Mad Catz: Top players - Final part

Just in time before the next big event starts we bring our Mad Catz Top players to a conclusion by announcing places 1-5, and with that our MVP of the event - Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund.

As we bring our Top players series to an end, it is time to bring out the big names. Ninjas in Pyjamas dominated yet another event by winning 9 maps in a row, only losing double digit rounds on two occasions.

During that winning steak, four of their players shined more than most of their comptetitions, although there was one player who managed to sneak into the top five.

HLTV.org's Top players of Mad Catz Invitational (#1-#5)

5 Player Team KPR DPR Rating Richard 'Xizt' Landström NiP 0.79 0.54 1.25   3rd by rating in the team (-2%), 1 x Top rated

Best performance: 24:12 vs. Nostalgie (1.58 rating, +32%) - Group stage #1 Additional notable stats: #3 in playoff rating (1.24) #6 in K-D difference (+54) #2 in deaths per round (0.54) #8 in rounds with at least one kill (51%) #7 in headshot rating (0.44 hspr with 56%) #3 in pistol round rating (1.80) #3 in rifle kills per round (0.68) #2 in T-side rating (1.36)

Ninjas in Pyjamas extended their winning streak at Mad Catz Invitational by conquering another event without dropping a map. Therefore it is no wonder that all of their players had ratings above 1.10, four of them above 1.20 including the in-game leader and chief decision maker Richard "Xizt" Landström.

Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson also contributed to their title winning campaign, but his below average 0.65 kills per round coupled with the fact that he wasn't the team's best player in any map, saw him ranked just under the line, at 22nd.

On the other hand, even though Landström also didn't stand out in any match except the opening one vs. Nostalgie, he was one of the most consistent players (8 of 9 maps above 1.00) and one of the best fraggers of the event (0.79 KPR).

His three best performances all came against Russian-Ukrainian mix team Nostalgie, one map in the group stage when he was top rated (24:12, 1.58 rating) and two maps in the quarter-final (36:16, 1.57 rating).

Most notably he excelled on the Terrorist side, not only by leading NiP to an incredible 75% of rounds won, but also by having the event's second best T-side rating of 1.36. That is a particularly remarkable number when we take into account that the average rating of all in-game leaders at this event was 0.74, and that only two other players in that role played above average on the attacking side.

He was also one of the best players in pistol rounds with a 1.80 rating, which we are able to witness from his couple of frag videos (highlight #1, highlight #2).

In other circumstances the 4th best player of any team couldn't be this high up, but Landström was so successful in areas he normally shouldn't be as an in-game leader that he was bumped up to 5th place.

4 Player Team KPR DPR Rating Adam 'friberg' Friberg NiP 0.79 0.59 1.21   4th by rating in the team (-5%), 2 x Top rated

Best performance: 25:20 vs. ESC Gaming (1.26 rating, +27%) - Semi-final (map 2) Additional notable stats: #4 in playoff rating (1.16) #3 in domination meter (0.23) #8 in K-D difference (+42) #1 in famas kills per round (0.09)

It might look odd that Adam "friberg" Friberg is ranked above his teammate Richard "Xizt" Landström while having lower rating, but it is easily justifiable. Both players had the same KPR of 0.79 while Friberg only had more deaths overall, which didn't really have a negative influence on NiP's success. On the other hand, Friberg was more dominant and he made significant impact in one big match, against ESC in the semi-final.

In that toughest match for NiP when the Poles gave them a better fight than Anexis did in the final, Friberg stepped up in the second half of the second map after the Swedes faced a 4-11 deficit, and with 5 entry kills he helped the team overcome their biggest obstacle at the event. He ended up as the top rated player in that map, as well as the clash overall (45:31 score, 1.30 rating).

Although entry kills are one of his main tasks, he wasn't very successful at it having a 25:28 score in first duels throughout the event, and 20 of those first deaths led to NiP's round loss (71%). But, that percentage was the highest in his team, meaning that they had the most problems overturning a 4-on-5 situation when they lost Friberg early on compared to anyone else in the team. On the other hand, those 20 deaths led to 30% of team's round-losses at the event, so it could also be posed that if he just got the entry kills when he was expected to, they would drop even less rounds.

Finally, Friberg stood out by having 15 rounds with 3 or more kills in just 9 maps, which brought him the 3rd best domination meter among playoff participants (0.23). Five of those rounds came against the Polish team in the semi-final, and three in the match where he had his best rating – in the group stage against TCM-Gaming (23:13 score, 1.64 rating).

So in the end, even though he didn't excel in the final (0.92 rating), it shouldn't be hard to see that he earned to be placed above his teammate Landström, if not just for his impact overall and in the semi-final clash specifically, then also for the fact that NiP had a hard time winning rounds without him.

3 Player Team KPR DPR Rating Adil 'ScreaM' Benrlitom VeryGames 0.77 0.62 1.16   1st by rating in the team (+11%), 4 x Top rated

Best performance: 31:22 vs. Natus Vincere (1.53 rating, +50%) - Quarter-final (map 3) Additional notable stats: #1 in total kills (315) #2 in K-D difference (+63) #1 in total headshots (226) #1 in headshots rating (0.56 hspr with 72%) #2 in rounds with 3+ kills (24) #5 in clutch points (7)

The only player that was able to sneak into the top five among all the NiP stars is VeryGames' 2013 addition Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom. The "Headshot machine" made his international LAN debut for the French-Belgian side in Vienna and he immediately showed he will become an irreplaceable member of the team.

First and foremost, Benrlitom's headshot percentage was as high as ever, boasting 72% of his kills made that way. He also led all playoff participants with 0.56 headshots per round, so he once again proved that his aim is unparalleled.

That headshooting ability makes him an incredible asset for the team, as the fact that he can take out an opponent with one bullet so often makes him similar to an AWPer in a way, only he has a lot more mobility and costs far less money.

When we check how he actually performed in matches, we see that he was VG's most consistent performer (11 of 15 maps above 1.00) and that he was top rated on 4 occasions, more than any other player at the event.

Early on in the tournament he top fragged in his team's draw with ALTERNATE (29:19 score), and he repeated that against TeamCRG in the second group stage (26:10, 1.82 rating). But more importantly, he stepped up in the playoffs, excelling in the third map of the marathon against Na`Vi (31:22 score, 1.53 rating, 50% above team avg) and in the third map of the bronze match against ESC (23:9, 1.63 rating, 46% above team avg).

He ended up with a 1.09 playoff rating, only behind the four NiP stars among the semi-finalists, and with by far the most total kills in the playoffs (207).

Although his rating (1.16) is somewhat lower than of the two NiP players' ranked below him, Benrlitom had a quite similar fragging performance (0.77 KPR) and he was the best player in his team. Moreover, in addition to the contribution in big playoff matches, he even played well in all three maps of his team's fateful defeat to Anexis in the semi-final, so there is practically nothing to look down on him for.

2 Player Team KPR DPR Rating Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg NiP 0.83 0.54 1.31   2nd by rating in the team (+3%), 3 x Top rated

Best performance: 23:10 vs. ESC Gaming (1.62 rating, +28%) - Semi-final (map 1) Additional notable stats: #2 in playoff rating (1.35) #2 in deaths per round (0.54) #3 in K-D difference (+62) #4 in kills per round (0.83) #5 in headshot rating (0.47 hspr with 57%) #6 in consistency (78% of maps above team avg and above 1.00) #6 in pistol round rating (1.61) #5 in entry kill rating (1.26) #5 in clutch points (7) #1 in T-side rating (1.39)

Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg had another incredible event, displaying a performance that would usually warrant and MVP award, but this time it just wasn't enough. Perhaps it would have been enough to battle equally for first place if there wasn't for his one really bad map against ESC in the semi-final, but in the end, he'll have to settle for 2nd.

That second map against ESC (7:21 score, 0.45 rating) was the only one where he had a rating below 1.16, as his contribution to every other NiP victory was immense. He was top rated on 3 occasions, all of them in the playoffs, and he earned the second best rating in the latter stage (1.35).

First he destroyed Nostalgie in the quarter-final with a 44:22 score (1.66 rating), then he led the way in the first map against ESC (23:10, 1.62 rating, 5 entry kills and two clutches) and he finished it off with a great performance in the final against Anexis (45:25, 1.48 rating).

Curiously he wasn't the team's best at almost anything, but he was one of the best at the event at almost everything – 4th in KPR (0.83), 3rd in K-D diff (+62), 5th in headshot rating, 6th in pistol round rating and 5th in entry kill rating. The one thing he did top the table in was Terrorist side rating, which might not seem like an important stat, but the attacking side has proven to be the harder one in the game and his 1.39 rating was way above average.

Even though he wasn't even the best in his team, his performance was far ahead of all the best players from the other semi-finalists, so he is placed above them. Although his one bad map did hinder him from being an equal in the battle for first place, he is as clear a second as one could be.

1 Player Team KPR DPR Rating Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund NiP 0.96 0.54 1.46   1st by rating in the team (+15%), 3 x Top rated

Best performance: 29:9 vs. Anexis (2.17 rating, +47%) - Grand final (map 2) Additional notable stats: #1 in kills per round (0.96) #1 in playoff rating (1.54) #1 in K-D difference (+89) #1 in rounds with at least 1 kill (60%) #2 in consistency (83% of maps above team avg and above 1.00) #2 in domination meter (0.28) #2 in deaths per round (0.54) #2 in headshot rating (0.55 hspr with 57%) #5 in pistol round rating (1.65) #4 in rating above team average (15%) #1 in entry kill rating (1.68) #1 in entry kill-death difference (+27) #1 in rifle kills per round (0.71) #3 in T-side rating (1.29)

There was little to no doubt when we were selecting the top spot in our ranking, especially after taking a closer look into all of the detailed stats, as Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund simply stands out too much. It isn't just his incredible fragging (0.96 KPR), but also the way he did it and when he did it.

Alesund continues his tradition of topping the charts at major LAN events, as he was previously NiP's best player at ESWC, DreamHack Winter and AMD Sapphire Invitational.

Consistency has always been his main trait, as he is able to keep the high level of play throughout an entire tournament with ease. This time he finished having more kills than deaths in all 9 maps, and having a rating above team's average in 7 of them. In addition to that, he also fragged consistently, getting at least one kill in 60% of his rounds.

His best performance came in the second map of the grand final when he recorded a 2.17 rating (second highest of the event) with a 29:9 score. He had a similarly effective display against Nostalgie in the quarter-final (27:10, 2.07 rating), but his contribution in the team's toughest match, against ESC in the semis, was perhaps even more notable since he finished as the best fragger of that duel (49:34 score, 1.29 rating and 12 entry kills in two maps).

What impressed the most about Alesund's display was the fact that he stood out this much in a team that didn't lose a single map and a team that had four players with above-average frag count. Throughout the event his share was 23.8% of NiP's kills, which increased during the playoffs to 25.1%. No other player from the top 4 teams was even close to that number in the knockout stage, nor was anyone close to his 1.54 playoff rating.

Furthermore, he was one of the most dominant players and, to some people's surprise, he was by far the best entry killer among the playoff participants. With 40 entry kills and just 13 entry deaths he had an incredible +27 difference, while getting 0.19 first kills per round, almost double the game's average. And although he wasn't able to top the table of the best aimers, he will be happy with 2nd place with his 0.55 headshots per round.

And the statistic that definitely seals the deal is the following: in 98 of NiP's 144 rounds won (68%), Alesund had at least one kill, which is the biggest influence on rounds won out of all players from the top four.

In the end, Alesund did everything what is required from an event's best player. He led his team to the title, he played great in important matches and the playoffs, he stood out in his team and he stood out in numerous statistical categories across the board.

After all is said and done we can now officially say that Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund was the best player of this event and we can name him our Most Valuable Player of Mad Catz Invitational.

HLTV.org's MVP of Mad Catz Invitational:

Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund (NiP)

In case you missed any of the previous parts of this series or you're not even sure what this is about, check out the links below:

Mad Catz: Top players - Introduction
Mad Catz: Top players - Part 1
Mad Catz: Top players - Part 2
Mad Catz: Top players - Part 3

We hope you enjoyed this extensive and very in-depth stats analysis of the best players from Mad Catz Invitational. Now we turn to future events, starting with Copenhagen Games tomorrow, so stay tuned to HLTV.org.