It wouldn’t be Christmas without a little bit of controversy, so we guess it can’t be AWPgust without controversy either. With that in mind, who better to continue our AWPgust player highlights with than chrisJ?
Let’s just not get into why he’s controversial, okay?
The pride of The Netherlands in CS:GO, a stalwart of MOUZ, a leader and at times, a phenomenal AWPer, it just wouldn’t be AWPgust without chrisJ
It’s kind of understated how average CS:GO has been for Dutch people. Sure, CRUC1AL made waves at the BLAST.tv Paris Major, but outside of that, there’s only one notable player, and that’s chrisJ.
That’s not to say that chrisJ doesn’t deserve respect, he certainly does, so it’s a shame that certain other factors we will continue to not directly address have gotten in the way of that in the past few years.
Memes will always remember chrisJ as a figure that MOUZ simply couldn’t get rid of, a figure they would bench and bring back multiple times, but while those memes are often used to mock him, they ignore just how good of a teammate he actually was.
For a long time, he was the captain and IGL, and in doing so he led a MOUZ charge up the rankings as they would win not just ESG Tour Mykonos, but also ESL One New York, StarLadder i-series Season 4, and the V4 Future Sports Festival. Clearly a formidable leader, his time at the helm of the ‘budget FaZe’ team will always be remembered fondly.
Not just that, but he also became a key figure under karrigan too. A versatile player, he was the perfect supportive element for the man who would replace him as IGL, and exactly the type of player the Dane needed in order to get MOUZ back to the heights they had been at under chrisJ a year prior.
Back in 2018 when chrisJ was IGLing MOUZ, his serves on the big green were no longer required. Instead, it was oskar who would wield Counter-Strike’s most iconic weapon, and he did so with deadly proficiency.
So, when oskar couldn’t attend ESL One: Belo Horizonte, MOUZ’s chances at the event were quickly diminished, especially when it was announced that it was n0thing who would be standing in to replace the Czech sniper.
Or so it seemed.
Captain Fantastic, chrisJ would step into the role as the team’s primary AWPer for the event. Often a successful secondary AWPer, it’s typically a hard leap to become a primary. Many have tried to, but they all reach the same conclusion, AWPing is easier when people don’t expect you to have one.
Well, all except chrisJ.
chrisJ was super at the event, as his performances helped fire MOUZ all the way to the final. With a 1.29 HLTV rating, people even began to question why oskar was on the team at all, and at the time, it was hard to find an argument against that idea.
Sadly, MOUZ would fail to win the event. The best of five final against FaZe Clan would need all five maps in order to be decided, and at one point, MOUZ did have the advantage, but the team overall couldn’t match the titans of their opponents.
While he didn’t win the trophy, he did defy expectations, and although that might not be enough for him, it was enough to write him into CS:GO folklore for all time.
With that in mind, it only seems fitting that chrisJ’s greatest ever moment came with an AWP in his hands.
Have you ever been in a game of CS, on Mirage, and you’re stuck behind triple on A site? How did that go for you? Did you die as the T’s relentless spammed you from somewhere you couldn’t see? That’s what typically happens to us, but it wasn’t what happened to chrisJ.
Picture this, MOUZ are 14-8 up on their CT side. It’s the final map of a best of five in one of the biggest events of the year, and in a 3v5, Team Liquid are swarming over the A site. A win in the round destroys both Team Liquid’s economy, and their hearts.
So what does chrisJ do? Well, he kills all five of them.
Charging onto the site like he’s kennyS in pre-AWP nerf, chrisJ doesn’t miss a shot as he nails Liquid’s stars one by one. TACO falls first in Sandwich, and then EliGE with his back turned in Connector, twisting and turning round triple, it’s Twistzz and nitr0 who fall next, and as NAF looks to save his team from total embarrassment as he activates his lurk from Connector, chrisJ shuts him down too.
One of, if not the best play in CS:GO history, Sadokist in the casting booth can’t quite believe what he’s just seen, but still he manages to crown chrisJ as the Wolf of Wall Street, a cast befitting a player as exceptional as that one.
chrisJ, we salute you, and we’ll always remember you for your magic with the big green.
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