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

CSGO is a team effort, but every side has one player who can draw the difference. Who are the standout players in each Paris Major Legends Stage team? Let’s find out

Paris Major 2023 will go down in history as the last CSGO major, and we have already witnessed some memorable battles in the Challengers Stage of the competition. The biggest Paris Major storylines, however, are yet to be sewn up as eight teams are yet to take the stage. Eight teams have progressed from the Challengers Stage to the Legends Stage to take on teams that had already made it to that level of the tournament via RMRs. As the Accor Arena prepares to witness some epic encounters featuring the crème de la crème of the global CSGO scene, we took the time to look at one player from each Legends Stage team, who we believe will light up the competition. Stay with us to find out who made the cut.

We will split this article into two parts. In this one, we will talk about the teams that directly made it to the Legends Stage. In part II, we will highlight players from teams that qualified through the Challengers Stage.

Denis “electroNic” Sharipov (Natus Vincere)

Rating 2.0: 1.16
Kills Per Round: 0.74
Deaths Per Round: 0.67
KAST: 71.1%
Impact: 1.24
Average Damage Per Round: 83.7

Denis “electroNic” Sharipov took over as the Natus Vincere in-game leader before the BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2022 and led his team to victory. After acing his first big test as the NAVI IGL, he will set his sights on adding one more Major title to his name by spearheading his men to Paris Major glory.

NAVI secured a clean sweep at the European RMRs under his watch. electroNic produced an MVP display against Into The Breach with a 1.62 impact rating, 0.88 KPR, and 90.6 ADR.

Kamil “KEi” Pietkun (9INE)

Rating 2.0: 1.12
Kills Per Round: 0.74
Deaths Per Round: 0.70
KAST: 69.7%
Impact: 1.22
Average Damage Per Round: 82.9

KEi is yet to have a trophy-laden career, but he has established himself as a key player at 9INE. Since joining in August 2022 alongside Goofy, Kylar, mynio, and SZPERO, KEi has displayed exceptional rifling and clutching abilities, thriving in various roles. He helped the Polish outfit to a runner-up finish in ESL Challenger League Season 44 Europe, secure qualification for IEM Rio 2023, and the Paris Major 2023 Legends Stage.

Yuri “yuurih” Boian (FURIA)

Rating 2.0: 1.18
Kills Per Round: 0.75
Deaths Per Round: 0.64
KAST: 73.2%
Impact: 1.14
Average Damage Per Round: 83.9

Yuri “yuurih” Santos, the dynamic 23-year-old Brazilian Counter-Strike sensation, ignites the stage as a rifler for FURIA. Since joining the team in 2017, he has propelled FURIA to new heights in the international scene, triumphing in prestigious tournaments like the Arctic Invitational 2019, DreamHack Masters Spring 2020: North America, and the Elisa Invitational Summer 2021.

yuurih had a spectacular Americas RMR campaign with an overall rating of 1.14, which is the second highest among FURIA players behind Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato. His best performance came in the Brazilian side’s 16-13 victory against Evil Geniuses, where his rating almost hit the 1.5 mark.

Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi (Fnatic)

Rating 2.0: 1.09
Kills Per Round: 0.70
Deaths Per Round: 0.61
KAST: 70.9%
Impact: 1.06
Average Damage Per Round: 71.4

Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi’s impressive two-year stint at Copenhagen Flames prompted Fnatic to bring him on board. He has been one of the key factors for Fnatic’s recent success in the European scene, helping them win the Elisa Masters Espoo 20221, qualify for the IEM Rio 20232, and reach the quarter-finals of the PGL Major Antwerp 2022.

nicoodoz topped the opening kills chart for Fnatic at the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR A – 2nd with a 0.15 KPR and 1.31 rating.

Jakob “Jabbi” Nygaard (Heroic)

Rating 2.0: 1.12
Kills Per Round: 0.70
Deaths Per Round: 0.63
KAST: 72.7%
Impact: 1.14
Average Damage Per Round: 75.7

Jabbi is one of the rising stars of the CSGO scene and has been one of Heroic’s most consistent players since joining the team. He has proven himself as a reliable and impactful player, who can deliver under pressure.

The 19-year-old posted an average of 1.26 across the four maps Heroic played in the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Europe RMR B, which makes him the second-best Heroic player in the competition. He was the player of the match in Heroic’s 2-0 series win over Monte, in which he had a whopping 1.57 impact rating.

Joey “CRUC1AL” Steusel (Into The Breach)

Rating 2.0: 1.06
Kills Per Round: 0.67
Deaths Per Round: 0.61
KAST: 71.5%
Impact: 1.03
Average Damage Per Round: 67.6

CRUC1AL is set to make his first Major appearance with his team Into The Breach, who are considered the ultimate dark horse in the Paris Major 2023. Together, they might upset some of the biggest powerhouses

CRUC1AL’s best game in the RMRs came against Sprout, in which he had a 1.51 rating and finished the match with a 1vs2 clutch to seal a commanding 16-7 win on Vertigo for his side.

Lotan “Spinx” Giladi (Team Vitality)

Rating 2.0: 1.20
Kills Per Round: 0.77
Deaths Per Round: 0.61
KAST: 74.7%
Impact: 1.16
Average Damage Per Round: 81.5

Spinx made his CSGO debut with Contact Gaming in 2020, but he stepped into the limelight with his ENCE stint, where he helped the Finnish side qualify for two Majors and make it to the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 semifinals. The AWPer added S-tier silverware to his cabinet after moving to Vitality. With victories in the ESL Pro League Season 16 and Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023 with Vitality, he has now set his sights on Paris Major glory.

Spinx’s European RMR number falls behind Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and Emil “Magisk” Reif, but he still made vital contributions to the team’s progress. He made the difference in the match against NIP, which ended 16-14 in Vitality’s favor, by posting a match-high 1.37 rating.

Rigon “rigoN” Gashi (Bad News Eagles)

Rating 2.0: 1.06
Kills Per Round: 0.72
Deaths Per Round: 0.75
KAST: 68.0%
Impact: 1.20
Average Damage Per Round: 79.4

Bad News Eagles’ mercurial rise is a fairytale story the professional CSGO scene desperately needed to make us believe that newcomers can beat the established elites to success. The Kosovar side surprised the world by snatching a PGL Major Antwerp 2022 Legends Stage spot and rigoN was one of the architects of that remarkable feat.

Bad News Eagles added another chapter to their Cinderella story by qualifying for the Paris Major 2023 Legends Stage. rigoN was the man of the match in BNE’s crucial European RMR A win against Apeks with a 1.39 rating. He also impressed in their penultimate RMR match against FaZe, in which he decided the fate of the game with a 1v2 clutch.