Top 20 players of 2023: frozen (12)

The 12th spot on the HLTV Top 20 Players of the Year list, powered by 1xBet, goes to frozen due to his incredible consistency and admirable performances against the best teams.

Top 20 players of 2023: Introduction

David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský appears in HLTV's Top 20 Players of the Year ranking for the second time in a row after his first entry in 2022. A year that earned him a transfer to FaZe now places the Slovakian rifler in the 12th spot and helps him to make strides toward the elite echelon of Counter-Strike players.

The Slovak's career started at the age of 13 when he began to play local tournaments in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. His impressive fragging output earned him a call-up to eXtatus in 2016 despite his young age, and frozen seized the opportunity and made the international scene pay attention.

His form in domestic teams, alongside his performances in FACEIT Pro League catching the eye of the wider community, earned him an international opportunity on NoChance. His stint there was short-lived, not because of a lack of success, but due to the Slovak catching the eye of MOUZ alongside team captain Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen.

frozen would stay in MOUZ for almost four years and win six trophies under the organization's banner. He played under three different IGLs and was the last man standing when all his teammates got replaced by MOUZ NXT members, and with that he earned the status of a young veteran in the team.

Despite all the changes, frozen's individual performances stayed a constant for MOUZ. His hard work and resilience paid off as he first appeared in the top 20 rankings in 2022 in 17th place and he now went five places better. frozen finished just one event under a 1.00 rating despite MOUZ not contesting for titles in the first half of the year, which earned him a call-up to FaZe at the end of the season and reunited him with karrigan.

For a more in-depth look at frozen's early career and backstory, you can read through his previous appearance in our Top 20 ranking:

- Top 20 players of 2022: frozen (17)

frozen

2023 Tournament stats

TournamentEvent	Team (place)	Rating 2.0 (in team)	ADR	KPR	DPR	Impact	KAST	Award
IEM Katowice	(13-16th)	1.14 (2nd, +12%)	78.1	0.70	0.58	0.99	75.0%
EPL S17	(5-8th)	1.23 (1st, +12%)	83.7	0.70	0.54	1.12	76.8%
IEM Rio	(13-16th)	1.11 (2nd, +12%)	83.0	0.72	0.64	1.06	69.0%
IEM Dallas	(2nd)	1.25 (1st, +16%)	84.4	0.72	0.52	1.07	78.4%	EVP
IEM Cologne	(9-12th)	1.18 (1st, +22%)	81.3	0.79	0.62	1.25	68.3%
ESL Pro League S18	(1st)	1.22 (1st, +5%)	78.7	0.71	0.54	1.11	78.2%	EVP
IEM Sydney	(3-4th)	1.09 (2nd, +4%)	75.2	0.64	0.59	1.05	70.9%
Thunderpick WC	(5-8th)	1.28 (1st, +19%)	87.2	0.80	0.61	1.32	75.7%	EVP
CAC	(2nd)	1.19 (2nd, +9%)	79.5	0.69	0.59	1.10	76.7%	EVP
Elisa Masters Espoo	(5-6th)	0.96 (4th, -6%)	72.3	0.58	0.68	0.96	68.5%
BLAST World Final	(2nd)	1.09 (3rd, +2%)	75.5	0.65	0.63	1.01	74.5%

5%+ above average

5%+ below average

Closer than 5% to average

MOUZ began the 2023 season with a vastly different lineup from the one they finished the year with. Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro and Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong were still in the lineup, with frozen joined by Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman and Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás. The team started the season later than most top teams due to not being one of the BLAST partner teams and thus had their first outing at IEM Katowice.

The team skipped the Play-In stage and was thrown into the action against OG, who bested frozen and company. Next came Complexity, and the North American team also prevailed in a three-map series to eliminate MOUZ in last place. Despite the lack of wins, frozen finished all six maps with a positive K-D ratio and a 1.14 rating.

The team then achieved a semi-final placing at the online BetBoom Playlist Urbanistic 2023, where frozen had another four 1.00+ rated maps before MOUZ flew to Malta for ESL Pro League Season 17. Wins against SAW and FURIA secured them a playoff spot before HEROIC stopped their run in the upper-bracket final. frozen still hadn't recorded a map with a negative rating at that point and extended that streak to 12 maps.

MOUZ came into the season with JDC and dexter

After almost a month of inactivity, MOUZ returned to the playoffs at ESL Pro League Season 17. They dispatched paiN in the first round, and the match coincided with frozen's first map under a 1.00 rating. He was still among the top performers against the Brazilians (1.17 rating), though, and topped the scoreboard in their loss against Cloud9 in the next round (1.16) that condemned them to a 5-8th finish.

The BLAST.tv Paris Major European RMR was up next, where MOUZ found themselves staring down the barrel of defeat after losses to Falcons and B8. Their next opponents were Virtus.pro, who shockingly replaced Aleksandr "⁠KaiR0N-⁠" Anashkin with David "⁠n0rb3r7⁠" Danielyan in an unprecedented mid-tournament switch. frozen was imperious in the bout, putting up 51 kills, 105 ADR, and a 1.68 rating in the series to set up a decider clash against FaZe.

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frozen: "This was a good confidence boost, [winning] against Virtus.pro"

The final round showdown was a hard-fought battle across three maps, where frozen and company ended up victorious to secure their spot at the Paris Major and send FaZe to the Last Chance Qualifier.

It was at that point that MOUZ's season came crashing down. They flew across the Atlantic to attend IEM Rio but were quickly sent home after losses to BIG and 9INE, with frozen topping the server with 92 ADR and a 1.28 rating in the latter.

The BLAST.tv Paris Major Challengers Stage was their next test. Losses to Ninjas in Pyjamas and OG, where frozen was MOUZ's best performer, meant they once again faced elimination. As fate would have it, they would go on to meet GamerLegion, led by their ex-academy player Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek, in the decider series.

frozen couldn't prevent MOUZ's elimination from the Paris Major

frozen was again far and away the best individual on MOUZ, but that did little to prevent his team from bombing out of the Major with a 0-3 record. "It definitely hurts me to see my really close friends, probably my best friends, to struggle and to see them sad," said siuhy after defeating his former organization. His GamerLegion team would take the momentum from this win all the way to the Major final.

IEM Dallas was MOUZ's final tournament before the summer break, and the team came into the event looking dead and buried. As is sometimes the case, though, that relieved them of the pressure and helped them put together their best performance of their season up to that point. frozen starred in their wins against fnatic (1.33), FURIA (1.26), and OG (1.60), which earned them a playoff spot, and also had arguably his most recognizable highlight of the year in the upper-bracket semi-final match against HEROIC.

In the knockout stage, MOUZ went on to beat Astralis and HEROIC on their way to the final against ENCE, a match that gave both finalists a chance to break their long trophy droughts. In the end, it was Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and company who took the title after a two-map series, where only JDC (1.27) and frozen (1.26) could provide any resistance, and the Slovakian rifler earned his first EVP of the season. Rumblings that MOUZ needed changes to be successful weren't entirely banished by their run and were further compounded by the opening of the transfer season.

MOUZ would opt for a significant roster shakeup during the summer off-season, promoting another academy prospect in Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo and signing siuhy back from GamerLegion. frozen, now surrounded by four ex-MOUZ NXT members, suddenly became the senior head of a team that was immediately given a trial by fire at IEM Cologne.

"I think my playstyle changed a little on some maps but the biggest change was mostly giving up some of my old positions and taking new ones for the team," recalls frozen.

MOUZ's start in Germany was far from ideal as they required torzsi's 50 frags to overcome The MongolZ in double overtime, but stabilized to breeze past Ninjas in Pyjamas and secure an appearance at the main event. frozen had an incredible series against the Swedish organization, averaging 107 ADR and a 2.11 CT rating across the two maps.

The main-event opener against Natus Vincere also went MOUZ's way in two maps, but that was as good as it got for them as one-sided losses to Vitality and Astralis condemned them to a group-stage exit.

frozen averaged a 1.27 rating despite MOUZ's 9th-12th placed exit, and he was honest in his thoughts after their elimination. "Let's say we lose, and I still play well, it doesn't feel good. It doesn't matter if you're on top of the scoreboard or not," he said in an interview with HLTV.

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frozen: "It doesn't matter if you have good stats or not, you still feel bad if you are losing"

The Slovak wouldn't need to worry about losing for a while after that, though. While his MOUZ team was bested by MIBR in their ESL Pro League S18 opener, they replied by winning three straight matches against Evil Geniuses, HEROIC, and MIBR to go into the playoffs. frozen again showed incredible consistency by securing a 1.00+ rating in every group stage map.

Two more straightforward victories against FURIA and FaZe got them into the quarter-finals, where they would meet G2. Three maps were needed to find the victor, and it was none other than frozen who stepped up to the plate with a fantastic 110 ADR performance on the decider to get his team over the line.

Next came ENCE, whom MOUZ dispatched to get revenge for their loss at IEM Dallas earlier in the season and secure their first grand final under siuhy. There, they would meet Natus Vincere and defeat Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and company in a 3-0 series, which proved to be the final match the Ukrainian superstar would play in 2023.

"At the start, it felt like any other LAN to be honest, we just did our thing, believed in the process, and by the time we made playoffs, you could feel we were just getting better with each day. It felt great to finish the CS:GO chapter with the trophy that was once my first one," he tells HLTV.

MOUZ ended CS:GO on a high

frozen's consistency throughout the event earned him his second EVP award of the year, and the Slovak finished 2nd in the MVP race, just behind teammate torzsi. Despite this, frozen didn't get carried away after their title victory. "I've been working on my craft to be consistent for a lot of years, and I'm not where I would like to be yet. But it just feels great that we're bearing the fruits now," he said in a post-match interview with HLTV.

We received the much-awaited release of CS2 during the event in Malta, and IEM Sydney was the first LAN event in the new game. As was the case for many top players, frozen's level dropped slightly as he came to grips with the new mechanics. MOUZ still comfortably qualified for the playoffs, where they were stopped by a FaZe buoyed by the release of CS2. The event was also frozen's lowest-rated in the season until that point with a 1.09 average, which further proves his incredible consistency.

The online Thunderpick World Championship 2023 was next on the agenda for MOUZ, where frozen returned to his previous highs and earned his third EVP award of 2023. While his team's campaign was once more ended by FaZe, this time in the quarter-final, the Slovak had some outstanding performances. He put up a staggering 2.03 impact rating and just shy of 113 ADR in the decider series against Complexity and topped the server against FaZe, where he single-handedly won the T side of Vertigo with a 100% KAST and 2.23 rating.

The season began coming to a close in November, but MOUZ were far from done. They flew to China for the CS Asia Championships 2023 and earned a quarter-final berth after a best-of-one win against Wings Up and an upper-bracket loss to none other than FaZe. Lynn Vision were a breeze for frozen and company in the quarter-final, and while Astralis put up a much tougher test, the Danish side fell in a three-map series. frozen put up 123 ADR and a 2.66 CT rating in a close 13-10 victory on Overpass, which proved crucial for MOUZ's victory.

That set MOUZ up for another grand final battle against their executioners, FaZe, and the siuhy-led team couldn't overcome their demons and succumbed in a two-map series. frozen also had one of his rare underwhelming performances, as he could only put up a 0.96 rating and finished fourth-highest among his teammates, but still earned another EVP award.

Elisa Masters Espoo 2023 was frozen's penultimate event of the year. Rumors about his future were circulating around that time, which no doubt affected his and the team's performance as they bombed out in 5-6th place. The tournament was also frozen's lowest rated in 2023 at a 0.96 overall rating, a fact not helped by the team securing a solitary victory against a misfiring Complexity side.

frozen joined FaZe at the end of the year

Shortly after the event, frozen departed MOUZ for pastures new. He reunited with karrigan on FaZe, who recently lost Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken, and didn't have to wait long to make his debut at the BLAST World Final. The 21-year-old had an unspectacular performance given his high standards but maintained a solid 1.08 average rating at the event.

The new-look FaZe would beat his ex-team MOUZ in the semis after a couple of vintage FaZe rounds that swung the tie, and frozen finally found himself on the winning side of the matchup. Vitality in the grand final were a step too far for his team, though, but FaZe could still hold their heads high due to their encouraging appearance despite a short preparation time.

"I have to admit that it felt more natural than I would have predicted. There is for sure so much for me to learn, but just looking back at the tournament and the amount of preparation we had, it wasn't bad," says frozen.

Why was frozen the 12th best player of 2023?

With excellent stats such as a 1.19 average rating, nearly the same at Big Events (1.18), 80.8 ADR, and 0.58 deaths per round, frozen belonged to one of the best players of the year when it comes to raw numbers. He earned these in large part thanks to his incredible consistency throughout 2023 from every aspect possible, from round to round with a superb 75.3% KAST (#5), map to map with 79% maps rated above 1.00 (#3), and tournament to tournament with just one below-average event and the other 13 rated above 1.08.

He also replicated these sorts of numbers against the best competition with a 1.18 rating against top 10 teams (#6) and kept up a high level deep into tournaments with a 1.14 rating in Big matches (#12), which also allowed him to grab four EVP awards — two at big events (IEM Dallas and ESL Pro League Season 18) and two at medium events (Thunderpick World Championship and CS Asia Championships).

To earn a higher placing that would match some of the raw numbers he would have needed more peaks at the year's biggest events, as only two of his EVPs came at the Big Events, and none at the Elites. His relatively low KPR (0.72, #16) in combination with a high saving percentage (14% of lost rounds, #4 in the top 20) also go on to show his ratings came in a significant part through his survival rather than more direct impact.

"It feels great that I've made it to the list again but just looking at the last season, there is still so much room for me to improve on," said frozen about his year that ended with a transfer to FaZe.

"Every decision in my career was made by me so far and I felt like a change was needed, new challenges and obstacles were something that I was looking for in order to get to the level I want to be at."

Bold prediction by 1xBet

Nexius

frozen's bold prediction

frozen opted to choose Bram "⁠Nexius⁠" Campana for his bold prediction. The 20-year-old was recently announced as an OG player after plying his trade in MOUZ NXT before that, averaging a 1.05 rating for the academy squad throughout 2023.

The two also played together at IEM Sydney, where the Belgian replaced Jimpphat, and reached the semi-final stage.

"I had a chance to play with him at IEM Sydney and I think it's great to see that he got a chance in OG now. I expect good things from him in the future," frozen explained his pick.

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.