One Player to Watch Out for From Every BLAST.tv Paris Major Legends Stage Team Part II

Eight teams have survived the Paris Major Challengers Stage to make it to the Paris Major Legends Stage. Which players from these sides will impress in the coming matches?

Welcome to Part II of our Paris Major Legends Stage standout players prediction. In the first part, we shed light on players who propelled their teams to the Legends Stage directly. This part will feature the players who had to do it the hard way. They battled in the RMRs to break into the Paris Major Challengers Stage and then had to better at least eight other teams to stay alive in the competition. Without further ado, let’s look at our selection of players from teams who survived the Challengers Stage whom we expect to excel in the Legends Stage.

Paweł “dycha” Dycha (ENCE)

Rating 2.0: 1.13
Kills Per Round: 0.71
Deaths Per Round: 0.65
KAST: 72.1%
Impact: 1.10
Average Damage Per Round: 82.9

dycha held a 1.13 rating while playing for Sprout and spearheaded them to the 16th place in HLTV rankings, which remains the highest in the team’s history. The rifler experienced a resurgence at ENCE after getting transferred out of Sprout because of a slump in form. Even though an S-tier title remains elusive, dycha played the ESL Pro League Season 15 Grand Final with his current team and also made it to the last four of PGL Major Antwerp 2022 and ESL Pro League Season 17, which can’t be undermined as minor achievements.

ENCE’s Polish phenomenon was instrumental in their Europe RMR B wins against FORZE, 500, and Cloud9. He also delivered an MVP performance against OG in the Paris Major Challengers Stage, where he recorded an incredible 1.72 rating.

Nikola “NiKo” Kovač (G2)

Rating 2.0: 1.15
Kills Per Round: 0.73
Deaths Per Round: 0.64
KAST: 70.3%
Impact: 1.22
Average Damage Per Round: 82.3

G2 had announced they made “one of the biggest signings in CSGO history” back in October 2020 when they signed NiKo. It was no exaggeration given his legendary track record. He had won seven S-tier tournaments with FaZe before swapping shirts. The gifted Bosnian continued to expand his trophy-winning legacy at G2 as he led the team to BLAST Premier: World Final 2022 and Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2023 success.

NiKo finished right behind his partner in crime Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov in the G2 players leaderboard for the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR B. He maintained a 1.16 rating, which can only be bettered by m0NESY (1.23) among G2 players. NiKo has maintained the same rating in the Paris Major Challengers Stage. After two quiet games, given his standards, NiKo woke up from slumber in G2’s win against Apeks as he produced a 1.38 rating.

Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad (Apeks)

Rating 2.0: 1.13
Kills Per Round: 0.75
Deaths Per Round: 0.71
KAST: 70.8%
Impact: 1.23
Average Damage Per Round: 83.2

jkaem has had two different spells at Apeks. He joined the club first back in 2020 fresh off of his outstanding Intel Extreme Masters XIV – Beijing and ESL Pro League Season 12: North America Grand Final runs with 100 Thieves. Apeks could not keep hold of him for more than two months at that time as EXTREMUM came knocking with a lucrative offer. He would return to Apeks two years later and solidify his position as one of the top players on the team.

jkaem held a 1.16 rating in the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR A. He had his best Paris Major Challengers Stage game in Apeks’ 2-1 series win against paiN. The veteran rifler left the stage with an impressive 1.23 rating to his name.

Helvijs “broky” Saukants (FaZe Clan)

Rating 2.0: 1.12
Kills Per Round: 0.72
Deaths Per Round: 0.59
KAST: 74.9%
Impact: 0.96
Average Damage Per Round: 71.1

broky caused quite a stir when FaZe Clan added him to their roster in 2019. Who is this 18-year-old Latvian kid? He only had six LAN events experience under his belt before joining the American powerhouse. Four years fast forward and the previously-obscure player is now one of the best AWPers in the business.

broky delivered when his team needed him the most during FaZe’s Paris Major qualification campaign. In FaZe’s BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Challengers Europe Last Chance Qualifier series against Cloud9, broky stepped up with a series-high 1.22 rating display. He treated FaZe fans with two great Paris Major Challengers Stage performances, the first of which came against paiN, and the other one was against ENCE.

Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke (Ninjas In Pyjamas)

Rating 2.0: 1.08
Kills Per Round: 0.70
Deaths Per Round: 0.68
KAST: 69.5%
Impact: 1.12
Average Damage Per Round: 76.3

k0nfig’s talent has never been questioned, but his off-the-stage antics have largely hampered his career growth. The ex-Astralis man, however, has been focused on redeeming his career since signing for Ninjas In Pyjamas.

Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletnjuk (Monte)

Rating 2.0: 1.16
Kills Per Round: 0.76
Deaths Per Round: 0.61
KAST: 71.1%
Impact: 1.20
Average Damage Per Round: 76.7

The CSGO world recognized Woro2k’s immense talent after moving to Monte. He has been instrumental in Monte making it to the Paris Major 2023 and ESL Pro League Season 18.

Woro2k had been performing better in the Paris Major Challengers Stage than he did in the RMRs. His average European RMR B rating stands at 0.93, whereas his Challengers Stage is 1.11. Monte will hope that Woro2k will continue to improve as the Paris Major progresses.

Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski (Liquid)

Rating 2.0: 1.15
Kills Per Round: 0.72
Deaths Per Round: 0.64
KAST: 73.1%
Impact: 1.15
Average Damage Per Round: 80.3

Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski devoted eight years of his professional career to Team Liquid and also became a co-owner of the team. EliGE has spearheaded Liquid to seven S-tier titles, but he could not lay his hands on one in the last four years.

The legendary rifler continues to be a menacing presence for the opposition. EliGe retained a 1.14 rating in the Americas RMR, which makes him the second-best Liquid performer in the RMRs. He held on to the second spot in the Challengers Stage, but he has moved closer to the top spot with a 1.19 rating.

Frederik “acoR” Gyldstrand (GamerLegion)

Rating 2.0: 1.11
Kills Per Round: 0.69
Deaths Per Round: 0.58
KAST: 71.4%
Impact: 1.07
Average Damage Per Round: 69.6

acoR rose from the ashes to leave his disastrous MOUZ spell behind and revitalize his career at GamerLegion. He steered GamerLegion, a team put together only two weeks before the IEM Rio RMRs, to the IEM Rio finals.

Unlike their IEM Rio 2022 campaign, GamerLegion have progressed deep into the Paris Major as they overcame the Challengers Stage to enter the Legends Stage of the competition. acoR was the team’s top performer in the RMRs with a 1.17 rating. He carried his stellar form to the Challengers Stage and delivered match-winning displays against MOUZ and OG.