Top 20 players of 2024: flameZ (7)

flameZ secures seventh place in his debut appearance on the Top 20 Players of the Year list by 1xBet and SkinClub thanks to an impressive stat sheet in the toughest environments.

Top 20 players of 2024: Introduction

Despite his young age, Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan's history with Counter-Strike dates back over 11 years. He would sit behind his older brother, Shiran "⁠shushan⁠" Shushan, to watch him play, and soon was drawn into the game himself. flameZ, at the age of 10, spent the majority of his early time on bunnyhop servers in 1.6 before he transitioned to more casual play in 2014 with CS:GO and later, pick-up games after being introduced to them by shushan.

"My two big brothers drew me in like almost every other player in the scene," flameZ laughs. "But to be honest, I loved sitting behind shushan and watching him play. And later on when I got a PC, it was my place to be social with people, to talk, share experiences, and have a common goal. Also to some extent, it was an escape route that made me feel really at peace."

flameZ took part in a few small tournaments early on, but soon gained motivation to step out of his older brother's shadow after he was taunted online.

“Someone was trash-talking me, saying that I was just there because I was shushan's brother,” flameZ told HLTV in 2020. “At that point, I told myself I wanted to become the best I could, but also become the best person I could be for the Israeli community and not get full of myself.”

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How three players are changing the face of Israeli Counter-Strike

flameZ regularly played for exDT alongside shushan early in his career, recording his first recorded officials on HLTV with the team at Game In Mako Fest in March 2018. flameZ tallied a team-leading 1.40 series rating in exDT's semi-final win over ShapeShift, but finished as runners-up to Aequus.

Local LANs offered flameZ and other youngsters the opportunity to prove themselves, but the Israeli scene remained isolated, focused mostly on forming the best teams to win the few local LANs held each year. That changed when Uniquestars, Israel's best team, lost to MVP PK at IeSF World Championship — to the surprise of players in Israel who did not know any of the other teams at the event – and after Noah "⁠buue⁠" Nethanel Türnpu became the first Israeli player to qualify for FPL in December 2017.

Focus in Israel soon turned to international competition and on making a name for yourself in FPL, but flameZ was still under 16 and ineligible to compete in qualifiers for most big events. He had to step back any time the team wanted to compete in big qualifiers, which at one point caused him to quit playing CS for several months.

Playing alongside his brother was not without its difficulties either, with flameZ recalling how team issues could be hard to resolve.

"At the start, it was tough because he was way older than me and sometimes things got personal in the game with common team issues," he says. "I wouldn't know how to separate it, and maybe both of us didn't know, so it might have been a bit awkward.

"On the other hand, it got better with time, we always had good chemistry in the game, shared similar ideas, and also he has always been very creative so playing next to him was easy to adapt to as rifler."

flameZ again had to step back from exDT in the qualifiers for the IEM Katowice 2019 Asia Minor due to being underage, and despite his frustration at being unable to compete again, the people flameZ met around this time played a large part in centering his mentality and motivating him for the future. A few months passed, flameZ turned 16, and he fulfilled one of his early dreams: to play alongside Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz on Finest.

"Around this time I felt like I met a lot of people that were key to keeping me intact with the game," flameZ says. "I lost motivation not only because of the age restriction; I had a terrible PC, monitor, and mindset.

"But in the months to come, I had a talk with ZENCER where he sort of told me to look at a player like anarkez that doesn't care about the circumstances outside his control, just grinds and does his best. That motivated me a lot and then the Finest project started, which was a big thing for me to be playing with NertZ. I always saw him as an idol, he was the best player by far and treated everybody with respect. By then I went from Finest to FPL-C and kept it going."

"I think if you ask any player in Israel at that time, they all would have wanted to play with NertZ," flameZ adds. "So it was a big boost to my motivation. He was a big voice in and outside the team, always down to talk about CS, life, or anything else and share his mindset and his view on things. I liked him a lot and still like him a lot, he is a player that I have always wanted to compete with at this high level."

Despite fulfilling one of his dreams to play alongside NertZ, flameZ's stint on Finest was short-lived. Seeing Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi and Guy "⁠anarkez⁠" Trachtman compete in cups featured on HLTV and having the chance to qualify for FPL-C — where Israeli players could break out internationally — offered an extra level of motivation. It became too hard for flameZ to juggle school, team practice, and pick-up games, and five months in, he stepped back from Finest to focus entirely on qualifying for FPL-C. Eight days later, he qualified.

The coronavirus pandemic then allowed flameZ to fully focus on Counter-Strike, and he continued to grind FPL-C while playing for Adaptation. He didn't try to qualify for FPL, believing he couldn't because of a bad PC, but Roey "⁠ZENCER⁠" Kimhi's words and advice became a zenith to unlocking flameZ's potential.

He spent months grinding deathmatch, watching demos, and doing everything he could to improve, steadily getting better until his brother bought a new PC for his birthday. The same month, flameZ qualified for FPL, following in the footsteps of Spinx and anarkez before him, and one month later he got an offer to join an international team: Endpoint.

"I feel like there were many [moments or people that changed something for me or my mindset toward going pro]," flameZ says. "The first one would be the qualification to FPL/FPL-C. This made me grind and sort of push, maybe not with the sole intent of going pro, but enjoying the circuit and improving.

"Then, the Endpoint offer meant a lot to me, it changed my mindset and showed people in my surroundings that this is a career and not just a hobby. As for a player, after I watched ropz's player profile, I really admired him and was motivated by how he kept going even though his story was tough. Hopefully I'll play with him one day."

The move to Endpoint offered flameZ his first true shot at regular tier-two competition, and with them he won ESEA MDL Season 35 Europe (averaging a 1.25 rating over 29 maps) and qualified for his first season of ESL Pro League.

He spent seven months competing for the British organization in online tournaments as the coronavirus pandemic kept teams away from LAN, and his performances soon drew the interest of other organizations as the return to offline play drew near.

"They were all amazing," flameZ says about his time with Endpoint. "The coach, the players, the CEO, everybody in this project made me feel like I could be myself and just grind with them, finish practice and stay in TeamSpeak until late at night playing FACEIT every day.

"I was really happy that it was my first team in the professional scene and super happy the organization didn't take advantage of my inexperience. They treated me fairly and were super helpful during the whole period."

At the turn of the year, four players in HLTV's Top 20 Players of 2020 list named flameZ as their Bold Prediction — a projection that took four years to come true. Four months into 2021, flameZ got called up to OG to replace Issa "⁠ISSAA⁠" Murad, getting the opportunity to consistently test his abilities against top international opposition.

The roster led by Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen immediately made an impression, finishing as runners-up at IEM Summer and reaching the semi-final of ESL Pro League Season 14. flameZ mustered 1.10 and 1.20 ratings in those efforts, showing he could perform against the best European teams, and slowly OG inched up the world rankings.

The young Israeli also played his first international LAN when offline play returned at the Play-in stage for IEM Cologne, where he averaged a 1.01 rating in five maps after a poor series against BIG dragged his numbers down.

"Joining OG was like a rollercoaster," flameZ says. "I had to become more professional. With Endpoint it was the COVID era, we just played online, and I wasn't professional many times but joining OG and going to bootcamps I had to change for good."

OG barely missed out on qualifying for PGL Major Stockholm, the first after the pandemic, and exited in groups at IEM Winter to end the year on a sour note. Aleksib was traded for Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković at the start of 2022, but a last-place exit at IEM Katowice and failing to qualify for PGL Major Antwerp brought about more changes with Maciej "⁠F1KU⁠" Miklas, Adam "⁠NEOFRAG⁠" Zouhar, and Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov joining mid-way through the year.

With that lineup, flameZ qualified for his first Major, playing in the Challengers Stage of IEM Rio 2022 and falling just short of advancing to the top-16 after losing to Vitality in a three-map series. OG were far from title contenders, however, with flameZ and degster often relied upon for any upset wins, and one of their only notable playoff appearances came at BLAST World Final 2022 with a run to the semis over HEROIC and Vitality.

"Not making the Majors and being very inconsistent in the important games made me realize I had to start exploring myself and get better at the mental game," flameZ says. "Then when the new roster came around with F1KU, NEOFRAG, and so on, it became a grind together and I was very committed."

"I got different positions and ruggah and kakafu wanted me to have more responsibility which was very valuable for me to explore myself, and the org was always seeking improvement and added people to try to help us in the mental aspect which was very beneficial to me."

By the time 2023 rolled around, flameZ was on the wishlist of many organizations and his contract with OG was running out. He played at one last Major with them, finishing 12-14th at the Challengers Stage of the BLAST.tv Paris Major, and after IEM Dallas the newly-crowned Paris Major champions Vitality came knocking for his services.

"I was super excited," flameZ says of his feelings when he got the offer. "They just won the Major so I didn't have it in my mind that they will go for a roster change. Back then I had some offers and was considering and looking into the benefits and negatives of some of them, but when Vitality contacted me I knew I would be going for it. The opportunity, the timing, and the players all made sense to me."

flameZ found immediate success upon his move, making it to the semi-final of IEM Cologne in only his second event with the team and lifting a trophy at Gamers8 immediately afterward, where he was also named an EVP with a 1.12 rating.

"I was super happy," flameZ says. "To be honest, I didn't expect to lift the trophy at Gamers8. zonic wasn't there, apEX had messy flights and was delayed, but I also always believed and knew what the team was capable of. We fell short in Cologne to a strong ENCE and quickly stepped up back again. I'm also very glad to have won a CS:GO trophy in the end."

Vitality were briefly plunged into turmoil as the chapter closed on CS:GO and Counter-Strike 2's began. Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif and Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen departed the team for Falcons, leaving behind a last-place exit at the first big CS2 event, IEM Sydney, but Vitality recovered after adding William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman and Rémy "⁠XTQZZZ⁠" Quoniam. They won BLAST Fall and World Final titles back-to-back to end the year on a high, with flameZ heading into 2024 on the top-ranked team in the world.

"It was very weird," flameZ says of how winning two trophies at the end of the year set up expectations coming into 2024. "We just got mezii and had a staff change and it instantly clicked, we were all hyped and won these back-to-back BLASTs.

"Before the season started it felt really good, we came with confidence and I was already thinking ahead of time that this was our year as a team, but I'm not sure if it was the pressure or just that our effort didn't match our expectations."

Vitality started 2024 as the top-ranked team in the world, riding the wave of their Fall and World Final trophy lifts into the new year, but would soon find themselves washed ashore in a deflating start to their season.

Days after being crowned the 2023 Team of the Year at the HLTV Awards Show, Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire's troops made their way to Copenhagen for BLAST Spring Groups and locked in a spot at the Spring Final. They started their campaign with an imperious 13-0 over OG, but their path through the event wasn't without trouble, including a lost series to Astralis in the upper bracket semi-final and a pair of tight, three-map series against Falcons and in a rematch against Astralis in the group final to qualify.

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Vitality named Team of The Year

flameZ put up a 1.10 rating at the non-MVP eligible event and carried that level through to the year's first Super-Elite event, IEM Katowice, but it was only him and Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut who had any semblance of a showing across the six maps Vitality played before they were bounced out of the event in last place.

Losses to ENCE and HEROIC, the series against the latter featuring a 13-11 win and two 14-16 defeats, gave a brutal reality check to a Vitality that arrived in Poland hoping to coast off their late 2023 success.

"To be honest I'm not so sure [what went wrong], it feels like so long ago," flameZ says of the result. "I just know we didn't push ourselves and just expected to win. It was something big for us that we worked on a lot in the end, just giving energy no matter the opponent."

flameZ ended the tournament with a 1.08 rating and a VP mention despite Vitality's immediate exit thanks largely to him having a few solid maps without any real disappearances.

Vitality had little time to recover from that defeat as the Europe RMR for PGL Major Copenhagen approached, but they met that challenge with aplomb. ZywOo put up mind-boggling 2.97 and 2.68 ratings to get his side past GamerLegion and HEROIC in the best-of-one openers, and the team recovered from a loss to Cloud9 in the 2-0 pool by exacting revenge for Katowice over ENCE in two maps (where flameZ averaged a 1.51 rating) to advance to the Major.

flameZ and mezii headed to Copenhagen for the Major proper looking for their first Major titles, with the added pressure of Vitality fighting to defend their status as reigning Major champions. The team was hamstrung early into their effort, however, when illness befell ZywOo and left Vitality with a deflated superstar when it mattered most.

A 10-13 loss to Eternal Fire in the Elimination Stage's opener — where ZywOo was the only one who finished positive for Vitality — could have spelled doom for the reigning Major champions, but flameZ and Spinx took the reins to help charge past The MongolZ, Imperial, and Complexity to reach the playoffs.

flameZ led the server in the win over The MongolZ (1.49 rating) and against Complexity in Vitality's qualifying series (1.19 rating), with his 27-15 K-D, 116.9 ADR, and 1.79-rated performance making all the difference on the Anubis decider to edge out a narrow victory.

"The Major was a big struggle with the ZywOo situation, but it showed me a lot of character in him," flameZ says. "He was really sick and playing badly, but he kept giving energy, hyping us, and doing everything he could. For a player who expects and everybody expects him to do well, it was really nice to see him this way, and it made me believe more in the team."

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flameZ: "I feel the hunger to win a Major and have the badge on my HLTV page"

flameZ continued to be exceptional under the bright lights of the Royal Arena against Cloud9, posting a 1.28 rating on Inferno and putting on another masterclass on Anubis (2.03 rating, 18-6 K-D) for a swift berth through to the semi-final, but there Vitality had their Major run halted by FaZe.

The Israeli rifler's output dropped off heavily in that series and he finished at the bottom of the board with a 0.85 rating, but his efforts throughout the group stage and excellence against Cloud9 was more than enough to earn him an Exceptionally Valuable Player (EVP) mention as he ended the Major with a 1.12 rating.

"Regarding our result, I don't think a semi-final is bad, but we obviously could've done better to make it more competitive," he says.

Vitality then reached back-to-back grand finals at ESL Pro League Season 19 and IEM Dallas, but were stopped short of lifting the silverware by MOUZ and G2. ZywOo was back to his best in Malta and helped his team romp through the group stage undefeated with a 1.71 rating over six maps, with flameZ's own efforts good for a 1.19 rating ahead of the playoffs.

He put in another strong shift against FaZe (1.20 rating) and started well against Astralis in the semi-final, but deflated showings on three maps — two coming against MOUZ in the final — stopped him short of another EVP as he ended the event with a 1.06 rating overall (0.98 in playoffs).

"EPL was just us getting bullied by MOUZ," flameZ says. "We had a big talk after, we were disappointed about just not giving our best. It wasn't a close game that we went into that much detail, but we learned a lot about our energy levels and what is required."

flameZ missed out on an EVP again in Dallas, where Vitality came up short in the title decider to a G2 who completed a fairytale run to the trophy with Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip as a stand-in.

The Israeli rifler had two stand-out maps against the eventual champions — once in the group stage on Dust2 (1.82 rating) and another in an overtime victory on Anubis in the grand final (1.49) — but also suffered from a few lows in the group stage and on the decider in the final. He improved from a 1.06 rating in groups to 1.14 in playoffs, but it wasn't enough to make up the difference and edge him past teammate mezii for the final EVP.

"The Dallas one, well we obviously had this game against G2 and lost to a comeback, but this did not make me lose any belief in the team," flameZ says. "We simply win or learn, and in Dallas we also learned very good lessons."

flameZ was back to his best at the BLAST Spring Final with a 1.16 rating across 12 maps, but it was only good enough for a 3-4th finish. He tallied his second-highest-rated map of the year against FaZe in the quarter-finals (2.32) and was Vitality's best performer in the semis against Spirit, ending the series with a 1.22 rating.

His consistent showings against the best teams, 1.25 playoff rating, 1.02 KPRW, and 99.5 ADRW sealed the case for his second EVP of the year, but Vitality still went into the tournament break without lifting a piece of silverware.

Head coach XTQZZZ later revealed that Spinx asked to explore his options after losing in Lisbon, but the matter was settled before the end of the break as the organization chose "not to make changes through Shanghai."

Vitality returned to action at Esports World Cup in July after the break but were cast out early after a loss to Virtus.pro in their second match, with flameZ missing out on a VP or EVP mention for the first time in the year after finishing with a meager 1.00 rating and three out of five maps in the red.

"In my opinion, there is no wrong in losing if you are learning and feel that there is progress," he says about what was going wrong for Vitality around this point. "We lacked closing some of the close games back then, and working on that helped us acquire the trophy in Cologne."

A rejuvenated Vitality arrived at BLAST Fall Groups, a 1.19 average rating by flameZ and overall elevation by the team seeing them bounce past GamerLegion and Astralis (twice) to provide some much-needed confidence ahead of the next Super-Elite event of the year, IEM Cologne.

Vitality's campaign in Germany started with utter domination over FURIA and a 1.87-rated map from flameZ, followed by a hard-fought 2-1 win over FaZe and 2-0 over MOUZ to lock in a spot in the playoffs. That supremacy continued in the LANXESS Arena, where Vitality shut down SAW's Cinderella run with a decisive 2-0 to reach the best-of-five grand final.

Cologne's title decider delivered on all fronts as Natus Vincere and Vitality went the distance on the first three maps, including a triple-overtime map-of-the-year contender on Mirage, before apEX's side took control on Inferno and eventually closed out an 11-2 lead to lift one of the most prestigious trophies in Counter-Strike.

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Vitality win IEM Cologne 2024 over NAVI after nail-biting 117-round final

"During my time with apEX, he has always told me that it is never guaranteed you will be on the winning side and even reaching playoffs and being able to compete on big stages is something we should be thankful for," flameZ says when asked how he reflects on Vitality's only title victory of the year. "I'm early on in my career and I'm very glad to have such a big trophy to my name with many more years to accomplish more.

"Even though it is the only trophy that we won, it was an amazing experience and memory for me and all the people related to this experience have a dear place in my heart. No matter the circumstances that came later on."

flameZ added that the experience in Cologne was his favorite moment of the year, emphasizing his appreciation of the team environment and how hard Vitality fought for the title. "We were all on the same page, very hungry, very sharp, very friendly with each other," he says. "It felt like we were a really solid family, and lifting the trophy is super nice obviously but the journey there was extremely unforgettable."

flameZ took home his third EVP of the year in Cologne courtesy of his 1.19 rating (1.14 playoff rating) and continued consistency throughout the tournament (1.01 KPRW, 101.7 ADRW) and against the best teams (1.20 vs top-five, six maps).

He was among the contenders for the MVP award but was pipped by teammate ZywOo, who wasn't quite as consistent as flameZ throughout the event but stepped up when it mattered most in the playoffs to consign his teammate to an EVP instead.

Winning Cologne could have marked a new period of success for Vitality after a difficult start to the year, but any momentum they hoped to ride off of the victory was brought to a grinding halt after they were cast out in the quarter-finals of ESL Pro League Season 20 by Eternal Fire.

The newly crowned champions of Cologne had everything going in their favor before the loss too, an undefeated run in the group stage allowing them a direct berth to the top eight and a favorable bracket draw seeing all the other title contenders forced to dispatch of one another before having a chance to face Vitality, but it was all squandered with a narrow 1-2 loss to the Turkish team in quarters.

"It definitely stung," flameZ says of the defeat. "We expected and felt like we played well at the time, but we were not able to close this close match against them. This best-of-three was also tough for us back then with the veto, but EF proved to be very lethal against any team.

"We just fell short and noted what we needed to fix. Also, I remember because it was before the Major we were all on the same page that no matter what happens these are all lessons. The only thing I recall is that after Cologne we had an opportunity to steal the Team of the Year [award] if we went on to win more tournaments and obviously the Major, so when that and Rio happened it was sort of disappointing. But it can definitely still happen."

flameZ missed out on a VP or EVP mention for the second time this year with a 0.99 rating, but wasted no time in entering a renaissance at BLAST Fall Final where he had his best event of the year.

It started with the Israeli spacetaker tallying his highest-rated map of 2024, a 2.47 rating in a 13-0 over Astralis, and was followed by five maps with a 1.23 rating or better (three above 1.40). His only negative map (0.90 rating) came in the decider against G2 in the semi-final, which Vitality lost in overtime to bow out of the Spring Final in 3-4th place.

flameZ averaged a 1.33 rating, 1.54 impact, 1.08 KPRW, and 117.2 ADRW over seven maps, but the team missed another shot at a title and flameZ couldn't ride the individual high of his performance for long.

His worst event of the year followed at IEM Rio, where Vitality lost to HEROIC in the group stage upper bracket final and were eliminated in the quarter-finals by MOUZ. A flat 0.94 rating and three maps rated 0.78 or below left flameZ without a VP or EVP for the third and final time in 2024.

"In Malta I was really demotivated sadly, I had a lot of excuses and wasn’t professional at all," he explains of his up-and-down performances post-Cologne. "But I was really excited for Denmark. Around this time I feel like a lot of things popped up in the team which was tough for me to handle at the time and made my showing wobbly."

Vitality played BLAST World Final with Audric "⁠JACKZ⁠" Jug as a stand-in for mezii, who took time away after becoming a father, and the event in Singapore started in predictably poor fashion. flameZ recorded a 0.78 rating in a 0-2 loss to Spirit, but even with a stand-in Vitality recovered by defeating Liquid and MOUZ to reach the semi-final before toppling to G2.

flameZ recovered to a 1.08 average (1.14 playoffs), which was good enough for another VP mention before the team traveled to Shanghai for the Europe RMR.

With mezii back in the fold, Vitality qualified for the Perfect World Shanghai Major with ease, going 3-0 through to lock in a spot in the Elimination Stage. They went into the Major with an outside shot at the trophy but strengthened their case with another 3-0 run through groups with wins over GamerLegion, FURIA, and MIBR, with a draw against a struggling FaZe in the quarter-finals making Vitality a sudden contender for the title.

flameZ was Vitality's third-best player with a 1.24 rating in the Elimination Stage, just 0.01 below Spinx, and he carried that through into the playoffs with a team-leading 1.54 rating on Nuke for a 1-0 start to the series. He was the only one to go positive on Vitality (1.22 rating) in an 8-13 defeat on Mirage, but dropped off on the decider (0.68) as FaZe stole away the victory and brought Vitality's season to a dismal end.

"I feel like we could’ve ended it on a way better note with a deeper run," flameZ says. "But it required, as I said in many interviews, to be a close team and have good relationships.

"The Major obviously is a hard tournament, but the challenge of being together for a month with a not-so-optimal relationship was tough on many. In the end, we gave our best, and if you do that you can't judge yourself."

Despite a year with only one trophy, albeit at the prestigious IEM Cologne, flameZ says there isn't a specific moment or memory that he would rather forget.

"I think there is value in all of the moments I didn't wish on myself this year," he reflects. "God gives us a challenge that gives us an opportunity to grow. This year was challenging in some aspects but they are all memories to laugh about at some point."

Why was flameZ the 7th best player of 2024?

flameZ secures seventh place in his debut appearance on the Top 20 players of the year list thanks to an impressive stat sheet in the toughest competitions and against the best teams.

"I'm very happy to be in this position," he says. "I always said to myself that I don't care about [making the top 20] but right now it definitely means something very positive to me."

His 1.11 overall rating only improved with the competition getting harder, as his 1.16 Elite+ (5th), 1.15 Super-Elite+ (8th) and 1.14 Major (8th) ratings show, and unlike most he didn't drop off when playing against the best teams, averaging a 1.10 rating vs. top 5 (7th) and 1.09 rating vs. top 10 (9th) teams.

The Israeli also stepped up under the lights. His 1.13 rating in arena matches is once again even better than his average and even on par with the next group of players above.

All of this led to flameZ earning four Exceptionally Valuable Player awards in 2024, all at Elite Events or better: PGL Major Copenhagen, BLAST Premier Spring Final, IEM Cologne, and BLAST Premier Fall Final.

Seventh was as high as he could go, though, as the group above outperformed flameZ in most ways, both award-wise and statistically. Considering the names around him and especially above, the aforementioned awards were not the strongest, as he was never in MVP contention other than in Cologne.

And although the kills flameZ got were more impactful than most, leading to round wins 70.5% of the time (2nd) and multi-kills 83% of the time (6th), he had the lowest fragging output of players in the top 20 (0.68 KPR). He was also not very impressive in round wins overall with a 0.92 KPRW and a kill in only 57.8% of round wins, again the lowest of all players in the top 20.

Bold prediction by 1xBet

flameZ named NAVI Junior rifler Drin "⁠makazze⁠" Shaqiri as his Bold Prediction, becoming the second player to do so after Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants, and also gave a nod to makazze's teammate, Aulon "⁠Krabeni⁠" Fazlija.

The duo have been on NAVI's academy roster since October 2023 and put up impressive numbers in 2024, with makazze averaging a 1.19 rating (1.34 impact) over 189 maps and Krabeni averaging a 1.10 rating (1.17 impact) over 203 maps.

"I played with makazze in FPL and he seems really nice, he is super sharp in the game," flameZ says.

"Krabeni deserves a shoutout as well, I feel like they will be super good as a duo. But I was also very happy to play with both of them individually and was super impressed."

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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.