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Last week provided us with a crazy, action packed few days of Counter-Strike. We saw 15 of our 24 teams locked in for the Paris Major in the EU A, Americas and Asia RMRs, and across those three qualifiers, we have witnessed some spectacular performances. Here are your RMR MVP nominees!
The headshot machine Valerij "b1t" Vakhovsjkyj was an integral part of NAVI’s dominant run to secure a Legends stage spot in Paris. Starting off slow against UK team Into the Breach which went to double overtime, b1t played like a man possessed against Falcons in the second game, putting up a whopping 1.95 rating on Ancient, going 25-8 in their 16-6 win. Concluding their flawless run against FaZe, the 20-year-old posted a solid 1.22 rating to help lock his team in for the final CS:GO Major.
Joining his NAVI teammate in MVP contention is Andrij "npl" Kukharsjkyj after an uncharacteristically phenomenal performance from the young player. Struggling to put up big numbers since joining from NAVI Academy, npl threw off the shackles in Copenhagen, with his performances against Falcons and the first map against FaZe in particular being sights to behold with 1.61 and 1.66 ratings respectively.
Into the Breach made history by becoming the first UK team to qualify for a CS:GO Major and Cai "CYPHER" Watson was an integral part of that process. Bottom of the server in the opening round loss to NAVI, the Brit’s 2.24 rating against Sprout showed that this week showing on Inferno was a once off. Shutting down Virtus.pro with a 27-18 stat line, CYPHER was a consistent pillar in the B8 series and the Most Valuable Player for Into the Breach without a doubt.
Justinas "jL" Lekavicius and his team Apeks put the whole scene on notice as they qualified for Paris with a 3-2 record. Posting a 29-15 statline in 24 rounds against GamerLegion was a great start for the Lithuanian, with 1.35 and 1.25 ratings across the series against both Sprout and B8 secured jL his first ever Major appearance.
Last but not least, MOUZ’s Israeli star put on some impeccable performances in their shaky run here. The best player for MOUZ in their losses to B8 and Falcons, xertioN was also solid in the victories versus SAW and Virtus.pro. The peak of xertioN’s value to MOUZ came in the final series against FaZe. Across the three maps against the world’s number 1 team, the 18-year-old was far and away the best player on the server as he posted an 80-58 statline with a 1.43 rating to drag his team over the line.
One of the best riflers in the world, Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato showed exactly why he is considered one of the best in Monterrey. Securing the sole Legends spot available in the Americas, the Brazilian rifler had a positive k/d in all 8 maps that FURIA played, with a 34-22 statline against Liquid on Nuke being the peak of his performances.
While Felipe “skullz” Medeiros is not as internationally recognized as his fellow countryman KSCERATO, the 20-year-old is rapidly becoming a superstar X-factor for paiN. Putting up a whopping 1.41 for the event, skullz utterly dominated in Mexico as he was the the highest rated paiN player in every series bar one, which funnily enough was a 1.94 rating against Paqueta that was only outdone by Gabriel "NEKIZ" Schenato’s 2.02 rating.
Missing out on the previous Major at IEM Rio, Complexity secured their spot in Paris off the back of some masterful performances from their Norweigan AWPer Håkon "hallzerk" Fjærli. Losing only to red-hot paiN, halllzerk put up a very solid 1.20 rating across the event as Complexity took down Solid, Imperial and MIBR to make it back to the Major.
Another EU player, Liquid’s Latvian rifler Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis led the way for his team with his trademark aggressive rifling. Crushing both 00 Nation and Flamengo in the opening matches, YEKINDAR’s impact against Nouns to qualify was of vital importance, with the Latvian going 71-56 in the decisive series.
Rounding out the Americas MVP candidates is Fluxo’s Lucas "Lucaozy" Neves. Fluxo were one of the big surprises to come out of the region, with a loss against paiN being their only downside as they beat yur, BESTIA and Paqueta to qualify. Lucaozy was influential in their victories, being the highest rated player in the qualifying series against Paqueta.
One of the youngest players to ever compete at a CS:GO Major, Sodbayar "Techno4K" Munkhbold continues to perform well beyond his years. The 17-year-old put on a clinic to help TheMongolz qualify, posting a 1.24 rating across the event and registering 18 or more kills in all 7 maps.
RareAtom faced some unfortunate circumstances in their RMR run, but that did not affect the performance of Yang "JamYoung" Yi. Despite not qualifying, JamYoung was impressive throughout, with a 1.20 rating and a masterclass 29-12 game against Vertex in the opener being the peak of his performances.
Twisted Minds had no business getting close to qualifying from the Asian RMR, but no apparently no one gave the message to Shuaib “D0cC” Ahmad. The well known streamer was the second highest rated player at the event with a whopping 1.29 rating, and a jaw dropping 34-18 display on Mirage nearly upsetting RareAtom despite ultimately losing 16-14
The first of two Grayhound MVP candidates, Declan "Vexite" Portelli was instrumental in the Australian teams run to Paris. Claiming 1st place ath the event, Vexite’s 30-15 statline on Ancient in the final map of the series against TheMongolz pushed Grayhound over the line, ensuring that they would make the final Major in CS:GO.
The consensus number one pick for the Asian RMR MVP is Joshua "INS" Potter. The highest rated player at the event with a 1.32 rating on the number one team in attendance, INS was like a freight train as he ran through the competition, putting up a minimum of 21 kills in all 5 maps on the road to qualification.
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