Cover Image Courtesy: Plopski (DreamHack), CeRq (DreamHack), Twistzz (BTS CS:GO), Sergej (DreamHack), ZywOo (ESL Counter-Strike) | Thumbnail Image Courtesy: ESL Gaming | Helena Kristiansson
Counter-Strike has seen tremendous growth in recent years. It has a good international circuit setup with two grand events taking place annually in the form of Majors, a rising number of competitive platforms such as FACEIT and ESEA and a variety of national and collegiate tournaments in the NA and EU regions to supplement the growth at the root level.
All of this has lowered the entry barrier for young players allowing their talent to get noticed early on. In the recently concluded StarLadder Berlin Major there was a hoard of young players and this goes on to show how well the game has been received by the younger generation, as they see a potential future in CS:GO as the aspiring pro's game of choice.
Here are tean successful CS:GO pro players under the age of twenty years who have already made their mark in such a short span of time.
Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut
Date of Birth: 9th Nov, 2000.
Current Age: 18
Current Team: Vitality
Leading the brigade for the young Counter-Strike stars is none other than the French prodigy, ZywOo, who has turned things around for team Vitality.
With possibly the best player in the world, s1mple, vouching for him stating that, ‘I think that Zywoo is closer to my level than any other pro’, it definitely stands as a fact that he is indeed special and on the right path.
He has carried Vitality on his back in multiple instances and is a treasure for the French side. His presence has seen the older players become better at the game, as they don’t restrict ZywOo in any way and themselves adjust to compliment his gameplay.
Holding an insane overall rating of 1.37 along with an ADR of 91.5 and KPR of 0.88, this Frenchman doesn’t shy away from a fight and is always hungry for one more. He is surely going to be a big name down the years.
Russel ‘Twistzz’ David Van Dulken
Date of Birth: 14th Nov, 1999.
Current Age: 19
Current Team: Team Liquid
The Canadian star is well known for two things, his in-game aggression which more than half the time yields positive results, and his on the money hairstyle.
Starting out young in 2015, the Liquid star took his fair bit of time to reach the top stage, but ever since joining Liquid back in 2017, the player has reached great heights and still seems to be on an upward trajectory.
He held the 12th rank on HLTV’s ‘top 20 players of 2018’ and will certainly be an addition to this year’s rank list as well, with the whole team dominating a good half of the year. The Canadian is a solid rifler and has held his own even when most of the spotlight was on EliGE and Nitro. Twistzz certainly has a really bright future ahead of him if he keeps performing at this level.
Jere ‘sergej’ Salo
Date of Birth: 1st Mar, 2002.
Current Age: 17
Current Team: ENCE
Sergej was scouted out by ENCE back in 2018 when their project to put Finland at the top of the global Counter-Strike circuit started. He was picked up from HAVU Gaming and has gone on to be one heck of an investment for the Finnish side.
The young rifler is just fantastic on the rifle and has been a great addition to ENCE’s firepower. With a KDR and ADR of 0.76 and 82.7, respectively, the Estonian also holds an impressive overall rating of 1.19. He has been performing consistently at the top level of CS and seems to be doing well for himself.
Robin ‘ropz’ Kool
Date of Birth: 22nd Dec, 1999.
Current Age: 19
Current Team: Mousesports
The youngster from Estonia has made quite a name for himself since joining mousesports back in 2017. The rifler is known for his excellent lurking skills. He doesn’t have much of a past as he was picked early on by mouz and has since stuck with the team, who has shown great confidence in the guy and turned him into a great player.
Ropz might have a high DPR of around 0.62 but his lurking plays are some of the best, often creating great space for the team while collecting loads of information. With an opening kill ratio of 1.11, the player almost always takes down an opponent if caught, making him an effective trader.
Due to his exceptional skill, the player was amongst the top 20 players of 2018 according to the HLTV rank list.
Cvetelin ‘CeRq’ Dimitrov
Date of Birth: 7th Dec, 1999.
Current Age: 19
Current Team: NRG Esports
CeRq is another such player who didn’t shuffle much between teams and found a steady home early on with NRG picking up the youngster in 2017. He has proven to be the ace for his side, often changing the flow of the game single-handedly.
He is a naturally aggressive player that loves to manhandle the opposition and dominate them with his crosshair always finding its way to their heads. He holds a mighty impressive KPR of 0.76 with an overall rating of 1.18.
The player is NRG’s go-to man in multiple situations and with proper guidance can further become a perfectionist.
Ludvig ‘Brollan’ Brolin
Date of Birth: 17th June, 2002.
Current Age: 17
Current Team: Fnatic
Any discussion concerning youngsters in CS:GO is incomplete without the mention of this Swedish player, who is one of the youngest to have played for a professional team in Counter-Strike. Brollan at just 15-years of age played for GODSENT at an international stage.
Now almost two years later Brollan is playing with one of the best teams from Sweden, Fnatic, alongside some of the best players the country has to offer. His current stats certainly don’t reflect his capabilities all too well.
With proper guidance, he might just be the next CS legend from Sweden, following the path of greats like f0rest and GeT_RiGhT.
Nicolas ‘Plopski’ Gonzalez Zamora
Date of Birth: 14th May, 2002.
Current Age: 17
Current Team: Ninjas In Pyjamas
Another Swede that has grabbed the attention of many is Plopski, who has recently been picked by NiP after the departure of William ‘draken’ Sundin. His career started in 2016 and after hopping around multiple teams, he finally found a good roster with Team Ancient.
He was literally the driving force behind the team, they did really well in national competitions and tier-two international events as well. Teams could not ignore his talents any further and NiP grabbed the opportunity to sign him.
With decent stats, his true potential still remains to be seen as he hasn’t played for a big organization yet, maybe NiP will be able to guide him further and this is where the youngster grows into a much better version of his current self.
Rokas 'EspiranTo’ Milasauskas
Date of Birth: 12th Apr, 2001.
Current Age: 18
Current Team: CR4ZY
The mighty talented youngster has shot to fame with CR4ZY’s ‘Cinderella run’ at the Berlin Major. Playing in a team with players like huNter and nexa, he was able to mark his presence, following the incredible ‘tap dance’ that he did with the Deagle against NiP.
He has shuffled around a lot in his short career, coming into the limelight at the Berlin Major, the youngster has a good future ahead of him.
Ethan ‘Ethan’ Arnold
Date of Birth: 2nd Mar, 2000.
Current Age: 19
Current Team: NRG Esports
Ethan has been playing Counter-Strike professionally since 2016 and despite his age, has a lot of experience under his belt. He has climbed his way up the ladder having played for teams like eUnited and Counter Logic Gaming in the past before being picked up by NRG in February last year.
Since then the youngster has been competing at the highest level, he is seldom ever seen slacking in form and is one of the reasons why NRG has not let go of him yet. With an impact rating of 1.20 and an overall rating of 1.15, Ethan is a quite dependable player with a rifle.
Owen ‘oBo’ Schlatter
Date of Birth: 26th June, 2003.
Current Age: 16
Current Team: Complexity Gaming
The sixteen-year-old is the youngest player to have ever played in a Counter-Strike Major. oBo was picked up by Complexity Gaming on June 2019 and the youngster went on to play for the squad in the recently concluded Berlin Major.
Complexity Gaming faced an early exit in Berlin due to a poor performance by the team, but that takes nothing away from the talented youngster who has been in the pro circuit since 2016. He holds an overall rating of 1.13, which is great, but something even better is his impact rating of 1.21. It tells a lot about the temperament that the youngster possesses.
He has had a decent bit of experience having played for Old Guys Club in the past and has a solid future in front of him.
Note: All the stats that have been mentioned above have been taken from HLTV.
These were our pick of ten youngsters below twenty who are making it big in Counter-Strike. Who do you think is that one player under twenty that everyone needs to watch out for?
