At the 9th place of our Top 20 players of 2010 list we have Andreas "moddii" Fridh who was a part of many different teams during the first half of the year. However, in the second half he was picked up as a stand-in by the Swedish powerhouse SK Gaming and he became their best player during that period.

Basic information

Player: Andreas "moddii" Fridh
Teams: Confis.Shark, H2k, MYM, SK Gaming
Age: 21

Team achievements in 2010:

1st - SEC
2nd - WEM, Copenhagen Games
3rd - DreamHack Summer, EPS Nordic II

Stats from major LAN tournaments in 2010:

Kills per round: 0.79
Deaths per round: 0.62
Rating: 1.17 (?)
Maps played: 46
MoM: 9 times top rated in a match
Best tournament: DreamHack Summer
Best map: de_tuscan
Most notable stats: 5th most consistent with 74% of matches with rating above 1.00, best player on de_tuscan (1.38 rating)

Fridh rose to fame in late 2009 as part of the MYM team that finished second at Global Challenge Dubai and afterwards won DreamHack Winter. He was considered the best player of that team and one of the most promising rising talents in the world. It was expected that the team will rise to new heights in 2010 and become one of the best in the world, but things started falling apart at the very beginning of the year.

Trouble finding a team

At the start of 2010, on January 7th he parted ways with MYM and was in the next few months a member of many different lineups. Those included short stints at Begrip, H2k and later a team that he made with Frej "kHRYSTAL" Sjöström and several Danish players named SharkGaming, but they failed to qualify for EPS Nordic II.

At the end of March, that Swedish-Danish mix-team team was picked up by the Confis organization and they attended their only event together, Copenhagen Games in the beginning of April. The team fared pretty well there, finishing second only behind mTw. Fridh was their best player, ending up with a great 1.17 rating. His best match individually was in a 16-14 win over Cheap Times in the Upper Bracket quarter-final, when he posted a 34-17 score and practically singlehandedly led the team to the semi-final.

Later in April he attended the Swedish Championship with a different mix-team, this time only with Swedish players, but they didn't make it out of the group stage. Fridh however left his mark again playing well in all three matches, especially in the one when his team surprised the eventual winners H2k, as he carried them to a 16-14 victory with a 34-20 score.

In the meantime, during the first several months of the year, Fridh helped the Swedish national team reach the final of CB NationsCup XIII, which they later won without him. He ended up as the 2nd best rated player from his nation with a 1.23 rating, while his most crucial performance was against Norway in the semi-final when he was the best rated player during the 3 maps, with an overall 1.33 rating.

In May, he was called up by H2k to be a stand-in at Arbalet Cup Europe, in which the team was stopped already in the first group stage. Fridh didn't disappoint in their three matches, finishing with a 1.04 rating despite the two losses to mousesports and PinG.

After that, it seemed that he had finally found a team, although not a new one, as he was back in MYM. Their first event was IOL FINAL4 Season 2, where they won their match against H2k but lost to fnatic and SK. Fridh himself had several bright moments, as he finished as the 3rd best rated player of the event (1.12 rating). He played especially well in one of their 16-13 map-wins against H2k, with a 32-17 score and also in their 16-12 win against SK with a 30-17 score.

On the next day, MYM took part in DreamHack Summer, where they eventually finished 3rd largely thanks to Fridh's performances. He finished the event with a very good 1.15 rating, second best in his team, but more importantly he performed brilliantly in important matches. In the quarter-final against concode, during the last map which went into double overtime, Fridh had an impressive 44-20 score and brought his team to the semi-final. Although, a loss to H2k followed, but they still had a tough task ahead of them to defeat SK in the match for 3rd place. Fridh once again stepped up and played impressively, recording a 1.33 rating as the top rated player of the 2-1 win by MYM.

Settling down at SK

After their big success at DreamHack Summer, the team split up, while Fridh was later announced as a stand-in for SK Gaming for Arbalet Cup Dallas, following the Swedish giant's end of co-operation with Rasmus "Gux" Ståhl. He immediately showed that he was a great choice, even though the team was stopped in the quarter-final by H2k after three maps, losing two with 14-16 scores. Fridh was the team's second best rated player, with a 1.18 rating as he excelled in several matches. Firstly, he was the best rated of the match against iDemise in a very close 16-14 win where he had a 32-20 score. He continued with great play in the second group stage, as top rated in matches against both Lions and mTw, and he also had a great performance in the team's only win against H2k in the quarter-final.

Fridh continued playing for SK Gaming until the end of the year, although he was never added as a full-time member to the lineup. The next event for them was WCG Nordic where they secured themselves paid expenses for the World Cyber Games. Fridh was the second best rated player of the event with an excellent 1.33 rating, especially performing well in group stage wins against H2k (29-11 personal score) and Power Gaming (31-12).

Fridh's 1vs4 pistol round against H2k in WCG Nordic

Right after that, he helped SK finalize their campaign in EPS Nordic II during playoffs. He played well in all 5 of their maps even though they lost to mTw in the semi-final, but they then defeated ex-MYM squad in the match for 3rd place.

SK's next LAN appearance was at the Samsung Euro Championship in Berlin, where they won their only international title in 2010. Fridh played excellent having a 1.16 rating, although only 4th best rated in the team as everyone else performed well too. He also displayed impressive consistency, having a rating above 1.00 in each of his 6 maps.

Another trip to United States followed, this time to Los Angeles for the World Cyber Games. SK Gaming were however stopped too soon for their liking, as they lost to Frag eXecutors in the first round of the playoffs. However, that match was one of the most exciting ones of the year and Fridh was the main star of it as he was by far the best rated during the 3 maps with an excellent 1.34 rating. Especially amazing was his first map performance when SK won 16-14, while he had an impressive 35-18 score. He continued in the second map as the team's best with 28-21 despite their 14-16 loss and was also solid in the last map with 25-24 as SK lost 15-19 after overtime. In addition to his performance against the Poles, he also excelled in the group stage, which in the end made him the top rated player of one of the biggest events of the year, having an impressive 1.47 rating.

A month later, SK went to China in order to take part in the World e-Sports Masters. They ended up as 2nd at this very prestigious tournament, while Fridh's performance was again more than satisfying as he finished with a 1.15 rating, although without any standout matches.

Fridh also represented SK in the online leagues during the last few months of the year. In EPS Nordic III he was impressive with a 1.27 rating, third best in the league, even though SK finished 5th and missed out on the playoffs. His most memorable performance was against ArcticNova when he posted an unbelievable 33-3 score, which earned him his best rating of the year of 2.83.

He also played brilliantly in the online stage of IEM5 European Championship, recording an amazing 1.42 rating, 3rd best in the entire competition. SK managed to finish first in their group and thus qualify for the Finals in Kiev, while Fridh was again super-consistent with a rating above 1.00 in 11 of 12 maps, while also having many stand-out performances. He particularly excelled in matches against myRevenge, HEADSHOTBG and Full-Gaming with ratings between 1.60 and 2.00 in each of the 6 maps against those teams.

At the last big LAN tournament of the year, DreamHack Winter, we saw SK be stopped in the quarter-final by mTw after three maps. Fridh had his lowest rating of the year at this tournament, although not really a bad one at 1.01, as he was rated above 1.00 in 5 of 7 maps.

The best stand-in in the world

Despite the fact that Andreas "moddii" Fridh spent most of the year as a stand-in for SK, or in many mix-teams, he continuously brought his A-game and was usually the best in his team. In the 7 bigger LAN tournaments that he attended, he had an amazing 74% of matches when he was rated above 1.00, making him the 5th most consistent player of the year.

His main achievements in 2010 include 1st place at SEC, 2nd place at WEM and 3rd place at DreamHack Summer. Apart from performing excellent in each of those, he also impressed at one of the biggest events of the year, WCG, as well as in his debut for SK in Arbalet Cup Dallas. Due to all of that he has been placed 9th in our Top 20 players of 2010 list.

What does 2011 hold for Fridh?

At the end of 2010, SK Gaming built a new lineup, but Fridh was not a part of it so he once more remained without a team. He has afterwards been linked with a new lineup of Lemondogs, but has in the meantime refuted those rumors and stated that he had no plans at the time.

However, just yesterday it was announced that he will be a part of the new alchemists lineup as he teamed up with 4 Norwegian players. It remains to be seen if this adventure of his with a Norwegian team will be short-lived similar to his beginnings of 2010 or perhaps he will finally settle down.

Recommended demos of Andreas "moddii" Fridh in 2010:

If you want to check out some of his matches that were mentioned in this article, you can find links to those demos right here:

Opponent	Map	Event	Score	Demo
Playzone	inferno	EPS Nordic II Qualifier	37-17	POV
Cheap Times	train	Cph Games (Upper quarter-final)	34-17	HLTV
H2k	dust2	Swedish Championship (Group stage)	34-20	HLTV
Norway	inferno	CB NC XIII (Semi-final, map 1)	24-14	POV
Norway	tuscan	CB NC XIII (Semi-final, map 2)	23-9	POV
H2k	tuscan	IOL F4 S2 (Group stage, map 2)	32-17	HLTV
SK	train	IOL F4 S2 (Group stage, map 2)	30-17	HLTV
concode	dust2	DH Summer (Quarter-final, map 3)	44-20	HLTV
SK	nuke	DH Summer (3rd place, map 1)	24-12	HLTV
iDemise	inferno	Arbalet Dallas (Group stage #1)	32-20	POV
Lions	nuke	Arbalet Dallas (Group stage #2)	32-21	HLTV
mTw	train	Arbalet Dallas (Group stage #2)	29-21	POV
H2k	inferno	Arbalet Dallas (Quarter-final, map 1)	21-9	HLTV
H2k	nuke	WCG Nordic (Group stage)	29-11	HLTV
Power	inferno	WCG Nordic (Group stage)	31-12	HLTV
Fx	tuscan	WCG 2010 (1/8 final, map 1)	35-18	HLTV
Playzone	inferno	EPS Nordic III	30-21	POV
myRevenge	dust2	IEM5 European Championship (map 1)	29-14	POV
myRevenge	nuke	IEM5 European Championship (map 2)	24-6	POV
ArcticNova	tuscan	EPS Nordic III	33-3	POV
Full-Gaming	dust2	IEM5 European Championship (map 1)	27-14	POV
Full-Gaming	train	IEM5 European Championship (map 2)	20-9	POV

If you missed our previous article about Marcus "Delpan" Larsson, click here or if you want to see who else is on the list when it is updated, head over to our Introduction article here.

What do you think about the performance of Andreas "moddii" Fridh in 2010? Does he deserve a place in the Top 20? What was your biggest impression of him this year? Feel free to leave a comment on this topic and stay tuned to HLTV.org if you want to see what the rest of the Top 20 looks like, as we will bring you number 8 tomorrow.