Nilo, phzy, z0nt1x & more: 5 players to look out for at Showdown
BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2024 is almost upon us, and we can't wait for the four full days of Counter-Strike action.
The tournament, which will decide the last two teams to appear in BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024, will feature both s1mple's debut for Falcons as well as donk's BLAST debut, but who else should you be looking out for?
Read on as we tell you the five players that could cause a storm and secure their team a spot in London.
nilo - the future star
The obvious one is nilo. The young Swede has been tipped for big things in 2024, and he kicked it off well by helping his team Metizport secure a Showdown spot thanks to their win at RES Western European Masters.
nilo is a player we are certain to see in tier one sometime in the near future, and his performances make it easy to see why. In 2024 he has a 1.19 HLTV rating and a 1.21 impact rating, comfortably higher than anyone else in his team.
Metizport have a tough opening match with Falcons, but if they are to triumph, you can be sure that nilo will be a key factor in that.
phzy - the Swede in Asia
The second Swede to feature on our list, like nilo, phzy has also spent time on Young Ninjas. However, unlike nilo, he also spent time with the main team while device took time away from the game.
Since then, phzy has joined the Chinese team, Rare Atom. A bizarre mix of Asian and European players, phzy has established himself as the main star of the team, and he has an incredible 1.44 HLTV rating in 2024 to reflect that.
A key reason for Rare Atom being in the Showdown in the first place, if they are to get past Cloud9 in their opening game, phzy will have to continue his form on the international stage and away from the Asian scene.
zont1x - Spirit's unsung hero
As Spirit blitzed their way to the IEM Katowice 2024 trophy it was donk who got all the plaudits thanks to his record-breaking 1.70 HLTV rating across the event.
sh1ro also gets his credit. However, we believe that zont1x has become an unsung hero for the team.
A prototypical 'third star' type figure much akin to Magisk, he had a 1.16 HLTV rating at Katowice, and his consistent performances helps to bring a solid floor to his team.
Spirit are one of the favourites for BLAST Premier Spring Showdown, so make sure you look out for zont1x as they take on NA team Elevate in their opening game.
HeavyGod - Israel's newest star
Given the meteoric rise of flameZ, NertZ, xertioN, and Spinx in the last few years, it's no surprise that there is an equal level of excitement surrounding the latest Israeli talent, HeavyGod.
The latest talent from the Endpoint pipeline to follow flameZ and NertZ' footsteps with a foray into a tier one team, like flameZ, HeavyGod has taken that leap with OG.
Although things haven't gone so well for OG since the formation of their new roster, with them failing to reach the PGL Copenhagen Major and being eliminated in last place from Spring Groups, HeavyGod has been a bright point of the roster with a 1.20 HLTV rating thus far in 2024.
Given that they have an inexperienced trio of players in regali, HeavyGod, and Nexius, things will take a bit of time for OG, but when they do you best belive that HeavyGod will be central to it all.
syrsoN - Germany's deadliest sniper
Finishing off our list is the most experienced player on it, syrsoN.
The German recently rejoined BIG after some time away with 00NATION, and he didn't miss a beat during his time with the Norwegian organisation.
While the team struggled for strong results, syrsoN still starred and proved he still has what it takes to perform at tier-one, just as he did before he departed BIG.
BIG were disappointed by their start to the year with failure to qualify for the RMR, leading to syrsoN and JDC's arrivals, so watch out for the AWPer as they strive to climb back up the rankings.