Top 20 players of 2023: huNter- (13)

High peaks at three Big Events earn the Bosnian his fourth consecutive appearance in our Top 20 Players of the Year ranking, powered by 1xBet.

Top 20 players of 2023: Introduction

Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač is something of a later bloomer in the Counter-Strike scene. He attended his first Big Event, DreamHack Masters Marseille 2018, at the age of 22, though by then he was already well familiar with the franchise, having been part of the local Balkan scene during the 1.6 days. Initially, CS:GO didn’t quite catch his eye, but the game grew on him as time went on, and he decided to give it a shot, inspired by the success of his cousin, Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač.

huNter- was part of several Balkan projects until late 2018, when Valiance decided to go international and landed the Imperial trio of Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković, Rokas "⁠EspiranTo⁠" Milasauskas, and Otto "⁠ottoNd⁠" Sihvo. The team fell short of qualifying for the first Major of 2019, IEM Katowice, but was successful in its second attempt. Playing as CR4ZY, the organization’s new name, huNter- & co reached the Legends Stage of the StarLadder Major, where they were one victory away from the playoffs before losing to Natus Vincere and Astralis.

Shortly after the Berlin Major, huNter- and nexa were transferred to G2, who were beginning to break away from their French roots. Before the end of the year, huNter- would pick up his first MVP award, from cs_summit 5, and win his first international LAN, the Champions Cup Finals.

2020 marked huNter-’s first Top 20 appearance. He was named that year's 13th best player after a series of great displays at elite-level tournaments during the online era. That year, he also fulfilled his dream of playing alongside NiKo, who was recruited from FaZe in a blockbuster deal.

The Kovač pair proved a solid hit in their first full year together, even though titles eluded the team. G2 notably finished in second place at IEM Cologne and PGL Major Stockholm, with huNter- making that year’s Top 20 ranking at No.12.

2022 was a mixed bag for G2, who went through two changes and experienced some painful lows, but they ended the year on a high note by winning the BLAST Premier World Final. huNter- made his third consecutive appearance in the Top 20, this time at No.14.

You can read a more in-depth look at huNter-'s career in his previous appearances on the top 20 list:

- Top 20 players of 2020: huNter- (13)
- Top 20 players of 2021: huNter- (12)
- Top 20 players of 2022: huNter- (14)

G2 picked up where they had left off in 2022 and breezed through the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, beating BIG and Natus Vincere (twice) without losing a single map. That tournament served as warm-up for IEM Katowice, the first Big Event of 2023 and one of the high points of the year for huNter-.

In Poland, G2 had a smooth ride to the playoffs. huNter- had his best performance (1.25) rating in the 2-0 win against FaZe, which came between victories against the same opponents that G2 had defeated in Copenhagen weeks earlier.

huNter- ended the group stage with just a 1.13 rating, the fourth-highest on the team, but then he stepped up a gear in Spodek Arena and eclipsed his teammates in the decisive stages of the tournament. He topped the scoreboard against both Liquid (1.36 rating) and HEROIC (1.23) to get his hands on an MVP medal and win the second Big Event for G2 in the space of months.

“Winning Katowice after Abu Dhabi, and especially being in the finals against Heroic, who were first on the HLTV rankings before that event and we were second, just a couple of points behind them, felt amazing. We knew if we won that event, and especially against them in the finals, that we would be No.1 in the world without any doubt. That event was by far the best event from my point of view because of all these circumstances.”

G2 rose to No.1 in the world rankings while Katowice was ongoing, but they would soon come crashing down back to earth. At ESL Pro League 17, they were unable to go past the second round of the playoffs, where they were defeated by ENCE in two maps. That was the first under-1.00-rated LAN event of the year for huNter-, who posted a 0.98 rating after finishing only 46% of his maps with above-average numbers.

Next up on the calendar was the European RMR, where G2 got off on the wrong foot by losing to 9INE before defeating iNation, Aurora and Cloud9. In the end, the team had to settle for a spot in the Challengers Stage, having lost to Vitality in the fifth-place decider. huNter- ended that tournament with a 1.08 rating (in part because of a 1.80-rated performance against iNation) but only 43% of maps with above-average numbers.

As the BLAST Paris Major kicked off, many wondered which version of G2 would show up in Paris. The team had a perfect start to the tournament, going 3-0 in the Challengers Stage by beating The MongolZ, Complexity and Apeks with ease. huNter- ended that stage with a respectable 1.29 rating, the third-highest on the team, but a surprisingly low 0.96 impact rating.

As the competition heated up in the Legends Stage, G2 were simply found lacking. huNter- averaged a 0.79 rating as the team lost to Vitality and Bad News Eagles before he stepped up to the plate in the elimination match against FURIA with a series-high 1.44 rating. However, the team’s consistency issues came back to haunt them against fnatic, who ran out 2-1 winners to end NiKo’s dream of winning a Major in CS:GO.

Read more

NiKo: "I did not deserve to win a Major in CS:GO"

“I would say that we were all really disappointed after the Major because we had put in a lot of work, we had played decently in the Challenger Stage and gone 3-0 into Legends. But I would say we didn’t properly manage the pressure, both as individuals and as a team, and we made a lot of mistakes in crucial rounds in all the matches that we lost, especially the first game against Vitality.”

After the Major came IEM Dallas, huNter-’s worst-rated event of the year. He posted solid numbers in the opening game against Nouns and the first map of the OG series, but he was nowhere in sight for the rest of the tournament and finished his last six maps in the red for a 0.95 event rating.

“That event was absolutely connected with failure at the Major. The hunger was not even close to what it should be coming to that event, and the mood and the atmosphere on the team were, honestly, really, really bad. It just felt bad playing, but we learned a lot from that event as a group, like we had in the previous season after we couldn’t qualify for the Rio Major. For me, that’s the most important thing: Learning from mistakes and trying to fix them as soon as possible.”

G2 gave a much better account of themselves in the BLAST Premier Spring Final, the last tournament before the player break. huNter- put in bright performances against Cloud9 (1.12 rating) and Imperial (1.22), but he undid all that work with a 0.97-rated display in the semi-final loss to Vitality to leave Washington, D.C. with just a 1.10 tournament rating.

G2 came back from the break looking a bit shaky and finished the BLAST Premier Fall Groups in 7th-9th place, recording defeats to Liquid, FaZe and Natus Vincere.

But any doubts over their ability to challenge for titles were quickly dispelled as G2 enjoyed their best form of the season and finally put together a string of consistent results. huNter- returned to his efficient early-season form at IEM Cologne, where he played a key role in the team’s title-winning campaign. He averaged a 1.24 rating in the group stage as G2 beat Astralis, FaZe and Vitality, raising eyebrows with a series-high 1.71 rating against Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen’s side.

Just like in Katowice, he looked confident in front of a crowd: a 1.39-rated performance against Astralis in the semi-finals put him firmly in the race for an MVP award, but then two sub-par maps against ENCE saw the medal go to NiKo, who was excellent throughout the best-of-five clash.

“Comparing to Katowice, where we had entered the tournament as favorites, Cologne was different. We came there after failing a couple of events in a row, and not a lot of people believed that we could go all the way, but we put in a lot of work individually before that event and it paid off. That was an amazing experience, especially knowing that we won Katowice and Cologne in the same year. It’s a dream for every active and up-and-coming talent.”

G2 followed that up with a semi-final run at Gamers8, the single-elimination tournament with a $1 million prize pool. huNter- posted a 1.16 rating in Riyadh, where his team beat 9INE and Virtus.pro before losing to Vitality in a close series that came down to overtime on the decider map.

huNter-, who made the tournament’s list of Exceptionally Valuable Players (EVP), lamented that the team struggled in the final stages against Vitality, especially considering that Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire’s troops would go on to win the tournament.

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huNter-: "If we can find consistency, then I think we can be the best in the world again"

“That loss was really tough for me, because we are really, really good when we have momentum, when we win a couple of games in a row, etc. We had three match points and we didn’t manage to close it out. I think that game would have been really important for an extra boost of confidence after winning Cologne. But it is how it is. We needed to move forward.”

G2 were soon back in Malta for Season 18 of ESL Pro League. huNter- had strong showings against Lynn Vision (1.31 rating) and Virtus.pro (1.33), but he severely struggled in the following two matches, against Complexity (0.89) and MOUZ (0.92), though he still exited the tournament with a respectable 1.08 rating.

This was followed by a top-four finish in the BLAST Premier Showdown, at which point the team already seemed to have checked out of CSGO. G2 were in action at the first Big Event in the new game, IEM Sydney, where their run was cut short by Complexity in the semi-finals. It was the first under-1.00-rated LAN event in a while for huNter-, who also posted a 0.84 rating and a 68.3 ADR.

That ended up being G2’s final event with Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage. With the season winding down, nexa was brought in to replace the Australian, marking the first roster change for the team in over a year. At the same time, G2 managed to keep hold of NiKo despite strong interest from Falcons.

A top-six finish in CCT Online Finals 5 spelled trouble for the new lineup, but the first real indication of the strength of the team would only come at the BLAST World Final, the final tournament of the season. It was a particularly disappointing showing from huNter-, who finished only half of his maps with above-average ratings and had just one truly good map (1.56 rating against FaZe on Inferno) as he averaged a 0.99 rating throughout the team’s top-six finish.

A few months into CS2, huNter- is averaging a 1.02 rating (0.99 rating if we only consider LAN events). Questioned about his struggles, he said that the uncertainty surrounding the roster and the meta’s shift to a more team-oriented approach explain his dip in form.

“I have been playing a lot individually these last two months, and I’m trying to find myself as fast as I can and be better in CS2. But I think this is an even more ‘team game’ compared to CS:GO. It feels, at least for now, that it’s a lot harder to do anything individually and win rounds on your own. I just think we need to play well as a team, help each other out, and the stats will be better for everybody.

“We didn’t have that much time to practice either, because of everything after Sydney, with Justin and NiKo. I had one offer as well, and so did Ilya, so it was really tough to know what would happen literally until the last minute. But now we are here, ready to work in 2024 and try our best to be where we all want to be again.”

Why was huNter- the 13th best player of 2023?

A key reason for huNter-’s inclusion in the Top 20 was his incredibly high peaks at two super-elite events, winning the MVP award at IEM Katowice and making the EVP list at IEM Cologne. He also earned an EVP accolade from an elite-level event, Gamers8.

His strong showings in the latter stages of top-tier events help explain his 1.17 rating from super-elite events, which is the seventh-highest among the players who made the list. He was also G2's top fragger in the playoffs of such events, which contributed to his impressive 1.22 rating in these stages.

But despite such high peaks, huNter- struggled for consistency throughout the year. With the second-lowest KAST in the Top 20 at 71.9% and five unimpressive events, huNter- had a generally low impact. His 1.09 rating is also the lowest among the Top 20.

As he celebrates his 28th anniversary, huNter- becomes only the fifth player to make the Top 20 past that age. He joins Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski, Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg, Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard and Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller on that illustrious list, and he is confident about his ability to continue to compete at the highest level.

“Four years in G2, four years in tier one and I’ve been there all the time. Of course, it feels good to be there, despite the fact that there have been a lot of insane players lately and that new up-and-coming talents are coming. To be chosen in the Top 20, next to very good players, is an honor for me.

“I’m not really thinking about it, and I was never thinking about anything individually. I’m just thinking about my team, my teammates, and if we are doing well as a team, as a group, we will all be rewarded. If not, nothing will really matter. So I hope we will be able to do better than we did the last couple months. I feel good. I'm ready for new challenges and can’t wait for new season to start.”

Bold prediction by 1xBet

huNter- joins cadiaN in predicting a bright future for Linus "⁠nilo⁠" Bergman, the 18-year-old Swede who is plying his trade for Metizport.

The former Young Ninjas prospect has finished every tournament he played in the last three months with above-average numbers, boasting an impressive 1.22 rating and 1.34 impact rating.

“I think he is really sharp individually and just needs experience to be better. He’s really young and has huge potential. I think he will move into tier one in 2024.”

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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.