Thorin: "S1mple Is No Longer the Best Player In the World"

Analyst Duncan Thorin Shields expressed his opinion about the best player in the world.

S1mple is no longer the best player in the world. The only question is who it is. ZywOo, NiKo, and m0NESY will be my favorites, and I'm willing to say it's NiKo. He does more with fewer resources.

Duncan Thorin Shields

How did s1mple perform at IEM Katowice?

Even though Natus Vincere finished IEM Katowice 2023 in 3rd-4th place, the team's form still needs to be improved. All of the NAVI players could only show their best game in Poland. But what about Alexander s1mple Kostyliev?

S1mple's average rating at IEM Katowice 2023 is 6.3, making him the 18th-best player in the tournament. And this is not the level of a sniper. In 2022 his average rating was 6.7. So, s1mple really didn't show a good game at IEM Katowice 2023.

A particularly weak performance of s1mple was seen in the semi-final against Heroic: the sniper of NAVI rated 5.9.

Related: Analysis of the Grand Final of IEM Katowice 2023 Between G2 and Heroic: Who Will Be the Champion?

What about NiKo?

For Nikola NiKo Kovac, IEM Katowice 2023 is one of the best events in his career. His average rating is 6.8, making him the best G2 player in the tournament. Only Mathieu ZywOo Erbau and Jakob jabbi Nygaard performed better than him at IEM Katowice, scoring 6.9 and 7.3, respectively.

If G2 wins the event, NiKo will most likely win the MVP.

It's too early to draw conclusions

In 2023, only two Major tournaments were played, the second of which has yet to end. A much larger distance is needed to determine the best player of the year. There is still a whole season ahead, s1mple and other players can get in shape and get into the list of the best players of the year, and the fight for the title of the best player in the world has only just begun.