Video gaming was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s by scientists including those working as MIT, who developed games like Tic Tac Toe and Moon Landing, as a part of their research and academic development.
However, video gaming did not achieve mainstream success until the 1980s, when arcade games were introduced at many public spaces for recreation. Atari developed some of the first home gaming consoles, taking the popularity of video gaming to great heights. Since the 2000s, a new genre of sports, known as esports, started gaining popularity with the introduction of games like Counterstrike, first introduced in 1999.
One of the most popular esports games of all time, Counterstrike is a multiplayer first-person shooter game that involves two teams, consisting of terrorists and counter-terrorists who compete against each other to complete objectives during the course of the game.
Esports has become a multi-billion dollar industry, with multiple gaming events being held across the world every year, and the latest version of Counterstrike, CS:GO has been at the forefront of its popularity. Since 2013, CS:GO tournaments, known as Major tournaments, have been held, and are extremely popular with professional gamers and fans alike
The tournaments are streamed live on platforms like Twitch, and dedicated betting sites allow fans to place wagers on the tournament games. Some of the best CSGO betting sites include CS:GO EMPIRE and Rollbit, GG.Bet & other mainstream sites.
With the popularity of CS:GO tournaments increasing, the professional players have achieved almost a cult-like status among esports fans. Here we look at some of the best CS:GO players of all time.
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
- Rating 2.0 – 1.34
- Kills per round – 0.89
- Death per round – 0.61
- K/D Ratio – 1.32
- Total kills – 27410
- Total deaths – 20791
- Total maps played – 1223
Let’s be honest, you can’t be looking at a list of best CSGO pros and not expect this name to pop up. Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev is a Counter-Strike legend and is widely regarded as one of the best players to have ever touched the game.
The Natus Vincere star who joined the team back in 2016 is used to showing consistent performance with most weapons but is especially renowned for his skills the AWP.
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
- Rating 2.0 – 1.34
- Kills per round – 0.86
- Death per round – 0.62
- K/D Ratio – 1.38
- Total kills – 15664
- Total deaths – 11317
- Total maps played – 697
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut is one of the few CSGO pros who managed to attain the status of a legend from his fans as a teenager. The 19-year-old rose to fame in late 2018 after he joined his current team – Vitality.
He is now considered to be one of the best AWPers in the game and is often compared to the likes of s1mple, KennyS or dev1ce.
Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski
- Rating 2.0 – 1.13
- Kills per round – 0.74
- Death per round – 0.69
- K/D Ratio – 1.38
- Total kills – 26429
- Total deaths – 23936
- Total maps played – 1342
23-year-old Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski has been a rifler for team Liquid since 2015. He has helped the North American organization to land first place finishes in several S-tier tournaments including IEM Chicago, ESL One: Cologne 2019, ESL Pro League Season 9 among others and has approximate total winnings of over $900,000.
He was ranked as the 4th best CSGO player of 2019 by HLTV.
Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte
- Rating 2.0 – 1.20
- Kills per round – 0.78
- Death per round – 0.61
- K/D Ratio – 1.15
- Total kills – 19664
- Total deaths – 16986
- Total maps played – 978
The only Filipino player in this list, Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte currently plays as a rifler for Evil Geniuses. He has been a part of the NRG roster before he switched to EG in late 2019.
It hasn’t even been a month since Brehze helped his squad take on team Liquid 3-2 and were crowned as the winners of ESL One: Cologne 2020 Online – North America.
Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken
- Rating 2.0 – 1.11
- Kills per round – 0.72
- Death per round – 0.65
- K/D Ratio – 1.19
- Total kills – 21078
- Total deaths – 17708
- Total maps played – 1089
Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken is also one of the younger Counter-Strike pros in this list. The Swedish team Liquid star has repeatedly proven his proficiency as a rifler and boasts a headshot percentage of 67.2% over the past three months, according to HLTV.
Twistzz has recently been seen streaming a lot of Valorant on his Twitch channel and has a follower count of over 130k at the time of writing.
Robin “ropz” kool
- Rating 2.0 – 1.21
- Kills per round – 0.81
- Death per round – 0.65
- K/D Ratio – 1.19
- Total kills – 16189
- Total deaths – 13591
- Total maps played – 836
Robin “ropz” Kool has been playing CSGO professionally since 2015. In 2017, he joined Mousesports as a rifler/lurker and has stuck with the team ever since.
The 20-year-old holds a number of trophies to his name. He, along with his team Mousesports finished first place in several big tournaments like the ESL One: New York 2018 or cs_summit 5.
Nicolai “device” Reedtz
- Rating 2.0 – 1.17
- Kills per round – 0.74
- Death per round – 0.64
- K/D Ratio – 1.26
- Total kills – 31086
- Total deaths – 24738
- Total maps played – 1530
Nicolai “Dev1ce” Reedtz is, along with three of his teammates, the first CSGO players to win four consecutive majors including the Atlanta 2017, London 2018, Katowice 2019, and Berlin 2019. The Astralis star has defined age in competitive CSGO with his exceptional AWPing skills.
Before joining the legendary Astralis squad in 2016, he has played in teams like Dignitas and Team SoloMid.
Nikola “NiKo” Kovač
- Rating 2.0 – 1.10
- Kills per round – 0.72
- Death per round – 0.71
- K/D Ratio – 1.26
- Total kills – 27235
- Total deaths – 22829
- Total maps played – 1291
Words aren’t enough to describe the proficiency of Nikola “NiKo” Kovač in CSGO. Following in the footsteps of his cousin, NiKo entered the world of Counter-Strike through a local net café. He gained fame by playing CS 1.6 and was soon picked up by team iNation.
He initially represented Mousesports in professional CSGO, before eventually moving to FaZe in 2017. He was crowned as the 2nd best player of 2017 by HLTV.
Benjamin “blameF” Bremer
- Rating 2.0 – 1.24
- Kills per round – 0.74
- Death per round – 0.55
- K/D Ratio – 1.29
- Total kills – 11120
- Total deaths – 8622
- Total maps played – 538
23-year-old former Heroic player Benjamin “blameF” Vang Bremer was picked up by Complexity Gaming in late 2019. The Danish pro has shown consistent performance as of late and has netted a first-place finish at the European Fins of BLAST Premier: Spring 2020.
Kenny “kennyS” Schrub
- Rating 2.0 – 0.99
- Kills per round – 0.65
- Death per round – 0.66
- K/D Ratio – 1.22
- Total kills – 35342
- Total deaths – 29055
- Total maps played – 1756
Most of you were probably waiting for this name to show up. The 25-year-old legend Kenny “kennyS” has played in teams like LDLC, Titan, and Envyus before being picked up by G2 in 2017. He was widely regarded as the best AWPer in the game during his peak form.
He was titled as the “eSports Player of the Year” at The Game Awards 2015.
In the end, CSGO is a game of skill and dedication. The more you play, the better you get at the game. These players have each proven on multiple occasions why they’re the best in the game. There are many other players who could have made it to the list but got left out by a small margin. In case you can’t find your favorite pro here, or if we missed some players you’d have liked to see in here, be sure to let us know through the comments below.
