EPS Germany 16: Top Players

If you by any chance didn't watch all 120 matches of EPS Germany's 16th season and didn't follow our weekly recaps, we have the complete stats that could help you catch up. And if you want to know who the best players were, how they stood out and also why we feel the nomination of Roman Reinhardt for MVP of the season isn't justified, you should continue reading.

We will first take a closer look at the top 10 best rated players and their season performances. Seeing as mousesports had a perfect season with all 15 wins, it isn't much of a surprise that they have 3 guys in the top 10, but some other players might not have been expected to be here when the season started. We will also take a look at some other interesting stats such as best AWPers, best entry killers and best pistol round players.

Top 10 best rated players

10) Player Team KPR DPR Rating Michele 'zonixx' Köhler Hardware4u 0.79 0.62 1.19

5 x Man of the Match, Highest rating: 1.71 vs mTw

Michele "zonixx" Köhler has for many seasons now been one of the best players outside of the top teams, and he didn't disappoint this time either, as he is 3rd highest rated of the players who won't be at the Finals. He led Hardware4u to a very respectable 6th place, and just how much he stood out in his team says the fact that he performed 15% above their average, as only 7 players in the league were more important for their teams.

9) Player Team KPR DPR Rating Michael 'zy' Rettig mTw 0.84 0.66 1.20

5 x Man of the Match, Highest rating: 1.88 vs Tera

The player who was the most important one for his team is Michael "zy" Rettig from mTw. Being the only player in the top 10 whose team had to fear relegation, he almost singlehandedly brought mTw's all-new lineup to a safe 9th place, as he performed 22% above the team average. He also managed to be highest rated in 5 of their matches, and has the 5th highest KPR in the league of 0.84.

8) Player Team KPR DPR Rating Direnc 'seraph' Öz ALTERNATE 0.79 0.57 1.22

2 x Man of the Match, Highest rating: 1.85 vs snook

One of Alternate's new additions prior to the start of the season, Direnc "seraph" Öz ended up being their second best rated player. Although he only managed to be highest rated in 2 matches, he was a great and consistent number two with 11 match ratings over 1.00, while his DPR was among the best in the league at 0.57. 

7) Player Team KPR DPR Rating Max 'ODIE' Knappe n!faculty 0.83 0.63 1.25

5 x Man of the Match, Highest rating: 2.36 vs Nanoxia

Max "ODIE" Knappe starred for one of the best teams, n!faculty, with 5 man of the match performances as they reached the Finals from 4th place. He marked the season by recording the highest single-match rating of 2.36 against Nanoxia, while also playing good on a consistent basis with 11 times over 1.00. He was also one of the best entry killers, as only 4 players are in front of him in that category.

6) Player Team KPR DPR Rating Navid 'Kapio' Javadi mousesports 0.82 0.56 1.29

4 x Man of the Match, Highest rating: 1.80 vs cwG

Considered by some the weakest link in the star-filled mousesports team, Navid "Kapio" Javadi proved his worth this season as he was the league's most consistent player with 13 match ratings over 1.00. He recorded 4 man of the match performances and also was the player hardest to kill in the whole league with DPR of 0.56.

5) Player Team KPR DPR Rating Dennis 'seezung' Seesing Frankfurt 69ers 0.87 0.65 1.30

5 x Man of the Match, Highest rating: 2.12 vs cwG

Dutch sensation Dennis "seezung" Seesing really exploded this season, as after a not so good rookie half-year, he almost led his Frankfurt 69ers to the Finals. But instead, he will have to be satisfied with being the best rated player that won't be seen in Cologne. He had the 4th highest KPR (0.87), was one of the most important players for their team with 20% above team average, and was by far the best player with M4A1. He was also very consistent with 12 matches over 1.00, while in 5 of those he was the man of the match.

4) Player Team KPR DPR Rating Kenyon 'KenaN' Temmel TBH 0.90 0.64 1.32

5 x Man of the Match, Highest rating: 2.05 vs ESC

Probably the biggest surprises of the season were the performances of Kenyon "KenaN" Temmel and his team TBH. The fact that this was his first EPS season didn't bother Temmel at all, as he recorded an impressive 0.90 KPR while carrying his team with performances 20% above their average. But the field where this American-origin player excelled the most was entry kills. He got the first kill in league-highest 60 rounds, while only dying first in 19 rounds, making an amazing +41 entry K-D which puts him high in front of everyone else. He was also officially nominated for both MVP and Rookie of the Year awards.

3) Player Team KPR DPR Rating Manuel 'approx' Zeitz ALTERNATE 0.84 0.57 1.32

7 x Man of the Match, Highest rating: 2.22 vs Frankfurt 69ers

Probably the biggest mistake by ESL in award nominations was overlooking Alternate's Manuel "approx" Zeitz in contention for MVP. He led his team to 2nd place with league-highest 7 man of the match performances and 2nd best 0.57 DPR. In addition to that, he was a very close second for best pistol round player, and third best entry killer, while being consistently good with 11 matches over 1.00.

2) Player Team KPR DPR Rating Antonio 'cyx' Daniloski mousesports 0.91 0.60 1.36

4 x Man of the Match, Highest rating: 1.96 vs Alternative

Fight for the highest rated player lasted until the last match and Antonio "cyx" Daniloski drew the shorter straw against his now higher rated teammate. But not by much, as he had the second highest KPR of 0.91, and while not being as consistent as the players around him, he had more performances above 1.40 than anyone in the league – 8, meaning he excelled most often. He was also the 4th best pistol round player and 5th best entry killer.

1) Player Team KPR DPR Rating Roman 'roman' Ausserdorfer mousesports 0.92 0.57 1.37

4 x Man of the Match, Highest rating: 2.11 vs mystical Lambda

Mousesports' big 2010 addition who came from rival team Alternate, Roman "roman" Ausserdorfer, was expected to star for his new team the same way he did for the old one, and he did not disappoint. He seemed to have found the perfect balance between excellence and consistency, as he had rating above 1.00 in 12 of his 14 matches, 7 of those above 1.40. He also has the league highest 0.92 KPR, 2nd best DPR 0.57, as well as incredible 60% of rounds with at least one kill and by far the best AK47. He was also nominated for the official MVP award.

Award nominations

Last weekend, ESL officially nominated Ausserdorfer, Temmel and Roman "Roman R." Reinhardt for the Most Valuable Player award. While the nominations of Ausserdorfer and Temmel seem quite justified, Reinhardt's name appears to be out of place. It is far from saying he had a bad season, as he was the 13th best rated, and he was very consistent (12 matches with 1.00+ rating), but there were many players that had a better season than him. Even in his own team he didn't stand out, with Zeitz in front by far, as well as Öz. And even though he probably has little chance of winning the MVP award, the nomination itself should in a way be a reward for a great season. But now, because of ESL nominating him, players such as Daniloski, Zeitz or Seesing missed out on such official recognition.

There is a similar situation in contention for the Rookie of the Season award, as while Temmel and his teammate Christian "crisby" Schmitt seem worthy of the nomination, there could have been a better choice than Turkish national team member Aykut "RapeN" Saracoglu for the third nominee. His now ex-teammate Christopher "tox" Ladas could have been that better choice, as he was the best pistol round player in the league and he had one man of the match performance that earned him a spot in a weekly top5. On the other side, Saracoglu never really stood out in any way, and he left the team four matches before the end of the season.

Top Awpers

There weren't many players whose primary weapon was the big green, only Paul "pwl" Woltschenko and Christoph "divine" Mohr, although Alternate's other pre-season addition Bastian "b4d" Gaffron used the awp just as much as he did AK47. The top awper out of the bunch is TBH's Woltschenko who had the most awp kills per round and used it the most (43% of all his kills with it).

#	Player	Team	awp Kills	awpKPR	% of kills
1.	Paul 'pwl' Woltschenko	TBH	101	0.27	43%
2.	Bastian 'b4d' Gaffron	ALTERNATE	90	0.26	35%
3.	Christoph 'divine' Mohr	mTw	90	0.24	35%
4.	Adrian 'Aika' Schunke	ydk.me	90	0.23	31%
5.	Tobias 'Tobson' Lichtner	myRuSh	65	0.17	26%

Top Pistol Round players

As part of some our new stats additions, we will be introducing the Pistol Round rating, similar to the overall rating, but only taking into the account the pistol rounds. And as already mentioned, the best player in this category was Christopher "tox" Ladas from cwG edging out Zeitz by an inch. Ladas' teammate Marcel "rAx" Klenner finds himself at 3rd place, which helped their team be one of the best at pistol rounds, with 60% won, but it didn't help them much since they placed last overall.

#	Player	Team	PR KPR	PR DPR	PR Rating
1.	Christopher 'tox' Ladas	cwG	1.13	0.53	1.75
2.	Manuel 'approx' Zeitz	ALTERNATE	1.07	0.57	1.74
3.	Marcel 'rAx' Klenner	cwG	1.00	0.53	1.63
4.	Antonio 'cyx' Daniloski	mousesports	1.18	0.64	1.62
5.	Chris 'sh4dow' Burghardt	Frankfurt 69ers	1.07	0.64	1.57

Top Entry-kill players

Another future new addition to the stats section is Entry kills, or first kills in a round, which can help determine who mostly goes into the site first, or who should be going first. Temmel dominated this category by getting 60 entry kills and only 19 entry deaths, meaning he won 76% of those duels.

#	Player	Team	EK	ED	EK-D	Won%
1.	Kenyon 'KenaN' Temmel	TBH	60	19	+41	76%
2.	Bastian 'b4d' Gaffron	ALTERNATE	60	33	+27	64%
3.	Manuel 'approx' Zeitz	ALTERNATE	49	26	+23	65%
4.	Manuel 'Tixo' Makohl	mousesports	41	20	+21	67%
5.	Max 'ODIE' Knappe	n!faculty	59	39	+20	60%

Most important for his team

As this was mentioned several times in the article, we should take a look at who exactly were the most important players for their team, comparing their rating to their team's rating.

#	Player	Team	P Rat	T Rat	Better %
1.	Michael 'zy' Rettig	mTw	1.20	0.98	22%
2.	Kenyon 'KenaN' Temmel	TBH	1.32	1.10	20%
3.	Burak 'coLLy' Dogramaci	Nanoxia	0.99	0.83	20%
4.	Dennis 'seezung' Seesing	Frankfurt 69ers	1.30	1.08	20%
5.	Hannes 'Hanso' Dunkel	Nanoxia	0.98	0.83	19%

With all these stats in mind now, feel free to leave a comment about who you think was the best player this season. And if there is still something you are missing to make the decision, check out the part of our stats section devoted to EPS Germany here and explore away. Also, stay tuned to HLTV.org for the EPS Finals 12-13th June.