IEM Cologne 2023 ended last weekend after some of the best Counter-Strike matches we’ve seen in a while. We saw a lot of great team play, but who brought individual greatness to Cologne? Let’s take a look at IEM Cologne’s top players to see who deserves the MVP title in what may have been CS:GO’s farewell song.
Despite the fact that many people called IEM Cologne 2023 the last big tournament in this discipline, quite a lot of new competitions will begin in the near future. The Bangbet casino website has a separate section for betting on esports events.
So, the top five players at the end of the tournament.
5. SH1RO
Our list of the best IEM Cologne players starts with sh1ro. His path could have ended in the quarter-finals of IEM Cologne 2023, but without sh1ro Cloud9 would never have made it this far. Sometimes he was like a man possessed on the server, single-handedly leading his team to victory.
This is probably not the best we’ll see from sh1ro this year. He was still finding synergy with his new teammates electroNic and Perfecto during IEM Cologne 2023 and he played most of the tournament without Ax1Le due to visa issues. On an individual level, there are many encouraging signs that sh1ro still has a lot to offer in the rest of 2023.
4. ZYWOO
It shows the standard that ZywOo has set for itself, that 4th place on this list is a bit of a disappointment. There is no doubt that ZywOo is one of the best CS:GO players on the planet right now, if not the best. He continued to demonstrate this at IEM Cologne 2023, delivering a high quality performance throughout the tournament. In early matches against teams like OG and MOUZ, ZywOo sometimes seemed to play like a smurf.
Despite a good performance throughout the tournament, ZywOo will probably be the first to tell you that his performance in the semi-finals was a disappointment. He held his own in the first two maps against ENCE, but in the final map on Vertigo, his result was 11:19 and Vitality were eliminated from IEM Cologne 2023. If he could drag his team further, he would be much higher on this list.
3. DEV1CE
If you had any doubts that dev1ce has returned to the level of the best CS:GO players in the world, you can finally put these fears aside after IEM Cologne 2023. The legendary AWPer was in great shape leading Astralis to the Cologne semi-finals with its brand new line-up.
Just two months after the start of this new Astralis project, they have already reached the semi-finals with dev1ce at the forefront. This is extremely impressive. He didn’t manage to lift the trophy at the end, but it was great to see dev1ce back on the big stage where he should be. Most likely, even more victories await the player in the future.
2. M0NESY
IEM Cologne 2023 must have gone exactly as m0NESY saw it in his wildest dreams. Everything was perfect, right up to lifting the last trophy. The young AWPer faced criticism after BLAST Premier Fall Groups, but he showed why he is considered one of the best CS:GO players in the world at IEM Cologne.
Baby GOAT made flicks left, right and center that no human was supposed to get close to. Do you want to know how fast m0NESY fires the AWP? Check out some of his flicks in slow motion. In IEM Cologne 2023, sometimes some of his slow motion shots looked like they were in normal speed, which is just absurd.
Of the thirteen maps that m0NESY played at IEM Cologne 2023, he was up on all but two. It was an impressive display of consistency from m0NESY, who lifted another big trophy for his collection. If he maintains this form for the rest of 2023, G2 will have a great chance of winning every match.
1. NIKO
There can only be one winner on the IEM Cologne Top Players list. Niko. He chose IEM Cologne 2023 to remind us why he is considered one of the best CS:GO players of all time, with a tournament performance that will no doubt go down in history as one of his best.
NiKo himself has already been a winner in Cologne before. It would be easy to let the nerves take over and allow history to repeat itself. The IEM Cologne 2023 grand final was different, NiKo carried his team, allowing the match to define his career in the best possible way.
With all that said, NiKo received the official DHL MVP award to take home with the IEM Cologne trophy.