S1mple has won seven MVP awards so far this year which includes the one for the PGL Major Stockholm 2021.

NiKo in the last few months has put up insane statistics with nothing but a rifle, proving himself to be the best rifler in CS:GO at the moment.

The player who has managed to bag seven MVP (Most Valuable Player) awards to his name this year, Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, is enjoying the season of his life along with Natus Vincere (NAVI). The 24-year-old recently shared his opinion on who was the better CS:GO player between him and Nikola "NiKo" Kovač, during an interview with HLTV.

The NAVI star AWPer had already been named the second-best CS:GO player in the world two years in a row, in 2019 and 2020. However, things are looking different this time as he is all set to take the top position due to his consistently brilliant performances.

But as the year nears its end another name has started vying for the top spot, NiKo, as he has put up amazing fragging statistics, which are simply unmatched, and he has done so by using nothing but a rifle.

S1mple shares his thoughts on who the better CS:GO player is between him and NiKo

NAVI with s1mple leading the charge has achieved everything they could have asked for and more in CS:GO this year. Though they could not manage to remain undefeated on LAN, they did claim the Intel Grand Slam Season 3 while also lifting the trophy in Stokcholm by winning the Major.

Shining bright behind all this success was none other than s1mple, supported by the perfect team that enabled him to keep his best foot forward every single time.

While s1mple was busy working his magic with the AWP, there was NiKo on another front fighting hard for G2 Esports with nothing but a rifle. NiKo's team did not register a single win at any significant CS:GO tournament, but despite that he managed to mesmerize the entire community with his mind blowing performances. This led to discussions and doubts about who would be named as the best CS:GO player of 2021.

Speaking about the same in a post-match interview with HLTV, s1mple after NAVI's win against Heroic said that,

Well nothing, I mean they already saw the whole year. So let the people and other players decide. I mean, I know that I'm playing better and that's it.

Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev - Interview with HLTV

S1mple left the decision upto the public. He did not downsize NiKo and without any ego simply explained his thoughts on who should be the best CS:GO player of 2021.

Letting his performances do all the talking, s1mple indirectly emphasized that viewers should take a look at the whole year instead of just one portion of it, and this is exactly where he shines due to his consistency.

This does not take anything away from the fact that NiKo has been a beast of a rifler in these past few months, putting up incredible performances and remarkable statistics for a player that only wields a rifle.

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Published On: 16 Dec 2021, 12:10 PM

Aditya is the in-house CS:GO writer at AFK Gaming. While his understanding of the esports space is not restricted by geographical borders, his current focus lies in the Asian region. Understands and follows almost all major esport titles.

Multiplayer first-person shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is quite complex. It requires many skills in a variety of weapons. It is not enough to just learn how to shoot and run fast. You need to be able to play with others and feel the team spirit.

Each member of the team does their part of the job and contributes to the overall result. In the early days of CS:GO, snipers were not so popular, yet today the AWPer CS:GO are the world’s best players.

AWP Rifle in Brief

This sniper rifle, formerly called the Magnum Sniper Rifle, is considered one of the most used and expensive in the game. Its special feature is its slogan: “One shot — one corpse”. Playing with it is risky because it has a low firing rate and reload speed. At the same time, it kills even an armored body with the first shot.

Many players are trying to master the AWP. It is suitable for sniper ambushes, and hidden places. Since the rifle reduces the speed of movement, players should carefully find a location to shoot. It is important to be able to think about the escape route if spotted, to have a quick reaction and a sharp eye.

Having become the owner of such a weapon, players try to emphasize it with the best AWP CS:GO skins that can be purchased in the official store and on other sites where prices and offers are often more favorable than on Steam.

Who is the Best AWPer in CS:GO?

Due to the fact that the game has existed for many years, there have been various sniper leaders. There are ratings of best AWPers that are regularly updated and publish the names of snipers that have proven themselves on international eSports platforms.

Here is a list of the 10 best AWPers CS:GO who have been proving their professionalism for several years.

Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev

One of the top three AWPers in all world rankings. He plays for Natus Vincere. For three consecutive years he was named the best player according to HLTV.org. He is the winner of many international tournaments. In the past, Oleksandr changed many teams but since 2016 he has been the unchallenged leader of Natus Vincere.

The sniper has more than 20 medals in different tournaments. According to the contract with the company, he receives $50,000 per month and has received about $1.7 million in prize money. s1mple popularized CS:GO in the former CIS countries, making it famous.

Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut

He’s been interested in the shooter since he was 7 years old, and at 16 he started to receive promising offers. After joining Team Vitality in 2018, he took the team to the 2019 Katowice Major. He is the multiple winner of the title of best player according to HLTV.org. This Frenchman became the first and the youngest gamer from his country to receive such a title.

Mathieu leads the nation in headshots, with a headshot accounting for 41% of total kills. In one year, ZywOo managed to collect two golds and four silvers from six tournaments.

Dmitry ‘sh1ro’ Sokolov

The player shows rapid career growth when you consider that he began building it in 2018. Starting with small unknown teams, he broke into the top league of cybersport and became one of the best AWPers. Originally from Russia, he currently plays for American team Cloud9, where he has fully demonstrated his talents. According to HLTV 2022, he ranked third among all gamers.

Winning the Extreme Masters XVII tournament in Dallas in 2022 took Dmitry to the top of the world rankings. During his career, he has managed to earn about $600,000.

Florian ‘syrsoN’ Rische

The 27-year-old player from Germany is one of the most experienced snipers of today. He moved into the game as soon as it came out and solidified his position in the world rankings. For the past three years, syrsoN played for BIG but recently he left for personal reasons. Now he is negotiating with other famous clubs.

Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov

According to 2022 results, the player is seventh in the overall ranking, which is very good for his age — after all, he is only 18 years old. This Russian cyber athlete became interested in CS:GO when he was 9 years old, and by the age of 10 he reached the top rank of Global Elite. Two years later, Mr. Osipov reached the top level, and in 2019 he joined the NewBALLS team.

Today, m0NESY plays for G2. His most notable achievements include winning Dell Gaming Cup

2, reaching the HardCup finals, and first place in the recent IEM Katowice 2023 tournament.

Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz

Every year Nicolai is noted in the top 10 best players on the planet and constantly confirms this title with new achievements. Having started playing as a child, dev1ce left his career in badminton, choosing cybersport instead. He is considered the most promising gamer in Denmark and plays for team Astralis, which he created with a friend, having found sponsorship.

On several occasions, he received medals from HLTV.org as Most Valuable Player. Even a one-year break due to personal turmoil did not affect the professionalism and high level of his play.

Joshua ‘oSee’ Ohm

The American AWPer is considered the best sharpshooter on his Team Liquid. The gamer does not have such outstanding achievements as those listed above, however, due to his successes in recent duels, he ranks among the top ten cyber athletes without a doubt.

According to individual stats, oSee has won 54% of all matches played (there have already been about 300 to his credit). Joshua, 23, has not yet shown all his abilities, so he has a lot of prospects for the future.

Helvijs ‘broky’ Saukants

This is a young player of the FaZe Clan team, which he joined in 2019. At the beginning of his career, he did not show great results, but soon revealed his talent and is considered one of the best CS:GO snipers. The Latvian cyber athlete’s rating is 1.11, with more than 16,000 kills to his credit, 37% of which are headshots.

With each new game, broky improves his stats, so his career is just in its heyday. As a member of FaZe Clan, he won the PGL Major tournament in 2022 becoming the first international team to do so.

Jesper ‘JW’ Wecksell

This is an experienced Swedish cyber-sportsman, one of the best AWPers for many years. He is notable for his aggressive play, winning the Major three times during his seven years with the Fnatic team. That was in 2015, and now 27-year-old JW has gone freelance. He is starting his own company in the cybersports industry where he will serve as the CEO and team leader.

Mr. Wecksell’s career began back in 2013, however, over the years he has only improved his skills without losing his excellence.

Dzhami ‘Jame’ Ali

This is a player of Virtus.pro with a rating of 1.13. He battles impressively and often helps out his teammates. His trademark is saving his AWP for the next rounds, which has resulted in many memes in the gamer community. Jami, 24, is the captain of the Outsiders, plays sensibly, and does not rush into unreasonable fights. This approach makes him very dangerous for any opponent.

Ali, born in Russia in 1998, has earned just over half a million dollars from tournaments during his career. Notably, Jame plays with a Logitech G PRO wireless mouse, with the following crosshair commands in CS:GO:

• color: blue;
• clearance: -3;
• style: -4;
• size and thickness: 0.

It should be added that Alpha is 255, contour and point 1.

All the best AWPers in CS:GO, just like other gamers, use skins and boast unique collections worth tens of thousands of dollars. If you want to build a cool collection of skins, you should buy, change and sell CS skins only on verified platforms or in the official Steam store.

Who is the best rifle player in CSGO?

The top 5 greatest CSGO rifle players of all time; 1. Nikola “NiKo” Kovac 🇧🇦 2. Marcelo “coldzera” David 🇧🇷 3. Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer 🇸🇪 4.