Top 20 players of 2024: ropz (18)

ropz makes his seventh consecutive appearance in the Top 20 players of 2024 list by 1xBet and SkinClub thanks to a high floor throughout the year and a last-minute push at the Shanghai Major.

Top 20 players of 2024: Introduction

Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool's rise to stardom is well known at this point. As the first player to truly make it big through FACEIT's ladder system, the young Estonian faced allegations of cheating from the wider pro community. To dispel the cheating rumors surrounding him, ropz was invited to FACEIT headquarters in London in March 2017 to play FPL under supervision, putting to rest any suspicions regarding his immense talent.

It would not be long before ropz found his first home in professional Counter-Strike, as German organization MOUZ took a chance on the young rifler. ropz went through ups and downs in the early months on MOUZ, but the additions of Miikka "⁠suNny⁠" Kemppi and Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk to the lineup in August 2017 helped right the course for the team, allowing the newly pieced-together side to hoist their first trophy at ESG Tour Mykonos in September, followed by a slew of other tournament victories in early 2018.

A failed attempt to qualify for IEM Katowice 2019 caused disarray in the MOUZ camp, leading to a rebuilding of the lineup. ropz and Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong soon found themselves joined by a new cast of characters, as Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen, Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker, and David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský were added to reinvigorate the team. After a slow start, MOUZ soon became a force to be reckoned with, racking up four titles in late 2019 and early 2020 before cooling off following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After nearly two years with limited results and several roster changes within the MOUZ lineup, ropz sought out greener pastures. karrigan had returned to FaZe the year before, and ropz reunited with him in early 2022 in a move that immediately netted dividends with wins at IEM Katowice, PGL Major Antwerp, and IEM Cologne. FaZe slowed down at the end of 2022, but started to pick things back up in 2023, completing the Intel Grand Slam with a win at ESL Pro League Season 17.

The release of CS2 in the latter half of 2023 proved to be the real difference-maker in the FaZe camp, as karrigan's men quickly racked up three trophies and five grand finals, keeping up their streak even after the addition of frozen ahead of their final event of the year. A driving force in FaZe's successes for the year, ropz found himself reaching his highest Top 20 placing yet, adding the lofty title of third-best player of the year to his list of achievements.

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)
- Top 20 players of 2023: ropz (3)

Hoping to pick up where they left off heading into 2024, FaZe stumbled in their first match of the new year, faltering to Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski's GamerLegion in the BLAST Premier Spring Groups. Despite the hiccup, FaZe marched on through the lower bracket to secure a place in the Spring Finals, with ropz averaging a solid 1.15 event rating in the process.

FaZe kept their grand final streak up into the new year in their next outing at IEM Katowice, but the international side continued to display blemishes along the way. A narrow win over Eternal Fire in the group stage secured a place in playoffs, but FaZe were denied an immediate semi-final berth after encountering Russian phenom Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets for the first time.

FaZe marched on to the grand final after taking down G2 and MOUZ, but in what turned out to be the cherry on top of a record-matching performance, donk once again shut out karrigan's men, this time with a jaw-dropping 1.96 rating in a 3-0 grand final sweep. ropz concluded IEM Katowice with a 1.07 rating in a performance that signified his year to come, one of a solid floor but lacking higher peaks, as he mainly stood out in two stomps and as the main resistance to Spirit.

FaZe hoped to shake off the stinging feeling from their runner-up Katowice finish as the first Major of the year commenced in Copenhagen. After enduring losses to HEROIC and Eternal Fire in the group stage, FaZe scraped through into playoffs, where they squared off against Spirit to seek revenge for IEM Katowice.

The third time proved to be the charm for karrigan's men, as they eliminated Spirit from the Copenhagen Major in a hard-fought quarter-final series. Following up this win with a semi-final victory over Vitality, FaZe looked poised to secure their second Major trophy as they squared off against Natus Vincere in the final. In the end, a Major win in Copenhagen was not meant to be for FaZe, as Natus Vincere completed their underdog run with a 2-1 victory, consigning FaZe to yet another silver medal.

Despite a stellar RMR, averaging a 1.18 rating in the qualifier, ropz struggled at the Major. He posted his lowest Super-Elite event rating of the year (1.01) after recording only eight out of 17 maps above 1.00, and two of his three worst maps in the grand final loss to NAVI.

"There are many different ways to look at coming second," ropz shares when discussing FaZe's numerous runner-up finishes in 2024. "For one, it's obviously sad and devastating, considering the importance and prestige of those trophies we couldn't reach.

"It's an emotional rollercoaster, having a great tournament until the final and repeating that multiple times throughout the year. It can break people, especially in the losing moment, but hopefully, you always bounce back which I believe we did. It builds character, it makes your skin thicker, you may become more immune to any emotion until you win again and taste the other side.

"For others, those things may be the opposite, which isn't a bad thing. As long as you learn, improve, and let go of the past, good things will come. I think none of us cared about being second when you are looking at the enemy team lifting the trophy, knowing it could've been us right there and then."

Despite enduring two devastating grand final defeats back-to-back, FaZe did get a taste of victory in 2024. Hardly a week after the Major, ropz and the rest of FaZe made their way to China for the first time this year to compete in IEM Chengdu. The team's group stage woes continued, getting relegated to the lower bracket by Astralis after an opening win over Nemiga, but they ultimately rebounded with wins over Cloud9 and FlyQuest to make top six.

In the playoffs, FaZe overcame Liquid and Astralis before trouncing MOUZ 2-0 in their eighth-consecutive grand final in CS2. Missing out on his first EVP of the year by a hair over a lack of standout maps, ropz served as a consistent backbone for his team on the way to hoisting the trophy in Chengdu, recovering from the up-and-down Major with a 1.10 average rating behind teammates frozen (1.17) and Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants (1.18).

Just as FaZe's frequent grand final appearances finally netted them another trophy, the international side's streak finally met its end at their next outing, ESL Pro League Season 19. ropz had a quiet group stage (1.01 rating), but stepped up in the playoffs, securing a 1.12 rating against their first opponent Monte, and then a 1.31 against Natus Vincere, leading the charge for his team against Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen's men.

Gunning for a second consecutive trophy and a ninth consecutive grand final, FaZe were stopped dead in their tracks in the quarter-finals against eventual runners-up Vitality, with superstar Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut posting a mind-boggling 2.21 rating to give FaZe their first early playoffs exit since ESL Pro League Season 18 in September 2023. All told, ropz bowed out of EPL Season 19 as FaZe's second-highest-rated player but still a mere 1.05, trailing behind broky (1.18).

IEM Dallas did little to get FaZe back into the swing of things. ropz led the way for FaZe in the group stage (1.24 rating), helping his team earn a spot in the quarter-finals after missing out on a direct semi-final berth.

Unfortunately, FaZe would not get much farther, as they were halted by a G2 lineup featuring Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip, who annihilated FaZe to leave ropz with his lowest Big Event series rating of the year (0.57) and a 1.01 rating overall for the event despite the promising start.

FaZe rounded out the season with yet another quarter-final exit, this time at the BLAST Premier Spring Finals in London. ropz paved the way for FaZe in their opening series against SAW (1.46 rating), but struggled in their losses to Natus Vincere (0.86 rating) and on the decider against Vitality in the elimination series.

The respite offered by the player break did little to alleviate ropz's struggles during the middle portion of the year, as he pieced together a 0.93 rating across four maps played at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, his lowest Big Event rating of the year.

FaZe followed up their quarter-final exit from the Esports World Cup with another bitter pill to swallow at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups. After scraping past the newly pieced-together Cloud9 roster in a tight best-of-three, losses to G2 and Ninjas in Pyjamas sent FaZe packing without a spot in the Fall Finals, relegating them to the Fall Showdown. ropz still needed to warm up into the second half of the season, posting a 0.96 rating at the Danish event. He only finished ahead of karrigan (0.72 rating) among his teammates.

IEM Cologne offered ropz and the rest of FaZe their next big test of 2024. After a smooth opening series against Liquid, FaZe faltered to eventual champions Vitality, putting karrigan's men at risk of elimination from the prestigious event fairly early into their run.

Ultimately, FaZe snagged one of the event's six playoff spots, besting Falcons before taking down Liquid to secure their place in the quarter-finals. ropz was a crucial factor in FaZe's win over their former comrade in Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken, posting a team-high 1.41 rating on the last map of Mirage to help fuel a comeback for the ages after entering the second half down 1-11.

FaZe were unable to follow up this triumphant win in playoffs, faltering in the quarter-finals to underdog side SAW. Despite the disappointing finish, Cologne offered ropz an opportunity to find his footing in the second half of the season, finishing as the jointly highest-rated player on FaZe alongside frozen, each toting 1.09 ratings.

Coming after a string of lackluster showings in the events preceding it, Cologne marked a turning point for ropz in 2024, as he would only dip below the form he displayed there in one event for the remainder of the season. "It's hard to name the exact reason, but one thing was I definitely did some self-reflection and I understood that I was a bit disappointed with my first season," ropz states when asked about his high floor in the latter half of the 2024 season.

"I decided to loosen up a bit, mentally take off some pressure and intensity just to get a different perspective. I always set very high standards for myself, so lowering those might've helped. But in any case, I do believe and I always will say that CS is a game of momentum. I think I mentioned in an interview this year that it takes one good tournament to be back where you were, and getting to play that one good tournament was hard, but once I was there it became easier."

ropz followed up his solid Cologne showing with dominant form in the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown, averaging a phenomenal 1.30 rating, the second-highest rating of the event, to help FaZe earn a place in the Fall Final by securing wins over Rare Atom, paiN, and OG.

Returning to LAN for ESL Pro League Season 20, ropz kept up his form in spite of a shocking opening loss to Sangal. Once in the lower bracket, ropz helped FaZe work past their remaining group stage hurdles — FlyQuest, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and a second bout with Sangal — to book a place in playoffs, but the international side ultimately faltered in their first playoff match against Complexity despite ropz's efforts (1.27 series rating). Although FaZe did not get the deep run they might have been hoping for, ropz still concluded the Maltese event with a solid 1.21 rating, the second-highest on the team after frozen (1.33 rating).

FaZe rebounded at the BLAST Premier Fall Final, losing to eventual winners G2 in their opening match before qualifying for playoffs with a win over Falcons. Once in front of the crowd, ropz had a standout performance in FaZe's quarter-final against Liquid, posting a 1.65 series rating to help his team to a quick 2-0. Unfortunately, FaZe fell short in the semi-finals against Natus Vincere, with only ropz (1.07) and broky (1.37) managing positive ratings in their series against the reigning Major champions, leaving ropz with a 1.13 average rating in Copenhagen.

The onslaught of events continued with IEM Rio, where ropz continued his strong run of form even though FaZe failed to secure a playoff berth, snagging the fifth-highest rating of the event with a 1.17 average. An opening loss to hometown heroes FURIA put FaZe on thin ice, but ropz helped the team rebound, posting a 1.32 rating in a lower-bracket series against Liquid. MOUZ were the final hurdle ahead of playoffs, but they proved too much to contend with. FaZe faltered against their international rivals despite ropz's team-high 1.22 rating in the series.

FaZe's final outing before the Major cycle began came in the form of the BLAST Premier World Final, where karrigan's troops once again struggled to come close to another grand final. FaZe made up for an opening loss against MOUZ with a 2-1 win over Natus Vincere, fueled by ropz's 1.21 rating, but drawing Spirit in the quarter-finals proved to be too much to handle, and FaZe finished the event in 5-6th place.

ropz ultimately bowed out of Singapore with a 1.03 rating, his four drops to the red balancing out his two big peaks in FaZe's first win over NAVI in more than five months.

"Even if things looked bad before the Major, we always believed that we could go all the way no matter the circumstances," ropz says regarding FaZe's mixed leadup to the Major.

"We knew that we weren't favorites but we used it to our advantage. It gave us more fuel to show up; we knew it was going to be a hard fight but the mood was high and past experiences helped. The results weren't there at that time, but throughout different tournaments, inside the team, we saw progress and we believed what we had worked on."

FaZe's progress culminated in a 3-1 record in the Perfect World Shanghai Major Europe RMR A, where the team notched wins over Cloud9, Falcons, and fnatic, with a loss to Vitality, before beating Cloud9 yet again in a fourth-place decider that eventually proved meaningless. En route to securing his team a place in the Elimination Stage, ropz struggled to start but recorded a 1.50 rating in their qualifying victory against fnatic and a 1.36 against Cloud9 in the — in the end meaningless — fourth-place decider.

While ropz believed things were looking up for FaZe in the game, the passing of karrigan's older brother ahead of the RMR and ropz's grandmother during the event weighed heavily on the team.

"Unfortunately I was forced to say goodbye to a family member too, as my dear grandmother lost her battle to cancer the same day we played Cloud9 in the RMR. From my perspective, it's definitely one of the worst and fucked up feelings you can have when your loved ones have an expiration date like that; I knew it was probably the last time I would ever see her before I went to China. And of course, it was something I was managing throughout the whole year, as her health got worse.

"One of the last things we talked about was how she hoped it would go well in China. She was one of my biggest supporters and to me, she was one of my biggest inspirations. It was hard to manage the emotions whenever I was alone and it still is. In public or among others you just put on your game face and pretend everything is good. It brings me to tears as I write this, it will be forever in my mind. It was good we could go back to Europe so I could attend this funeral, and Finn could be at his brother's. I tried my best to stay strong, motivated, and focused for the Major.

"I found it helpful for myself to open up about it, and there are many others who find themselves in similar situations. I hope and wish for anyone going through grief or depression to stay mentally strong and to fight for your dreams."

After taking the time to grieve their losses, FaZe returned to Shanghai for a hard-fought Elimination Stage. After going 2-1 in the best-of-ones, their first qualification attempt against G2 went horribly wrong, but ropz then pushed his team across the line in their 2-2 match against FURIA with a team-high 1.25 rating.

Despite their shaky groups, FaZe found new life in playoffs, spearheaded by phenomenal showings from ropz. The Estonian rifler kicked off his playoff run with a dominant 1.49 series rating against Vitality, following that up with a 1.45 series rating in their semi-final versus G2.

He continued his heroic efforts into the final, earning a team-high 1.17 series rating, but FaZe ultimately fell just short of claiming their second Major trophy, losing the final map of Dust2 11-13 after nearly piecing together a 5-12 comeback.

"The highlight for me would be the second to last round against Spirit," ropz states when reflecting on the year's notable moments.

"My only thought was that as I was coming up to A, I must hit this jumping no-scope or else we lose. It was such a desperate move and I was in disbelief when it happened. I don't think my back has been against the wall as much as it was in that moment, as a Major trophy was on the line for Spirit that round."

For his troubles, ropz departed the Shanghai Major with his sole EVP award of the year for his phenomenal 1.21 average rating (the fourth-highest of the event), 1.36 playoff rating, and 0.86 KPR.

"The Shanghai Major was one of my best performances for sure. It has always been a goal of mine to step up at the most prestigious tournaments and matches. Doing it at the Major and in the important games felt great. This year we struggled against the top teams, but as I was playing it didn't feel like I was getting instantly destroyed as usual, so maybe I was more in flow-state. But to me that tournament it just felt easier than usual for some reason, we got more space and chances to play with.

"In the end though, it has no meaning if we can't lift the trophy. So it was still a disappointment in that aspect, even if we are not the favorites. Once you get to the playoffs, to the final, everything changes. Doesn't matter who is expected to win, because at the biggest stages under the pressure, the outcome could be anything. That is something we know best at FaZe."

"For us 2024 wasn't a success," shares ropz when asked to reflect on the year as a whole. "For many other teams, if they had our results, it can be considered a success. Our standards are very high and we admit when it's not going right." Despite the lofty standards, ropz adds that he did not wish to forget any of the lows from the year. "I don't think there is anything I would like to forget. I want to remember the good times and every big failure will push me harder next time."

With questions surrounding his future heading into 2025, ropz is keeping his goals for the new year simple: "I would like to be happy, but in-game be more sharp and creative."

Why was ropz the 18th best player of 2024?

ropz secures the 18th spot on the Top 20 players of 2024 list after maintaining a very high floor throughout the year as at least a valuable player at 12 out of 13 notable events he attended.

He performed high regardless of the level of event (1.11 average at Majors, 1.09 at Super-Elite, 1.09 at Elite and 1.09 at Big Events) and no matter the stage (1.09 in the arenas, 1.06 in big matches, and 1.11 in elimination matches).

In addition, in a final push for his place in the Top 20, the Estonian star put on one of the best performances of the year out of anyone at the Perfect World Shanghai Major to earn the top Exceptionally Valuable Player mention there.

But outside of his superb playoffs run in Shanghai, his solid level deep into tournaments came thanks to a higher floor than most rather than standout performances. That is in large part why the Major EVP was his only award of the year, and the main reason why he couldn't climb any higher along with a relatively low base — a 1.09 rating for the year being the joint lowest of all in the top 20.

"It feels conflicting [to make the list this year] for sure," ropz says about making the Top 20 Players of the Year ranking despite his own concern about enduring a slump in 2024. "I feel like I should've had a better year, but sometimes things don't go as expected, which is part of the journey. In hindsight it doesn't feel like I did anything which could be pointed out as the reason [for making the list]; it's always a bit of everything.

"I was in very positive emotions and confidence heading into this year. It ended up being maybe one of my worst years, but still being recognized and placed in this list has some positive takeaways as well. Regardless, even if there were struggles or tough circumstances, I know that for my own standards, I should've been better and that will remain as a disappointment."

Bold prediction by 1xBet

For his bold prediction, ropz elected to shout out Spirit Academy's Maxim "⁠kyousuke⁠" Lukin, a popular prospect who has done well for himself over the course of the last seven months under the academy side's banner.

The 16-year-old has had a phenomenal 2024, averaging a 1.29 rating across 136 maps, helping his team rack up several online tournament victories against notable names in the tier-two European scene.

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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.