Top 20 players of 2011: TaZ (6)

The 6th position on our list is occupied by its eldest member, Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas. Despite having years of experience behind him, 2011 was probably the best year of his career so far as he was one of the most dominant players and best riflers of the year, and he helped his team win four major titles, while being the MVP at one of those occasions.

Basic information

Player: Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas
Teams: Frag eXecutors, AGAiN, ESC Gaming
Age: 25

Team achievements in 2011:

1st - e-Stars Seoul, WCG, Xperia PLAY, SEC, ASUS Summer
2nd - IEM5 World Championship, ICSC7, ICSC9
3rd - IEM5 European Championship Finals, ICSC8

Stats from major LAN tournaments in 2011:

Kills per round: 0.78
Deaths per round: 0.62
Rating: 1.17 (?)
Maps played: 80
MoM: 13 times top rated in a match
Best tournament: SEC
Best map: de_train
Most notable stats: 4x All-Star, 3rd most dominant, 2nd best rifler (0.66 kills per round)

Along with being the eldest player in our ranking at the age of 25, Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas is also one of the most experienced on the top level. His first international achievement dates back to 2005, when as a member of Pentagram he took the gold at SEC. The Poles later established themselves as one of world's best in the second half of 2006, after the original Golden Five lineup was formed and they won WSVG London and World Cyber Games.

From then on, they won numerous major titles, including ESWC two years in a row (2007 and 2008) and WCG again in 2009. At the beginning of 2010, they brought in Jarosław "pasha" Jarząbkowski to replace Lukasz "LUq" Wnek and that year mostly went by in adjusting as they often underperformed and won only e-Stars Seoul.

Throughout all those years, Wojtas has never been considered the star in the team, but he has always been one of the most influential on their success. That trend continued in 2011 for the most part, but on a few occasions in the second half of the year he stepped up and became their best player for a while.

Evident improvement from the very beginning

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
IEM5 European Championship Finals (3rd place)	1.21 (2nd)	+7%
Selected for All-Star lineup 3rd best rating (1.21) Most dominant (25x 3+ kills)

The first major tournament, IEM5 European Championship Finals, took place mid-January in Kiev. The Poles didn't manage to win it, but they ended up third placed and showed significant improvement in their form compared to the previous year. They had a flawless start in the group stage, recording all five victories, then succumbed to mTw in the semi-final in one of the closest matches of the entire year and finished off by defeating Natus Vincere in the third place decider.

Despite not being the best in his team, Wojtas enjoyed an excellent performance in his first event of the year, recording a 1.21 rating, third best of all players. More impressively, he was by far the most dominant player of the event having 25 rounds with 3 or more kills. Overall, he had a very stable display being rated above 1.00 in 8 of 10 maps and was the 4th best entry killer, which later resulted in the selection for the All-Star lineup of the tournament.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
IEM5 World Championship (2nd place)	0.97 (4th)	-7%

At their next event, IEM5 World Championship, Frag eXecutors made it all the way to the final, but lost to defending champions Natus Vincere. Wojtas didn't shine this time, recording a below-average and his year-worst 0.97 rating.

Not long after, the Poles had a chance for redemption against the Ukrainians at the ICSC 7 finals, but they were defeated in the final once again. Wojtas however did improve individually, now as second best in the team with a 1.09 rating and a few very good performances on their way to the final.

TaZ vs Iron Will at ICSC 7 finals

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
Xperia PLAY 2011 (1st place)	1.13 (3rd)	-1%
All-Star nomination

Xperia PLAY was next in line and Frag eXecutors finally went all the way there, overcoming mTw in a similarly close match as their Kiev encounter, and then defeating SK Gaming in the final. Wojtas didn't excel too much, but he ended up as team's 3rd best with a 1.13 rating and played above average in 12 of 14 maps, which earned him an All-Star lineup nomination.

The Polish team then took a break, skipping DreamHack Summer, and we finally saw them again at ICSC 8 finals in July. However, the two month break evidently affected their shape and SK Gaming defeated them without many problems in the semi-final, resulting in a 3rd place finish after a win over Virtus.pro. Wojtas had a solid performance overall as team's 2nd best with a 1.09 rating, but he disappointed in the semi-final loss to the Swedes.

A month later they were back in form, winning ASUS Summer while Wojtas had another very good performance as 3rd best in the team (1.16 rating).

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
e-Stars Seoul 2011 (1st place)	1.17 (3rd)	+4%
All-Star nomination 3rd best fragger (0.80 KPR)

The next major event was e-Stars Seoul and they continued where they left off at ASUS Summer, ending up victorious again and also defending their title from 2010. Wojtas played above team's average with a very good 1.17 rating and was actually one of the best fraggers of the event with 0.80 kills per round.

Even though he was only 3rd best in his team overall, his influence was invaluable, especially in the second map of the final when despite again not being the best in his team, he had a great display (30:22 score, 1.29 rating) in a 19-17 victory.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
SEC 2011 (1st place)	1.35 (1st)	+17%
MVP of the tournament Best rating (1.35) Best rating in playoffs (1.35) Best entry killer Best fragger (0.92 KPR) Best K-D difference (+71)

Over a month passed before the next major event, which was SEC that took place in Frag eXecutors' home country. They managed to once again prove they are the best in the world by defeating Natus Vincere in the final and winning their third title in 2011.

Wojtas had probably the best performance of his career, finally being the main star of the team and of the tournament, eventually receiving the recognition for the Most Valuable Player. He was by far the best rated player of the event (1.35) and he also shined when it mattered most, having the best rating in the playoffs, and being the top fragger of the final against the Ukrainians (55:35 score). Additionally, he was the best entry fragger, which all put together made most people recognize his efforts and award him with their vote for the MVP title.

During SEC the team played without the Frag eXecutors tag, and after the event it was officially announced that they would be looking for a new home and going under the name AGAiN in the mean time.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
ESWC 2011 (4th place)	1.22 (1st)	+18%
Selected for All-Star lineup 5th best rating (1.22) 3rd best fragger (0.84 KPR) 3rd most dominant 3rd most consistent 2nd best entry killer

A few weeks later, they attended ESWC in Paris, France, but they recorded a somewhat disappointing 4th place finish, after losing to Natus Vincere in the semi-final and mousesports in the 3rd place decider.

The team didn't seem the same as during their couple of previous campaigns, but Wojtas himself hadn't lost the form he was in at SEC. He ended up as team's best once again with a 1.22 rating and as one of the best at the event in many aspects. Particularly significant is that he was the team's best rated in each of their playoff encounters, while he was also one of the most dominant players and the 2nd best entry killer. That made him a very good candidate for the All-Star lineup, which he later was voted for.

A month later at MSI BEAT IT Russia, the Poles ended up in 5th place, while Wojtas wasn't in the same shape as before, now ending up as 4th in the team with a 1.06 rating.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
DreamHack Winter 2011 (Quarter-final)	1.14 (2nd)	+7%

Still without an organization, the Poles produced another disappointing campaign at DreamHack Winter, losing to Lions in the quarter-final. Wojtas was back in good form, although as team's 2nd best with a 1.14 rating.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
WCG 2011 (1st place)	1.22 (2nd)	+4%
Selected for All-Star lineup 3rd most dominant (17x 3+ kills)

The last major event in 2011 for the team was the one where they previously had a lot of success, World Cyber Games. Before they travelled to Korea, they actually managed to find an organization and that turned them back into a winning team, as they overcame SK Gaming in the final.

Wojtas had a very good display overall, and even though he was quiet in the final, he played excellent on the road to it. He ended up as the second best in the team with a 1.22 rating, whiile particularly shining in the semi-final against NEXT (50:27 score, 1.62 rating). For that contribution, he was nominated for the All-Star lineup, and although the results are not official yet, he once again made it to the best five of a tournament.

TaZ vs eSahara in WCG quarter-final

Showing off his rifle skills in WCG semi-final vs NEXT

Best year in his career

In 2011, one of the most successful years of the Polish team, despite still not being the star of the team, Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas was probably the one who improved his game the most compared to the year before, which resulted in winning four major tournaments and being considered the team of the year by most accounts.

Even though he's had great years before, he now showed the ability to become a star of the team when it's needed, which we witnessed at SEC where he displayed an MVP-worthy performance. He also excelled at IEM5 European Finals, WCG and especially ESWC, being selected for the All-Star lineup of each of those tournaments.

His most impressive statistic of the year is that he was the 3rd most dominant player in regard to having rounds with 3 or more kills. Additionally, he was the second best rifler with 0.66 kills per round, both of which very well demostrate his role and usefulness to the team.

With those individual awards and facts in mind, and considering that he significantly helped his team become the best in the world and win four major titles, and also considering that he was the 6th most consistent player (having a rating above 1.00 in 70% of his maps), Wojtas was placed very near the top of the list. The reason he is not higher than 6th place is that the rest of the players in the ranking either had even more effect on their team's good performance or had more impressive tournaments during the year.

Recommended demos of Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas in 2011:

Opponent	Map	Event	Score	Demo
eSahara	dust2	IEM5 European Finals (Group stage)	29:16	HLTV
fnatic	nuke	IEM5 World (Quarter-final, map 2)	25:16	POV
Na´Vi	train	ICSC 7 finals (Group stage)	25:20	HLTV
USSR	dust2	ICSC 7 finals (Group stage)	32:10	HLTV
rootz	train	ICSC 8	26:8	HLTV
SK	inferno	e-Stars (Grand final, map 2)	30:22	HLTV
TeG	inferno	SEC (Group stage)	45:16	HLTV
Na´Vi	train	SEC (Grand final, map 1)	29:19	HLTV
redbyte	nuke	ESWC (Group stage)	20:9	POV
Alternate	dust2	ESWC (Quarter-final, map 3)	21:9	HLTV
NEXT	nuke	WCG (Semi-final, map 2)	28:13	HLTV

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How would you rate the performance of Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas during 2011 and would you agree that it was the best year of his career so far? Did he deserve the 6th place?

If you want to check out the entire ranking, go to our Introduction article as it will be updated daily until we complete the list. Stay tuned to HLTV.org because tomorrow we will bring you our number 5.