With PGL Stockholm being the first CS:GO Major for two years, the level of play from every player was noticeably much higher than at points during the online era. With every pro looking to stay on the stage in front of the crowd for as long as possible, the PGL Stockholm Major produced some of the very best matches and performances of the year. So, with S1mple and co. still celebrating their deserved title, Gamelevate takes a look back at the best performing players throughout the tournament.
S1mple (1.47 Rating)
The GOAT of CS:GO finally has his long-awaited first Major triumph, putting his pedigree status beyond doubt now. And the Ukrainian capped his Major triumph in style, putting up a string of remarkable performances to bag the tournament’s MVP award.
In front of a record viewership, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev registered a whopping 62 kills for just 41 deaths in the grand final series between NAVI and G2, finishing the match with a 1.68 rating on Ancient and 1.41 on Nuke. On top of his grand final performance, S1mple hit a 27-8 (2.26) against Gambit on Mirage in the semi-final, a 22-15 (1.34) against Vitality in the quarters, and a 22-8 (1.93) against Virtus.Pro in the New Legends stage.
NiKo (1.36 Rating)
It’s been three years since the 2018 ELEAGUE Boston Major, and Nikola “NiKo” Kovač would once again taste a bitter grand final loss at PGL Stockholm, despite a heroic performance right the way through the tournament.
G2 Picked up the Bosnian to be the star difference-maker at the biggest tournaments, and NiKo certainly proved his worth with a 1.30 or higher on every map at the tournament up until the grand final once the bo3 stage of the event kicked off, with the highlight being his 1.54 performance on Inferno against NiP. And even though G2 fell short in the grand final, NiKo still put in a stellar performance with 52 kills across both maps.
ZywOo (1.30 Rating)
The rivalry between S1mple and Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut CS:GO fans have been obsessing over for the past two years was put on the backburner at PGL Stockholm thanks to Vitality’s lackluster performances, however, the young Frenchman still delivered plenty of eye-catching displays in an otherwise disappointing campaign.
The standout performance for ZywOo at PGL Stockholm came in the crunch elimination match against Astralis in the New Legends stage, with the Frenchman bagging 82 kills with a 1.23 rating on Vertigo, 1.62 on Nuke, and a fabulous 1.71 on the Dust II decider.
Electronic (1.28 Rating)
The duo of S1mple and Denis “electronic” Sharipov has been touted by the community as one of the best the game of CS:GO has ever produced and, after a quiet period during the online era, returned to its best at the PGL Stockholm Major.
The Russian rifler ended the tournament ranked as the second-best performing player at NAVI and the fourth highest rated player at the event with a 1.28 rating across 10 maps. Despite a relatively low headshot percentage, less than 50% on average at the tournament, electronic was still able to register a 1.55 rating against NiP on Overpass, a 1.49 against Gambit on the same map, and a 1.25 against G2 on Nuke in the grand final of the tournament.
B1t (1.27 Rating)
Undoubtedly the best rookie player in the world right now, Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi has won the BLAST Global Final, IEM Cologne, ESL Pro League, Intel Grand Slam, and now a CS:GO Major, all within his debut year on the scene.
One of the most accurate players in the game with a 70% headshot percentage, b1t has proven to be an inspired upgrade on Egor “flamie” Vasilyev for NAVI, with an average rating of 1.11 and an impact rating of 1.12 at the time of writing. And the rookie proved the biggest stages were no deterrent for him either at PGL Stockholm, hitting a rating of 1.45, 1.58, and 1.20 on the stage against Vitality, Gambit, and G2.
