ‘clutches won’ leaderboard with 12 is a familiar face in this list, Cloud9’s sh1ro. The AWPer has been regarded as an elite player in clutch situations ever since his debut at the highest level, matching Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev’s record for most in an event at IEM Katowice 2021 and finishing both 2021 and 2022 as the best clutcher in tier-one Counter-Strike. His impact was also felt in Katowice, where he recorded three clutches more than the closest rival, GamerLegion’s Isak ‘isak’ Fahlén.
Entry fragger
Putting your team in a man-advantage situation early in the round is a key factor in Counter-Strike, with AWPers usually at the forefront in both CT and T-side plays. While traditional entry fraggers have been returning to the top of the international scene in recent months, with both NiKo and MOUZ’s Dorian ‘xertioN’ Berman appearing in the leaderboards, it was two snipers who took the crown in this department. Vitality’s Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut, the best player in the world in 2023, dominated the opposition with 0.17 opening kills per round, while MONTE’s Volodymyr ‘Woro2k’ Veletniuk won his opening fights 73.9% of the time.
ZywOo couldn’t capture the title in Cologne, but the Frenchman ended the event with another exceptional individual performance (Image Credits: ESL | Adela Sznajder)