Top 20 players of 2022: broky (6)

Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants places sixth on the Top 20 players of 2022 list, powered by 1xBet, thanks to his outstanding play deep into tournaments as the biggest force behind FaZe's successful year.

Top 20 players of 2022: Introduction

broky is making his second consecutive appearance in the top 20 players ranking after just barely squeaking through into the list in 2021. In what was his second full year with FaZe, the Latvian had committed to primary AWPing and began finding more consistency with a new in-game leader in Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen by his side.

The team struggled as a whole during the year and remained titleless, but broky and his then-new teammate Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken still had their standout moments and, as the sole stars of their team, made it into the top 20 list. broky finished 20th and Twistzz just a few spots ahead in 17th, eager to step into the new year on a better foot with a new star player about to join them and end their sorrows.

For a more in-depth look at broky's early career, read the article about his first top 20 appearance from 2021

FaZe entered the new year fresh off a roster change they hoped would turn their fortunes around after the disappointing year 2021. Putting an end to the Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer saga, which saw the Swede float back and forth between his time on and off the server, the team brought in Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool. This was a player who fit most of his roles perfectly and was at the peak of his powers, and who brought with him the promise of the end of FaZe's titleless run.

"I think ropz has a unique view of how to play the game, but most importantly we needed another zoomer."

Though broky joked when asked about ropz's addition now, for him this meant the arrival of a player he had once made one of his inspirations in his early days of competing in FPL. He saw his fellow Baltics representative make the move up from PUGs to the top tier in 2017 and took that for his motivation to improve, only to go on a similar trajectory a few years later when FaZe came knocking on his door in 2019 after seeing him play in FPL.

ropz's arrival created a formidable star trio in three of the previous year's top-20 players and bore its fruit immediately. Following a successful debut in the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, the new FaZe went to Katowice and took the tournament by storm despite ropz being forced to miss the first few matches and Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard the playoffs finish due to COVID. And it was broky who spearheaded the run to the title, his superb consistency powering FaZe to the title with wins over the likes of the world's top two teams at the time, Natus Vincere and Gambit, and the challengers to the title in G2. Tournament-high statistics such as a 1.30 rating, 0.84 KPR, and 10 clutches spoke volumes of broky's claim to the Most Valuable Player award, the first in his career in what was undoubtedly his career-best event up to that point.

"I don't think there were any big changes, just at the moment I felt that I put together the best performing formula since it was the first big event of the year."

"Katowice was probably the most difficult one since we had a new roster, but on the first day of bootcamp, ropz got COVID. There were no expectations when ropz got sick, so we just wanted to do as well as possible and managed to win the whole thing. A fun fact, since we left for Katowice early we didn't have access to PCs for a few days, so our hours went down, but later on in the tournament after each match, we would just play retakes non-stop. Pretty sure before the quarter-finals or semi-finals, we said the first one to leave the retake server will be a pussy, so we just played for like five hours straight till like 3 AM, but then rain gave up."

This remained broky highest peak of the year, but it was no fluke, and it was a sign of a new superpower being born. ESL Pro League Season 15 followed a month later, a tournament where FaZe began to show their uncanny ability to pull themselves out of trouble time and time again. A 0-2 start to their group did little to scare them, as they went on to win the next three series to make it to the playoffs, while broky was his consistent self. The Latvian maintained solid form in the bracket stage, where two dips into the red were heavily outweighed by a standout series against Natus Vincere in the quarter-finals and against ENCE in the final, once again proving to be one of the main cogs in the FaZe machine. This time, broky got beaten to the MVP by ropz but still came away with a top-of-the-list Exceptionally Valuable Player award.

FaZe's dominance continued well into May when the first Major in Antwerp came around. The qualifying RMR in Bucharest was more or less a formality, but not one without its challenges as Vitality took them to 30 rounds and BIG beat them to a flawless record, and FaZe went into the PGL Major skipping the Challengers Stage. broky got off to a slow start in a loss to ENCE but quickly got back on his feet to help his team storm through the Legends Stage, putting up a stable performance in their next three matches and a key map in a close win over Copenhagen Flames that put FaZe through to the Sportpaleis Arena.

Once in the playoffs, broky had cooled off somewhat, while this time rain stood head and shoulders above his teammates in an impressive resurgence, but still had his highlight moments as the top-fragger in FaZe's triple-overtime win on Dust2 against Spirit and in another overtime victory in the grand final against Natus Vincere. With another EVP-worthy effort, broky claimed his first Major title in only his second attempt after Stockholm the year previous.

"My best memory is probably winning the Major, since when I was younger I used to watch every Major, and I think it's every players dream to win at least one."

Just like many Major winners before them, FaZe let the foot off the pedal, unable to clinch the trophy at the next stop in Dallas just a week later. They made it to the playoffs in what looked like another start to a title-winning run, but then faltered up against an ENCE side playing with Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski instead of Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi in the group-winning decider. A quarter-final against Cloud9 followed, where FaZe could not stop Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov's rampage and went out after three close maps in which the scores went 16-14, 13-16, 13-16. For broky's standards this was a sub-par event, as he only averaged a 1.06 rating, dipping into the red in all four map losses.

A similar story followed in Lisbon the next month, where FaZe suffered one of only two early eliminations in the entire year. This time, it was G2 and Natus Vincere who ousted them from the BLAST Premier Spring Final in 5th-6th place — tough losses in which broky once again could not keep up. Only two standout maps in the team's opening victory against paiN offset an otherwise poor performance from the Latvian and the rest of the team.

This was a FaZe that suddenly not only looked beatable but that were capable of a disappearance act, winning just seven rounds across two maps against a Natus Vincere squad fresh off Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov's departure and the arrival of Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev. NAVI had always posed the biggest threat, and now they were challenging FaZe for the throne after their win in Lisbon, with the first part of the season about to converge at IEM Cologne.

Before the two rivals could have their final showdown of the season, the online Roobet Cup presented an opportunity for FaZe to fix their issues. And that they did. Powered by a resurgent broky and the ever-present Twistzz, the European team finished the online tournament in second place and were only a few rounds away from winning the whole thing, faltering at the hands of BIG in the title decider. broky narrowly missed out on another MVP, which in the end went to Florian "⁠syrsoN⁠" Rische, earning another top-of-the-list EVP with a 1.21 average rating over 16 maps as he showcased the same consistency and high peaks that marked FaZe's early-year dominance.

Despite the title slipping away, the run at the Roobet Cup was a good sign with just a week to go before the season finale in Cologne. It was seemingly the perfect tournament for FaZe to rediscover their title-winning form, as when they arrived in Germany they were back in business. karrigan's men charged all the way to the grand final without losing a single map, leaving behind 00NATION, Spirit, Astralis, and Movistar Riders in series where they never looked in danger.

Their star quartet was firing on all cylinders at just the right time and only Natus Vincere stood between them and the coveted trophy. By this point broky had been a stable performer as usual, but had yet to have his best series in what many consider one of the best series of all time between FaZe and Natus Vincere. He was the difference maker in their opening Inferno victory and continued to put up solid numbers throughout the back-and-forth series, a constant performer in a victory that rested on a knife's edge on all but one map. In the end, broky was the top-fragger with a 115-95 score and the highest-rated player of the grand final (1.19) along with Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov, just edging out rain (1.17) and Twistzz (1.17).

A lack of decisive performances and FaZe's quartet sharing the load meant the MVP went to Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev, while all of Twistzz, rain, broky, and ropz earned EVPs for their share of contribution in the charge to the title.

With the conclusion of IEM Cologne also came the end of the first part of the season. FaZe went on a break back in the seat as the No. 1 team following the victory and looked ahead into the second part hoping to finish off their campaign in the Intel Grand Slam, just one more win separating them and the $1 million prize that only three other teams had won before in Astralis, Liquid, and Natus Vincere.

But when play resumed in the latter half of the year, FaZe could never find that winning formula again. They started the new season with a shaky but successful run through the BLAST Premier Fall Groups, where they lost a series to OG and had to fight through a close deciding match against Astralis to make it to the Fall Final. broky was at the top of the charts for his team in Copenhagen, providing a carry performance when it most mattered on the deciding map against the Danes (31-16, 1.75 rating in a 16-10 win) and one of the greatest highlights of the year there — a seemingly unwinnable 1v4 clutch.

He took the back seat in FaZe's next stop at ESL Pro League Season 16 in Malta. FaZe finished the tournament in the quarter-finals in their second playoffs loss to Cloud9 after IEM Dallas, which marked end of a somewhat shaky tournament from them and broky himself. The Latvian was up and down but put up solid enough numbers in their group stage wins and in close maps against the Russians as well as Complexity in the Round of 12 to warrant a Valuable Player nod.

"I think the "biggest" issue is that we made a deal to shave our heads if we win the Major, but everyone that agreed to do it chickened out. So most of us agreed to do it after Cologne win, but the same thing happened. So I think what prevented us from bringing home more trophies is karma.

"But if being for real, then I think everyone reacts differently after winning so many tournaments in a short period, especially ending the first part of the season on a high note. We don't have any sports psychologist or any of that, so personally, I definitely didn't have the same amount of motivation as at the start of the year until I got hit with a reality check at Rio."

The IEM Rio Major cycle came just a few days later. The European Regional Major Ranking event took place at the same location and venue in Malta as EPL, and although FaZe came out of the qualifier unscathed with a 3-0 record, they had to sweat for each of their wins. GamerLegion, fnatic, and Sprout — three teams who were far from favorites at the RMR — took FaZe to overtimes on four out of five maps they played. broky was there to keep his team in contention every step of the way with five maps rated in the green and made the difference in two out of the three overtime wins.

A month-long gap between the qualifier and the Major itself gave FaZe time to put their shakiness behind them and offered hope that they would once again replicate their early-year form at just the right time, like they did ahead of IEM Cologne. But this couldn't be further away from the truth. Despite a productive bootcamp and everyone from the team feeling confident about their chances to challenge for their second Major title, FaZe bombed out of Rio just two days in.

"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose."
- broky on FaZe's Rio elimination

Their issues against Cloud9 lingered as they once again faltered in a close match against Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov's team. A Vitality side still fresh off their championship run at ESL Pro League dealt them their second loss, but it was the third that underlined FaZe's debacle. Despite being one of the most resilient teams, so often finding that one clutch to turn their fortunes in difficult moments, FaZe crumbled in two overtime losses to Bad News Eagles, in their first Vertigo match in months and on the Mirage decider. broky ended the event with a 0.95 rating, his only drop into the red zone all year and a tough one to swallow given that it was in the overtime losses to the Kosovar team where his team missed him the most.

"The worst moment is hard to say, but it's probably the Rio Major, we went out as fast as we arrived there."

This turned out to be a freak accident, as the next we saw FaZe play they returned to title contention at the BLAST Premier Fall Final. broky was also back at his best in Copenhagen, a 1.29 average rating at the tournament being his second highest of the year after IEM Katowice. His excellent form came in a losing effort in the end, with Heroic besting FaZe in a grand final that went to overtime on the deciding Mirage, but it was enough to earn him his second Most Valuable Player award. This time, he never went missing and stood out in most maps he played, even in the title-deciding loss against Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller's team.

The season came to a close at the BLAST Premier World Final. The event taking place in Abu Dhabi offered one last chance for FaZe to grab silverware, but ended in just a semi-finals finish for the European side. After initially passing the eventual finalists of the tournament, G2 and Liquid, in the group stage, a rematch with the former team went the other way after two close maps. broky added a solid event to his resumé but still ended the tournament as only the fourth-highest rated player in FaZe, a few dips into the red in map losses bringing down his average to 1.07.

Why was broky the 6th best player of 2022?

broky places sixth on the list thanks to being the player with the biggest contribution to FaZe's great year. He claimed high awards in each of their title runs, becoming the Most Valuable Player at IEM Katowice and one of the Exceptionally Valuable Players at ESL Pro League S15, PGL Major Antwerp, and IEM Cologne. Furthermore, he claimed another MVP at another big event in the BLAST Premier Fall Final and an EVP at the medium-sized Roobet Cup in FaZe's runner-up finishes.

"Maybe a few years ago I would've been happier, but for me, individual achievements aren't that important anymore, just for people to value players differently. I improve every year more and more, so I think I have improved in every aspect, most importantly how to be a better teammate."

The AWPer earned these awards in large part thanks to his outstanding play deep into those tournaments. His 1.20 rating in elite event playoffs and a 1.15 rating in big matches overall ranked the highest inside FaZe, among the best of all players, and the biggest in terms of sample size.

broky also played at his best when facing the cream of the crop, outperforming his 1.16 average rating when playing the top five teams (1.19). He otherwise stood out as one of the best clutchers with the most 1vsX situations won of all players (74) — though in a larger sample size than anyone else — and fraggers overall with 0.75 KPR (No. 7).

He ended up falling short of the 'big five' statistically, in part due to considerably lower impact and fewer high peaks. His 1.08 impact rating ranked the lowest inside the top 10, as did his 30.2% of maps above a 1.30 rating, while the players above him scored the high-end performances in around 40-50% of their maps on top of having a comparable or better floor level map-to-map. broky also was the only one with a poor event on his resumé in the IEM Rio Major and fluctuated with more events on the lower end, which made his floor worse on a tournament-to-tournament basis as well.

"My goals for 2023 are to win both majors, win the Grand Slam and get in better shape mentally and physically."

Bold prediction by 1xBet

WePlay Academy League prospects have been the go-to when it comes to the past few years' Bold predictions, and broky's is no exception.

The Latvian star shined the spotlight on 16-year-old MOUZ NXT member Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo, who stood out in the last season of the junior league with a 1.28 rating in 21 maps — the second highest at the tournament. The younger brother of former ENCE star Jere "⁠sergej⁠" Salo previously played in the local Finnish scene, most notably with SJ.

---

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.