Top 20 players of 2023: jabbi (15)

jabbi's strong peaks at IEM Katowice and BLAST Premier Spring Final earn him his first-ever appearance on the HLTV Top 20 Players of the Year list by 1xBet.

Top 20 players of 2023: Introduction

Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard started his career early. He was 15-years-old for his first HLTV official with KoN Denmark, 16 when he joined Singularity, and had only just turned 17 when he moved to Copenhagen Flames, an organization well-known locally for their development of young players.

His initial Flames roster struggled, and it was only after a rebuild around Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen and Fredrik "⁠roeJ⁠" Jørgensen that jabbi truly started to show his potential as the third star of the new lineup. After being moved to lurking positions on T, this was also the point he started to specialize in the roles he would later excel in for HEROIC.

The HooXi-led roster broke into the top 30 one month after inception, and stunned the Counter-Strike scene in jabbi's LAN debut at de-facto Major qualifier, IEM Fall, with wins over some big names in G2, BIG, MOUZ, and FunPlus Phoenix.

The upsets continued as Copenhagen Flames rolled into the Stockholm Major, toppling regional rivals Astralis and HEROIC en route to a 3-0 record in the Challengers Stage.

The fairytale run came to a halt in the Legends Stage, where jabbi and company faltered at the final hurdle in a thrilling 2-2 decider against home team Ninjas in Pyjamas. But, the potential of the roster, and of jabbi, was obvious. He ended the two stages with a 1.10 rating, playing at a level far beyond his years.

More success followed in 2022, as Swiss stage specialists Copenhagen Flames went 3-0 again at PGL Antwerp's second European RMR to retain their Major status and advance straight into it's Legends Stage.

There, jabbi's side would once again garner a 2-2 record in the Legends Stage, just as they had before their loss to NIP in Stockholm. This time, however, the Danes stood tall under pressure against Imperial to make the quarter-finals of the Major.

Despite a subsequent loss to ENCE in the arena, back-to-back Major overperformances had jabbi and the Copenhagen Flames lineup near the top of bigger teams' shortlists once again, and this time the lineup could not stay together. As the roster split, jabbi would have one of the best opportunities of the bunch: replacing Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali as HEROIC's lurker.

The move came with a new kind of pressure for a young rifler that had previously been shielded as a third star of a youthful fan-favorite underdog. refrezh's removal was not an obvious move at the time, coming right after a win at the small Pinnacle Cup Championship, and forced HEROIC players to defend the ruthless move in public as one that was necessary for them to take the next step.

It was not immediately easy for jabbi either, as he adapted to the heavy metal Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller style of play, but at his fourth LAN in new colors the doubts started to ease. There, jabbi helped HEROIC to a Major final at IEM Rio — though their loss to Outsiders made it clear that jabbi was no magic wand for HEROIC's problems at crunch time.

Next event, on home soil, HEROIC and jabbi bounced back in style. Their young gun was among their best performers and came in clutch in a dramatic three-map win over FaZe as the Danes won their first Big Event at BLAST Premier Fall Final.

This success, and their ever-high floor, meant that HEROIC ended 2022 with a weak grip on the top spot in the world ranking, and with jabbi established beyond doubt as a tier one professional.

Nonetheless, HEROIC came into 2023 under pressure. They were No. 1, but as much out of others' weaknesses as their own strength.

IEM Katowice was the first chance to silence that criticism, and jabbi was the man to take charge. He ended the group stage on a 1.39 rating as HEROIC smashed past Complexity, OG, and Vitality in style.

In the semis, Natus Vincere were next to fall to jabbi's wrath as he entered the grand final with a hefty lead in the MVP race.

But, he could not stick the landing. As they had in Rio, HEROIC came into the final cold. Their usual system was failing in the face of the sheer individual quality of G2 and jabbi could do nothing to stop them. The trophy, and his MVP, were snatched away.

He was still left with a high EVP, a key factor behind making this list, and jabbi says that he can look back proudly at the event. "We did well as a team back then and I did well individually," he told HLTV. "It was sad that we couldn’t win the final because it’s one of the biggest tournaments you can play."

After news of CS2's impending release broke, HEROIC could see that their window was beginning to narrow. They had been the most consistent Counter-Strike team since the end of the pandemic, but only had one title to show for it.

By now, though, jabbi had grown into his role. He was a clear second star to Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund, posting solid numbers and having a huge impact. His aggressive lurks often turned into traditional bomb-site entry fragging as HEROIC's system continued to evolve around a core of fluid and dynamic riflers.

"In my positions on T it’s very important to have impact and when I had that in our games obviously it was way easier to win," jabbi said. " But I think that’s just the modern lurker role nowadays."

Still, HEROIC could not get trophies over the line. ESL Pro League S17 ended in the quarter-finals, where jabbi had a solid group stage but was part of a team collapse against Natus Vincere.

IEM Rio was next, played in the same venue that jabbi and HEROIC had lost the Major final to Outsiders. HEROIC were once again among the favorites, and the Danes bounced back from what could have been an important collapse against BIG in groups to make the grand final.

Vitality awaited them, gearing up for the home Paris Major scheduled for just after Rio. On paper, jabbi's side were narrow favorites but a big game performance courtesy of Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif and now-familiar chinks in HEROIC's armor in grand finals held them back.

HEROIC's 2023 was starting to shape up much like the years before; the most consistent team in the space, but rarely finding their ceiling to win tournaments. While other teams yo-yo'd, HEROIC were always in and around the top three.

Next tournament, at the biggest event of the year, opportunity knocked once more. BLAST.tv Major Paris saw a sea of upsets, with plenty of big names getting knocked out as HEROIC sailed into the playoffs. Once we entered the Accor Arena, HEROIC and Vitality seemed destined for an IEM Rio rematch in the grand final.

It was a situation where HEROIC needed jabbi, their X-factor throughout 2023, to step up and show the level he had displayed in Katowice. But it was not to be.

He was only the team's fifth-highest rated player against FaZe in what should have been a statement win in the quarter-finals. Then, in semis, he severely struggled against a rampant Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan-led GamerLegion in HEROIC's toughest loss to date.

The defeat summed up a season during which HEROIC spent several weeks at No. 1 without ever feeling like the best team in the world. jabbi had stepped up and looked at home in the system, but had not quite kicked on to the level the squad required of a second star in big matches against the likes of Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov or Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut and Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi. HEROIC still won as a team and lost as a team.

Yet, the season wasn't over. HEROIC marched on to IEM Dallas, but were upset in semi-finals once again by MOUZ.

Spring Final arrived just a few days later, the final event of the season and the final chance for HEROIC to earn a trophy warranted by their consistency.

As was often the case in 2023, they got through the group stage unscathed, with jabbi among the best in a classic team performance. The semi-finals pitted them against another underdog in the form of Imperial, a classic banana peel with which a story of rise and fall over the first half of 2023 could have been written.

It was close, too, against the No. 33 team in the world. HEROIC, at 1-0 and 11-7 up, lost nine rounds in a row and were dragged by the Brazilians to a decider on Nuke. There, they garnered 11-4 and 15-7 leads but once again threw their advantage away and were forced into overtime. Like in Paris, they were crumbling, losing to themselves as much as to the opposition.

But, alongside stavn, jabbi bailed HEROIC out. At 15-17 down, HEROIC rallied to take it 19-17 and set up another grand final against Vitality. HEROIC's X-factor had helped them past the underdog, and in the grand final he leveled up again.

He ended map one with the most frags on his team as the HEROIC machine finally clicked into gear with a convincing system-led victory in a grand final. But, it should not be forgotten that it was jabbi who sparked the machine into life with a devastating Deagle 4K on the A ramp.

The match came to a decider on Inferno, where B defenders jabbi and René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen kept HEROIC firing with 1.50 and 1.51 CT ratings, respectively. A dominant T side then wrapped the game up, earning HEROIC their second Big Event win.

In both Copenhagen and in Washington D.C., it was jabbi that helped them over the line by stepping up in the grand final. And, this time around, the reward for that was his first ever HLTV MVP as he came from 4th in the running before the final to take it home for himself.

Alongside the great final, jabbi also stood out in round wins with 1.06 KPRW (the highest on his team) and maintained a high floor throughout the event.

HEROIC, when jabbi was on song, were no paper tigers. Even in D.C. they were defined by their team performances, but it was jabbi's impact that elevated them to tournament-winning form. He was more than their X-factor; he was their win condition.

"Our loss to GamerLegion was a big hit, but I actually think we recovered pretty well," jabbi reflected. "We had a decent showing at IEM Dallas and ended the season with a win at Spring Final.

"We had struggled a bit up to that tournament so it was nice to go on player break with a win in the final against #1 Vitality. [The MVP was] really satisfying but I didn’t expect to get it all. I don’t really think about that stuff."

But after the summer break, the same HEROIC did not emerge. Sports Director and key leadership figure Kasper Straube departed to Astralis, leaving cadiaN to watch the boil on one too many pans.

The wounds from G2 in Katowice, Vitality in Rio, GamerLegion in Paris, and MOUZ in Dallas could not be sewn together by their solitary win in D.C. jabbi, so consistent for the first half of the year, could not find the same impact in the second half.

HEROIC battled on, making top six at IEM Cologne and top four at Gamers8, but the team did not look the same threat with a muted jabbi as they had in the first half of the year. A loss to Astralis in Cologne's quarter-final represented yet another heartbreak to add to the pile.

At ESL Pro League Season 18, the situation came to a boiling point. HEROIC did what they had not done with their full lineup since jabbi's first event in Cologne in 2022: bombed out in groups.

"We started off pretty well after the player break, but we also lost Kasper Straube, who played a significant role in team chemistry. At the same time results started to decline and at that point we all knew something had to happen. [The decline] came slowly over time I would say."

Shortly afterwards, cadiaN was benched. HEROIC later released a statement that alleged jabbi and stavn were the ringleaders behind the coup — something the duo later denied — and confirmed the pair's "temporary" removal from the starting lineup.

Read more

stavn and jabbi share their side of Heroic-Astralis transfer drama in new statement

The same statement also publicly revealed Astralis' interest in the duo, something that rumbled on as jabbi was forced to watch BLAST Fall Final from the sidelines. After Astralis were eliminated in last place from their home event, the announcement was made: jabbi and stavn had been bought out of their HEROIC contracts by Astralis.

Immediately, they were sent on a whistle stop media tour of Denmark to show off the new signings that limited preparation. Their debut, at BetBoom Dacha, came after just two days of team practice and it showed in a last-placed finish.

jabbi averaged a 1.13 rating in the first half of the year and just 1.01 in the second — both the chicken and the egg when it came to HEROIC's decline.

But, in Astralis, there is hope that this is but a blip. jabbi has been moved back to anchor positions on CT side like he used to hold with Copenhagen Flames but is remaining as their primary lurker, and should have ample room to contribute as a fourth star in a lineup jam-packed full of talent. The chance to represent Denmark's biggest organization, and to play alongside Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz and Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer, was one jabbi could not turn down.

"[The hope for next year] is to build up some great fundamentals in and around the team that we can rely on," jabbi said. "That’s the first and most important one I would say. But of course we have to perform with this team."

Why was jabbi the 15th best player of 2023?

jabbi earned his first ever top 20 placement with a flurry of form in the first half of the year, when he earned an MVP at Spring Final, came staggeringly close to one in the super-elite IEM Katowice, and earned a VP award at the other four Big Events HEROIC attended.

This was the main differentiating factor between jabbi and those below him, who could not match either the scale of those peaks or the quality of event his came in.

"it feels great [to make the top 20], it wasn’t anything I aimed for, so it’s a nice bonus," jabbi said. "I didn’t expect it at all, I was very surprised when you guys contacted me."

The statistical quirks of jabbi's complex role in HEROIC are obvious from his year-end stats, with a sky-high 30.7% of his opening deaths traded (13th) and 0.11 openers found per T side round (20th). He was a key part of HEROIC's trade fragging machine despite often starting defaults solo, ending the year involved in 0.28 trades per round (20th).

He is not a typical lurker preying on rotations or sweeping up bomb-sites. More often that not, he is the tip of the spear, his lurks turning into entry routes walking up B Short on Overpass or out Ramp on Nuke. Maintaining a solid 1.09 T rating under this system (23rd) is testament to his quality in making the most out of disadvantageous gunfights.

His trademark aim was a key part of that, and he ended the year with 0.39 headshot kills per round (10th), 0.50 headshot hits per round (6th), and 56.6% headshot% (15th).

However, a poor end to the year left him with little room to climb further up the ranking, and he ended the year with fairly low overall numbers for a top 20 player in terms of KPR (0.69) and ADR (73.6). He also failed to match his Washington D.C. heroics in other big matches this year, leaving his 1.05 Big Match rating among the lowest in the list.

Bold prediction by 1xBet

jabbi used his debut bold prediction to single out compatriot William "⁠sirah⁠" Kjærsgaard from MOUZ NXT for praise, the 17-year-old who actually stood in for HEROIC in jabbi's absence.

"I have played some games with him and I think he has a lot of potential," jabbi said. "He has really solid aim and the communication is calm and good, as well."

sirah has shown flashes of quality already in his fledgling career, posting a 1.12 rating in his 17 maps with HEROIC before returning to MOUZ NXT to continue his development.

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Stay tuned to our Top 20 Players of 2023 ranking and take a look at the Introduction article to learn more about how the players were selected.