Top 20 players of 2023: ropz (3)

Impressive stats in the biggest tournaments and against elite-level opposition earn the Estonian the third place in HLTV’s Top 20 Players of 2023 ranking, powered by 1xBet.

Top 20 players of 2023: Introduction

Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool began to make a name for himself in the CS:GO scene in 2016, when he worked his way up FACEIT’s ladder and earned an invite to FPL, where he got the chance to play against the best that Europe had to offer. Not everyone seemed convinced by his meteoric rise, though, and in March 2017 he had to fly to FACEIT’s offices in London to prove his doubters wrong.

After it became clear that the cheating accusations hurled at him were baseless, the offers started to come in. ropz joined MOUZ in April 2017 at a time when the team was going through a transitional period, replacing Timo "⁠Spiidi⁠" Richter in the starting lineup. Without surprise, he went through peaks and troughs of performance in his first year with MOUZ, during which the team notably won ESG Tour Mykonos 2017 and placed second at the ECS Season 4 Finals.

2018 marked ropz’s first appearance in HLTV’s Top 20, at No.19, after playing an important role in MOUZ’s success that year, which included victories at StarSeries i-League Season 4, the V4 Future Sports Festival and ESL One New York, and a second place at ESL One New York.

ropz was gradually feeling more confident in a tier-one environment, but it was only in 2019 that he truly began to establish himself as a star player. After MOUZ bombed out of the European Minor leading to the IEM Katowice Major, the German organization overhauled the squad with the signings of Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen, Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker and David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský, and ropz flourished in the new system.

MOUZ ended 2019 behind only Astralis in the world rankings after a superb end to the year that included victories at the CS:GO Asia Championship, ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals and cs_summit 5, and a runner-up finish from EPICENTER. With remarkable impact and consistency despite a quiet first half of the year, ropz was named the 10th best player of 2019.

2020 began with another title for MOUZ (at the ICE Challenge) and a top-eight finish at IEM Katowice, the last Big Event before the CS:GO scene transitioned online because of the coronavirus pandemic. Even though titles eluded the team for the rest of the year, ropz remained an elite-level performer in the biggest online competitions and made HLTV’s Top 20 at No.7.

2021 was a rocky year for ropz, who witnessed the departure of karrigan to FaZe after Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong and woxic had already left the squad. The Estonian was held back by his team’s inability to make it deep into the biggest tournaments, with a first-place finish at Flashpoint 3 one of the few brightest spots. Because of that, he performed below his lofty standards and was only 18th in that year’s Top 20 ranking.

For more of ropz's early career, see his previous top 20 appearances:
- Top 20 players of 2018: ropz (19)
- Top 20 players of 2019: ropz (10)
- Top 20 players of 2020: ropz (7)
- Top 20 players of 2021: ropz (18)
- Top 20 players of 2022: ropz (8)

ropz was back to his dominant self in 2022, his first year playing for FaZe, the organization he had dreamed of representing ever since his Call of Duty days. Reunited with karrigan, ropz became an instant hit with his new team, where he benefitted from the fact that the roster was not a one-man show and had several players to spread the load. He played a leading role as FaZe won four Big Events (IEM Katowice, ESL Pro League Season 15, PGL Major Antwerp and IEM Cologne), making that year’s Top 20 at No.8.

FaZe got the season underway by coasting through the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, where Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen stood in for Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard. It was a good day at the office for the international team, which beat Complexity and OG (twice), but ropz’s quiet performances (1.10 average rating, the second-lowest in the squad) were a worrying sign ahead of IEM Katowice.

In Poland, FaZe had their first setback of the year. A 2-0 loss to G2 sent them to the group’s lower bracket, and though they bounced back with a swift victory over IHC, their run was ended by Liquid before the tournament even reached the playoffs. ropz left Katowice with one of his lowest tournament ratings of the year (1.08) and his second consecutive 0.94 impact.

"I often have issues at the start of seasons. I need a longer time to find the right gear. I am very picky and strict when it comes to setting up before matches, making sure that everything is always the same, and finding the right touch, as if you are one with the game. Having bad matches helps since you get outplayed more often, you start figuring out what’s going wrong and start making better reads in games, too. It hurts your confidence, though, it’s sometimes hard to find a way back in.

"I’m very ‘game’ oriented, I have made it a standard for myself to minimize everything outside the game that can affect you. But even then, sometimes those things also get to you. Usually, though, the only problem for me is just not being ready individually yet or lacking confidence. Those two things kind of go hand in hand.

"I think we were having some stratbook issues back then with reusing and being outdated in some parts. So we had a whole month at home, during which we went crazy in practice and created a lot of new plays and strats on all maps. If I remember correctly, we had too many new things and we couldn’t even use everything. You could hear people flipping pages of the stratbooks during games and practice, there was just so much."

ropz shook off the rustiness and returned to his best in ESL Pro League Season 17, where he collected the third MVP of his career. He led the charge as FaZe finished second to Vitality in the groups, making light work of Rooster and Ninjas in Pyjamas. In the playoffs, he had one sub-1.00-rated map in each of his first three series, but he made up for that with 1.40+ ratings in the remaining maps. He was a stable performer in the best-of-five grand final against Cloud9, in which he averaged a series-high 1.28 rating to help his team clinch the trophy and the Intel Grand Slam title.

In addition to a 1.27 tournament rating, the second-highest overall, the Estonian averaged a 1.24 impact, 0.77 KPR, 0.56 DPR, and 83.4 ADR.

"Our whole plan for the year was to close out the IGS. It was a huge relief, and, personally, I didn’t care as much about the Major. But it helped to close out this chapter and start thinking about new things. Going to the Major with the IGS off our shoulders was great, but we made it quite ironic. We said the same thing to each other as we closed out the IGS: ‘How can we finally perform without pressure?’"

With the Intel Grand Slam out of the way, FaZe seemed in prime position to hit peak form as the Major loomed. However, the team unexpectedly hit a rough patch of form and could not make it out of the European RMRs, only booking a spot at the Paris Major via the last-chance qualifier.

ropz averaged a 1.05 rating in the RMR (still the highest on a struggling team) and a 0.93 impact as FaZe recorded losses to Natus Vincere, Bad News Eagles and MOUZ. In the last-chance qualifier, everyone elevated their game, with ropz posting a 1.29 rating, 1.19 impact and 85.3 ADR to help his team beat Aurora and Cloud9.

In the end, it was too close for comfort. ropz admitted that those days in Copenhagen were “probably the most intense pressure and stress I have ever experienced in my life.”

"That was next level. We were big favorites then and had just achieved greatness with the Grand Slam, then we went to the LCQ and qualified as the last team. It was an insane rollercoaster."

Before the Paris Major came a short stop in Brazil for IEM Rio, where FaZe once again cut a frustrated figure. The team made light work of 9z in their first round, but then 2-0 defeats to hometown heroes FURIA and to Vitality brought an early end to FaZe’s run and a 1.08 tournament rating for ropz.

FaZe landed in Paris with dark clouds hanging over their heads after such a bad streak of results, but they came through the Challengers Stage almost unscathed, their sole loss coming against ENCE in a series in which ropz had a jaw-dropping 1.50 rating, 104 ADR and +30 KDD. He finished that stage with a team-high 1.24 rating, with his next-closest teammates being rain and Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants with 1.08.

ropz had a slow start to the Legends Stage, posting two sub-1.00 ratings in the defeats to HEROIC and Into the Breach. But when his team needed him the most, he stepped up to the plate. He kept his team in the tournament with man-of-the-match displays against 9INE (1.52 rating) and Bad News Eagles (1.31), pulling off what he believes to be the best round of his career against the Kosovar outfit on Mirage.

ropz then had a quiet showing, by his lofty standards, in the 2-1 win against Natus Vincere (although he one had great map, Mirage, where he posted a 1.57 rating), which sealed progression to the Champions Stage. Like a cat with nine lives, FaZe had reached the top eight against all the odds, and ropz did his best to keep his team in the tournament, but a 1.29 rating against HEROIC was not enough as the Danish side ran out 2-1 winners.

With a 1.18 rating, 1.19 impact, 82.0 ADR and 0.75 ADR, ropz was included on the list of Exceptionally Valuable Players (EVP) for the Major.

"At this point, it’s not a surprise if we make a comeback or grind out an intense game. Our games are quite eventful, and many enjoy watching our matches, it’s kind of in our DNA. I often wish we would close out a game earlier and make it easier for ourselves. I think we live in the moment and we tighten the screws when the game is close and the pressure is high.

"When we have a strong lead, we might make more mistakes and take more and more duels, which can go the wrong way and get opponents back in the game. It might be just our playstyle, as we do play extremely loosely and rely on individuals often, so we have to go the extra mile so many times to find a solution and win games."

Next up on the agenda were back-to-back events in North America: IEM Dallas and the BLAST Premier Spring Final. ropz earned another EVP accolade in Texas, where he had strong showings against Liquid (1.30 rating) and G2 (1.37) before the series against ENCE (1.19 and +23 KD), which came down to a marathon of an Ancient game that went to 59 rounds.

In Washington, D.C., ropz came out looking lively with a 1.37 rating against Astralis before he turned in disappointing displays against HEROIC (0.91 rating) and Vitality (0.95), resulting in a year-low 1.04 tournament rating and 0.92 impact.

FaZe returned from the player break at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups, where they booked a spot in the season finals by topping a group that included OG, G2 and Liquid.

As excitement for the imminent release of Counter-Strike 2 reached a fever pitch, FaZe went through a spell of wretched form. At IEM Cologne, the team came back from a map down to defeat Ninjas in Pyjamas but then lost to G2 and Natus Vincere to crash out of the event in 9th-12th place. FaZe then traveled to Riyadh, where Gamers8’s single-elimination format led to a quick exit following a 2-1 defeat to Virtus.pro, with ropz being the only player who posted above-average ratings on all three maps.

FaZe closed the book on a rich story in CS:GO with a 9th-12th place at ESL Pro League Season 18. In Malta, ropz averaged a 1.38 rating as the team beat 9z and fnatic, but then his team was no match for Natus Vincere and MOUZ, with the Estonian posting only one above-average rating across those two series.

While Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken conceded that his motivation "dropped a lot" in the lead-up to CS2’s release, ropz rejected the notion that the players on the team checked out during those last months in CS:GO.

"No one was completely checked out, definitely not. It’s just something that is at the back of your mind sometimes and makes you wonder what the future holds. It did cause uncertainty, so it’s a fair concern and people might think deeply about it. I don’t think it had a direct impact on our results, some other teams were just better then. And, in my opinion, it’s natural to have these kinds of results. At least for me, since I come from years of playing with MOUZ, where we had more rough periods.

"Everyone says, and I agree, that the level between top teams is so close nowadays, and it’s a coinflip who wins. It helps if you have a superstar constantly putting up numbers, but it’s never a guarantee."

The Counter-Strike community began to embrace CS2 while ESL Pro League was still running, with IEM Sydney the first Big Event to be played in the new game. FaZe quickly switched their focus to CS2 and immediately began to reap the rewards. In Australia, the team bounced back from a best-of-one defeat and made it out of the groups by beating Vitality, Natus Vincere and GamerLegion.

ropz, who was averaging a 1.08 rating up until that point, raised his game to a new level in the playoffs, where he averaged a stunning 1.37 rating after incredible performances against ENCE (1.64 rating) and MOUZ (1.65) before a more quiet performance against Complexity (1.14) in the grand final.

While in Sydney, karrigan hailed ropz’s instrumental role behind the team’s resurgence in CS2, but the Estonian, who finished third in the MVP race, insisted that he wasn’t even putting in as many hours into the game as some other players.

"Many others did more, for sure, I just played some matchmaking games on stream and that was about it. I think for me what helped is that theory is my strong side. I have grown with the game and can use everything I have learned to be much more efficient, compared to many others. For example, being very quick to realize what the meta might be, which peeks are going to be strong, which grenades are going to be strong, which angles will be strong, and much more.

"There are many small things that are different in CS2, compared to CSGO. Finding those differences and grinding it down to where it will matter the most is helpful. Lastly, having the thought that you’ve done your homework is also a self-assuring factor and boosts your confidence a bit."

ropz added to his MVP collection upon returning to Europe for the Thunderpick World Championship, an online tournament with 16 teams and a $500,000 prize pool. He was excellent throughout the competition, especially in the grand final, in which his series-high 1.43 rating helped his team overcome a stubborn Virtus.pro and pick up their second CS2 title in a row.

It was ropz’s first MVP from a tournament that was not Pro League, and he followed it up with another medal, this time from the CS Asia Championships. In Shanghai, ropz was FaZe’s highest-rated player in all of their three series, ending the tournament with a 1.22 rating and 1.23 impact to cement his status as one of the hottest commodities in CS2.

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How ropz made himself the king of CS2 so far

"I think the articles and people on social media did a good job of selling it [the idea that he was at the top of the world], but honestly, I didn’t feel that way. People asked it in interviews and in person, I always denied it and just said something like, ‘just wait until ZywOo is back on the server and some other great players who people are used to seeing.’ I mean, a few guys are just way more unique and on a higher individual level than others and have also done it consistently.

"I don’t think there’s a reason any of the current greats should drop off as long as they put in the same effort. I can say it was nice to be in that conversation, but it was a bit conflicting since it wasn’t as clear to me. It was just great to have the work pay off, individually and also in terms of team achievements. Losing sucks and hurts the most, so having these periods where you win is when you can forget about everything and enjoy the moment. I respect everyone at the highest level and I have no problem admitting if someone is better. I mean, let’s be honest: playing against prime ZywOo or s1mple makes you think they have wallhack. They are just that good.

"A sidenote is that even if it looks like I’m enjoying the game, in reality, that’s not really the case. It’s in a pretty bad state at the moment, with some bugs that have been there since the beta. It’s not as polished either, some weird clunkiness and desync are happening when moving around. It’s not as responsive and all the missing console commands are a disappointment as well. No community integration, all the game modes are dead, no server browser. Can’t bhop, which they said is fixed. Massive disappointment."

FaZe attended the BLAST Premier Fall Final looking to extend their winning streak to three LAN events, only to be stopped by a red-hot Vitality in the grand final. It was one of the rare occasions where ropz had a quiet showing in an arena, as his 0.98 rating in the semi-final against Complexity played a major role in his 1.03 playoff rating.

ropz acquitted himself better at the BLAST Premier World Final, the last event of the season. Reunited with frozen, who was signed to replace Twistzz, the Estonian secured his fourth EVP accolade of the year after averaging a team-high 1.18 rating and 1.17 impact as FaZe once again finished second to Vitality, who ended 2023 as the No.1 team in the world.

"Vitality are in really good form at the moment, everyone on their team is shooting really hard. The Fall Final and the World Final were very contrasting, because we had known for a while that the Fall Final would be the final event with Twistzz and at the time we had a big win streak. We also played our permaban, Vertigo, and they just dismantled us, so in the Fall Finals we barely had a chance.

"In Abu Dhabi, we had frozen, and the mindset was kind of different. We wanted to get some experience playing together before the end of the year while trying to get a good result. I think we had a better chance at the World Final, just because of the honeymoon effect and playing less predictably because of a new player. But Vitality were again just in superior form and they played better when it mattered."

Why was ropz the 3rd best player of 2023?

ropz broke into the top three for the first time in his career thanks to his exceptional stats in elite tournaments and against top-level opposition from the biggest sample size out of anyone. He ended the year with three MVP awards (only behind Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut’s five medals) and four EVP accolades.

"I guess I do feel it was my best year yet individually. I say that without looking at stats or results but just looking back at how I approached the game, which moves and plays I was going for, how I was communicating, and what kind of initiative and duels I would take.

"I felt I could truly challenge anyone on the server and come out on top. I don’t normally say that since I’m not a fan of fake confidence and just throwing words around. You could say I’m in my prime years now, having a perfect balance of talent, experience and hard work. Also having the right team and people around you."

The Estonian was the definition of a big-game player, someone who stepped up in the toughest of conditions and against the hardest of opponents. His 1.25 Big Match rating was a significant improvement on his year average of 1.17 and the second-best overall, only a sliver behind ZywOo’s 1.26.

Despite ropz being the second-most decorated player of 2023, two of his MVP awards are branded with asterisks. They came at the smallest events in consideration for the ranking (Thunderpick World Championship and CS Asia Championships) and make him look a bit inflated in terms of individual honors when compared to the rest of the top five.

But even still, there is no denying the incredible year that ropz had. He was only surpassed by Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač, who had a generally massive impact and better stats at Super Elite-level events, and ZywOo, who was simply ahead of everyone else.

"I am getting to my prime years now. I’ve been hard working my whole career and even though my goal is to win tournaments, during that process you can become one of the best. So it’s a great side achievement and can make the players' confidence even stronger. After all, in my eyes, CS is a game of confidence. Many people are capable of doing such great things, but if you always believe in yourself, if you are full of confidence, have the talent and work to back it up, chances are you might become one of the best."

Quizzed about his goals for 2024, ropz said: "To peak at the biggest tournaments and win a Major."

Bold prediction

ropz gave a shoutout to compatriot Andreas "⁠aNdu⁠" Maasing, who plays for GL Academy. The 18-year-old Estonian signed with GamerLegion in November after impressing for sYnck, with whom he won Gamebox Festival 2023 in Herning, Denmark.

In December, he filled in for Sebastian "⁠volt⁠" Maloș at ESL Challenger Atlanta, where the team was sent packing after losses to Apeks and Complexity.

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Take a look at the Introduction article to learn more about how the players were selected.