Top 20 players of 2024: torzsi (20)

The first player to be revealed in the Top 20 players of 2024 by 1xBet and SkinClub is MOUZ's AWPer torzsi, who makes the list for the very first time in his third year as a pro.

Top 20 players of 2024: Introduction

Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás makes it into the Top 20 Players of the Year list for the first time at age 22, three years after signing his first professional contract with MOUZ as a 19-year-old, and in doing so becomes the first Hungarian to appear in a Top 20 Players of the Year ranking.

His first contact with Counter-Strike dates back nearly two decades, though, and it was not very different from the start of many CS greats. As a child, four or five years old, he'd watch his older brothers play CS 1.6, and was allowed to play a little on occasion. It became a hobby in earnest around 2013-14, as a tween, when he got his first PC and played every day after school.

Part of youth is making mistakes, and torzsi made a big one when he was VAC-banned in 2016, at 15, something that would haunt him when he started to play the game more competitively. Breaking out in the Hungarian scene became almost impossible because the best players in the country did not trust that he was not cheating, and the doors to the best teams were closed.

The budding AWPer's breakthrough came in 2019, thanks to the local qualifier for the V4 Future Sports Festival in his native Hungary. "That was everything for me," torzsi tells HLTV. "I knew I had to show up at that tournament, playing against one of the best teams as a local, and I had to prove a lot."

The turning point came after a fantastic individual showing at the event in Budapest, where torzsi's GAMERZONE faced MIBR and adwokacik. They didn't win either of the bouts but took a map off the Brazilians, and torzsi shined individually despite the rest of the team crumbling around him. His 1.18 was the only positive rating — none of his teammates reached 0.9 in their five maps played.

torzsi turned a corner with that LAN performance and the doors immediately opened for him to play with Hungary's best, Salamander, the team he had beaten in the V4 Future Sports Festival Hungarian qualifier's best-of-five grand final.

"I got picked up, and it was nothing but fun and learning a lot," torzsi exclaims. From December 2019 to May 2021, the young AWPer got to play in the lower tiers of European competition on a regular basis.

The early pandemic days were spent playing Home Sweet Home cups with Salamander, where torzsi averaged a 1.11 rating up until May 2020, before the team moved to Budapest Five and the Home Sweet Home cups turned to Eden Arena Malta Vibes cups.

The Hungarian team's most common finishes were 9-12th or 5-8th, and they were a top 10 ESEA Advanced team, but most notable was torzsi's growth. His 1.11 in the Salamander days became a 1.20 in Budapest Five.

By then, it was becoming clear that torzsi was outgrowing his local scene. "I felt like a lot of players were happy with being one of the best in Hungary, but I knew it meant nothing overall, and I always wanted more; to break out and play internationally," torzsi says about that period. "After school, I had an agreement with my parents to let me try to break through for two years, and if it didn't happen, then I would go to college."

torzsi did not have to wait that long as right after graduation Dennis "⁠sycrone⁠" Nielsen came knocking with a rare opportunity. The world's top teams were setting up a youth system with an academy league in the works to be run by WePlay, and they were starting to seek out the best up-and-coming talent. sycrone, a longtime second-tier Danish player turned coach, was tasked by MOUZ to build their first academy project.

"I was really excited and happy when I got called up," torzsi says. "Basically, that was what I was waiting for at that time, and it was a no-brainer for me to take that deal. Going international was always a dream and the new academy project was really amazing! Having it in the back of your mind that maybe you could get promoted if you did well was always there, so I saw a lot of potential to grow as a person and as a player, and I'm really happy I took it!"

Not only did torzsi get the chance to play in an international squad in a legacy organization, but MOUZ NXT quickly became the golden standard for academy projects as they went on to win back-to-back WePlay Academy League titles on LAN.

The first title was won against Erik "⁠ztr⁠" Gustafsson and Love "⁠phzy⁠" Smidebrant's Young Ninjas, and the second time around against a NAVI Junior featuring Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov, Rodion "⁠fear⁠" Smyk, Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov, Eugene "⁠Aunkere⁠" Karyat, and Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev.

"We were winning a lot with NXT, and it was nothing but great and fun and a lot of learning," torzsi recalls. "WePlay Academy League meant a lot to us and it gave us some experience on how bigger tournaments could look like, dealing with media days, interviews, and obviously playing on the stage."

torzsi averaged a 1.14 rating in the first online season and a 1.21 rating in the LAN finals, which he followed up with a 1.40 in the second online season and a 1.24 in the LAN finals.

Not long after, his dreams of getting called up came true as the main team's AWPer, Frederik "⁠acoR⁠" Gyldstrand, was transferred to GamerLegion. "I was really looking forward to going to the main team," torzsi says. "It was great to be promoted with sycrone, but at the same time, I felt like others could have gotten promoted, as well."

The Hungarian AWPer was the first of the academy players to get the call-up in what would become a pipeline of talent that made the current MOUZ one of the most competitive teams in the world.

Not long after his promotion in early 2022, Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro joined the main team from the academy squad. Then Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman was brought up after the 2022 summer break.

It didn't come without growing pains, however, as an unstable roster made it hard for the youngster to adapt. "I had a lot of difficulties, and I had to learn a lot how to behave differently in different situations and become a better team player with our sport psychologist and our coach," torzsi says. "They helped me tremendously, and I'm really grateful for that. Looking back, it has been a great journey so far."

Even throughout the early struggles, some important moments and milestones in torzsi's journey were sprinkled throughout the hardship, such as making it to his first Major at the end of 2022, IEM Rio. Not only that, he made it all the way to the semi-finals.

By the second half of 2023, Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek — who made a Major grand final in Paris while on loan to GamerLegion — and Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo also joined the main team, making NXT players the core of the new MOUZ alongside David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský.

Results followed immediately. MOUZ made it through the IEM Cologne Play-in and, although they faltered at the main tournament going out in groups despite an opening victory against Natus Vincere, they won their next event, ESL Pro League Season 18. Incidentally, that's also where torzsi earned his first and only MVP medal to date.

torzsi posted a 1.21 rating and led the way for his team in the grand final with a 1.29 rating in a 3-0 grudge match against Natus Vincere. "Getting that MVP meant a lot, but lifting the trophy meant more to me," torzsi says.

"Looking back at that time and seeing myself struggling a lot but lifting that trophy was amazing and meant the world to me. At that tournament, everything just clicked, and everybody was in shape. It couldn't have happened without the team and the staff — the MVP award was the cherry on top."

torzsi thus became the last player to earn an MVP award in CS:GO as the page turned at the next event, IEM Sydney, the first in CS2. MOUZ made it to the semis there, followed by a final at CS Asia Championships 2023, 5-6th at Elisa Masters Espoo, and another semi-final exit to end the year at BLAST World Final, where torzsi was the second-highest rated player at the event with a 1.19.

"When CS2 came out, I was really disappointed," torzsi says. "I really didn't like the game. The AWP was really difficult with the peeker's advantage and the movement, but I think it changed a lot. It's in a much better state now than before, although I would still make the AWP a little bit stronger because I think it's not as good as it should be, and my suggestion would be to put it back to 10 bullets."

The turn of the year brought with it a significant change for MOUZ, one that initially looked like a big step back. The talented youngster frozen, who had been on the German organization's books since 2019, reunited with former MOUZ teammates Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool in FaZe, and a struggling Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin was brought on from a Ninjas in Pyjamas team in freefall.

Alas, after securing a spot at the RMR for the PGL Major in Copenhagen, MOUZ didn't show any signs of slowing down despite the roster change and reached yet another semi-final, although they did lose to frozen and his new FaZe teammates. torzsi was still a beacon for MOUZ in the playoffs, posting a 1.20 rating in the series at the Spodek Arena despite the rest of his team all being in the red.

torzsi had also led MOUZ in the Group B upper bracket match against the Polish-majority ENCE that got them straight through to the semis, a 2-0 thrashing which he ended with a 1.41 rating.

MOUZ then dominated the RMR, going 3-0 against Guild Eagles, ECSTATIC, and Spirit, although torzsi had a quiet showing, averaging just a 1.03 rating at the qualifier as his teammates stomped their way to the Major.

torzsi activated at the Major proper, where MOUZ started in the Elimination Stage and was the team's second-highest-rated player with a 1.25 in their quarter-final run. His only rating below 1.10 came in a best-of-one against Eternal Fire, where he had a 1.08, alongside his 1.15 against ECSTATIC, 1.76 against Complexity, and 1.11 in the quarter-final loss to G2. His ADR in Copenhagen was the highest he had all year, 81.1, and he also had a strong 1.23 impact rating.

"We went there to win, but unfortunately, it didn't happen," torzsi says about how the team was feeling ahead of the Valve-sanctioned event in Copenhagen. "On the other hand, we had so much confidence going into that tournament that it basically stayed with us, and we played amazing at Pro League and BetBoom. Everyone was doing his job helping their teammates. We enjoyed our time with each other and wanted to make up for the early loss at the Major!"

MOUZ bounced back immediately and made it all the way to the grand final at IEM Chengdu. On the way, they managed to get revenge on G2 in the semi-finals, but once again frozen got the best of his former teammates as FaZe soared during a streak of grand final appearances and tournament wins after CS2's release.

IEM Chengdu foreshadowed what would become a typical event for torzsi. He ended it with a 1.06 rating (his Big Event average throughout the year was 1.07) thanks to a high floor and not many peaks — although he did get a 1.65-rated Nuke against G2 in the semi-finals, one of his best arena games of the year.

The event in China it marked the first of three grand finals MOUZ reached in the two months following the Major. The second was the ESL Pro League, where this core had made a name for itself the previous season and started its breakout on the world stage.

Once again, MOUZ left their mark on the studio event in Malta and hoisted their second trophy — the first of 2024. torzsi wasn't named MVP this time, but got an EVP thanks to his 1.14 rating in 15 maps. Nine of those maps were in the playoffs, where he had a 1.11 rating, including a 1.16 in the 3-0 grand final victory over Vitality.

MOUZ's second and last victory of the year came at another studio event, this time at the smaller BetBoom Dacha Belgrade. torzsi also got his second and final EVP there, this time with a 1.29 rating, his highest of the year, and a 1.10 in the playoffs.

torzsi's biggest contributions in Serbia came in MOUZ's group stage victories against BetBoom (1.30 rating) and Virtus.pro (1.63), although he was no slouch in the grand final against Spirit with a 1.20. His impact and KAST in Belgrade were the best of the year, 1.31 and 80.4%.

"I couldn't pick one best moment of 2024," torzsi says. "There are a lot of great moments that happened, but I would say, overall, April and May. Winning two tournaments back to back was really amazing, and it gave us a lot of experience and a lot of good memories, so I would say that period of the year!"

MOUZ effectively established themselves as a second-row championship team, but it happening at events without large crowds earned them the studio merchants moniker.

"We had our successes and we have been focusing on getting better when we get to the [arena] stages, but I think it's natural for a young team to not win instantly," torzsi says. "We're getting to the playoffs almost every time, and every time we're getting better when we're playing on stage.

"Learning is never linear; there are ups and downs. We were joking about being studio merchants, but we didn't really care that much, and we have already proved many times that we are not studio merchants!"

MOUZ dropped off in the final stretch as the summer break loomed, bombing out of IEM Dallas in 9-12th place after losses to 9z and G2, and a single victory over Complexity. torzsi posted a 1.09 rating at a rare event where he and his teammates failed to make it out of the group stage.

After the break MOUZ beat Sashi and FURIA on the way to a semi-final finish at EWC. They couldn't get past Natus Vincere, who were the team to beat at the time and would go on to win that tournament, and torzsi posted one of his lowest ratings of the year, 1.04.

Things started to pick back up for MOUZ at IEM Cologne, on the organization's home soil. They beat Falcons and Complexity off the bat to reach the playoffs, but had to start in the quarter-finals instead of the semis after losing the group stage final to Vitality.

Starting in the first round of the playoffs was no problem, as they beat G2 2-0, with torzsi posting the second-highest rating on the team, 1.24, but they fell short once again, this time against a burgeoning Natus Vincere, and couldn't make it past the semi-finals.

torzsi's showing at the Super-Elite event was a good one, rated 1.13, with an equally good playoff rating of 1.12. If anything, torzsi continued to show that he does not crumble under the spotlight despite the team failing to make it past the final hurdles.

MOUZ had the chance to bounce back at another Medium studio event like the one they won earlier in the year, BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Season 2, but it wasn't to be this time around. torzsi and company were sent to the lower bracket by Spirit after victories against Eternal Fire and paiN, and the Turks then got one back on MOUZ, beating them in the consolidation final despite a 1.21-rated performance by torzsi.

The Hungarian AWPer's event was otherwise just below par for his averages, with a 1.09 rating throughout and 1.08 in the playoffs. His most notable underperformance came in the semi-final against Spirit. Most notable were his 0.94 and 0.91 ratings in the two maps he and his teammates tightly contested but eventually lost.

After a Medium studio event came a Big studio event, theoretically MOUZ's strong suit, but this time it was a disappointment through and through. They failed to reach the ESL Pro League Season 20 playoffs — one of only two events in which they didn't make the playoffs — and the alarm bells started ringing.

torzsi had a 1.06 rating and a flat 1 impact rating in the team's 11 maps, which included two losses to Complexity, one to Imperial, and victories against Rooster and fnatic.

The blow was softened at IEM Rio. An opening victory against paiN was followed by a loss to FURIA, but then three consecutive victories against Complexity, FaZe, and Vitality, as well as revenge on FURIA in the semi-finals in front of the Brazilian crowd, put MOUZ within arm's reach of their first Big Event trophy in an arena.

It wasn't to be in the end, as Natus Vincere once again played spoiler and were now establishing themselves as the team to beat before the final stretch of the season. torzsi finished the event with a 1.07 rating, but delivered one of his best performances of the year in the semi-final drubbing of FURIA with a 2.08 rating in the 13-3, 13-3 series on Nuke and Mirage.

MOUZ didn't quite turn the corner despite reaching the final in Rio, however, and although the warning lights were no longer flashing, torzsi's lowest point of the year was fast approaching. "My hardest moment was the BLAST World Final," he says. "I was focusing a lot on being a good teammate and being consistent throughout the year. I felt like I was doing really well at these goals, but after Singapore, I was not really happy with myself. It was a tough tournament and nothing worked out for us."

It was indeed tough for torzsi, who posted his only below-average rating of the year. Not only that, it was way below average — 0.75 in six maps. torzsi started with a 1.19 on Inferno in a 2-0 victory against FaZe, but from there on out his highest was a 0.85. MOUZ bowed out in the quarter-finals following a 6-13, 6-13 loss on Mirage and Dust2 to Vitality.

torzsi came back to life at the Perfect World Shanghai Major's European RMR as if given an adrenaline injection. Despite it not being an MVP event, it is one of the most pressure-packed events on the calendar and the 22-year-old was MOUZ's engine in the qualifier with a 1.43 rating in five maps against Nemiga, Sangal, and Natus Vincere.

The momentum did not carry into the Major's Elimination Stage, although torzsi did post 1.11 and 1.12 ratings in MOUZ's two first best-of-ones, a 13-6 victory over paiN and a 13-16 loss to The MongolZ.

After making it out of the groups 3-2, MOUZ were once again paired up against The MongolZ in a playoff match between two very young teams. torzsi was the lowest-rated on his team with a 1.05, but they made it to the next round with a 2-0 double-comeback victory.

torzsi was up against Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov in the semis and the Russian AWPer took over the series with a 1.40 rating. torzsi had started strong in MOUZ's 13-7 victory on Nuke, but deflated with the rest of the team as the eventual champions went on to win decisively in the final two maps.

"This year we had it always in our hand, but we were always a little bit off," torzsi says about how MOUZ failed to make it past that final hurdle to become a true championship team. "Looking back, I would say we needed a little bit more head space and maybe sorting problems out better between us, the players, and not always relying on our coaching staff."

Why was torzsi the 20th best player of 2024?

torzsi makes his first appearance on the top 20 list thanks to his solid floor. With a 1.03 rating or better at all but one of the 15 events he played, the Hungarian almost never slipped and had several high-level performances to boot.

Chief of those came in MOUZ's consecutive title runs at ESL Pro League Season 19 and the first BetBoom Dacha Belgrade, where torzsi earned two Exceptionally Valuable Player nods. He was also a key player in most of his team's other deep runs in 2024: at IEM Katowice, PGL Major Copenhagen, IEM Chengdu, IEM Cologne, the second BetBoom Dacha, and IEM Rio.

torzsi stood the test at the most competitive events, outperforming his average at the Super-Elites (1.11 rating, 11th best) thanks to his great output in Katowice, Copenhagen and Cologne, as well as when the pressure was highest with a 1.07 rating in big matches (and 1.03 in arenas, where he was joint-best in MOUZ).

"I'm the oldest player on the team, and the one with the most experience, so it kinda comes with it," torzsi says about being a standout player for MOUZ at the Super-Elite events. "I also feel really natural when I go up to play on the big stages because I know I do my routines well, so I'm always prepared for what's going to be in front of us, and I always try to enjoy my time when we play in front of the crowd!"

For his high floor, torzsi lacked more standout performances to climb higher. His two peaks were weak compared to most in the top 20 — especially considering one came at the medium-sized BetBoom Dacha —, which was a result of his struggles against the very best teams, his 0.96 rating against top 5 opposition being among the lowest in top 20 candidates.

And for his solid fragging (0.71 KPR) and exceptional survival rate (0.59 DPR), his low ADR (71.2) and Impact (1.00) also contributed to a relatively low base at the Big Events (1.07 rating, joint second-lowest in top 20 candidates).

"For next year my goals are winning a Major and lifting at least as many trophies as this year," torzsi concludes. "Also, getting more consistent and becoming a better person and a player overall!"

Bold prediction by 1xBet

torzsi picked fellow countryman Adrian "⁠xelex⁠" Vincze, who much like himself is also getting his shot at making the big leagues through MOUZ NXT. There is, however, a lot less information about the 16-year-old rifler than there was about torzsi when he joined the academy team, as xelex only has two matches recorded in HLTV's database — both with his current team.

"I think he has a great future in front of him if he stays dedicated and learns a lot," torzsi says. "He would be the first Hungarian rifler who could break through and play in a better team, and I think he will get his chance sooner or later because he has a lot of potential!"

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Stay tuned to our Top 20 Players of 2024 ranking and learn more about how the players were selected in our introduction article.