s1mple becomes best player of 2021

Alexandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, an AWPer of NAVI, has taken the first place on the list of the best players of 2021 by HLTV.org. In the prestigious ranking, the Ukrainian is ahead of Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač, who are placed second and third, respectively.

Throughout 2021, s1mple helped NAVI win eight tier-1 championships, including PGL Major Stockholm 2021. On top of that, he finished each of these championships as the most valuable player (MVP).

In turn, ZywOo won only one big tournament in 2021, which was IEM Winter 2021. At the same time, the Frenchman was awarded one MVP medal and eight exceptionally valuable player (EVP) titles.

NiKo found himself on the third place in the ranking despite the lack of tournament victories and MVP medals. At the same time, he, together with G2, got into the top 3 at tier-1 events seven times and was awarded nine EVP titles.

The top 20 best players in the world in 2021 according to HLTV.org:

1. Alexandr "s1mple" Kostyliev
2. Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut
3. Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač
4. Dmitry "sh1ro" Sokolov
5.  Sergey "Ax1Le" Rykhtorov
6.  Abay "HObbit⁠" Khasenov
7.  Denis "electroNic" Sharipov
8.  Mareks "YEKINDAR" Galinskis
9.  Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy
10.  Dzhami "Jame" Ali
11.  Nikolai "device" Reedtz
12.  Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač
13.  Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer
14.  Keith "NAF" Markovic
15.  Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato
16.  Martin "stavn" Lund
17.  Russel "Twistzz" van Dulken
18.  Robin "ropz" Kool
19.  Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski
20.  Helvijs "broky" Saukants