With a professional background in both Starcraft II and CS:GO, and having never finished outside the top twenty individual rankings for the latter title since 2017, Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski is one of the most skilled Esports players North America has ever produced. Over the course of his career with Team Liquid (an org he now even has stakes in), EliGE has won the lot but, with the NA side struggling so far this year, Gamelevate takes you through whether or not the American still deserves his status as the region’s best.
EliGE By The Numbers
At the time of writing, EliGE is currently sitting with a total record of 0.75 kills, 83.6 damage, and 0.68 deaths per round, as well as 1.25 impact and an overall rating of 1.09 over the course of his career. He contributes to a round with either a kill, assist, survival, or a trade 71.3% of the time, and has a headshot percentage of 49%. His rating is at a healthy 1.12 against opponents in the top twenty in the world rankings and only drops to 1.11 and 1.08 when facing off against teams in the top ten and five respectively.
The North American has also been with Team Liquid since March 2015, making him one of the longest-serving players CS:GO has ever seen.
How Does He Compare?
To get a gauge of how good EliGE truly is, let’s here are how some of his numbers compare against some of the best riflers currently playing from North America: Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, Keith “NAF” Markovic, and Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte.
FaZe’s Twistzz is currently sat with a 1.11 rating, 0.62 deaths, 77.0 damage, and 0.73 kills per round. NAF is currently positioned with a 1.09 rating, 0.63 deaths, 81.3 damage, and 0.73 kills per round, with Brehze placed with a 1.11 rating, 0.67 deaths, 80.6 damage, and 0.76 kills per round.
For an overall rating when playing against the world’s best, Twistzz averages a 1.08 rating against teams in the top ten and 1.05 against those in the top five. NAF’s ratings are much closer together at 1.09 and 1.07 respectively, whilst Brehze is actually the only pro who improves as the opposition gets better at 1.07 and 1.08.
The only noticeable dip to speak of between the Team Liquid duo and the other two names here is the headshot percentage. Whilst NAF is positioned on a lowly 41.8%, Brehze is comfortably above EliGE at 52.2%, where Twistzz is even further out ahead with 62.3%, a big disparity between the EU-based rifler and his three North American counterparts here.
How Good Are Team Liquid Right Now?
The reality of any sporting competition is that individual brilliance can only get a professional so far, and it’s fair to say that both EliGE and teammate NAF have been let down by some pretty shoddy Team Liquid performances ever since their all-conquering days in 2019.
The project led by Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo never really got going, and the removal of Jason “moses” O’Toole as head coach also seemed like a murky affair at the time. These are just two examples of the sorts of disruptions that have held Liquid back from keeping pace with the European sides that dominated the org over the past two years of limited LAN time.
In Eric “adreN” Hoag as coach and IGL Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella, Team Liquid have brought back two of the lynchpins behind the 2019 team that saw EliGE climb up to #8 in the player world rankings, however, early results haven’t indicated that the same spark is quite there anymore.
We haven’t quite given up hope for this new-look Liquid lineup just yet, but the early exits at IEM Katowice and BLAST Spring Groups to kickstart the year certainly have us concerned.
As for EliGE, his numbers are continuing to hold up against the very best in his region, and he is still regularly topping the scoreboard for his team, even against the very best of opponents. Keeping up this form is going to be crucial for Liquid rediscovering themselves as 2022 rolls on, as well as reestablishing the rifler as one of the world’s best, as well as one of the finest NA has produced.
