Top 20 players of 2020: HEN1 (16)
Great consistency and strong showings in his team's peaks land Henrique "HEN1" Teles the No. 16 spot in our ranking of the top 20 players of 2020, powered by GG.BET and Xtrfy.
Top 20 players of 2020: Introduction
Counter-Strike was a family affair early on in HEN1’s life as he began to watch his father, Charles, play at the age of seven. By the time he was eight, he was already getting his first hours logged in the game. Having only one PC at home, Mr. Teles would take his children, HEN1, Lucas "LUCAS1" Teles and Charles "pbf1" Teles, to play together at LAN centers. The family then started competing and improving together at local events after being inspired by mibr, and in 2011 they managed to place third place at a national event. Two years later, the twins, HEN1 and LUCAS1, would find their place at the top of the Brazilian scene when they were asked to join a team with Fernando "fer" Alvarenga, Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo and Lincoln "fnx" Lau.
”CS on LAN was really a big thing at the time and it was just so much fun. It was me, LUCAS1, pbf1, and our father, Charles. I really remember watching the old mibr with cogu, fnx, KIKOOOO, nak and ellllll, and they were an inspiration for us to play together and participate in some tournaments. We started playing some tournaments as a family team (me, my brothers and my father) in 2008 and 2009 and we improved together. We did well in some tournaments, but it was only in 2011 that we played on a national scale. We placed third in a tournament called Mega Acervus Cup 2011, it was quite known at the time, and after that we kept growing. It became a real team that won a few tournaments in inland Brazil and in 2013 and 2014, Lucas and I were asked to join a team with FalleN, fer and fnx (KaBuM). We won everything in Brazil after that.”
HEN1 played his first event outside of South America well before Brazilian teams were a mainstay at international CS:GO events, traveling to ESWC 2014 in Paris, France, with KaBuM, where they only managed to come out on top in one of their five best-of-ones played, against Alexandre "bodyy" Pianaro’s Platinium, losing to the more tenured teams in their group, HellRaisers, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Titan and CPH Wolves. FalleN and fer then separated from the other three players upon returning home, deciding to join up with Ricardo "boltz" Prass, Lucas "steel" Lopes and Caio "zqkS" Fonseca in a merger between KaBuM and ProGaming.TD that would give them the necessary resources to travel to international events every few months.
“The community at the time helped pay for our trip [to ESWC 2014]. That KaBuM team made history by playing several FPS games at the same time. We did not have any international experience, and we knew it would be very hard to go through the group stages, but the experience would make it worthwhile. We beat one French team and we did well against kennyS’ team (Titan). That was a pretty cool tournament because we got the chance to meet several professional players and good teams. I took some photos with a bunch of them, I never thought that would be a normal thing for me. Good times. “
HEN1 and his brother then linked up with Epitacio "TACO" de Melo and Marcelo "coldzera" David in Dexterity at the beginning of 2015, forming one of the most promising rosters in the country. They would later be joined by fnx, but not long after the KaBuM trio reunited, one of the most talented players on the roster, coldzera, went on to join FalleN and company, who were by that time competing on the international stage and on the verge of signing for Luminosity. Dexterity brought on Gustavo "SHOOWTiME" Gonçalves in his stead, and even though the squad had just lost their star and then the backing from their organization, their lives were about to change. Playing as Não Tem Como, HEN1 and company won the Golden Chance event, a tournament in Brazil set up by Ricardo "dead" Sinigaglia and FalleN under the Games Academy brand that would give the winning team the opportunity to live and compete in North America to follow in the footsteps of the increasingly successful Luminosity.
”The Games Academy project, created by FalleN, dead and camis (Camila or mamacitadoglobal), opened the doors for us to begin our trajectory in the United States. We really were like a family, I have great affection for all of them. If it wasn’t for them, Brazilian CS would not be what it is today. Our first tournaments were tough, but we adapted pretty quickly… The American teams were strong, but in a short amount of time (one year), we could take on anyone. I really liked playing FPL at the time.”
The squad rebranded to Games Academy after moving to California and started to play their first events in North America, including LANs like the RGN Pro Series, where they beat some of the lesser opposition and took Cloud9 and Luminosity to three maps in close, exciting series on the way to a 5-6th place finish. The match against their compatriots was a particularly good one for HEN1, bringing him some recognition thanks to a 1.34 rating, the second-highest of the match. Soon after that, Games Academy lost two of their players, TACO and fnx, to Luminosity, taking in return one of the premier Brazilian team’s discards, boltz, and flying João "felps" Vasconcellos in from Brazil. The renewed squad then managed to earn spots at the MLG Columbus Major’s Main Qualifier and IEM Katowice 2016 during the remainder of their time as Games Academy.
HEN1 and company were picked up by Tempo Storm in February 2016 ahead of their MLG Columbus Main Qualifier and IEM Katowice appearances, which secured the squad’s ability to remain in North America and continue competing on the world stage. Despite a fumble at the Main Qualifier, where they finished in 9-12th place following losses to G2 and FlipSid3, Tempo Storm went on to reach the playoffs in Katowice with victories over Envy and Virtus.pro before going out in the quarter-finals to Natus Vincere in a match in which HEN1 performed brilliantly despite the loss, ending the series with a 1.27 rating.
Tempo Storm then won their first tournament, CEVO Gfinity Season 9, going undefeated against Dignitas, Virtus.pro and SK, and finished second at DreamHack Austin, beating NRG, Cloud9 and Liquid before losing to Luminosity in the grand final. HEN1 and company then won ESEA Premier Season 21, securing an ESL Pro League spot, and qualified for the ESL One Cologne 2016 Major’s Main Qualifier, which they would go on to play under the banner of a new organization in the Counter-Strike landscape, Immortals.
The ESL One Cologne Main Qualifier didn’t go well, as the Brazilians flopped in 12-14th place with a 1-3 record, but they bounced right back at DreamHack Open Summer, beating ENCE, SK, GODSENT and Ninjas in Pyjamas on the way to the title. The team then brought on Wilton "zews" Prado in lieu of SHOOWTiME as the former Games Academy and Luminosity coach tried to launch a career as a player, and although the team won Northern Arena - Toronto off the bat, poor showings at bigger events such as a 13-16th place finish at ELEAGUE Season 2 and a 9-10th at the ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals swayed the balance towards signing steel. Under new leadership they went on to win iBUYPOWER Masters, beating FaZe, Renegades and Cloud9 before ending the year year with a first place at the ELEAGUE Major’s Americas Minor. Immortals fell short of making a Major once again at the ELEAGUE Major’s Main Qualifier, albeit just barely as they were eliminated in the final round of Swiss stage matches to G2 in overtime despite a great performance by HEN1, who ended the best-of-one with the highest rating on the server, a 1.41.
Immortals brought on fnx as felps moved to SK in early 2017, after which HEN1 and company finished 3-4th at IEM Katowice, beating the likes of Ninjas in Pyjamas, fnatic and Astralis before losing to FaZe in the semi-finals. Immortals also kept showing up at smaller events, finishing second at another DreamHack Open Austin, but they then tripped up in the ESL Pro League Season 5 group stage—their first event with Vito "kNgV-" Giuseppe on board after fnx had been sent to the bench.
The Brazilians then made it through yet another Americas Minor, this time securing a spot at the PGL Major Krakow’s Main Qualifier, and HEN1 showed up immensely for his team at the PGL Studio in Bucharest, Romania, putting up a team-high 1.22 rating in the Main Qualifier. Up against the wall with a 1-2 record in the Swiss stage, Immortals barely survived the match GODSENT, beating them 16-14 as HEN1 finished the match with a 1.60 rating. The team then scraped by HellRaisers in the make-or-break match, 16-13, as HEN1 once again put in the work with 19 AWP kills. Immortals then faltered at ESL One Cologne, unable to find tournament-to-tournament consistency, and went down in 12-14th place before pulling off one of the most unexpected Cinderella stories at the PGL Major in Poland. After starting out with a humble 3-2 group stage finish, HEN1 and company took down BIG and Virtus.pro in the Major’s playoffs on the way to the grand final, where they ended up falling to Gambit in a 1-2 series in which HEN1 once again put on a masterclass with a 1.30 rating, putting his Major debut rating at 1.12.
”Our team really grew during the Major, I remember that BIG were very strong because of the jump bug, and to beat them 2-1, with the last map being 16-14, was very exciting. The victory against Virtus.pro in front of their own fans was also special. The crowd was wild, we barely could hear the game and it was quite the show. I personally like playing in front of a crowd and in a packed stadium. We could almost taste victory at the Major, we reached the final and won the first map. We were close to lifting the trophy, but sadly we lost the last two maps…”
Immortals then traveled to Sweden for DreamHack Malmö, where they finished in 5-8th place after reaching the quarter-finals, but a stressful situation at DreamHack Open Montreal would mar the team’s future. The Brazilian squad made it through to the final match at the smaller event in Canada but forfeited the first map after arriving late at the venue before going on to lose 0-2 to North. Despite the unfortunate events of the day, it was a Twitter spat between kNgV- and Pujan "FNS" Mehta that got out of hand, ending up with the Brazilian player being put on the bench and his contract eventually terminated. The separation caused a rift within the team and between some of the players and the organization, after which HEN1 and LUCAS1 asked for a transfer. Following a spell on the sidelines, the twins reunited with kNgV-, and joined up with fnx and Bruno "BIT" Fukuda Lima to sign with 100 Thieves, but another Twitter argument, this time with analyst Duncan ”Thorin” Shields, once again ended up in the removal of kNgV- from the team, after which the rest of the players were also released from their contracts with the organization.
”There is only one true story. To this day, we are still crucified for that, and we did nothing wrong. kNg is my brother. Yes, he had some problems with how he behaved on social media, but those who know him know what a great person he is. No one knows what was really behind what happened at the time, but still, people judge us. I do not like to talk about it because it’s in the past and we’re over it.“
The four remaining players stayed together through early 2018 despite not having organizational backing, with felps in kNgV-’s stead, and played under the Não Tem Como tag, but after losing to Windigo in the GG:Origin IEM Sydney 2018 qualifier, HEN1 and LUCAS1 went in a different direction and joined up with Luminosity. The twins were unable to replicate past success with the new squad through the second half of the year, however, finishing two DreamHack Opens in second place, one in 5-6th place and IEM Chicago in 7-8th place. After a 13-16th place at the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals and a 5-6th place at the StarLadder Major’s Americas Minor, LUCAS1 was then sent on loan to MIBR in exchange for felps and HEN1 was moved to the bench before being scooped up by Brazil’s top up-and-coming side, FURIA.
”Being apart [from LUCAS1] really hurt in the beginning, but it was necessary for our in-game evolution, and we became more independent as persons. Nowadays, when I celebrate a title or a victory, I really miss him. I always call him after games and sometimes we cry together.“
FURIA’s start with HEN1 didn’t propel the team straight to the top immediately, as they finished 7-8th at DreamHack Masters Malmö and 9-10th at ESL Pro League Americas, but the star AWPer was putting up big numbers from day one, and the team managed to finish third at the gruelling StarSeries i-League Season 8.
“FURIA were already at the top and always progressing by then, these guys are really good. My adaptation happened very fast, I just had to understand arT’s style of play and then do what I usually did.”
HEN1| TournamentEvent | Team (place) | Rating 2.0 (in team) | ADR | KPR | DPR | Impact | KAST | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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1.12 | 73.2 | 0.64 | 0.55 | 1.04 | 73.3% | EVP |
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1.19 | 74.1 | 0.72 | 0.56 | 1.00 | 79.5% | EVP |
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|
1.14 | 76.8 | 0.73 | 0.60 | 1.06 | 74.0% | EVP |
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|
1.19 | 81.4 | 0.72 | 0.58 | 1.03 | 76.3% | EVP |
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0.99 | 70.1 | 0.58 | 0.62 | 0.80 | 71.5% | |
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|
1.07 | 73.8 | 0.70 | 0.64 | 0.93 | 73.1% | |
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1.29 | 81.0 | 0.79 | 0.54 | 1.30 | 77.3% | MVP |
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1.15 | 77.6 | 0.73 | 0.61 | 1.10 | 74.0% | EVP |
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1.17 | 75.7 | 0.65 | 0.54 | 1.04 | 76.9% | |
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1.14 | 74.1 | 0.70 | 0.59 | 0.96 | 75.1% | |
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1.03 | 70.6 | 0.67 | 0.61 | 0.92 | 68.7% |
HEN1 had to miss his first matches of 2020 due to a delay in his visa renewal, which forced FURIA to bring in LUCAS1 as a stand-in for the IEM Katowice qualifier, but with two straight losses, the Brazilian team was out of the running for a spot at the only top tier LAN played before the coronavirus pandemic moved everything online. Before that, however, and upon clearing his visa, HEN1 returned to the United States just in time to play his only LAN of the year, the smaller DreamHack Open Anaheim, where FURIA made the grand final but lost 0-2 to the recently-formed Gen.G. HEN1 had a slow start in California, ending the offline event with a 1.03 rating, which was well below what he went on to show during the rest of the year, and he quickly stepped up the pace in the following tournaments.
”My worst memory was getting second place at DreamHack Anaheim, the first LAN tournament of the year. I know we could have won it.”
The 25-year-old went on to get four straight EVP mentions and become one of the driving forces behind FURIA’s success, starting in ESL Pro League Season 11, in which he accrued a 1.12 rating across 18 maps in the team’s third-placed finish, followed by a 1.18 rating in 17 maps in ESL One: Road to Rio North America, which he finished with a 79.5% KAST as the team stepped up and made the final, only to once again fall short against Gen.G. Victory finally came for FURIA in DreamHack Masters Spring North America, in which the star AWPer had a 1.14 rating, including a 1.21 rating in the grand final against Liquid, finishing the race for the MVP award in fourth place.
HEN1 put up an impressive performance in the smaller BLAST Premier Spring Americas Showdown, leading his team to the BLAST Premier Spring Americas Finals with a 1.37 rating across the five maps played against MIBR, Chaos and Gen.G. The AWPer continued to perform where it mattered more, at the finals, racking up a 1.19 rating and a year-high 81,4 ADR, topping the scoreboard for his team in all three series played although to little avail as they lost to Evil Geniuses in the semi-finals. FURIA then fell hard, going out in sixth place in the season’s closing tournament, cs_summit 6, and so did HEN1, who had his only below-average rating of the year at an event of stature, albeit barely so at 0.99.
HEN1 bounced back after the summer break as FURIA returned in better shape, finishing ESL One Cologne North America in 3-4th place. The 25-year-old had just a 1.07 rating, but he regained his stride for the following tournament with an incredible performance in ESL Pro League Season 12. HEN1 ended atop the stats rankings with a 1.29 rating, which was good enough for him to claim his first MVP award. FURIA’s AWPer was not only consistent throughout the tournament, but he also had an impressive 1.28 impact rating and an 81 ADR, as well as a year-high 16 clutches. He was also the best performer in the grand final against 100 Thieves, with a 1.39 rating in the two-map series.
FURIA then played their last event of the year in North America, IEM New York, in which HEN1 was named an EVP in the team’s title run, ending with a 1.15 rating and finishing third in the running for the MVP award. Although he didn’t have the same impact in the team’s run as he had in the previous tournament, HEN1 put in strong performances and was key in the victories against Liquid, Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves in the late stages of the tournament.
”ESL Pro League was my fondest memory of the year. That was the tournament in which I played well every single game. To be the MVP and win the title is priceless. I was very happy, especially because I was going through a tough period, with some changes in my personal life.”
FURIA then flew to Europe, crashing and burning in their first event in the old continent, BLAST Premier Fall Series, with two straight losses. Following the setback at the smaller event, HEN1 picked up form, despite reports surfacing at the time stating that his future in the squad could be in jeopardy. He put up a 1.16 rating as FURIA stabilized and finished DreamHack Masters Winter in 3rd-4th place.
HEN1 continued racking up big numbers, this time in his team’s 5-6th place finish in the BLAST Premier Fall Finals, which he ended with a 1.14 rating, leading the team on the scoreboard in the group stage defeat against G2 as well as in the following victory against OG, although he wasn’t able to show up big in the squad’s loss to Natus Vincere as they floundered in two maps. To end the year, FURIA once again finished 5-6th, this time in the IEM Global Challenge, in HEN1 wasn’t able to shine quite as brightly, ending the event with a 1.03 rating. He did put up a solid display in the team’s lone victory against HEROIC (1.36 rating), but had an otherwise mediocre showing and was at the bottom of the scoreboard against both Liquid and Natus Vincere.
”The trip to Europe was great, we had a good structure to practise and play, and I believe that if we had spent a whole month practising there, we could have won a tournament. We beat some great teams like G2, OG, Virtus.pro, Heroic and Complexity. We made a good account of ourselves, all things considered.“
Why was HEN1 the 16th best player of 2020?
Much like his teammate Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato, who came in 18th place on this year’s top 20 players list, HEN1 was a force to be reckoned with, consistently putting up big numbers throughout 2020 and ending up with the tenth highest overall rating (1.15).
HEN1 also had the eighth-highest percentage of maps with 1.15+ ratings (52.5%), showing that he performed at a high standard often, and had the 15th-highest AWP kills per round ratio (0.28). Having been consistently good throughout the year, HEN1 had the seventh-best KDD of all players (+520).
”I’m searching for the best for my personal and my professional life. But I want to be the best with my team in every tournament in which I play.”
The Brazilian AWPer, who ended 2020 with five EVP mentions, one MVP award, and was a big performer in all three of his team’s title runs, was also the world’s hardest player to kill, achieving the second-best deaths per round numbers posted in a single year of all time (0.576), trailing only Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth in 2018. HEN1’s survivability ties into his 75.1% KAST (second-best overall), which was further helped by strong clutching abilities as he had the second-highest clutches per round ratio thanks to his 73 1vsX situations won, the fifth-most in the world.
While HEN1 did mostly play in North America, he held his own when he had the chance to face top opposition, averaging a 1.16 rating against top 10 sides in 58 maps, but lack of further individual awards, especially from the Elite events, prevented him from being any higher in the ranking, an issue that also afflicted Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte, Justin "jks" Savage and KSCERATO.
Bold prediction
HEN1 named Yeah’s Eduardo "dumau" Wolkmer as a player to watch in the future. The 17-year-old has averaged a 1.17 rating since joining the Brazilian squad at the beginning of 2020 and has been key to the team's success in smaller tournaments. He had one of his best performances of the year in DreamHack Masters Winter North America, which he ended with a 1.27 rating.
”He is very skilled and smart. If he gets to be in a top-tier team, I am sure that he will be among the best in the world.”
Stay tuned to our Top 20 players of 2020 ranking and take a look at the Introduction article to learn more about how the players were selected. This year's ranking is supported by:
Xtrfy - Built on experience
GG.BET - Online betting and odds on sport and esports
Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangså
Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen
Issa 'ISSAA' Murad João 'felps' Vasconcellos
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
Nemanja 'nexa' Isaković
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad
Sean 'Gratisfaction' Kaiwai
Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken
Kévin 'Ex6TenZ' Droolans
Mathieu 'Maniac' Quiquerez
Ioann 'Edward' Sukhariev
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyev
Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács
Alexandre 'bodyy' Pianaro
Hansel 'BnTeT' Ferdinand
Bence 'DeadFox' Böröcz
Fernando 'fer' Alvarenga
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