MIBR star Marcelo “coldzera” David was not regarded by HLTV as the best player in CS:GO for 2018.
The Brazilian placed 10th in this year’s HLTV top 20 player rankings, which is an annual ranking series that statistically pronounces the best talent in Counter-Strike. This put him nine places below where he was for the past two years. In 2016 and 2017, coldzera stood above everyone else in the scene.
Related: Taco and zews return to MIBR, Stewie2k traded to Team Liquid
Throughout 2018, MIBR (formerly SK Gaming and Luminosity Gaming) struggled to find the same success that they did over the previous two years. The Brazilian core of coldzera, Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, Fernando “fer” Alvarenga, and Epitacio “TACO” de Melo secured two Valve Major championship wins in 2016 at MLG Columbus and ESL One Cologne. In 2017, they dominated the scene for a majority of the year, with eight international titles under their belt—but no Major wins, though.
In 2018, Danish powerhouse Astralis rose to the occasion—in addition to MIBR’s early 2018 struggles with Ricardo “boltz” Prass—and dethroned FalleN and crew from their place at the top. With new talent Emil “Magisk” Reif and Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander at the helm, the Danes surpassed MIBR’s title record from the previous year, taking home nine trophies, including a Major championship at FACEIT London.
Astralis star AWPer Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz is also in the running for player of the year in 2018, next to Natus Vincere hard-carry Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev. Na’Vi were arguably the second best team in the world in 2018, especially with the help of s1mple. MIBR, on the other hand, didn’t seem like a top five team as in previous years, so coldzera’s fall from grace isn’t entirely all his fault.
On the bright side, coldzera finished in the middle of the pack above many other players from rival teams like FaZe Clan, Team Liquid, Astralis, and Cloud9. Below is a list of players who have been named to HLTV’s top 20 list so far.
- Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovacs (#11)
- Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken (#12)
- Andreas “Xyp9x” Hojsleth(#13)
- Tomas “oskar” Stastny(#14)
- Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski(#15)
- Miikka “suNny” Kemppi(#16)
- Tim “autimatic” Ta(#17)
- Havard “rain” Nygaard(#18)
- Robin “ropz” Kool (#19)
- Valdemar “valde” Bjorn Vangsa (#20)
If MIBR were to regain that shine that they had in previous years, considering they recently returned to an all-Brazilian lineup, coldzera could definitely reclaim his throne as the best player in the world for 2019.
