THE TOP 15 COMPETITIVE PROS.

Forget all the tier lists made by pros, this is the one everybody in the community waits for because of its history of great accuracy. Now that the lies are out of the way, lets establish the criteria used. *This is for the best competitive players, not the most skilled. That means results matter, not potential *Performing well in lower ranked events counts for very little. It is what you do on the biggest and best stage (CRL obvs) which matters *Versatility is important. A player who can play in any leg is worth far more to a team than a one trick *Form over the last 6 months or so is considered. What Surgical Goblin did in 2017 does not matter. *Some players have shown a lot of promise but do not have enough games under their belt to be seriously considered. *Other players are CRL rookies but performed to such an exceptionally high standard over a number of games that they could not be ignored *I've expanded this from a top 10 to a top 15 because I think the pool of quality players has grown sufficiently to warrant it. Let's begin 15 - LucasXGamer The 2020 fall split was the season of the rookie, and Lucas is the first of three to make it into my top 15. We had high expectations for his debut and he didn't disappoint. It was very much an upside down season for the curly haired Adonis. He began well playing 1v1 matches before getting called in to form a new 2v2 partnership with Wallace. Though his form in the singles fell away slightly, his combo with Wallace became one of the most formidable duos and helped lead the Pain rookie army advance deep into the playoffs. 14 - Diego B One of my personal favourites, Diego has slowly slid down my lists with every release, but he still deserves a place in the top 15. Forever a tenacious competitor who is never beaten, Diego was solid in the 1v1s, including the customary collection of clutch wins, and above average in the 2v2. He was simply unfortunate to be in a team of really only 2 players, so he forever performed with a huge weight of expectations on his shoulders. 13 - Belikin I'm not going to talk about the using a second device because that is a dead issue in my eyes. Beli was the one shining light in a highly disappointing team of 1v1 players. His wins kept his team in the hunt for playoffs. It's not just your winning percentage which counts, but when you win, and if Cream got one of their rare dubs, it was when Beli performed. 12 - Boeufmac This was not really the season we expected from Charlie. Coming in, he was seen as more of a 2v2 specialist, but in this split, he recaptured the Charlie of old and became a 1v1 beast running at 62%. Sadly, the 2v2 became a bit of a let down, and they didn't get the numbers they would have hoped for. Despite that, Boeuf's overall performance gets him in. 11 - KK The first of the players from East. Although he is strictly a 1v1 player, KK's season was stellar enough to get him in this high. I felt that Ponos were shielding Mugi from the spotlight as much as they could, and it worked because KK winning so often meant that Mugi didn't have to play. 10 - iAmJP One man cannot carry a team to the championship. Queso's victory was certainly helped by Rubin being a complete beast, but their 2v2 pairing won enough games to matter and JP played his role in the 1s. This culminated in his magnificent sweep in the final which robbed us of that Rubes vs Morts deciding game we all wanted. I dropped JP one spot because of that. 9 - Hajime Just like KK, Hajime was strictly a 1v1 force, but playing 35 games at 60% is what kept a disappointing Fav team going. 8 - Xopxsam In a normal year, Sam played well enough to make it into the top 5, but I cannot make a case for placing him above those still to come. His numbers are boosted by the formidable partnership he forms with Morten, and his individual numbers were ruined slightly by a mediocre final. That's when it counts the most though. 7 - Mohamed Light Playing an incredible 73 matches this split, Mo put up an imposing 62% in the 1v1 with wins against many great opponents. He also played 2v2 with a variety of partners, running at better than average. It was actually an exceptional season from a rookie who carried his team for the entire split. 6- Mugi Okay, calm your farm. I know you want him higher, but I just can't right now. Maybe after worlds. A 72% win rate in 1v1 playing the largest range of decks ever seen is a compelling case for this kid to be right at the top, and even as I type this, I'm questioning myself. However, if you look at my criteria, weight of performance over time counts for something, and those still to come have been around longer. Remove the "competitive" from this list and we are probably talking about the best player in the world. 5 - Jupiter King This guy has just been incredible for Tribe in two consecutive splits. With all the focus on Ruben this year, many have missed that JK won at 71% playing 1v1. This on top of his previous remarkable split. Could even be higher than 5. 4- Lciop Lciop might even be older than me now, but he seems to be getting better and better with the wrinkles. So you think Mugi played well in 1v1, well Lciop eclipsed the rookies numbers with an insane 77% and just for good measure, 60% in the 2v2. If we talk strictly numbers, I could easily elevate him to No #1, and especially after he helped Nova claim another title, but I think his stats are slightly inflated by more matches against weaker opposition. 3 - Thegod_rf Imagine getting 3 sweeps in KOTH, going 65% in 1v1 and 58% in the doubles, only to lose top spot in this list. Well, it's happening. I cannot fault Rf's season, but others were just better. He was the shining light in an SSG squad which underperformed relative to their ability. Still a god, both in name and literally. 2 - Ruben "We told you, Gramps" Yeah, shut up. I never doubted this kid's ability. I just wanted to see him deliver on the biggest stage before I could elevate him to these stellar heights. In a format which gave him the opportunity to dominate all season, dominate he did. Rubes fulfilled his potential and with it came the biggest prize...so far. 1 - Morten I think the entire community pretty much wants to see SK win the world title because nobody deserves it more than this guy. Put simply, Morten had the best season ever played in CRL. He went 76% in 1v1 and 69% in 2v2. Absolutely huge numbers to produce over the course of 46 games. He even waltzed past Ruben in the final, which solidified his spot for me at the top. Honourable mentions. CR Sux showed me enough to suggest he can really play this game. Nova are a real threat because this guy gives them some depth around Lciop as the likes of Lil' Chen begin to fall away. It's hard to omit Line, the No Tilt world champion, but he didn't bring that 1v1 form with him to CRL. In fact, it was only his performance in 2v2 which saved his stats. Still a player who must be respected. My toughest omit was Lapo. Although his numbers look good, they're exaggerated by his 80% win rate in a few games of 2v2 with Rf. Frankly, just like Samuel, his 1v1 was disappointing. The most worrisome aspect of this is his inability to close out big matches. I first noticed this a few splits ago when he lost many 1v1 deciders, and this year, in the playoffs, it happened again. Talented? Yes. Erratic? Extremely. On paper Egor looks like another tough omit, but he seemed to have caught the lack of interest disease from his Fortnite and Among Us playing mates. Top 10 in the world easily when he is in form, but that ain't now. Javi14 seems to me to be more reputation rather than results at the moment. Enough said. Play another split and the rapidly improving Wallace would break into this list. His season of growth culminated when he eliminated SSG and, as we all know, his 2v2 with Lucas was great and would only improve. Finally Auk. Ever consistent, versatile and reliable, he bring it split after split, but just lacks that touch of brilliance to be amongst the very best. THE WASHED LIST Of course, after our recent and very public feud, everyone is expecting me to put Bobtherock in this list. The reality is, to be washed, you have to be something first. This kid came, refused to practise, sulked for a game when he was benched, played stoned, let his teammates down, and then took the money and ran. Destroyed a very promising Misfits team by himself. Sorry, but he's scum. I can't say anything polite about him. 1 - X-Bow Master I love this fucking guy, but he had a horrible split. He was actually in my previous top 10 list. The good news is that he's been down here before and then bounced back. That's what champions do. I'm cheering for him to do it again if he keeps playing under the new format. 2 - Kanariooo You can always count on true love. After I put Surgical Goblin in my last washed list, Kanny decided he couldn't leave his buddy on his own and promptly joined him. The game has moved well past him now. Still a world champion. 3- Benzel Rider A 17-17 season in 1v1 is far from being amongst the worse results, but these are bad numbers for a guy who used to be deadly. Plus he often beat the easy guys and lost when he really needed to win. EDIT Following some excellent community feedback, I realised that Pedro deserves to be in the washed list after an awful season which destroyed Cream. Not sure which was more cataclysmic, his fall or me forgetting about it. Thanks for reading, Gramps