CSGO: s1mple is HLTV’s best player in the world 2018

Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev of Natus Vincere was ranked by HLTV as the best player in the world for Counter-Strike Global Offensive in 2018.

S1mple overtook Astralis’ Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz to rise to number one. For most of the year, dev1ce had in-game stats on par with s1mple while working as AWPer for the current world No. 1 team. The title of the best player in the world has become a hot topic of the community recently, as both players deserve the title.

After a historic year with peak levels never witnessed before, @s1mpleO takes his place at #1 in our Top 20 players of 2018 list

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— HLTV.org (@HLTVorg) January 20, 2019

HLTV explains that s1mple’s performance over the past year is truly unmatched, even by players from previous years, and that his numbers are “unquestionable”. However, s1mple doesn’t have as many championships as his rival dev1ce, even so, he still dominates CS:GO with his impressive stats. S1mple ended the year with titles: StarSeries Season 5, CS:GO Asia Championship, ESL One Cologne and BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen.

In previous years, only three players had won the title of best player in the world: Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund (2013 to 2014), Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer (2015), and Marcelo “coldzera.” David (2016 to 2017). For 2018, only coldzera made it into the top 20 players in 10th place.

Coming in at #2 of our Top 20 players of 2018 list is @dev1ce! He was the best CT side player of the year (1.34 rating) and stood out immensely with his individual numbers at Big events

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— HLTV.org (@HLTVorg) January 20, 2019

Here’s the full list of HLTV’s 2018 best players. This list is revealed every day, from the beginning of 2019, and the last two names are announced at the same time.

1) Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
2) Nikolai “dev1ce” Reedtz
3) Nikola “NiKo” Kovac
4) Denis “electronic” Sharipov
5) Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen
6) Keith “NAF” Markovic
7) Emil “Magisk” Reif
8) Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander
9) Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson
10) Marcelo “coldzera” David
11) Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács
12) Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken
13) Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth
14) Tomáš “oskar” tastný
15) Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski
16) Miikka “suNny” Kemppi
17) Timothy “autimatic” Ta
18) Håvard “rain” Nygaard
19) Robin “ropz” Kool
20) Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså

“My main goal is to enter history,” s1mple told HLTV in a top 20 interview. “If every player is constantly reminding themselves of their goal and pursuing it, then nothing or anyone can stop them. I’m sure I’m still not at my peak and can play better. I know what I need to do and I’m doing it.”

According to HLTV