Top 20 players of 2024: broky (8)

broky lands in the eighth spot of the Top 20 players of 2024 ranking by 1xBet and SkinClub after displaying incredible peak form that led to an impressive list of individual accolades.

Top 20 players of 2024: Introduction

Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants makes his fourth consecutive appearance in the Top 20 players rankings after a consistent year full of second-place finishes. The Latvian Laser also secures his third top 10 placing in a row following his debut at No. 20 in 2021 to firmly establish himself as one of the era's premier talents and a pivotal presence in FaZe's greatest accomplishments.

broky propelled FaZe during their eight-event grand final run that began after the release of CS2 and remained a force to be reckoned with during FaZe's dry spell, which was enough for him to finish 2024 as the highest-ranked player on the team.

He won the MVP award at IEM Chengdu, FaZe's only title of the year, and collected a plethora of EVP awards at IEM Katowice, Copenhagen Major, ESL Pro League S19, and BLAST Fall Final.

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

- Top 20 players of 2021: broky (20)
- Top 20 players of 2022: broky (6)
- Top 20 players of 2023: broky (10)

FaZe entered the year in blistering form after ending 2023 with five consecutive grand finals and three trophies. Their first tournament of the season was BLAST Spring Groups, where they recovered from an opening loss against GamerLegion to comfortably progress to the Spring Final, with broky averaging a 1.13 rating.

IEM Katowice was next on the agenda, where the Latvian shone and helped FaZe secure playoffs with solid performances. His 1.19 average rating against Rebels and a standout 1.58-rated decider map against Eternal Fire were crucial, though he couldn't stop FaZe from falling to Spirit in the group final.

The Latvian then shifted into a higher gear in the playoffs and demolished G2 (1.56) and MOUZ (1.31) to earn a rematch against the red-hot Spirit, who once again proved too much to handle. Thanks to the carry performances in the first two playoffs rounds, broky earned his first EVP award of the year as FaZe extended their grand-final streak to six in a row.

Next came the Copenhagen Major RMR, where FaZe made light work of their opponents to qualify with a 3-1 record. broky had an off game against 9 Pandas, who FaZe still beat easily, and answered the blip with five consecutive maps over a 1.00 rating.

He stood out as FaZe's best-rated player by 0.27 rating in the loss against G2 before his 30-kill performance in the double-overtime battle against Eternal Fire proved pivotal in ensuring Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's troops booked their ticket to the Major.

FaZe's campaign in Copenhagen didn't get off to the greatest start. Losses to HEROIC and Eternal Fire on either side of a win against FURIA, where broky put up a server-high 1.56 rating, meant FaZe found themselves in the 1-2 pool.

broky got FaZe through to the playoffs after putting up a 1.36 rating against Imperial, 0.29 more than his closest teammate, and a 1.42 against Complexity in the decider match.

He then outshone Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets in the quarter-final with his 1.28 overall rating, 82 ADR, and 0.84 KPR to get his team in the top four, where FaZe faced off against Vitality. Even though broky had a quieter game against Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut and company, FaZe powered through to their seventh straight grand final, but their quest for a 2024 title was cut short by Natus Vincere.

"Continuing the grand-final streak at the start of the year felt good until we ended up second each time," broky tells HLTV. "I would rather be in last place than go through all the feelings of finishing in second place at the biggest tournaments."

That changed in Chengdu, where FaZe claimed their first title with the help of broky's MVP-worthy performance. The team started steadily and beat Nemiga thanks to broky's 1.49-rated performance, but their momentum hit a bump with a loss to Astralis in the following match.

Two more standout maps by broky helped FaZe beat Cloud9 and FlyQuest, which got them into the playoffs, where the Latvian took matters into his own hands. He led FaZe in rating (1.23) as he took the bracket by storm after a mixed effort in the group stage, often serving as more of a hybrid than a dedicated AWPer.

He was FaZe's top performer against Liquid with a 1.31 rating, 0.12 ahead of his closest teammate, and played well in their revenge victory against Astralis (1.16). broky then dominated MOUZ in the first map of the grand final with a 105 ADR, 0.96 KPR, and a 1.93 impact rating on Overpass before his teammates ensured FaZe won Nuke and got their first title of the year.

"Winning IEM Chengdu was like getting dessert without having the main course," broky admits. "After placing second at Katowice and Copenhagen Major, this was a much-needed win for us as a team."

After finally breaking their duck, FaZe flew to Malta for ESL Pro League S19 aiming to extend their grand final streak to nine, but the event would prove to be a turning point in their season.

Even though broky carried over his strong performances from China and secured an EVP award, FaZe faced a noticeable slump. The Latvian star posted a 1.28 rating against Imperial and delivered key performances in wins over Virtus.pro (1.38) and Eternal Fire (1.19) to help the team qualify for the playoffs.

The 23-year-old was then the deciding factor in their playoff match against Monte after putting up 1.71 and 1.85 ratings in FaZe's two map wins. broky also topped the board on the second map against Natus Vincere which got FaZe a spot in the quarter-final, but he wasn't able to prevent the loss to Vitality.

ZywOo and company won the match 2-0 and put a stop to FaZe's grand final streak in a game that would mark the change of tide for karrigan and company. The defeat set the tone for FaZe's performances in their next events, as they would place 5-6th in both IEM Dallas and the BLAST Spring Final.

Though broky struggled in Dallas with a 1.02 rating — his second-lowest of the season — he narrowly finished as FaZe's top-rated player, edging out the rest of the team by a small margin. Usually good for a couple of big peaks, the Latvian was middling in all but one map, a 1.58 in an opening map loss to Virtus.pro.

"There is an event pretty much every second week, so even if we didn't have the best results in the last few tournaments, we are always more motivated to do better in the next event," broky says about motivation during the rough patch of results.

The BLAST Spring Final was far better for broky as he once again finished the event as FaZe's best player (1.14 rating), but the team was left without a deep run once again. The Latvian was crucial in FaZe's only win against SAW (1.20) and played well in their loss against Natus Vincere (1.08).

broky also spearheaded the demolition of Vitality on a 1.87-rated Inferno, but FaZe couldn't build on that and petered out in a 1-2 loss that sent them into the summer break in lackluster form.

FaZe's struggles persisted at their first event after the break, the Esports World Cup. broky topped the board to get them over the line against a persistent FlyQuest (1.32) before Natus Vincere got the better of the European combine to eliminate them in the first round of the playoffs.

BLAST Fall Groups were up next, and broky once again topped the board in their solitary win against Cloud9 (1.18). He had a consistent tournament across the board but was without his usual peaks, as his highest-rated map came against the aforementioned Russian squad (1.34 on Dust2).

IEM Cologne followed much the same storyline, as broky failed to get going in their opening matches against Liquid and Vitality. He stepped up when FaZe found themselves on the brink of elimination, however, and posted five above-average maps against Falcons (1.30 rating) and Liquid (1.09), helping FaZe complete a historic 1-11 comeback with a masterful CT showing.

This helped FaZe progress to the playoffs, where they were defeated by SAW after a disappearance in the two map losses by the Latvian.

FaZe then flew to Malta for ESL Pro League S20 and narrowly qualified for the playoffs. Although broky's average rating of 1.03 didn't meet his usual standards, he began to display some stronger peaks that had been missing from his play following the summer break.

He recorded a 1.31 on Nuke against Sangal, a 1.44 versus FlyQuest on Anubis, and was crucial in their win over Ninjas in Pyjamas with a 1.29 overall rating. But he also had the lows to match, a bottom-of-the-board 0.70 rating seeing FaZe eliminated at the hands of Complexity in the first playoffs round.

Next up was the BLAST Fall Final, where FaZe found their rhythm once again thanks to a rejuvenated broky, who delivered his highest-rated event of the year. The Latvian topped the board against G2 with a 1.00 rating as FaZe's struggles seemed to continue, but he shifted into a higher gear straight after and put up eight consecutive maps with a positive rating.

broky finished top of the scoreboard against Falcons (1.41) to get his team into the playoffs, where they met Liquid. FaZe dispatched Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken's men with ease and lost just nine rounds across the two maps to come into the semi-final against Natus Vincere with renewed confidence.

broky was tremendous on the Inferno opener against Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen's troops and put up a 1.84 rating as FaZe claimed a 13-10 victory. He continued to fight hard in a narrow 11-13 loss on Ancient and was the only member of FaZe to maintain pressure in the 2-13 stomping on the decider. As a result, he finished the series with a 0.30 rating advantage over his closest teammate and earned an EVP award for his efforts.

"During BLAST Fall Final, everything clicked for us, we even managed to win a game without it getting close like it usually does," broky recalls.

Then came IEM Rio, where FaZe and broky couldn't reach the playoffs once again. The 23-year-old had a steady 1.08-rated performance across the tournament and had some solid peaks, notably against paiN (1.19) and Liquid (1.44), but was unable to prevent an early exit against MOUZ.

BLAST World Final was up next, and the Singaporean event proved to be broky's worst of the year. He averaged a 0.92 rating and had only one outstanding map, a 1.44-rated Mirage against Natus Vincere, which came in FaZe's solitary win at the tournament.

karrigan's troops then flew to Shanghai for the final act of the 2024 Counter-Strike season. The RMR was a breeze for the European combine despite their shaky form coming into the event, as wins against Cloud9, Falcons, and fnatic meant they progressed with a 3-1 record. broky, however, was yet to activate and averaged a 0.96 rating across the qualification event.

The Latvian's struggles continued throughout the Major's Elimination Stage, where he averaged a 0.90 rating as FaZe squeaked through to the playoffs by the skin of their teeth after a 2-1 win over FURIA.

In the playoffs, though, broky came alive and supplemented Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool's superstar numbers with aplomb. He finished the series against Vitality with a 1.15 rating and was crucial in both their map wins on Mirage (1.40) and Anubis (1.34).

He did the same in the semi-final against G2, putting up 0.95 KPR on Ancient and 24 kills in a 16-14 win on Nuke to secure FaZe's second Major grand final of the year.

In the end, donk's Spirit proved too strong despite FaZe's feisty performance. broky put up a 0.99 rating and 76 ADR in the final and was FaZe's third-highest-rated player, which put his playoff average at an excellent 1.11.

"I believed that we could win the Shanghai Major ever since we ended in second place at the Copenhagen Major," broky says. "We just needed to peak at the right time and have some FaZe magic. Coming closer to the Shanghai Major, we knew that we only had first-place finishes in China since CS2 came out, so we would keep saying that we have the buff in China.

"Looking back at the event, I don't think anyone would be happy ending second after the run we had in the playoffs, especially since we couldn't beat a top 5 team for like half a year," he laments.

"Being in two Major finals and not winning either of them was definitely the worst moment of the year for sure."

Why was broky the 8th best player of 2024?

broky lands in the eighth spot after displaying incredible peak form in 2024.

In a blistering start to the year, he earned four consecutive awards as an Exceptionally Valuable Player in FaZe’s runs to the grand final at IEM Katowice and at PGL Major Copenhagen (two Super-Elite events), the Most Valuable Player in their sole victory at IEM Chengdu, and an EVP in their quarter-finals finish at ESL Pro League Season 19.

Though he slowed down in the second half, he went on to add another EVP to his tally as FaZe’s leading man in their semi-finals campaign at BLAST Premier Fall Final, ending the year with a list of individual accolades that could have been worthy of an even higher finish on the ranking.

He earned these awards as a standout player under pressure, putting up a 1.11 rating in the arenas (8th), 1.09 in big matches (8th), and 1.12 under threat of elimination (9th). And although he was often scoffed at for inconsistency, his 84.1% maps rated above 0.85 show he rarely disappeared entirely, as does the fact that he only dipped below the 1.00 event rating at the end of the year.

But while his lows were not very low, they were plentiful. After making a case for his best-ever finish in the first half of the year, perhaps as high as fourth before the summer break, his drop-off in the second half caused his numbers to tank. That is shown in his joint-lowest overall rating in the top 20 (1.09), in the share of map peaks (lowest in the percentage of maps rated above 1.00, 1.15 and 1.30), as well as his Impact (0.99).

Bold prediction by 1xBet

broky chose NAVI Junior's Drin "⁠makazze⁠" Shaqiri as his Bold prediction. The Kosovar rifler got his breakthrough while playing in the lower reaches of the online scene, where he helped the academy outfit claim six titles in 2024.

The 18-year-old averaged a 1.19 rating across the year and strung together 17 consecutive maps with a 1+ rating during NAVI Junior's eight-match winning streak in September.

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Stay tuned to our Top 20 Players of 2024 ranking and take a look at the Introduction article to learn more about how the players were selected.