Study: Which academy players are most similar in style to top-tier players?

HLTV.org has published the results of its own study of how similar is the playstyle of some academy team players to esports athletes who already play at the top of the CS:GO pro scene. The comparison was based on 17 stats for AWPers and 22 for riflers.

Following the analysis results, "look-alikes" of the tier 1 scene were chosen for seven graduates of academy teams, with their similarity being indicated in percentage terms. In addition, the authors have added key points explaining the style of the compared esports athletes.

The results of the study are:

Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov (G2) –  Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev (NAVI)

m0NESY is more aggressive, has more frags on average per round, and also has more flash assists than s1mple. In turn, the Ukrainian surpasses G2's sniper in most key metrics, which resulted in only 58.9% of similarity.

Four other players similar to m0NESY's style:

  • Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov (Cloud9) – 51,4%
  • Abdul "degster" Gasanov (OG) – 48%
  •  Florian "syrsoN" Rische (BIG) – 47,1%
  •  Nico "nicoodoz" Tamjidi (fnatic) – 45,6%

Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman (MOUZ) –  Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski (Liquid)

The main similarity between xertioN and EliGE is their ultra-aggressive style, with the match being 87.4%.

Four other players similar to xertioN's style:

  • Alejandro "mopoz" Fernández-Quejo Cano (Movistar Riders) – 80,7%
  • Igor "Forester" Bezotecheskiy (Entropiq) – 79,8%
  • Fernando "fer" Alvarenga (Imperial) – 77,3%
  • Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke (Astralis) – 77,3%

Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro (MOUZ) –  Юрий "yuurih" Сантос (FURIA)

The similarity between JDC and yuurih is 87.4%, which is justified by almost the identical statistics of success in opening kills, average kills per round and average rating.

Four other players similar to JDC's style:

  • Alejandro "alex" Masanet (Movistar Riders) – 86,6%
  • Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač (G2) – 85,7%
  • Nygaard "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard (Heroic) – 84,9%
  •  Robin "ropz" Kool (FaZe) – 84%

Aleksandr "KaiR0N-" Anashkin (Aurora) –  Robert "Patsi" Isyanov (Team Spirit)

Both players are extremely aggressive, which is why they die early in the round. With a similarity of 67.3%, they rarely use flashbangs, do not do well in clutches, but are still dangerous fraggers.

Four other players similar to KaiR0N-'s style:

  • Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski (Liquid) – 68,2%
  • Igor "Forester" Bezotecheskiy (Entropiq) – 66,4%
  • Alejandro "mopoz" Fernández-Quejo Cano (Movistar Riders) – 64,7%
  • Nikola "NiKo" Kovač (G2) – 63,9%

Frederik "Fessor" Sørensen –  Igor "Forester" Bezotecheskiy (Entropiq)

Fessor and Forester are about equally successful in getting opening kills on both the offensive and defensive side, resulting in a similarity of 79.9%. The Dane has the same similarity rate as EliGE.

Four other players similar to Fessor's style:

  • Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski (Liquid) – 79,9%
  • Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač (G2) – 79%
  •  Justin "jks" Savage (G2) – 79%
  •  Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis (Liquid) – 78,2%

Elias "s1n" Stein (BIG Academy) –  Robin "ropz" Kool (FaZe)

The German and Estonian are equally successful in clutches and have high survival rates, which suits their lurking roles. All this led to a similarity of 84.9%.

Four other players similar to s1n's style:

  • Yuri "yuurih" Santos (FURIA) – 82,4%
  • Aurimas "⁠Bymas⁠" Pipiras (MOUZ) – 76,6%
  • Abay "HObbit"Khasenov (Cloud9) – 75%
  • Rasmus "sjuush⁠" Beck (Heroic) – 74,9%

Miłosz "⁠mhL⁠" Knasiak (MOUZ NXT) –  Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut (Vitality)

mhL⁠ and ZywOo share good statistics with the AWP on CT side and high levels of aggression. Their similarity amounts to 78.3%.

Four other players similar to mhL's style:

  • Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev (NAVI) – 76,6%
  • Mateusz "mantuu" Wilczewski (OG) – 68,9%
  • Abdul "degster" Gasanov (OG) – 67,2%
  • Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov (Cloud9) – 66,4%

Separately, HLTV.org mentioned six other esports athletes who competed at the level of academy teams and found each of them one "look-alike".

The comparison process for academy players only took the statistics of their performances at the WePlay Academy League into account, while for tier 1 representatives, it was matches at LAN events against teams from the top 20 in 2022. HLTV.org's publication also notes that the comparison is made solely on the basis of statistical metrics and does not reflect the similarity of positions on a map.

Origin: www.hltv.org