Top 20 players of 2022: KSCERATO (9)
Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato's elite level against the very best teams and standout performances at some of the year's biggest events earns him his highest placement to date on the top 20 players of the year list by 1xBet.
Top 20 players of 2022: Introduction
KSCERATO makes his third appearance on the top 20 players of the year list following an exceptionally strong showing in 2022, achieving his highest ranking to date thanks in part to his excellent consistency against the best competition, exceptional performances at four key events, and an absolutely phenomenal second portion of the year in which he finished as the highest-rated player on LAN (albeit with a noticeably smaller sample size of maps than other players on the list).
The first time he managed to make the top 20 list was in 2020, placing 18th thanks to his round-to-round and tournament-to-tournament consistency, and he did even better in 2021 by placing in 15th, his world-class quality and exceptional fragging being put on showcase upon the return to international competition and offline LANs.
A more in-depth look into KSCERATO's early career history and backstory can be found in his top 20 articles from 2020 and 2021.
KSCERATO| TournamentEvent | Team (place) | Rating 2.0 (in team) | ADR | KPR | DPR | Impact | KAST | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1.25 | 87.2 | 0.78 | 0.63 | 1.27 | 74.1% | EVP |
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1.14 | 77.0 | 0.71 | 0.58 | 1.03 | 73.7% | EVP |
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1.01 | 73.0 | 0.65 | 0.64 | 1.00 | 66.5% | |
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1.03 | 73.0 | 0.68 | 0.61 | 0.97 | 67.9% | |
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1.00 | 67.3 | 0.62 | 0.60 | 0.80 | 72.4% | |
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1.10 | 75.5 | 0.66 | 0.59 | 1.00 | 72.3% | |
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1.34 | 87.5 | 0.84 | 0.58 | 1.42 | 75.8% | EVP |
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1.33 | 89.4 | 0.81 | 0.56 | 1.43 | 74.9% | EVP |
2021 had begun with an AWP change for FURIA, and 2022 was no different. The Brazilian lineup completed the signing of paiN's 26-year-old star Rafael "saffee" Costa to kick off the year, finally re-establishing their roles with a primary AWPer and freeing up Andrei "arT" Piovezan to return to his regular, aggressive rifling roles with the added support of a skilled sniper behind him. The addition came at the cost of the departure of Vinicius "VINI" Figueiredo, a long-time member of the squad, but was one that was sorely needed if the lineup hoped to become title contenders and break their Big Event title duck that had persisted since their international debut.
"When VINI left the team I was sad, but I knew our friendship/brotherhood would continue even on different teams. I also knew that would be a nice change for the team. We needed a real AWP and when saffee came in, I felt comfortable and confident in knowing how good he was, even after the first practice sessions. That gave me the security I needed in getting my entry frags, knowing that I had a good AWP having my back."
The Brazilian team debuted with their new roster online in Pinnacle Winter Series 1, an event where they had a less than stellar start and were felled by Wisla Krakow in their first matchup to immediately be eliminated. Their subsequent participation in ESL Challenger February went off smoother, victories over ORDER, HEET, and 9z leading into a grand final appearance, where Virtus.pro ended up securing the title instead.
FURIA's first big test then got underway in Poland at IEM Katowice, and they hit the ground running with a win over Astralis. KSCERATO was in good form to start the offline season, posting a 1.44 rating across the two-map series, and that continued into FURIA's ensuing match against Natus Vincere. KSCERATO went 4-15 and ended with a 0.43 rating in a debilitating start to the series on Mirage, a map FURIA lost 2-16, but he showed considerable poise and bounced back on Nuke, having immense impact and mustering a 1.44 rating even though his team ended up losing the map, 12-16.
KSCERATO's individual prowess and stellar rifle work continued in the lower bracket against G2, and his 1.16-rated performance resulted in a closely-contested three-map series despite an eventual loss. The pair of defeats left FURIA with an early group stage elimination from IEM Katowice to start their year, but KSCERATO still walked away with his first Exceptionally Valuable Player (EVP) accolade courtesy of the strong numbers and impact he had against three top-ten ranked teams.
"At the beginning of the year, I knew the team was new and we would have to suffer a little in the beginning to have a good mix and ideas how our team would be with a change of pacing due to having one less player to rush and trade. We didn’t play with an AWP in the team for a long time, so when we didn’t qualify for [the playoffs of] IEM Katowice, I wasn’t sad because I knew it was a phase."
Another EVP award soon followed for the Brazilian rifler at ESL Pro League Season 15, where FURIA made a run to the semi-finals. KSCERATO tallied a 1.17 rating en route to securing a 4-1 group stage record, netting wins over Outsiders, Sprout, Vitality, and ENCE in the process, and an additional win over Astralis in the playoffs allowed FURIA to secure their deepest offline Big Event finish since the ECS Season 8 Finals in 2019 before they were ultimately knocked out by FaZe just short of the grand final. The Finn "karrigan" Andersen-led side had dealt FURIA their only loss in the group stage and remained a thorn in their side in the playoffs, recovering from deficits on both maps and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat to put a halt to FURIA's tournament run.
"That BO3 was my most difficult moment in our first semester, we had the game in our hands, we let some individual details escape, and luckily for them ropz played really good at the game. Playing CS is a blessing, but sometimes it can be a curse."
FURIA had little time to recover from the narrow loss as just one week later, they were competing in Romania at the Americas RMR in hopes of securing a spot at PGL Major Antwerp. The team had no difficulty in breezing through the event with a 3-0 record, and though the LAN qualifier didn't count toward the top 20 players of the year list, KSCERATO remained a staunch performer and blitzed through the competition with a 1.40 rating, 1.37 impact, and 0.46 DPR over six maps.
That level didn't quite carry into PGL Major Antwerp itself. KSCERATO particularly struggled against Spirit in FURIA's opening match and in the playoffs, but still managed 1.23 and 1.22 ratings against Liquid and BIG in the Swiss Legends Stage. He also helped his team qualify for the arena portion of the event with a 1.16 series rating against G2, but shaky form in a best-of-three versus Ninjas in Pyjamas and against Leonid "chopper" Vishnyakov's squad in the Antwerps Sportpaleis left KSCERATO with only a Valuable Player mention and rather middling 1.01 rating and 1.00 impact to look back at.
"This tournament was very important for us as a team to understand that we weren’t all that we seemed at the time, coming from a good EPL that we lost on details and from an RMR that we finished in first. That made us think clearly, with our heads and feet on the ground, and we understood we needed to dedicate ourselves even harder to improve."
Antwerp marked the beginning of a down period for KSCERATO, a mid-year dip that persisted through the three events that came after — IEM Dallas, Roobet Cup, and ESL Challenger Valencia. Dallas wasn't particularly bad on the whole, but KSCERATO's characteristic consistency that he had showcased all year was somewhat absent, evidenced by his rating fluctuating immensely map-to-map and his impact hitting a low of 0.97. He still had some strong performances, managing a 1.15 or higher rating on five of the eleven maps that FURIA played, but also ended up pretty deeply in the red on four other occasions. Even with KSCERATO having an off tournament, FURIA managed a run to the semi-final thanks in part to a strong showing from Yuri "yuurih" Santos, who walked away with an EVP accolade to contrast KSCERATO's second VP mention of the year.
The Roobet Cup, played online, was marginally worse for KSCERATO; he still performed well against Outsiders (1.13 rating), but fared poorly in two domestic matchups against 9z as FURIA ended up eliminated in 9-12th place. The South American squad beat arT's side in their opening match and then repeated the result in the group decider, ousting the Brazilian roster from the tournament following a 2-1 series victory in which KSCERATO did well on Overpass (1.33 rating), but faltered on Ancient (0.63) and Mirage (0.93). ESL Challenger Valencia, a tournament which FURIA should have been favorites to make the grand final at the very least, then ended in disaster as the team suffered back-to-back losses to Sprout and 00NATION to be eliminated in last place — resulting in KSCERATO's sole negative-rated LAN event for the year, though this event also did not count towards the top 20 player of the year list.
It was just before the break that KSCERATO began to show an uptick in form, but it proved to not be quite enough to earn FURIA a playoff berth at IEM Cologne. The Brazilian team started the event by getting knocked down to the lower bracket by Astralis, but kept themselves alive by securing wins over Outsiders and Spirit, series in which KSCERATO averaged 1.17 and 1.25 ratings, respectively. FURIA's attempt to come back through the lower bracket was ultimately halted by Liquid, who edged out a win in two maps to eliminate the Brazilian team from contention and make the playoffs in their first tournament appearance with Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis.
"I was distrustful of my own game [during this stretch of events], and I wasn’t comfortable with some positions and resolutions that I was playing well and comfortable with before. When I lost that comfortable place in the game, I started to feel powerless, not being able to help the team. Even in a bad luck phase, sometimes you just need a break to forget and move on."
"Being eliminated in Cologne [was my worst memory/moment of the year], it was bittersweet, a mix of rage and a bit of relief because we were just entering in the player break vacation.
The tournament break was incredibly rejuvenating for KSCERATO, and he was quick to demonstrate that as he entered the second portion of the year in awe-inspiring form. ESL Pro League Season 16 kicked off the season for the Brazilian team, and KSCERATO was firing on all cylinders during the group stage; he started off with his best-rated map so far in the year, posting a 1.99 rating against Eternal Fire on Inferno, and then posted a 1.51 rating or higher in all eight of the maps that FURIA won, beating the aforementioned Turkish team, Movistar Riders, Liquid, and Evil Geniuses to end the group stage with a 4-1 record.
Another 1.52 rating followed in the playoffs as KSCERATO powered FURIA to an opening map victory over Outsiders in the round of 12, but Dzhami "Jame" Ali's side recovered in the series and picked up back-to-back map wins to secure victory and knock FURIA out of the playoffs in 9-12th place. KSCERATO took home his second EVP award off the back of the dominant tournament showing, his third of the year.
KSCERATO's performance didn't drop off in the IEM Road to Rio Americas RMR, another event that didn't count toward the top 20 players list, but did its job in showcasing the Brazilian rifler's strong form. FURIA didn't go flawless through the RMR this time around, dropping a map to Evil Geniuses and only qualifying to the Challengers Stage of the Major, but KSCERATO remained a stalwart presence on the server and helped his team take down Infinity, O PLANO, and paiN.
KSCERATO's upsurge continued upon his arrival in Brazil for the IEM Rio Major proper. He put up a year-high 2.25 rating against 00NATION and was in the green throughout the Challengers Stage in matches against BIG, OG, and GamerLegion, boasting a 1.40 rating, 1.42 impact, and 92.5 ADR to go 3-1 and qualify for the Legends Stage.
The Brazilian side then waltzed through the top-16 stage to qualify for the Jeunesse Arena, beating ENCE (16-6), Spirit (16-13), and BIG (2-0; 16-9, 16-6) to advance. KSCERATO again led the way with 1.54, 1.42 and 1.14 ratings in the matches, respectively, a memorable and historic moment for the team as they ensured they would play in front of a sold-out home crowd.
"For me it was a dream come true. I have been playing competitive CS since I was 10. I lived the golden age of CS 1.6 and I caught the whole DEX/KEYD/KABUM/LG/SK story and I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I saw myself in a position that could be an example for others, like the other CS 1.6 and CS:GO legends were the inspiration for me. I took advantage of that and tried my best. A lot of nights and days were extremely difficult in terms of health, but I went to my limit for the Kaike of some years ago, for the KSCERATOs that will still emerge, and for my friends, brothers that didn’t have the same chance as I did. I learned something important in that period that I will take forever for the rest of my career."
An incredible game against Natus Vincere unfolded on stage in the quarter-finals, a back-and-forth battle on Nuke giving way to a narrow 16-14 opening map victory that went the way of the Ukrainian side. FURIA bounced right back on their own map pick of Ancient, a 1.68-rated map from KSCERATO helping his team even the score, and a subsequent 1.39 rating from the Brazilian superstar combining with stellar rifle work from André "drop" Abreu as FURIA upset the No. 4 team in the world to achieve their best result at a Major to date.
KSCERATO remained stellar in FURIA's semi-final effort against Heroic, helping net a win on Inferno before putting up a Herculean effort on Ancient (1.65 rating), being the key factor in powering a comeback from a 5-15 deficit thanks to his phenomenal defense of the A site. FURIA fell just short of converting that comeback into victory in overtime, dropping a 17-16 lead, and then stumbled on the Nuke decider as Heroic surged to a swift victory despite KSCERATO remaining a fearsome force. FURIA were sent home in 3-4th place, but even with the early exit, KSCERATO's superstar performance at the event left him as the runner-up for the Most Valuable Player medal, ending his year on an extreme high.
"Before the game against NAVI I could only think of one thing: if we won against NAVI on the stage, how happy would the crowd be? What emotions would people feel? I thought about that until the last round against NAVI and the party was incredible, and the same happened against Heroic; however, they played really well in some rounds and sadly we lost. When we were 5-15 on Ancient and I was grinding CT rounds on bombsite A, I looked at the score and I spoke to my team: “I’m going to go crazy if it is A.” At that time I decided to gamble a bit, and we improvised a bit. Even though we lost, that game gave me a lesson about myself."
"My family cheering for me [was my best memory from 2022]. I can't explain it, just feeling."
Why was KSCERATO the 9th best player of 2022?
KSCERATO clinches ninth place on the top 20 players of the year list after mustering consistently high-level performances at the biggest tournaments. He averaged a 1.17 rating at Elite events, and only further elevated his abilities when facing the very best teams, averaging a 1.19 rating against top 5 teams and a 1.21 rating against top 10 teams. He was an elite-tier T side player throughout the year, averaging a 1.12 rating, and remained one of the hardest riflers to kill across 2022, posting 0.59 deaths per round (ninth lowest).
The 23-year-old regularly contributed with multi-kill rounds (18.6% of rounds with 2+ kills, #8) and otherwise dealt strong damage to his opponents, averaging 79.7 damage per round (#11) and 0.73 kills per round. He also performed for FURIA in late-round situations, having the fourth-highest number of clutches won per round and second-highest clutch points per round.
He especially stood out with exceptional performances at IEM Katowice, where he walked away with a rare EVP mention despite FURIA's group stage exit, as well as with his superb showing at the IEM Rio Major, where he was a clear favorite in the MVP race before his team's semi-final elimination. His strong level during both of the ESL Pro League seasons also earned him two more EVPs mentions, particularly with the level he showed during the latter season where he averaged a staggering 1.34 rating over 15 maps.
The Brazilian rifler finished just ahead of Martin "stavn" Lund on the list thanks in part to routinely maintaining his level against the very best teams, a point where the Heroic member's statistics dropped off (1.06 vs. top 5 and 1.08 vs. top 10). KSCERATO didn't place higher as, similarly to stavn, he fell off in big matches (1.09 rating), but also because he somewhat lacked in sample size compared to the rest of the field and had an unremarkable individual period in the middle part of the year.
Bold prediction by 1xBet
nqzKSCERATO joined teammate yuurih in shouting out Lucas "nqz" Soares as his Bold Prediction, not just for 2023, but as a "future top 20 player in the upcoming years."
The 17-year-old made a name for himself on 9z in 2022, becoming their best-performing player with a 1.19 rating while wielding the Big Green. He helped the team qualify for the IEM Rio Major Challengers Stage with strong performances at the Americas RMR, and will have the chance to continue impressing on the world stage after recently completing a move to 00NATION in a swap deal with Santino "try" Rigal.
Like last year, KSCERATO also gave special mention to a handful of names that weren't his primary bold prediction pick, acknowledging FURIA Academy and paiN Academy players Lucas "decenty" Bacelar and Bruno "xureba" Sigwalt, as well as former paiN Academy member Guilherme "happ" Bento. He also joined a number of other top 20 players in giving the nod to Daniil "headtr1ck" Valitov, stating that the Ukrainian AWPer will "be insane with NIP if they got him."
Stay tuned to our Top 20 players of 2022 ranking and take a look at the Introduction article to learn more about how the players were selected.
Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte
Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov
Sanzhar 'neaLaN' Iskhakov
Jadan 'HexT' Postma
Patrick 'es3tag' Hansen
Santino 'try' Rigal
Franco 'dgt' Garcia
David 'dav1deuS' Tapia Maldonado
Renato 'pacmanN' Morales
Bryan 'Marro' Valles Valenzuela
Andres 'spamzzy' Correa
Evgenii 'FL1T' Lebedev
Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis
Håvard 'rain' Nygaard
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Nemanja 'huNter-' Kovač
Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen
Max 'Marix' Kugener
Paweł 'dycha' Dycha
Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi
Pavle 'Maden' Bošković
Nicolas 'Keoz' Dgus
Mihai 'iM' Ivan
Nemanja 'nexa' Isaković
Adam 'NEOFRAG' Zouhar
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