Top 20 players of 2021: broky (20)

Strong performances in the biggest events and against the toughest opposition earned Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants his debut on the top 20 players list, ​powered by GG.BET.

Top 20 players of 2021: Introduction

broky's road to the top echelons of Counter-Strike was typical of the new generations of stars. He took a casual interest in the game through a sibling during the days of CS 1.6, gained interest in the pro scene after witnessing the game's evolution and crowded arenas, and finally realized he could pursue a professional career after seeing Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool given a contract thanks to his accomplishments in FPL.

"I got into Counter-Strike the classic way, from a young age I would watch my brother play 1.6 and then play it myself when no one was using the PC. I started following the competitive scene around 2015, seeing the emotions from players and crowd got me hooked on watching almost every game.

"Pursuing CSGO professionally was not really in my mind until 2017, before that I would just play a lot of matchmaking. I started grinding FACEIT around that time, when I saw that ropz joined mouz from playing FPL. Seeing someone from Baltics make it into tier 1 not in the "normal way" inspired me a lot. I qualified to FPL-C in June 2018, next month I qualified to FPL, and that's when I realized it's possible to go pro."

While broky played a couple of regional LANs under the banner of Wolsung, his development didn't come from within the domestic scene. Countryman Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis spoke about that rapid development in 2019, explaining that broky got into FACEIT's elite pick-up game circuit faster than the rumors of his talent could spread within the country. It was FPL, where he showed he could stand his ground against the best in the world, that got him invited to play in the three teams he had in his career: Wolsung, Epsilon, and FaZe.

broky won both Baltic LANs he attended with Wolsung in 2018 before leaving LAN mixes in the past and joining his first real team in Epsilon at the start of 2019. The rag-tag posse under the leadership of Teodor "⁠SPELLAN⁠" Nikolov managed to do some damage in the purgatory of European sub top, winning ESEA Premier Season 30 and peaking at No. 22 in the world, but broky never caught much attention in the squad. Playing as a supportive element of the team, his access to the AWP was limited to CT sides of certain maps, and statistically, he was a middle-of-the-pack player, behind Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne and Joey "⁠CRUC1AL⁠" Steusel.

That is why the news of the 18-year-old Latvian joining FaZe on trial, broken by Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač himself in an interview, came as a surprise to many. The organization was known for signing experienced star players, but with the decision to break the bank for Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David and one more spot to fill on the roster, a shot was given to free agent broky who just had an amazing month in FPL, winning 69% of his matches.

Who would've guessed that the teenager would end up being the better signing for FaZe long-term?

"As far as I remember NiKo just added me on Steam and asked some questions, then a few days later we pracced to see if they wanna play with me on trial for the upcoming tournaments. I think the reason I got selected was from playing FPL with some of the FaZe players, so honestly, that could have been anyone else back then.

"Comparing myself today and in 2019, I can definitely say I have become more mature and open as a person. Playing for FaZe doesn't really affect me, maybe it did at the start when I joined."

Joining a powerhouse organization and getting used to playing alongside the game's biggest stars is no easy feat, but broky showed his capabilities by playing an important part in FaZe winning their third LAN together, BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen (1.14 rating). At the time, broky and the team were still experimenting with the roles. Initially, Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer wielded the Big Green with the Latvian taking on the lurking duties for the T-side. That was switched around early into 2020, but broky's CT AWPing was still limited to certain maps, averaging just above 30% of his kills with the sniper in the first three months. As time went on, and especially with the departure of NiKo later in the year, broky finally became the clear-cut AWPer we know him as today.

"I didn't really have any main AWP experience before FaZe, but I still had lots of experience AWPing in PUGs and FPL, and being the second AWP in my first pro team. What made me improve the most was playing against other AWPers, obviously watching demos and playing DM as well.

"My style of AWPing just came naturally, which I'm trying to improve on and become more aggressive. I struggle mostly on T-sides with openings, so that's one of my goals for 2022 to become better at."

broky had a good showing at the opening Big event of 2020, IEM Katowice (1.10 rating), and despite the role shuffling, FaZe were a dangerous team in the initial half of 2020. They earned top 3 finishes at the European divisions of ESL One Road to Rio, Dreamhack Masters Spring, and BLAST Premier Spring Finals as the action moved online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A slump would follow, though, but not before the team secured their only title of the year, IEM New York 2020 Europe. NiKo displayed incredible form in his farewell appearance for the organization, but broky was a worthy sidekick, averaging a 1.17 rating across 11 maps.

"2020 was a very interesting year for all of us. Personally, the time went so fast it feels like it was all a blur. After NiKo left for G2, we lost a lot of firepower and it's not easy to replace a player like him, so the way we started the year and ended it was like day and night.

From 16 events played across 2020, broky posted a below-average rating at just one, the IEM Katowice closed qualifier, showing great consistency and proving that he belongs to the top end of the scene. Despite a great first year of competition at the highest level, he didn't stand out enough to be included on the top 20 players of the year ranking, something he set as a personal goal for 2021.

FaZe's roster was overhauled at the beginning of 2021, with Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken signing deals ahead of the first Elite event of the year, IEM Katowice. The change of team dynamics seemingly didn't suit the Latvian who had his second-worst event since joining the squad in 2019 (0.91 rating, 2/7 maps with 1.00+ rating), which combined with a 1.00-rated cs_summit 7 in January made for an underwhelming start of the year.

"Expectations were high for 2021 after karrigan and Twistzz joined the roster, but we had pretty rough results online for the first half of the year, I think we had like 20% win rate in the past three months at some point. After the player break we remained in top10, but it was obviously still nothing like we expected."

broky turned around his form by March in time for ESL Pro League, where he played 11 maps in the group stage against the likes of Vitality, G2, and Ninjas in Pyjamas and boasted a 1.21 rating and 1.18 Impact rating, but that wasn't enough for FaZe to advance from the six-team round-robin group. Three more early exits followed at DreamHack Masters Spring, Flashpoint 3, and the BLAST Premier Spring Final as FaZe faced struggles, but broky continued posting strong numbers, especially at BLAST where he was the team's best player with a 1.12 rating.

The removal of coldzera from the lineup in favor of olofmeister and the return to LAN play for IEM Cologne sparked something in FaZe. The second Elite event of 2021 was played in a studio environment and FaZe managed their best result of the year, a 3-4th placing thanks to victories over Vitality, HEROIC, and Gambit. A 1.18 rating in the Big matches at the event ensured broky his one and only Exceptionally Valuable Player (EVP) award of the year and allowed his team to reach fourth place in the world ranking during the summer break.

"Cologne was the first LAN event after a long time so we didn't really go into the tournament with high expectations, but we wanted to prove ourselves on LAN since we had really bad results online. After we qualified from the Play-in the team spirit was high, so we just played game by game, after each game we got more confident and made it to the playoffs.

"I still remember being relieved after beating Heroic to qualify for playoffs, since it meant we wouldn't have to go home the next day and we would have five days off to just relax and prepare for Gambit."

Another ESL Pro League season followed as the action resumed in August, with another group stage exit recorded by FaZe. This time around the international squad had a better showing but went out after a three-way tie, while broky had an uncharacteristically spotty record, averaging a 1.09 rating but finishing just 50% of the maps played with an above-average rating.

Having crashed out of Flashpoint 3, the first Regional Major Ranking tournament, IEM Fall Europe was crucial for FaZe to earn a PGL Major spot and broky to make his first appearance at the tournament of the highest caliber. There were some worrying signs during the group stage of the LAN event, and a 16-6 loss to Fiend put the international squad in danger, but wins over OG and BIG in the decider bracket ensured their place in Sweden, with broky again playing his part (1.10 rating, 0.61 DPR)

"[Out of all of my teammates in FaZe] karrigan influenced me the most, he always has something new to show and made me realize you can spend time more wisely on CSGO."

The squad was back to LAN shortly for the Major, blitzing through the Challenger Stage with a 3-0 record and great showings from broky. The AWPer carried on that level into the Legends Stage as well, posting a 1.37 rating to eliminate Liquid and a 1.22 rating in the playoff-deciding game against Virtus.pro. FaZe had the CIS side in the chokehold after winning their opponent's pick of Inferno and leading 13-8 on the CT side of Ancient, but they failed to convert the lead and let the game slip.

"That was probably the worst loss in my career, after winning the first map and being up 13-8 on CT side Ancient.

"The losing feeling is always rough, but I was kinda happy the next day because I think every young player's dream is to play in a Major, which I did. Obviously, I didn't get my signature sticker, but there is always next time."

broky was FaZe's best player during the group stage of the Major, outperforming Twistzz and the rest of the veteran lineup, but his inspired form wasn't enough to ensure a spot in the playoffs, leaving him without the coveted signature stickers in the game.

Closing out the year, broky returned to the place he lifted his first trophy with FaZe two years ago: the Royal Arena in Copenhagen. The Latvian played below his yearly level in his first on-stage matches since 2019, suffering elimination to home crowd favorites Astralis and HEROIC. One final LAN was left to be played in December, IEM Winter, and broky was able to display his consistency one last time, despite an early elimination from the event. He picked up 39 kills in an overtime loss to BIG and contributed in matches against HEROIC and Gambit, but ultimately FaZe finished the tournament in 9th-12th place and went on an early break.

"My favorite moment was definitely BLAST Premier Fall Final 2021. Being lifted on the stage was very cool and playing in front of a crowd gave me more fire for next year. The worst moment is definitely not making the playoffs at the PGL Major."

"My goals for 2022 are to perform better as a team and win trophies."

Why was broky the 20th best player of 2021?

While his overall numbers and lack of awards didn't guarantee a place in the Top 20 on their own, scratching a bit below the surface showed broky nearly always performed well in the biggest events and against the toughest opposition — despite his team's general lack of success.

The 20-year-old was one of only three players whose rating against teams ranked Top 20 and higher isn't lower than his overall rating for the year (1.10), and he performed at nearly the same level at the five Elite events he attended (1.09 rating in 43 maps). He was also remarkably consistent on an event-to-event basis, finishing just one tournament with a below-average rating.

broky stood out in a few statistical categories, most notably as a great defensive-side player, ranking 8th with a 1.24 CT-side rating. Unsurprisingly, he was also a strong AWPer, posting 0.36 AWP kills per round (10th best), and was hard to kill averaging just 0.61 deaths per round (16th best).

Although broky did get a solid EVP at IEM Cologne — where he also showed he can play well in Big matches like the Gambit quarter-final — and had a couple of remarkable non-EVP performances — such as at the Major and EPL S13 —, overall he lacked similar exceptional performances to climb any higher on the list in 2021.

Bold prediction by GG.BET

The customary addition to the Top 20 ranking returns this year as well, as we will again be asking the world's best who they see as the stars of tomorrow. To ensure the prediction is truly bold, the player selected must be 20 years old or younger and have no previous experience playing for a top 20 team.

For the first Bold prediction of the year, powered by GG.BET, broky selected MOUZ NXT's 17-year-old rifler Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman. "I think he has improved a lot since I first saw him play. If he keeps working hard I believe he can reach the top level."

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Stay tuned to our Top 20 players of 2021 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:

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